Chainsaws

[Mac66]

My chainsaws have been out of commission for about a year and a half,

The big one a stihl 029 needed a chain tensioner and the small one (stihl ms170) would start but had no power. Didn't really need them since I had piles of cut logs to split but as I split them I realized that I needed my chainsaws up and running eventually.

So I started googling chain tensioner and of course YouTube and amazon popped up. According to YT it's an easy fix and fairly cheap on amazon. Ordered one a couple weeks ago and swapped out the 30 year old one.

I then googled ms170 and YT popped up again. Watched a video that said a common issue with the 170 was a blocked exhaust screen. Apparently they put a screen over the exhaust port as a spark arrestor. When it gets clogged it prevents exhaust from escaping which causes back pressure. My screen was completely blocked. Cleaning it restored full power. I then opened the exhaust ports a little bit more which boosted it even more.

I had to try them out on a pile of logs. I used the 170 to cut a bunch of 4" limbs. It ran until the chain kept falling off. Got so I couldn't tighten it any more. What happens is the chain stretches and the process of extending the tensioner compresses it until it won't go any farther. Time for a new tensioner. Off to amazon to order one.

I then fired up the 029 for the big logs. It did good until it didn't. The chain locked up. After trying different things I took it apart and noticed the chain drive sprocket was broken. Off to the ace hardware in town which sells stihl saws. Apparently they dont use that design anymore so it was replaced with a more efficient design.



I didn't try it out today since while moving a large log yesterday I pulled something in my shoulder. Pretty painful and I couldn't bend my arm. It's a bit better now so maybe tomorrow I'll get back to cutting wood.

That's all for now, pics and more latter.