rallen
ArboristSite Operative
I should know better, but I couldn't help myself from attending a local farm equipment and tool auction. I was really there to see if they had a landscape rake for me to clear some debris off an area I have been cleaning up to expand our horse paddock area; alas no landscape rake....
BUT....
There were three very lonely, and very dirty, Stihl chainsaws: an 024, and 026 and an 034AV. The 024 was missing its muffler, and I already have an 026, so I was able to resist temptation. But the 034AV!!!! Early in my chainsaw education my neighbor lent me his MS360 after I burned up a big-box little McCulloch chainsaw trying to dispose of a VERY BIG ash tree, and I will never forget the feeling of cutting up that tree with that saw and how nice a machine it was. In fact, it was that experience that made me decide I needed to acquire a Stihl one day, and after I re-built the McCulloch, I eventually started down this CAD path acquiring damaged Stihls and learning about them. Which brings me back to this 034AV, which when I pulled the starter rope appears to have very good compression.
The saw was most likely used by someone who did quite a bit of cutting, considering it has the Stihl 20" bar with the replaceable nose. The 3/8" pitch chain was not terribly dull, but the saw looked as if it had been left for sometime, still full of sawdust, twigs, and dirt. I was ready to pass on it, but decided I would bid up to $50, and sure enough, I got it for $45.
So last night I couldn't resist tearing it down and cleaning it up a bit to see what I was dealing with. I think it is a later model 034, or someone upgraded it, since it has the adjustable oiler. Someone had put in fresh gas, but of course couldn't start it. When I took the carb off, I opened the diagphragm side and it was almost full of sawdust under the plate: there was no way that diaphragm could work; no place for it to move. On the other side, the screen was pretty rusty, and in my desire just to clean things up with compressed air to see if I could start it, I managed to blow the screen (which was probably almost plugged) away somewhere into the night thus ending any hope of trying to start it that night. I was planning on buying a re-build kit for the carb so it is no big deal, but I was stupid to let it happen. The carb is manufactured for Stihl by Tillotsen (sp?), and seems very similar to the Walbro's I have worked on before.
Pulling the chain guard confirmed my thoughts regarding neglect and maintenance. Besides being covered with caked sawdust, the chain brake steel band was removed. The chain brake mechanism appears to be intact, but the cover was cracked in one corner, and the previous owner had just placed a dob of silicone over the area, though I am not sure why since there was no brake to operate. The oiler hose was rock hard, and should be replaced. The oiler reminds me of the one that was on my 029, as opposed to what is on the 026: just a thin wire that slips into the clutch drum slot, instead of the wider steel arm of the 026's.
The impulse line appears to be fuel line, and is also hard and does not want to stay in place. I don't have an IPL yet so I don't know for sure, but on all my other stihl's this line has been a formed line, not a fuel hose, which makes me think it was improvised.
The handle has a hair line crack near one of the edges, running parallel to it, but never actually touching the edge. I will probably repair it and provide plastic epoxy underneath the channel in which it is located to reinforce it, but it should be fine.
The bar had some pretty significant ridges or burrs on it, but I filed them down smooth and I don't see any bluing next to the edges. It is a Stihl bar, but the only marks on the chain are stamped on the links: JD. Seemed to be in decent shape but no idea what brand.
So my initial strategy is as follows:
1. Get the IPL, OM, and Service Manual
2. Replace the impulse and fuel lines, and fuel filter. The air cleaner was dirty but cleaned up quite nicely and i think is fine.
3. Replace the chain brake and the mechanism cover. This 034AV also has another plastic cover below the chain brake mechanicsm access cover, and it appears almost stapled in place. I haven't pulled that one yet pending review of the IPL, but I assume it just gives more access to the oiler.
4. I will do a vac test on it, but most likely will change the oil seals regardless.
5. I haven't pulled the muffler yet, but this saw takes a fair amount of strength just to pull the recoil cord, so I am pretty confident the cyliner and piston are in good shape.
6. Repair the handle.
7. Clean up the chain a bit. It looks like there is rust alonge the sides, but it might just be dirt. It will prbably clean itself with use, but I may soak it in WD40 just to get some of the gunk out of it. Seems to be in decent shape.
