So I got shot in the head by a Magnum...

[Sam R]

A broken pull rope is never just a broken pull rope.

A fella brought in his 038 to have the starter re-strung. Easy 5 minute job, right? Well I get it strung and when I go to test it out I see the rope kind of pours out of the bushing when I give it some gas. I think, that's kind of weird.

So I take it out to the customer and say, 'hey has it ever done this before?' Then, 'let me show you.'

Pull start it, give it gas for one second and the pull handle violently ejects from the housing, breaking the new cord and smacks me right in the middle of the forehead, blasting my hat off my head and leaving one honey of a welt.

'Son of a *****,' I say, 'Can you leave it here?'

That's the story of how I got shot in the head by a Magnum. Always check your springs & pawls when stringing a starter. I know I will from now on.

 

[U&A]

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]....... not funny not funny....[emoji2960]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[shadco]

A broken pull rope is never just a broken pull rope.

A fella brought in his 038 to have the starter re-strung. Easy 5 minute job, right? Well I get it strung and when I go to test it out I see the rope kind of pours out of the bushing when I give it some gas. I think, that's kind of weird.

So I take it out to the customer and say, 'hey has it ever done this before?' Then, 'let me show you.'

Pull start it, give it gas for one second and the pull handle violently ejects from the housing, breaking the new cord and smacks me right in the middle of the forehead, blasting my hat off my head and leaving one honey of a welt.

'Son of a *****,' I say, 'Can you leave it here?'

That's the story of how I got shot in the head by a Magnum. Always check your springs & pawls when stringing a starter. I know I will from now on.

So did he tell you if that had ever happened before?

Enquiring minds want to know.



.

 

[Sam R]

He said it's never done that. My memory is a little fuzzy but I seem to remember him saying he just picked it up broken like that. It's a saw he's had me work on before. The rope that came out of it was pretty torn up, so maybe this isn't an entirely new issue.
I hadn't exactly figured out the cause, the spring was broken at the retaining loop, the pawl (single pawl style) moved freely, but it seemed to want to bind up w/ flywheel causing the rope to be unwound then wound the other direction until there was so much tension... *bang*

 

[boltonranger]

Ouch!
Sorry you got hit.
At first I thought you were saying it tightened up as it stopped- I’ve seen that before- but this is just an ornery piece of equipment. Glad you didn’t get it in the eye....

 

[Sam R]

Ouch!
Sorry you got hit.
At first I thought you were saying it tightened up as it stopped- I’ve seen that before- but this is just an ornery piece of equipment. Glad you didn’t get it in the eye....

Thanks, yeah it kind of stung a bit. I guess I'm fortunate I didn't get it in the eye it probably would have blacked it. It was just more dramatic because it took my hat off too. The owner & his wife standing there were laughing with sympathy.

 

[rd35]

Wow, something on that starter mechanism is rubbing the flywheel....which is not right. That starter does not normally touch the flywheel until you pull the rope causing the pawl to rotate into one of the eight notches on the inside of the hub where it grabs the wheel to spin it. I'd look that starter cover over real close to see if it is bent inward causing a rubbing condition.

 

[Sam R]

Yeah that's my thinking as well, Nat. I started looking at it but it was about quitting time. Found the spring is broke which I suspect has something to do with it. Couple other things got me worried; it started off being incredibly hard to pull before suddenly having no resistance at all. My guess is the spring is what's messed up but I'm going to check the bearings and make sure they're not causing any issues.

 

[rd35]

I would have suspected only the broken spring which I believe was why the rope slowly pushed out....possibly just due to the fan spinning the air fast enough in that direction to cause it to unwind with no spring tension to hold it in. But the quick grab and snap is what worried me. Although...as I'm typing this....it comes to mind....that maybe as the rope was unwinding it got out of its groove and got caught on a fin on the flywheel. That would definitely wind it up backwards and shoot the pull handle off the end of the rope like a cannonball!!!! I bet that's what happened.

 

[Sam R]

Yeah unwind it did, when it finally flew off there (into my forehead) the rope was all scattered inside the housing. It had tension, the way the tensioner lays in there it held tension on the rope, felt just like a normal pull cord. I think the sudden release of tension was when it broke, maybe. I got Silver training this week so I won't be back until Saturday to look at it.

How's that 025 coming along?

 

[rd35]

Long story short, got real busy with other things at about mid-job on the 025. Was working several things at once. Next thing I knew I had it sitting on the workbench to begin it's 24-hour wait for the pan sealant to harden. All done except for the initial run-n-tune. Nary took one photo....totally forgot! What I hate most about it is that this last batch of work is also the last work I will do on saws for a fairly long period of time. Got some "stuff" going on right now family wise that has forced me to put saw work on hold for several months. But I'm not done with saws or anything....just some stuff has trumped it for now. Oh, and I'm so busy right now its crazy! The 24-hour waiting period on the Dirko pan sealant began a week ago last Saturday...saw is still sitting right where I left it! I bet the sealant has hardened plenty by now!

 

[Huskybill]

Glad your ok. Could of been worse. Safety glasses?

 

[Sam R]

Husky, yeah just a little bruised. Luckily it missed my eyes, I don't ordinarily wear safety glasses just to start a saw. They don't usually do that!

Nat, sorry to hear you're having to shelve your hobby for awhile. I know how family stuff can be, I hope the best for you and yours - if it's troubles you're having. If other people want to part with their equipment I'll keep you in mind. Hope you'll bring the 025 by the shop when you got it fixed up. Like to hear it running good.

 

[rd35]

Will do! As far as the family stuff it’s all good stuff....just lots of it. Involves my son and his wife and kids.....and their house. Construction deadlines and those kinds of things. Promises must be kept!!! All very busy but good stuff!

 

[rd35]

Here’s the 025 all back together. Not tested yet! Still needs final clean and some cosmetics!


Here’s the bar! It was bent and the rails had rolled edges. Now it’s straight, true, rails level......and fresh coat of Ford Light Grey paint!
Chain that came with it is almost new! I’ll sharpen it like a razor and it should be ready for the 2019 firewood blitz!!!

 

[rd35]

Hey Sam! Did you ever figure out what happened to the 038 Mag? And how's your forehead? Hope you are healing well!

 

[Sam R]

I haven't been in to look at it, JUST got home from Silver training in Loveland, OH. Head's fine now - I'll be in Saturday and take a look at it. Dave ordered the spring, pawl & rewind housing, I'll be trying those. Also going to look at the bearings. The saw looks really good, Nat. Hopefully you get a lot of work done with it, you know an 025 will get the job done!

 

[Sam R]

Update on the 038: the issue was (is) bad main bearings. There was enough play in the flywheel that what was happening was the flywheel basically acted like a clutch on the rope housing when the engine was revved up. It would unwind the rope & then tangle it up, it gets bad enough and some poor sod gets hit in the head by the handle.

Customer didn't want to pay to fix an almost 40 year old saw. He said he was gonna go to talk Hudson's about trading it in; but he might part with an otherwise good running saw if you're interested, Nat.