Husky 335 XPT Crankshaft failure!

Serious Bummer!! Last week I had just bought a new bar and chains for my trusty hot rod Husky.



While one of my guys was sawing away with it, it just stopped working. The engine still ran great, but no power to the chain. I took the cover off to find the threaded end of the crank sheared off where the clutch assembly screws onto it. The threaded portion, about a 5/16" left hand thread, was stuck in the clutch center. At first I thought this was simply a stud in the end of the crank, but nooooo, it's part of the crank, now ruined. It is apparent from the metal that the break had occured over a period of time.



To make a long story short, I gave up on the Husky dealer and took it to a machine shop where they advised it couldn't be drilled and left-hand tapped for a stud because of the hardness of the steel. Unrepairable.

I'm disgusted that Husky would found the saws life on a 1/4" or 5/16" "bolt" that spins at 12,000 rpm. A new crank sells for $192, crank bearings and races for $31 each, and with a new seal $??, this won't be a cheap rebuild for a ten year old saw. This burns my butt because I've liked this saw.

Would you rebuild this saw, or is a 335XPT with a broken crank dead forever? Anybody have a good crankshaft?

Hummer

I'd keep an eye out on E-Bay. Occassionally some really BEAT UP 335's show up on there for parts, as well as ones guys are parting out......Cliff

Put up a posted ad in the classified section. Parts saws are out there. You should be able to get a running one for 200 bucks if you choose to buy a new used one. I could of bought one last year for 150.

Damn ......Bet I know a guy with one of those ....It even runs......

Do you have a good close up of the failure? It might be just a defect in manufacturing on the crank that caused the failure.

How often was the saw used?

04ultra said:

Damn ......Bet I know a guy with one of those ....It even runs......

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QUICK! Somebody make me a deal I can't refuse!

Seriously, I bought this machine new and have taken good care of it. But rather than spend big bucks for a part that shouldn't have failed in the first place, I'd sooner pop for another MS200T.

That does suck. Just out of curiosity how did the machine shop test the material to see if it was too hard for drilling and tapping? A lot of times the surface of the crank is hard but the core is relatively soft.

Sorry to hear that, hummer. That saw is the same vintage as my best ever 335, that I got from Rich Hoffman, in pieces, for $40.....put it together, ported the muffler, and it would beat my woods ported 338, my muffler ported 335 Cali, and any 200T it came up against. After about 4 years of use, it quit. Andy discovered that the crank bearings were toast--had a huge amount of slop.

It's not worth fixing the bottom end of these saws.

Cerran said:

Do you have a good close up of the failure? It might be just a defect in manufacturing on the crank that caused the failure.

How often was the saw used?

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I bought it new in 1999 to do major pruning cuts in my fruit orchards. I typically used it daily for four months a year on fruit wood, then occasionally through the year to trim large spruce and fir.

I can't imagine Husky would do anything on this given the age of the saw. Also, the dealer said that sometimes people try to wrench off the clutch/sprocket by turning the left-hand nut the wrong way. That was never the case with this saw, and the break doesn't indicate that. One reason I posted this to the forum was to learn if this is an often seen failure.

Hummer said:

I bought it new in 1999 to do major pruning cuts in my fruit orchards. I typically used it daily for four months a year on fruit wood, then occasionally through the year to trim large spruce and fir.

I can't imagine Husky would do anything on this given the age of the saw. Also, the dealer said that sometimes people try to wrench off the clutch/sprocket by turning the left-hand nut the wrong way. That was never the case with this saw, and the break doesn't indicate that. One reason I posted this to the forum was to learn if this is an often seen failure.

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The 335 has a big list of service bulletins...........They did nothing about the two I had when they were new...

Cerran said:

That does suck. Just out of curiosity how did the machine shop test the material to see if it was too hard for drilling and tapping? A lot of times the surface of the crank is hard but the core is relatively soft.

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If you look closely at the broken end of the crank in the photo you can see a punch mark in the center where he tested the hardness of the metal. He also took a sharp file to it (see the shiny metal around and on the right) and found the file wouldn't cut the material, only polish it a bit. This machinist does a lot of cranks so I expect he's calling it right.

rbtree said:

Sorry to hear that, hummer.

It's not worth fixing the bottom end of these saws.

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Oh thanks for the good news, rbtree. If enough people tell me this (and you're not the first who has), I guess I oughta just accept it.

If you liked it better than the 200T, then he$$ yeah, fix it.

Hummer said:

QUICK! Somebody make me a deal I can't refuse!

Seriously, I bought this machine new and have taken good care of it. But rather than spend big bucks for a part that shouldn't have failed in the first place, I'd sooner pop for another MS200T.

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That is a bummer. I have one of about the same age, and it runs great....

i can only speak for the three 335's I've owned and various others run by other people, bottom end and top end seemingly indestructable, I've hammered mine for thousands and thousands of hours, have seen 020's and 200t's that didn't last like the husky motor, needing bearings and pistons sooner, admittedly only after 3 or 4 years, but that snapped off crank end must have had a defect, I'd be getting the dealer to send the crank off to husky for a replacement even if it is ten years old, hell husqvarna may even feel guilty and offer a new 338 as a replacement

Over the last few years I have seen 2 of those with the same problem for sale in NZ. Your not the first.

If you look closely at the broken end of the crank in the photo you can see a punch mark in the center where he tested the hardness of the metal. He also took a sharp file to it (see the shiny metal around and on the right) and found the file wouldn't cut the material, only polish it a bit. This machinist does a lot of cranks so I expect he's calling it right.

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Doh! Sounds like he got it right. Just checking as I've had machine shops call it wrong before.

If you PM me I do have a local guy here who does deal in a lot of used saw parts who might be worth calling. He was able to get some hard to find parts for a neighbor's older Husky.

Saw this on ebay, hard to say the condition of the crank however:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Husqvarna-Pro-S...ryZ85915QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem