I Smashed my NEW MS 362!

[BackCut5]

Howdy Yall

I'm here to confess a sin to the saw gods, and try to find some relief. SO. A family friend asked if I would help her cut a trail through some wooded areas around her property. I agreed to the job two years ago, but the scheduling has been difficult, and we are finally able to move forward on the process this year. I figured this was enough of an excuse to buy my first chainsaw! Had to drive 2 hours out of town to a dealer, and picked up a brand new MS 362 with a 25" bar. Hot Dog!

Got home, and figured Id fire her up. She started like a champ, and quickly found a nice idle. Some people say to just start a new saw, and run it like any other saw. But me, I figured Id let her idle at the house for a while, then take her to the worksite to break in the rest of the way. And while she was at idle, figured Id throw tomahawks at a 5' pine log I have. The log leans up against a flimsy frame in the back yard. Set the saw some 4' away while I checked the logs stability (I thought it was good enough), and walked over to move the tomahawks... A gust of wind came and the frame sagged as I was about to walk over and move the saw to a safer place. But I was too late. I WATCHED IN DISBELIEF AS THE LOG CAME LOOSE, AND SMASHED THE HANDLE OF MY SAW!! What a bonehead!

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Now Ive got to rent a saw, and burry the memoy with a few drinks, and jokes. Any one out there have any horror stories similiar to this? Hopefully/probably not. But misery loves company. Be safe out there.

 

[SteveH]

No way.

 

[Guido Salvage]

A little duct tape and you would be good to go. This is a smashed handle, less than 3 tanks through the saw since I bought it new in 1991.

This is a smashed saw, the remnants of a Poulan 4900 that has since gone to another member to get his going (the Dayton 5200 is fine).

 

[Tom M.]

Aww quit your blubberin. A short stick to fill the handle, plus duct tape. Fixed.

 

[Trx250r180]

first scratch is the hardest ,just stop by sawshop and get a new handle cover and run it ,looks like will still function for a while if replace the top black part

 

[Showme]

I feel your pain!

 

[REJ2]

All right, stay away from ladders, mirrors, black cats, and women in see thru underwear. You just plain bad luck!

 

[Log Splitter]

Don't idle a saw to break it in (or idle much any other time for that matter). Replace the broken trigger interlock, then go to the woods and run it like you stole it. Your saw will like you much better if you do.

 

[SawTroll]

That damage is minor, shouldn't cost much to replace the broken parts.


....but WTF did you buy it with a 25" bar???

 

[Farm Boy]

Your first post is a confession...First welcome to A.S. As others said get it fixed and don't look back. Or you could wrap it up with duct tape and use it as a reminder you really need to get rid of those damn tomahawks Tonto! :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[50blues]

think it's junk. I'll give ya $50 for it.:jester:

 

[Farm Boy]

think it's junk. I'll give ya $50 for it.:jester:

I'll give ya $75 :jester:

 

[woodyman]

Thought I would get a smile on my face seeing a smashed Stihl:hmm3grin2orange:That saw is not smashed but it did get some history on it.

 

[Tom M.]

....but WTF did you buy it with a 25" bar???

I don't know about him, but I have a bad back, and the length of a 24" bar helps me reach the ground without bending over too much...which is a good idea for anybody.

 

[SierraNevada]

Hey, it's officially broken in now. Sorry that happened to your saw. I would use it like that, it looks better than half of my saws. Hey sawtroll, I use a 25 with RSF on my 361 when my estrogen level is too high for the 395xp, it does pretty good!:msp_biggrin:

 

[bplust]

Regarding break-in, I like this article:

Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power

 

[himiler]

Don't idle a saw to break it in (or idle much any other time for that matter). Replace the broken trigger interlock, then go to the woods and run it like you stole it. Your saw will like you much better if you do.

A guy who worked on race bikes posted some good info on this that made a lot of sense. Any internal combustion engine with pistons and rings is going to benefit from a high compression hard run break in. The idea is to run it hard a bit on the rich side (for a chainsaw) to provide adequate lubrication and mechanical force to get the rings to seat well and the cylinder to "smooth" down for good compression and no blowby. On a new 4 cycle engine like my Honda MC, I travelled the 15 miles home, changed the factory oil right then and "rode it like I stole it" for the next 500 miles before I changed the oil again. Most all of the trash from the manufacture of the engine will be in the oil that was in the engine when it was purchased. The sooner you get that oil out the quicker that trash isn't circulating around in the engine. Oh and as far as being careful and cautious with a new engine, there used to be this video of a Honda employee on a new bike at the factory starting and running it for the first time. He's on a stationary test stand, starts the bike, and then at some point he opens it up full throttle and just lets it scream! Really opened my eyes as to what the manufacturers tell you and what they do in reality.
Hope this helps.
Steve

 

[himiler]

Regarding break-in, I like this article:

Break In Secrets--How To Break In New Motorcycle and Car Engines For More Power

Forget the previous post by me and just read this! It's what I was referring to anyway.
Good information gets to be common knowledge after a while.

 

[RandyMac]

That is called operational damage, smashed is when you kick dirt over it before moving on.

 

[z71mike]

That definitely sux that it happened. However, a rental would be totally out of the question. You have a 10 minute fix ahead of you with a 10-dollar part that the dealer can get in 2 or 3 days max.