Stilh 250 Easy Start Rope Replacement

[lefturnfreek]

So for the most part I run big saws but will always reach for the MS 250 with easy start , wife's saw, when smaller jobs have to be done. But on the last quad trip I went on, the recoil rope broke but because of easy start worked perfectly so the saw was still runnable with only a 3in's of rope to pull on.

So I went to replace the rope and..... what a pain....I was ready to pull the spool and drill it out, it was sooo bad. The hole in the spool is sooo small that even the proper sized rope is tight going in.

So I wound up melting a piece of mig wire into the rope and using a small screw driver to push at the same time, managed to pull the new rope through.

Is there an easier way?

Should I just pull the spool and open the hole up a couple thou?

 

[LegDeLimber]

I used to have enough callous on my fingers to be able to grab the heated rope end and pinch point on it that was easier to pull through.
sometimes on a hole like that you're better off pulling the rope from the opposite direction.
Take the needle nose or hemostats and worm the pointy tip in from the hub side and pull outward.
Could be a bit tricky to get it fed through the shroud eyelet though.
last few ropes I've installed, I've worn a pair of the blue disposable gloves and sacrificed them
to the heated pinch.

Sorta makes a fellow appreciate an old roomy 8hp, B&S centrifugal ball type recoil for ease of rebuilding.

 

[lefturnfreek]

It was melted and pulled tight so the end wasn't any lager than the rope it's self and going the other way was a no go as it jammed into the recoil spring which is exposed in a small window opening in the spool....

I shoulda taken pics of the imbedded/cooked in plastic but that was in my right hand, which was taking the picture...

Yes, if this is progress give me a B&S any day, hell I got a Brigg's only motor running my splitter and it's working just fine...

 

[w8ye]

The saw takes 3mm rope. Your cord may have been larger?

Great that you managed to get the rope through the hole though. As long as you can get enough wraps around the pulley.

I make a straight and square burn across the rope end before trying to put it through the hole.

I doubt you having any trouble with it now?

 

[kylemorley]

Your wire method looks good to me. Anything to avoid removing the pulley!

I have just had a series of misfortunes touched off by the rope jamming in my almost-new M250 E2S and would caution anyone working on these saws that the E2S mechanisms are much more delicate than is apparent, and capable of doing $100+ damage in the blink of any eye.

If it is necessary to remove the rotor, take great care not to let the spring get away. If it does, consider replacing the spring ($11) as uncontrolled decompressing seems to damage the spring, so that it will be predisposed to escape from its compartment, and chew up the $100 flywheel. Note that if you do manage to reinstall the old spring the E2S may operate perfectly at first, only to fail catastrophically several hours or days later.

Oh and be sure the the LH- threaded steel peg in the starter basket is tight since it can spin itself out, resulting in the destruction of the $50 basket (I locktited mine).

 

[LegDeLimber]

The mig wire in and still kept the taper less than the rope size looks smooth.
But on looking at the pic again, looks the rope is pushed
or bunched up all the way around that 180 bend?
Was that from stuffing the wire in it or just from the effort of trying to push a marshmallow into a piggy bank slot effect?
If the rope was puffed up when you started, I imagine that could make the fit aggravatingly tight.

 

[xtremez]

I used to have enough callous on my fingers to be able to grab the heated rope end and pinch point on it that was easier to pull through.
sometimes on a hole like that you're better off pulling the rope from the opposite direction.
Take the needle nose or hemostats and worm the pointy tip in from the hub side and pull outward.
Could be a bit tricky to get it fed through the shroud eyelet though.
last few ropes I've installed, I've worn a pair of the blue disposable gloves and sacrificed them
to the heated pinch.

Sorta makes a fellow appreciate an old roomy 8hp, B&S centrifugal ball type recoil for ease of rebuilding.

Ive found if you spit on your thumb and pointer finger you can grab the melting rope end and shape it with no problem

 

[AKDoug]

3.0 mm rope for standard MS250. 2.7mm rope for the easy start. It makes a difference.

 

[lefturnfreek]

The original rope was removed and matched up so the size is the same and the original rope was tough to pull out so maybe it was the wrong stuff from the factory....

The end of the rope may have gotten fluffed a bit before the pic got taken cause it was pulled tight when it came through the spool as it was flat out ignorant....I'm actually surprised the mig wire stayed in place cause I had to put a leather glove on and wrap it around my hand, put a knee on the recoil and pull....