Need opinion

[Bimop]

Thanks "lxt" for the advice. I was given a 18" craftsman model 358-351080 which is about 8-10 years old (i.e., a working saw for free is a good value regardless of brand). The bar stopped getting oil after 3 years of my light use. I tried lxt's air pressure advice and was able to determine air and oil flows readily from the "tank" to the outside connector. But does not flow thru the black plastic square part on the outside of the saw near the fly wheel. Is this the oil pump? I know next to nothing about chainsaws, but I'm reasonably good at taking things apart and putting them back to together. Is this a replaceable part? If so, how is it replaced? I tried tugging on it, but it didn't come out ;-). I'm assuming it is a bigger part than what is visible from the outside and I need to remove the flywheel first. Right? For what its worth, I do no PM on the saw (or my other 2 stroke tools), I stick it in the dirt to divide vine maple root balls, I give the local shop lots of business sharpening/replaceing chains, etc. I think you know my type.

If this saw isn't easily fixed, I'll replace it with a better one which will get significantly more use cutting wood that washes up each Spring. This is the Pacific North West at the edge of Olympic Nat'l Park. There are a lot of trees in the lake and it seams most of them float to my house. The local shop is a Stihl dealer so I'll probably go with that. Stihl has many options in three lines (homeowner, mid, pro). While they probably build their reputation on the pro line, are their entry level saws any better then the Homelite, Poulan, and Craftsman available at the big box stores? If so, what's better about them? Also, I do have a significant investment in chains. Can I use the 18" Craftsman chains on an 18" Stihl (i.e., perhaps adding or removing some links if that is possible)?

Thanks,
Jeff (bimop)

 

[gumneck]

Can you post a pic of saw and area you question as pump?

 

[tony marks]

craftsman. in the past ive gotten tolerable service out of them. but with these new regs by the epa. the one i listened to recently just made me feel sorry for it. yes it was quiet. but the price paid for that quietness ,made it a saw not much bettert than an bowsaw, an much more fragile. a saw so stifled an strangled, just aint much . jmo.

 

[njforestfire]

looking at this another way....why buy?

I just found one that's not too old on top of a garbage can that someone was throwing out. Now I have something else to tinker with. One can never have too many saws - even if some are the 'lower quality' type.