Pole Saws - Stihl HT131 and 133 repair

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

One of my tree service friends who provides me milling wood brought me his pole saws which both broke around the same time, one was a HT133 loaner from a shop as he'd just had his repaired recently and the other was his own 131. He knew I repaired a lot of my own saws so thought I might be able to find the problem before a shop reamed him on repairs. Haven't worked with pole saws before but figured it out on the fly. The 133 was the driveshaft rod/cable, snapped near the bottom as they often do with flexible shafts, the 131 was also a broken driveshaft but in a different way. Has some rods and splined pieces instead of a long pass through flexible driveshaft. The splined driver at the base had stripped its interior keyway. I think any shop would insist on replacing the whole driveshaft assembly but I think the design was intended to be a sacrificial piece so you don't have to - the plastic strips before anything else breaks. Where the metal key fits into the hard plastic splined piece, it tears it apart under too much stress so it spins freely and doesn't drive the shaft. Bit of a bugger to remove from the lower driveshaft, had to get creative with a light slide hammer puller but got it out. Part was only $21 plus $7 shipping from Messick's in PA vs $80+ for a new driveshaft and a more complicated repair job. So if you have a HT101/131 something to think about if you ever have the same issue. First photo is what the new part looks like, second photo is the driveshaft apart showing the splined shaft fitting and in the background (behind the slide hammer) on a slab of wood you can see the broken piece where the metal keyed shaft has stripped and fallen out of the splined piece.
Got the part in this afternoon - only two days to get here - threw it together quick, and called the guy to pick it up. He could not believe I had it done so fast, he's used to waiting 2-3 weeks for parts from dealers.

 

[angelo c]

do your buddy a favor and take the shaft apart on the 131...it needs a thorough cleaning and re/degreasing way more often then told > the bearings ride on the aluminum shafts and they make "never seize" with the aluminum dust..it destroys the bearings and then the poles don't extend properly and stuff starts to break. its not fun as the never seize gets EVERYWHERE... gas is the best cleaner.

 

[angelo c]

One of my tree service friends who provides me milling wood brought me his pole saws which both broke around the same time, one was a HT133 loaner from a shop as he'd just had his repaired recently and the other was his own 131. He knew I repaired a lot of my own saws so thought I might be able to find the problem before a shop reamed him on repairs. Haven't worked with pole saws before but figured it out on the fly. The 133 was the driveshaft rod/cable, snapped near the bottom as they often do with flexible shafts, the 131 was also a broken driveshaft but in a different way. Has some rods and splined pieces instead of a long pass through flexible driveshaft. The splined driver at the base had stripped its interior keyway. I think any shop would insist on replacing the whole driveshaft assembly but I think the design was intended to be a sacrificial piece so you don't have to - the plastic strips before anything else breaks. Where the metal key fits into the hard plastic splined piece, it tears it apart under too much stress so it spins freely and doesn't drive the shaft. Bit of a bugger to remove from the lower driveshaft, had to get creative with a light slide hammer puller but got it out. Part was only $21 plus $7 shipping from Messick's in PA vs $80+ for a new driveshaft and a more complicated repair job. So if you have a HT101/131 something to think about if you ever have the same issue. First photo is what the new part looks like, second photo is the driveshaft apart showing the splined shaft fitting and in the background (behind the slide hammer) on a slab of wood you can see the broken piece where the metal keyed shaft has stripped and fallen out of the splined piece.
Got the part in this afternoon - only two days to get here - threw it together quick, and called the guy to pick it up. He could not believe I had it done so fast, he's used to waiting 2-3 weeks for parts from dealers.


View attachment 1088740

once apart, that "driver" pops out from the inside with a long shaft or dowl. BTDT many a time