My Solo 681 soiled the sheets

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guysmiley

ArboristSite Lurker
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Hello everyone, longtime lurker, first time posting. It is with a heavy heart that I have to say that yesterday was the day my chainsaw died :( I had a second hand fixer upper (wrongly diagnosed low compression and clogged carb) All I did was clean the carb and fix the holes in the air cleaner with some dabs of rtv... and pull the comp relief out. Anyways, what a deal that was.

So I was cutting the other day as a large 4' redwood had fallen and needed cleaning up (quite rotten on the inside but still good for soil retention on the hills) so I was ripping the logs with it and I heard a plink and the saw quit.

I tore into it and found the lower connecting rod bearing had given up and made its way up past the piston. Now I am weighing my options, crank jug and piston and seals will be probably about $300 plus a decent amount of time. Then there is a local used ms660 for sale for $700... which I could offset by selling the solo as a basket case. Other than what just happened the saw is in good cosmetic condition. Being so rare does anyone have any ideas on what one might fetch on fleabay?

I will take pictures in a bit if anyone is interested. Looks like a bit of the cage is what made its way out and up, embedded in piston and top of chamber.
Being where I am I kind of see an 80cc+ saw a necessity for clearing roads and bucking up trees/projects etc.
 
Here are pics of the carnage and the state of the basket case. My guess is just overuse. Not sure how many hours were on it before I got it but I have had it pulling a 42" skip tooth through Doug fir and redwood. I know that's a lot of bar for the saw but it handled it well and was able to keep the chain wet.
 

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Yeah, I think it's time for a bigger saw. Parts for those are getting hard to come by in the states but they're still available in Europe. I've bought parts from a German dealer and had good luck with that. You could probably squeeze $200-250 out of that mess and use that to offset the purchase of a new-to-you big saw like @Woodslasher mentioned.
 
Yeah, I think it's time for a bigger saw. Parts for those are getting hard to come by in the states but they're still available in Europe. I've bought parts from a German dealer and had good luck with that. You could probably squeeze $200-250 out of that mess and use that to offset the purchase of a new-to-you big saw like @Woodslasher mentioned.
I will have to keep a keen eye out as sadly that ms660 sold last night. It looks like I will make it a side project and do one thing at a time. The german dealer is probably the same as the one selling the oem crankshaft on fleabay. There is a big bore kit from greece as well.... an extra 6 ccs would get it a bit closer to that ms660.

If I keep it with the 42" bar I would probably do better to go with a fuel/oil ratio closer to 32:1 from whit I read on here? Again, the crank itself did not fail, not sure if its an early 681, just the rod bearing so more lube for when I do bury the bar makes sense.
Maybe another local deal will pop up soon.
 
I will have to keep a keen eye out as sadly that ms660 sold last night. It looks like I will make it a side project and do one thing at a time. The german dealer is probably the same as the one selling the oem crankshaft on fleabay. There is a big bore kit from greece as well.... an extra 6 ccs would get it a bit closer to that ms660.

If I keep it with the 42" bar I would probably do better to go with a fuel/oil ratio closer to 32:1 from whit I read on here? Again, the crank itself did not fail, not sure if its an early 681, just the rod bearing so more lube for when I do bury the bar makes sense.
Maybe another local deal will pop up soon.
Something to consider, a Husky 2100 is a major contender in the 100cc class and they're usually pretty reasonably priced. They're a little hard to get certain parts for, but they have power for days and are typically pretty bulletproof.
 
staying with an oe top end adds another couple hundred to the parts list. There are some good chunks missing from mine. Huskys are less common around here and support is also shrinking in terms of certified mechanics. Stihl is the big name and I have an 034 super and an 028wb so one more would fit right in. I dont recognize the husky numbers like I do stihl but I will refer to this post if I see anything big pop up. Thankyou!
 
Something to consider, a Husky 2100 is a major contender in the 100cc class and they're usually pretty reasonably priced. They're a little hard to get certain parts for, but they have power for days and are typically pretty bulletproof.
I will start looking at the classifieds here and consider getting a used saw shipped.
 
Late last year I sold a seized Solo 680 PHO thru Ebay for $300 plus shipping to a gentleman in Italy. He really wanted the saw but I would have done better to sell it in the US for a little less because Ebay manages to tack on additional fees for handling the overseas shipping.
 
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7900 is close but different. Solo has 1mm longer stroke.

With it having so many issues I believe it’s a parts saw now. They were never popular enough (because of marketing, nothing to do with the saw itself) to have any AM support. I believe Oem cranks are $200 and cylinders are probably $250
 
I got the crank and both seals for $150 shipped from germany. Not highway robbery but certainly no used items available. AM p/c is $110, BB kit is $130 and OEM is $300 all shipped. I know I would be taking chances on the AM p/c but at that price I am going to try. Tease me all you want if it does not run well :)

I keep looking at alternatives and get a nervous feeling like I won't be satisfied with it's replacement. I loved that saw.
I am maybe able to get my hands on an old 076 from a friend that would take the brunt of the long bar stuff so if I get the solo running that could be my big fun saw. For the money I couldn't get anything quite like that power/weight ratio and at the end of the day I will know a bit more about whats in it.
 
So I tore down, split the case and put the new crank and seals in. All went well so it seems it is time to order the topend. I cut the rod off to look at the journals and they didnt look too bad, there is the most notable discoloration on the side of the connecting rod but I am not sure how much that was from the grinder. I am wanting to chalk this up to prior mileage and me loading it up pretty good and not upping the oil ratio? I always use 50:1 but I have read here that heavy use may call for 32:1 to keep things lubed? I am by no means a 2 stroke mechanic. Any input is welcome.

I can clean up the cage bits and rollers if that might help diagnose.
 

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She lives. Got the 54mm big bore kit from Bailey's plus a Stihl piston bearing and ring Needed to make a 1/32" aluminum shim plus a beer can shim for gasket to get .020 squish(to make up for the 1mm shorter dolmar stroke compatibility in the cylinder. Assembled with some ultra copper gasket maker between shims. Had to drill out for side decomp valve vs the 681s top in the plastic. Dialed in the carb....

Will need to sharpen the chain and get some time to break it in to give any feedback as far as better or worse than stock. (The transfers were smaller than the stock cylinder and not as nicely blended but I wanted to first try it without any mods before cleaning anything up.

At first glance it feels about the same, pulled my half dull chain through 36" of redwood without complaining at all.

Also I will keep this saw fed on 32:1 unless I reduce the bar size.

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