McCulloch Recoil Issue

[marinegrunt]

I purchased a McCulloch XM-40 years ago. The recoil starter has never been quite right since day one. It has been awhile but I want to say it broke the first day. The rope got hung up and broke so I had to take it apart to fix it. I ended up cutting what I needed to, through it in the shed, and there it sat. I messed with it a couple years ago but am having the same issue I'm having now. I got it started back then but it just isn't right. I ended up buying a Stihl a few years ago and mainly use that. Well, I'm needing the McCulloch now since it has an 18" bar. So, here's the issue. The rope will pull almost all the way out before turning the engine. It's like it does it at the last inch of rope so you don't get a good pull. If I add another wrap around the rope to tighten the spring then the rope pulls out and it won't recoil. This saw has two different springs. It has a smaller longer spring at the bottom and a wider shorter spring towards the top. Is there a different way to set spring tension on a dual spring system? I even tried replacing the main bottom spring but no luck.

Thanks!

 

[67L36Driver]

Post a picture of saw. Have no idea of what model an "XM-40" is.

B.T.W.: If it is 'Mac Cat' related it is junk.

 

[rmh3481]

Geez Carl, just because it has a plastic drive sprocket doesnt mean you have to call it junk!

 

[marinegrunt]

Post a picture of saw. Have no idea of what model an "XM-40" is.

B.T.W.: If it is 'Mac Cat' related it is junk.

I'm confident Carl was spot on when he said junk. It was a cheap one I got at Menards. It's probably one of those cheap ones that McCulloch made just for big chain stores.

The XM-40 was on the side cover. Model is MXC1840D

I should of bought a better saw to begin with. I have a little 14" Stihl and I love it. It's just too small for a lot of stuff. Now that I have a wood stove in the garage I may have to get a better 18" saw.

 

[Chris-PA]

It is a Jenn Feng made (Taiwan, the previous owner of the McCulloch brand) saw based on the Zenoah G3200, but using a 40cc cylinder from their GZ4000 based saw (MS4018). They blocked off the strato system and put on a bigger carb, probably to save money. It has the same 2-piece split mag partial-case as the GZ4000, and the castings are well made. The starter is an easy-start system, which you probably wrecked if you tried to start it like a conventional saw. It is intended that you pull it out slowly, and then at the end it will turn over the engine - this is like everyone else's easy-start too.

 

[marinegrunt]

It is a Jenn Feng made (Taiwan, the previous owner of the McCulloch brand) saw based on the Zenoah G3200, but using a 40cc cylinder from their GZ4000 based saw (MS4018). They blocked off the strato system and put on a bigger carb, probably to save money. It has the same 2-piece split mag partial-case as the GZ4000, and the castings are well made. The starter is an easy-start system, which you probably wrecked if you tried to start it like a conventional saw. It is intended that you pull it out slowly, and then at the end it will turn over the engine - this is like everyone else's easy-start too.

Oh okay. If that's the case then it's working fine. I must've broke the rope when I first bought it years ago because of that. It has just been in the shed for probably 10 years so I was going off of memory. (Been married for 14 years with two kids so I'm sure my memory is going) I just assumed it was jacked up because I thought it didn't pull right. You telling me it's an easy start makes sense.

Being that the saw only has about 30 minutes of total use in ten years, hopefully after a carb cleaning and new fuel lines, it will work okay for occasional use.

Thanks for all of the help.

By the way Chris, you must really know your saws! You should be hired to do commercials!

 

[Chris-PA]

Oh okay. If that's the case then it's working fine. I must've broke the rope when I first bought it years ago because of that. It has just been in the shed for probably 10 years so I was going off of memory. (Been married for 14 years with two kids so I'm sure my memory is going) I just assumed it was jacked up because I thought it didn't pull right. You telling me it's an easy start makes sense.

Being that the saw only has about 30 minutes of total use in ten years, hopefully after a carb cleaning and new fuel lines, it will work okay for occasional use.

Thanks for all of the help.

By the way Chris, you must really know your saws! You should be hired to do commercials!

Nah, I just stumbled into these Jenn Feng made McCullochs after I bought one of there GZ4000 copies on eBay thinking it was a Zenoah/RedMax made saw just re-branded. Then I found out they were slightly different, needed some of the unique parts and had to look into their other models to find what I needed. You can learn a lot studying parts diagrams.

 

[67L36Driver]

Way past my area of experitse.

Had a 55cc x 20" Craftsman with the 'Incredipull' starter. It's very confusing at first to use. Peddeled that pup forthwith.

 

[Philbert]

I got one at a garage sale, also with a recoil issue. Mine has a broken plastic ring or pulley inside.

Anywhere to get parts for these? Not listed on current McCulloch website.

IPL looks like part number 9137-MD0701 for the pulley, and 9228-31P202 for the whole starter assembly, but these numbers don't seem to show up anywhere, except the 'NLA' list. Does Jenn Feng sell parts?

Thanks.

Philbert