Don't know anything yet about the ignition side, and will test that later to verify I have spark. I think this saw was used heavily and then for whatever reason, was put aside and left that way for a long period before it found its way to my possession. On the other hand, this saw was designed for professional use, so I am hopeful that with the carb cleaned up and lines replaced, it will be just fine.
As to the 026?
The auction was for a choice of either saw, and the 026 clearly had a compression problem, so I took the 034AV for that and other obvious reasons. But then the 026 was offered for $35, and I havw two 026's, one of which I re-built, and the re-built one needs a new handle, which costs over $50 on ebay. And....the rest of the saw looked pretty good, other than the chain was not moving freely. So I succumbed to tempation, and it came home with me.
I pulled the muffler and most definitely there is scoring, although suprisingly enough I did get it to catch once when I tried to start it. The air cleaner is one of those fine-mesh stainless steel ones and looks almost new. The case and plastic make me think this saw did not get tons of use, although the 18" bar hat came with the saw I can't identify. this is the 026 that has what looks like a "button" for a gas tank vent, and I wondered if there isn't some sort of plastic cover that should slide over the plastic post that surrounds it.
The bar I can't identify but the chain is a stihl, in decent shape. Again, it was caked in dirt, and the chain didn't slide freely because someone had screwed around trying to discable to chain brake, and in so doing, distorted it so it rubbed all the time. The carb was not too bad on this one, though I will likely re-build it anyways. Not sure why it burnt up, but most likely an air leak somewhere, whether the seals or impulse line. I will replace both.
So on this one, I plan on doing the following:
1. Pull cylinder and see if I need to replace both piston and cylinder, or just piston and rings.
2. Install a new chain break band.
3. Replace fuel line, filter, and impulse line.
4. Re-build carb.
5. Vac test for seals and impulse hose before replacing to see if I can find out why it failed.
This saw doesn't appear to have been used hard.
So now my plate is full. I will likely repair both; keep the 034AV, together with one of the 026's and the 009L; and sell two re-built 026's, and my 012. The hard part about selling saws one repairs as an amateur is that one hates to lose them after that effort. But on the other hand, selling them makes room for new ones!
Robert
BUT....
There were three very lonely, and very dirty, Stihl chainsaws: an 024, and 026 and an 034AV. The 024 was missing its muffler, and I already have an 026, so I was able to resist temptation. But the 034AV!!!! Early in my chainsaw education my neighbor lent me his MS360 after I burned up a big-box little McCulloch chainsaw trying to dispose of a VERY BIG ash tree, and I will never forget the feeling of cutting up that tree with that saw and how nice a machine it was. In fact, it was that experience that made me decide I needed to acquire a Stihl one day, and after I re-built the McCulloch, I eventually started down this CAD path acquiring damaged Stihls and learning about them. Which brings me back to this 034AV, which when I pulled the starter rope appears to have very good compression.
The saw was most likely used by someone who did quite a bit of cutting, considering it has the Stihl 20" bar with the replaceable nose. The 3/8" pitch chain was not terribly dull, but the saw looked as if it had been left for sometime, still full of sawdust, twigs, and dirt. I was ready to pass on it, but decided I would bid up to $50, and sure enough, I got it for $45.
So last night I couldn't resist tearing it down and cleaning it up a bit to see what I was dealing with. I think it is a later model 034, or someone upgraded it, since it has the adjustable oiler. Someone had put in fresh gas, but of course couldn't start it. When I took the carb off, I opened the diagphragm side and it was almost full of sawdust under the plate: there was no way that diaphragm could work; no place for it to move. On the other side, the screen was pretty rusty, and in my desire just to clean things up with compressed air to see if I could start it, I managed to blow the screen (which was probably almost plugged) away somewhere into the night thus ending any hope of trying to start it that night. I was planning on buying a re-build kit for the carb so it is no big deal, but I was stupid to let it happen. The carb is manufactured for Stihl by Tillotsen (sp?), and seems very similar to the Walbro's I have worked on before.
