Fried my saw? But what's this yellow stuff?

[ray benson]

Sorry, bowtie, I did mention it in my last post, but I didn't respond directly to you.

Yes, it HAD a spark arrestor when I got it, but that must have fallen out when the muffler rattled loose, because it's not there now.

No extra ports, just the guts removed.

I would consider putting the guts back in the muffler as the muffler studs and muffler tighten on to it. Add some holes to the sides of the piece in the muffler.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Don't have the guts, Ray, it was modded by the original owner. I'm just going to get a new one, and stick with that. Thanks for the drawing...

Hmmm. Wonder if I can just get the few parts I need cheaper than a whole muffler.....

 

[Chris J.]

Do you and PlantBiologist share a BIL? Just wondering.:jawdrop: :jawdrop:

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

She lives. :love1:


Cleaned it up, gave the rings a few drops of a light oil that I keep around for door hinges, locks, and the like, put it back together.

Oh, that compression issue? Funny how much compression you lose when the decomp is pushed in! Yeah, I had forgotten about that minor detail.

Took it outside, got my chaps on, put my helmet on, primed, and pulled.

Varooooom!

It was a tad smokey at first, but nothing major.

Took it over to a 28" diameter piece of cherry that was begging to be cut, and let 'er rip!



Oh, DOOFUS! I had the chain on backwards! I can't remember the last time I did that!

Anyway, with that corrected, she went through that cherry with enthusiasm.




Thanks for all the input! Who was it who suggested pollen, anyway!

Gotta look back over the thread and give some rep!


Now to see about a new muffler....

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Here is the winning post:

Hody Mark,

Not sure what it is, something with fuel, mud dobbers and hedge wood, all plausible theories. I'm going to throw another one out there. It looks like pollen to me. Last week were you cutting tops with buds or flowwers on them or cutting in a blooming weed field? I dont know if pollen is small enough to get through a filter or if it is in fact pollen. It sure does look like it though from the pictures.

At certain times of year it coats things around here. Wish I could help more, just guesing.

v/r

Mike

Mike nailed it, and I thank you, sir!

 

[vegaome]

Mark,

You are welcome, I was just guessing. Glad you got her back together and running. Did you figure out what variety of insect did this? Have a good weekend.


v/r

Mike

 

[Adkpk]

Mark,

You are welcome, I was just guessing. Glad you got her back together and running. Did you figure out what variety of insect did this? Have a good weekend.


v/r

Mike

Umm, part II. What kind of insect goes into a carbon filled muffler to store pollen? Definitely a mystrey here. That was lot of pollen. That is one honey of a saw now.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Oh, man! That was lame!


We've got plenty of bees around here, including the big carpenter bees. I can't see them being able to fit in there, though. We also have another bee about the size of a honeybee, but it isn't. I do have quite a few of them buzzing around in my garage everyday, and I do remember noticing a lot of buzzing near my saws that morning.

 

[boltonranger]

Glad you got 'er going!

Blue; first off GREAT news your saws running
Second I really don't believe bees put it in there.
I think the pollen got sucked through your saw. Bees don't store pollen. They feed it to young larvae living in their hive. They don't build nests with it either.
I would be more inclined to think that as you were cutting your saw somehow ingested the material; I don't have a better explanation though. I would check your air filter, boot, and replace the muffler screen.
-br

 

[Bowtie]

Blue; first off GREAT news your saws running
Second I really don't believe bees put it in there.
I think the pollen got sucked through your saw. Bees don't store pollen. They feed it to young larvae living in their hive. They don't build nests with it either.
I would be more inclined to think that as you were cutting your saw somehow ingested the material; I don't have a better explanation though. I would check your air filter, boot, and replace the muffler screen.
-br

I cant believe the saw ingested that pollen in any way but being brought in the muffler. If it had ran through the engine it would have to be discolored from the combustion process. That stuff is too bright yellow in my opinion.

 

[stihl sawing]

We have a lot of dirt daubers here, They like to clog up mufflers and any opening they can find. That's why i always keep the saws in a case where they can't get in. Especially in the spring and summer. I even keep a cloth bag over the weed trimmers cause they have clogged the muffs before.

 

[Trigger-Time]

Last year a bug or something used top cyl of my 40hp jet boat motor
as a grain bin, it was full of weed seeds. It is pull start only motor, rope would only pull half way. Pulled plug and to my surprise :censored: Blew seeds out best I could, she fired right up.......motor seems to be OK.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I cant believe the saw ingested that pollen in any way but being brought in the muffler. If it had ran through the engine it would have to be discolored from the combustion process. That stuff is too bright yellow in my opinion.

Agreed. It was packed in too neatly to have come through the engine. I wish I had taken a picture first. What you all saw was AFTER I picked most of it out. That exhaust port was packed FULL when I took off the muffler.


I'm quite sure it was bees. I was working in the garage that morning (before I found the problem) and noticed a LOT of buzzing over that way. I get a lot of bees in there, so I didn't think much of it at the time. A few weeks back, I watched one of these crawl into the arm on my radial arm saw, through a 1/4" hole on the bottom of it.

Dunno what kind of bees they are. Not honeybees, that's for sure. A bit smaller, and duller colored.

My wife thinks the mods should make this thread a sticky.

 

[teacherman]

We could come up with a scientifical name for the odd little bee that lives to pollinate power tools...............that would occupy creative minds for a little while--Google "insect taxonomy" for tips on makng it sound credible......:Eye: opcorn: :biggrinbounce2:

 

[Dennis_Peacock]

Woo-Hoo..!!!! My Stihl is SAFE.....you got all the bees to work on your saw and mine is safe and secure.

Seriously, glad the problem is now solved and I can ease off the edge of my chair now.

 

[albert]

what the yellow stuff?

I just fix a guy echo string trimmer, wouldn't run acted like exhuast was plugged. noticed some yellow chunks falling out of muffler outlet. I pulled the outlet and it was packed solid with pollen and a brown colored wax. luckily it had a spark arr. screen.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Well, I got more confirmation today, not that it was needed. Went to take some measurements of the wheel on my small hand truck, to order a replacement. Found the same stuff packed in the hub. When I dug it out, I found that one of the chambers had a critter in it - larva I suppose. You can see in the picture that there's a bee-size hole in another one.

For scale, this is a standard 10" wheel with a 5/8" arbor.

 

[stihl sawing]

Dang , You gotta find a way to get rid of them little suckers or their gonna mess up everything.

 

[Adkpk]

Dang , You gotta find a way to get rid of them little suckers or their gonna mess up everything.

It's a sure case of man against beast. :greenchainsaw:



Maybe it's a sign, BlueRidge is going into the bee keeping trade.