Ryobi Chainsaw Recoil Problem

[Turd Furgeson]

Hey Guys,

I broke out the cheapo ryobi this spring and the pull cord was extremely hard to pull. It started on the second pull and ran with no issues so i knew the problem was with the recoil. I pulled the recoil cover off and found one of the dogs mounted to the flywheel that are spring loaded and catch the recoil were bent. I did a search online and found one other guy had a the same problem, he ordered new ones and they bent so he filled the bend with brazing rod. I have some JB weld that i was thinking of trying but don't I risk throwing off the balance by adding weight to the flywheel assembly. Any thoughts?

Any other ideas? Should I order redmax dogs and hope they're made out of better steel?

Thanks,

TF

 

[promac850]

As long as it's symmetrical as possible, I don't think it would be a problem. Just make sure the surface of the dogs where you're going to put JB weld on is perfectly clean.

 

[ttyR2]

I'd braze them like he did for better strength vs. JB Weld. Wouldn't be hard to balance the two dogs with a scale and file one until they match in weight.

 

[Turd Furgeson]

I figured i'd dig up this thread. I took my saw apart to do a muffler mod last night. One of the starter pawls is completely bent over. The other one seems to be holding up. I had bent the bad one back to the same angle as the good one after I put this thread up and used a little jb weld. The jb weld came off the one that bent over.

Has anybody else had these issues with their ryboi, craftsman, or redmax?

I'm debating if I should order the ryobi parts or try to get some japanese craftsman/redmax parts to repair it. I think either way I would put a some weld behind the pawls before I put it on the saw to reinforce them.

 

[Fish]

I figured i'd dig up this thread. I took my saw apart to do a muffler mod last night. One of the starter pawls is completely bent over. The other one seems to be holding up. I had bent the bad one back to the same angle as the good one after I put this thread up and used a little jb weld. The jb weld came off the one that bent over.

Has anybody else had these issues with their ryboi, craftsman, or redmax?

I'm debating if I should order the ryobi parts or try to get some japanese craftsman/redmax parts to repair it. I think either way I would put a some weld behind the pawls before I put it on the saw to reinforce them.

I have a bunch of cats, but have never seen a turd dig itself up before!!!!

I have had a few unruly ones after Tequila Tuesdays........

 

[ttyR2]

If you're going to replace them anyway, find out if the arms are easy to bend with a vise and some pliers. If they are, you might try hardening them. Heat 'em red hot, dunk in oil, then re-heat till they just barely start to turn red (veeeery dark blood red). Then let air cool. Might toughen them up a bit.

 

[Chris-PA]

Does it look like this?

This is my McCulloch MS4018, a Jenn Feng clone of the GZ4000. I have not found them to be weak, but maybe in time. My Earthquake CS3116 is basically the same design, and it has a fairly high compression and pulls pretty hard. Could there be something else that is causing it?