BigWill1985
ArboristSite Lurker
OK, so here is a little background...
I just recently started my own arborculture business. My business partner has an extensive amount of experience in the business (25+ years, working for many different companies in our area and an insane amount of knowledge of all aspects of tree care) and I have an extensive amount of experience in mechanics of all sorts (hyraulic systems, gas/diesel cars and trucks of all kinds, boat repair, small engine repair, fabrication, modification, and many more). I have a garage full of tools and can generally repair anything I encounter sooner or later.
Anyway, we bought a used Stihl 066 as our trunk cutting saw. It runs a 36" bar, and ran great when we first got it. We used it on 2-3 jobs, and finally decided to take down a tree on my property that has been bothering me (25' tall locust that was rotten from the inside out). We were cutting away at the trunk, and the saw just bogged down and died. I messed with it for 20-25 minutes, and finally gave up as I couldn't get it to fire at all. The saw had great spark, but just wouldn't fire. I noticed that the compression release wasn't shutting, and also checked the compression on the motor (was somewhere around 100psi, can't remember exact figure). So, I pulled the jug. Replaced the compression release, and found that the rings were all sticky and gummed up (carbon mixed with thick grime). I picked up a new set of rings, drained the fuel, and replaced it with Trufuel. Honed up the cylinder, replaced the spark plug, and threw her back together. The saw started up that time after 4-5 pulls, and seemed to run OK although I needed to tune on the carb to get it just right. While I was tuning the saw, it died and will not start now. I noticed the compression wasn't as strong as before, so I sprayed a little PB Blaster into the cylinder. The spark plug looked dry, as if I wasn't getting any fuel at all. Still has strong spark, just a weird fuel issue. The fuel lines looked fine, as far as I could tell.
I have a few questions regarding this saw. First off, I searched about these carbs and noticed that I have a carb with the red plastic plugs. Can I just remove these with an O-ring pick and have full control of the carb settings? Also, how difficult is it to rebuild these carbs? Is it even worth rebuiding, or should I just order a replacement carb if I sense issues with it? I have done a lot of work on different carbs over the years, and generally have pretty good luck with them. However, my uncle works on small engines for a living and always claimed that chainsaw carbs are nearly impossible to rebuild and do any good.
What are your thoughts?
I just recently started my own arborculture business. My business partner has an extensive amount of experience in the business (25+ years, working for many different companies in our area and an insane amount of knowledge of all aspects of tree care) and I have an extensive amount of experience in mechanics of all sorts (hyraulic systems, gas/diesel cars and trucks of all kinds, boat repair, small engine repair, fabrication, modification, and many more). I have a garage full of tools and can generally repair anything I encounter sooner or later.
Anyway, we bought a used Stihl 066 as our trunk cutting saw. It runs a 36" bar, and ran great when we first got it. We used it on 2-3 jobs, and finally decided to take down a tree on my property that has been bothering me (25' tall locust that was rotten from the inside out). We were cutting away at the trunk, and the saw just bogged down and died. I messed with it for 20-25 minutes, and finally gave up as I couldn't get it to fire at all. The saw had great spark, but just wouldn't fire. I noticed that the compression release wasn't shutting, and also checked the compression on the motor (was somewhere around 100psi, can't remember exact figure). So, I pulled the jug. Replaced the compression release, and found that the rings were all sticky and gummed up (carbon mixed with thick grime). I picked up a new set of rings, drained the fuel, and replaced it with Trufuel. Honed up the cylinder, replaced the spark plug, and threw her back together. The saw started up that time after 4-5 pulls, and seemed to run OK although I needed to tune on the carb to get it just right. While I was tuning the saw, it died and will not start now. I noticed the compression wasn't as strong as before, so I sprayed a little PB Blaster into the cylinder. The spark plug looked dry, as if I wasn't getting any fuel at all. Still has strong spark, just a weird fuel issue. The fuel lines looked fine, as far as I could tell.
I have a few questions regarding this saw. First off, I searched about these carbs and noticed that I have a carb with the red plastic plugs. Can I just remove these with an O-ring pick and have full control of the carb settings? Also, how difficult is it to rebuild these carbs? Is it even worth rebuiding, or should I just order a replacement carb if I sense issues with it? I have done a lot of work on different carbs over the years, and generally have pretty good luck with them. However, my uncle works on small engines for a living and always claimed that chainsaw carbs are nearly impossible to rebuild and do any good.
What are your thoughts?
