Starting saws

[Gamma Woods]

My 550mk2 can sometimes be finicky. Won't idle after a cold start on cold Canadian winter days, it needs to have a relatively long time on fast idle to warm up a bit first. Unlike every other saw I have, I can't just blip it occasionally to keep it going until it's warm. Autotune quirk I assume.

However, I fricken hate the starter. Broken a few too many assorted starters in my life, so I've learned to tease it to the start of the compression stroke and give a good smooth rip. Instead, it's a bumpy rough pull through alternating 0 resistance and sharp jagged/slamming catches. Not like it's firing and kicking back, but like the starter goes through several stages of catching and letting go, similar to the very first part of a pull on other saws if I don't jiggle it to the compression stroke. Regardless of how fast I pull it, might be some imperfect design to make starting easier but I don't like it. It's not difficult to pull or to start, it just doesn't feel right and I think it's a lot of abuse to put it through.

 

[Brushwacker]

My 550mk2 can sometimes be finicky. Won't idle after a cold start on cold Canadian winter days, it needs to have a relatively long time on fast idle to warm up a bit first. Unlike every other saw I have, I can't just blip it occasionally to keep it going until it's warm. Autotune quirk I assume.

However, I fricken hate the starter. Broken a few too many assorted starters in my life, so I've learned to tease it to the start of the compression stroke and give a good smooth rip. Instead, it's a bumpy rough pull through alternating 0 resistance and sharp jagged/slamming catches. Not like it's firing and kicking back, but like the starter goes through several stages of catching and letting go, similar to the very first part of a pull on other saws if I don't jiggle it to the compression stroke. Regardless of how fast I pull it, might be some imperfect design to make starting easier but I don't like it. It's not difficult to pull or to start, it just doesn't feel right and I think it's a lot of abuse to put it through.

My starter on my mk2 works about like what you discribed. I don't remember if i have the idling problem. Haven't used it a lot yet and been rotating several different saws between my personal ones and test runs on repairs.

 

[Brushwacker]

Wanna sell it .

If someone dropped by and cover all I have in it I'd let it go at this point. I can keep it or leave it, probably will not use it a lot until it gets freezing temperatures.

 

[Brushwacker]

8-10 pulls to start a saw is NEVER good, it would be a shelf items or bench item for sure. I finally found that when I had trouble, it was because hearing protection stopped me from hearing the POP, and that extra pull flooded it. Lesson was 1 ear open until start. If mine did not pop by 3rd pull (Cold), I would stop and recheck fuel level/ choke position, etc. Consider cleaning carb internal fuel screen and replacing fuel filter? Do you brush away sawdust before opening fuel/oil caps?

I done what u done enough times flooding to learn to pull the muffs up. Saw is new, probably 8 to 10 tanks through it. I expect between autotune and some more breaking in it will improve some. May be the fast idle should be a bit higher, anyway I can live with it for now. It's not a big problem.

 

[Sierra_rider]

No ground starts for me. All the top handles and the little rear handle(mk1 550) get drop starts(with my right hand on the pull cord.) If I'm at my real job where they are sticklers for OSHA compliance, I'll do the 'between the legs" method with the small saws...basically nest the rear handle between your knees and pull with the right hand.

With all my saws with long bars, I do the "west coast style" drop start. You east coast guys could call it the over the log method lol...basically have the end of the bar resting over a stump or log and pull the cord with your left hand, while your right is on the throttle...all the while doing a dropping motion with the saw. Chain brake helps with that one...if it's off, or you don't have one, be prepared to blip the throttle on a cold start.

Most of my larger saws have higher than stock compression and don't have compression releases anymore, so this method is the best way to start them. I'd actually like to see somebody try to start my 066 or 880 from the ground lol.

 

[Sierra_rider]

I should also mention, that my only saw that struggles with starting is my mk1 550xp. I've had it before, where it flat out refused to start on a hot start. My struggles with that saw, originally made me hesitant to buy my M-tronic Stihls. However, my 201tcm and ms400 are the easiest starting saws in my whole fleet...the current gen M-tronic is pretty badazz IMO.