Hi All...
I recommended a Husqvarna 435 to a friend of mine that did not want to spend more than $300 to do cutting at his house. He is a young 70 years old in great shape and is needing an easy starting chainsaw. He has had this saw for 2 months now and the dealer he got it from is not providing the support that I would expect. It does start but you do have to pull the cord fairly hard. I don't want him to get another saw without some feedback for an easy starting saw that is dependable and around the same cost.
Hi Even,
I would recommend doing a few minor initial checks on this saw for your friend. First, I am not sure how old the saw is, even though he may have just purchased it. Husqvarna had a real problem spell for a while, back around 2013 if I remember right. Saws came from the factory set very lean, and people that bought their saws from box stores, ended up returning them in droves. As a matter of fact, Amazon.com stopped allowing the sale of Husqvarna 435 and 440 chainsaws and their website for a short period of time. IF the dealer is totally uncaring, and not concerned about helping your friend get his saw working right, there are two things you need to do. First, don't ever patronize that dealer ever again. Second, purchase a Poulan/Husqvarna carburetor adjustment tool - 530035560. You are lucky, as while these were scarce and expensive in the past, but you can now buy them for less than $4.00. This is a splined tool that fits over the EPA protected jet screws. More likely than not, your problem will be located in the low speed jet. That is the jet closest to the choke. The away screw, closest to the end of the handle is the high speed jet. Use some white out and put a vertical mark on the handle of your carburetor tool. This will help you count the revolutions. Put the tool onto the low speed jet, and gently turn the screw clockwise, counting the exact rotations necessary to reach the seat. Pay attention in the count to even partial turns, as in 1/4, 5/8 etc. Do not over tighten the jet to the seat or you can damage it. Gentle is the word here. Now, turn the low speed jet counter clockwise 2 1/2 turns out exactly. This will be your starting point. Now do the same thing with your high speed jet, after you turn it clockwise to the seat, start to back the jet out 1 5/8 th turns counter clockwise. I like to add just a little to the throttle screw right away, because when you enrich your low speed jet, your idle rpm will drop. The key here is to get the saw started, and have enough tension on the throttle screw to keep the saw running after you pop off the choke. After you warm the saw up for several minutes, start cracking the throttle. If the saw hesitates, open the low speed jet another 1/4th turn. Now crank the saw up to high rpm for a few seconds. You probably will hear a slight burbling which most of us call four cycling. That is a good thing. Now go to a log and sink the bar into something substantial. You probably will hear the sound of the saw clear up while under load. If the saw seems to be pulsing in the cut while under load, your high speed jet is just a little too rich. You can lean it slightly, but I would not go to less than 1 3/8 turns out under any conditions. I also want to stress, that if you want, you can start out pig rich on your high speed jet by starting around 2 1/2 turns out, but I can almost guarantee that as you start to lean, 1/8 turns at a time and then retest, you probably will get best performance somewhere between 1 3/4 and 1 1/2 turns out (on the high speed jet). Once the saw seems to be tuned pretty good, you might want to slightly lean the low speed jet, and check to see if you are still achieving snappy throttle response. This minor adjustment may necessitate tweaking the high speed jet, but it will be minimal.
The adjustments you have just made, will make the saw much easier to start, especially once it is hot in the summer, and give better protection against lean freeze when it is cold and the air is dry. Two more thoughts. Check the spark plug. I have seen some of these saws come through with Chinese Torch spark plugs. If so, put in a NGK brand BPMR7A spark plug and set the gap at .020." This second thought is germane to some old geezers who are cheaper than mud. You know the type. They want to use the same old mixed fuel in the can they had for the 2 cycle lawn boy from 2012. Make sure he is using fresh 2 cycle "premium" non-ethanol gas. Old gas makes saws hard to start and can really score a cylinder in a hurry. Four weeks on gas, and then run it in the lawn mower, snow blower, car, tractor - I don't care, just not in the chainsaw!
If this doesn't help, and you are still of mind to get another saw, I highly recommend an Echo CS-400. It is a little heavier than the H435, but not bad. The H435 usually weighs around 9.7 pounds despite what they advertise, and the Echo CS-400 comes in around 10.4 pounds (once again, a little heavier than advertised). That saw has the same displacement as the Husqvarna 435, but is so dead nuts reliable, you will never have to worry about troubles ever again, except first you have to remove the carb limiters and richen them up a bit. A muffler mod turns them into little monsters. If these minor adjustments are a little out of your league, find a different dealer that stands behind his saws, and learn to love what he sells. Just make sure what ever saw he sells, has a fully adjustable carburetor, (or one that can be defeated if it has limiters). Stay away from fixed jet saws, especially the lower end of Stihl. I like the pro Stihl line, just not the saws made in China.