Pulling the chain guard confirmed my thoughts regarding neglect and maintenance. Besides being covered with caked sawdust, the chain brake steel band was removed. The chain brake mechanism appears to be intact, but the cover was cracked in one corner, and the previous owner had just placed a dob of silicone over the area, though I am not sure why since there was no brake to operate. The oiler hose was rock hard, and should be replaced. The oiler reminds me of the one that was on my 029, as opposed to what is on the 026: just a thin wire that slips into the clutch drum slot, instead of the wider steel arm of the 026's.
The impulse line appears to be fuel line, and is also hard and does not want to stay in place. I don't have an IPL yet so I don't know for sure, but on all my other stihl's this line has been a formed line, not a fuel hose, which makes me think it was improvised.
The handle has a hair line crack near one of the edges, running parallel to it, but never actually touching the edge. I will probably repair it and provide plastic epoxy underneath the channel in which it is located to reinforce it, but it should be fine.
The bar had some pretty significant ridges or burrs on it, but I filed them down smooth and I don't see any bluing next to the edges. It is a Stihl bar, but the only marks on the chain are stamped on the links: JD. Seemed to be in decent shape but no idea what brand.
So my initial strategy is as follows:
1. Get the IPL, OM, and Service Manual
2. Replace the impulse and fuel lines, and fuel filter. The air cleaner was dirty but cleaned up quite nicely and i think is fine.
3. Replace the chain brake and the mechanism cover. This 034AV also has another plastic cover below the chain brake mechanicsm access cover, and it appears almost stapled in place. I haven't pulled that one yet pending review of the IPL, but I assume it just gives more access to the oiler.
4. I will do a vac test on it, but most likely will change the oil seals regardless.
5. I haven't pulled the muffler yet, but this saw takes a fair amount of strength just to pull the recoil cord, so I am pretty confident the cyliner and piston are in good shape.
6. Repair the handle.
7. Clean up the chain a bit. It looks like there is rust alonge the sides, but it might just be dirt. It will prbably clean itself with use, but I may soak it in WD40 just to get some of the gunk out of it. Seems to be in decent shape.
Don't know anything yet about the ignition side, and will test that later to verify I have spark. I think this saw was used heavily and then for whatever reason, was put aside and left that way for a long period before it found its way to my possession. On the other hand, this saw was designed for professional use, so I am hopeful that with the carb cleaned up and lines replaced, it will be just fine.
As to the 026?
The auction was for a choice of either saw, and the 026 clearly had a compression problem, so I took the 034AV for that and other obvious reasons. But then the 026 was offered for $35, and I havw two 026's, one of which I re-built, and the re-built one needs a new handle, which costs over $50 on ebay. And....the rest of the saw looked pretty good, other than the chain was not moving freely. So I succumbed to tempation, and it came home with me.
I pulled the muffler and most definitely there is scoring, although suprisingly enough I did get it to catch once when I tried to start it. The air cleaner is one of those fine-mesh stainless steel ones and looks almost new. The case and plastic make me think this saw did not get tons of use, although the 18" bar hat came with the saw I can't identify. this is the 026 that has what looks like a "button" for a gas tank vent, and I wondered if there isn't some sort of plastic cover that should slide over the plastic post that surrounds it.
The bar I can't identify but the chain is a stihl, in decent shape. Again, it was caked in dirt, and the chain didn't slide freely because someone had screwed around trying to discable to chain brake, and in so doing, distorted it so it rubbed all the time. The carb was not too bad on this one, though I will likely re-build it anyways. Not sure why it burnt up, but most likely an air leak somewhere, whether the seals or impulse line. I will replace both.
So on this one, I plan on doing the following:
1. Pull cylinder and see if I need to replace both piston and cylinder, or just piston and rings.
2. Install a new chain break band.
3. Replace fuel line, filter, and impulse line.
4. Re-build carb.
5. Vac test for seals and impulse hose before replacing to see if I can find out why it failed.
This saw doesn't appear to have been used hard.
So now my plate is full. I will likely repair both; keep the 034AV, together with one of the 026's and the 009L; and sell two re-built 026's, and my 012. The hard part about selling saws one repairs as an amateur is that one hates to lose them after that effort. But on the other hand, selling them makes room for new ones!
Robert
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