by Jim Folsom | Sep 24, 2014 | SAW NEWS |
Lean seizure is the most common problem with chain saws. In these photos of replacement cylinder kits that lasted less than a month, you can see the excessive scoring on the exhaust side. The rings are practically melted into the piston. Running lean causes the saw to overheat which melts the piston. Several things can cause this problem. It could be a bad carburetor, bad fuel mix, crank seals could be leaking, intake boot leak, cylinder gasket leak, carb needs to be adjusted, etc. Things that often are blamed but are NOT the cause of this often include, port chamfers, bad plating, machining errors, faulty rings, failed wrist pin clips, or cheap materials. If a poorly shaped exhaust port was to blame then there would be a rounded or chipped edge on the rings. Whatever killed the original cylinder was not that the cylinder and piston went bad. So replacing the cylinder and piston kit did not fix the issue. Imagine your house has a leak in the plumbing and water is getting into one of the rooms, so you shop vac all the water and put damp rid in the room thinking that will fix the problem, but you did nothing to stop the leak. Then you blame your shop vac for not getting the problem fixed. Sounds silly doesn’t it? But that is what many people do when they keep putting new cylinders and pistons on their saws, they blow up again and they call the parts company and demand they send them another cylinder and piston kit for...
by Jim Folsom | Sep 18, 2014 | SAW NEWS |
This past weekend, Hall of Fame PGA golfer Greg Norman nearly made a fatal mistake. Cutting limbs down at his Florida home, he nearly severed his left hand with a chainsaw. He narrowly missed the main artery in his wrist. Had he cut it he may have bled to death before he could get to the hospital. The 59-year old Norman, who was once of the game’s greatest players having won two British Open Championships and finishing second in all four of the “majors”, is still an exceptionally fit and coordinated individual. Yet even he nearly died at his home doing a seemingly easy chore with a chainsaw. That should give some indication of how dangerous these machines can be. Please be sure to take every safety precaution when using chainsaws. Wear your safety goggles and gloves. Carry a first aid kit with you at all times as there will not always be cell reception or easy access where you may be cutting. But most of all, never take a chainsaw for granted. If it is running, it can cut you very badly. Asked about the incident on the Today Show, Norman said that “at least I can still play...
by Jim Folsom | Sep 12, 2014 | SAW NEWS |
In the 21st century, more and more people are shopping online. With good reason. There are many advantages to shopping on the internet. For instance, in many cases when buying online the consumer can avoid state sales tax. In most cases, if the seller is in a different state than the buyer, there is no sales tax. Also, there is no need to get up, shower, get dressed and drive to the store. You don’t have to drive all over town looking for what you need, in many cases not finding it, and wasting hours looking. On the net, you point and click, taking seconds to search different stores, many which are in other countries. You can shop all over the world without leaving your house. All you need is a credit card. However, there are some advantages to going to the store as opposed to buying online. One is that you take your purchase home with you that day instead of waiting for it to arrive via the US Postal Service, UPS or Fed Ex. A savvy internet shopper knows to order something a few days before he or she will need the item to give it time to arrive. A very savvy online shopper knows not to choose the cheapest shipping option when for a couple dollars more they can get priority service. For those of you new to online shopping here are some tips: If you choose standard mail, do not expect your package to arrive in a couple of days. Expect it to be a week or longer. If you choose priority mail and it...
by Jim Folsom | Sep 4, 2014 | SAW NEWS |
Have you ever pulled up to a job site, gathered your equipment, put the right mixtures in your saw and cranked it a couple times to only find your starter rope and handle is sitting in the palm of your hand? What happened? You just had a starter recoil malfunction and now you’re “on a job, without a recoil.” That’s not a good position be in. You realize that you need to replace your starter pulley, but now you are faced with many inconveniences. There is the time it takes to receive the product. Depending on how the post office feels that day, it could be anywhere from a week to a month. What if you are somewhere without internet or phone service? You can’t even order a part and get overnight delivery if you wanted to. In other words, your day is over. You’ve wasted time, gas and money to get to the job and now you may as well just pack it up and go home. Chalk it up as a wasted day. Changing a starter recoil pulley might be much easier than you actually think. Maybe there is a cheaper solution to this problem. What if you were able to do it yourself as long as you were a little prepared? This is when a good “Save-a-Saw” repair kit would come in handy. Perhaps you could take a lesson from scuba divers. After all, they too are out in the middle of nowhere when they do their thing. Scuba divers put a lot of preparation and expense into going on a dive expedition. One of the...
by Jim Folsom | Aug 27, 2014 | SAW NEWS |
You know that when the footballs start flying and school buses start running that cooler weather cannot be far behind. Now would be a good time to do some preventative maintenance on your fireplaces, wood-burning stoves, etc. Some easy steps now could save you from a catastrophe later. Did you know that over a third of Americans use fireplaces, furnaces or stoves as their primary home heating source? Most of those homes are probably in the coldest climates as well. About 35% of home fires are cause by “heating fires”. Most of those are preventable. For instance, how many of us have the chimney cleaned at least once a year? I admit, I have gone three or four between cleanings. A lot of these homes with fireplaces are rentals, so the tenants are likely not going to call a chimney sweep. Landlords are probably not thinking about it, (out of sight, out of mind). This could lead to disaster as many fires are due to a buildup of creosote. Creosote is the black, oily substance that builds up in the chimney. If it becomes thick, it can ignite, causing a chimney fire, which could spread to the rest of the house by catching the roof on fire. Also, do not burn paper, cardboard and other trash in the fire place. These objects do not burn hot enough and can cause even more creosote build-up. Creosote is caused by a low temperature burn. Do not leave a fireplace unattended with a fire or hot coals in it. Don’t leave the house or got to bed unless the fire is completely...
by Jim Folsom | Aug 21, 2014 | SAW NEWS |
If you are seeing some construction sites in your neighborhood, you are not seeing things. There is some construction happening again all over the country. How do we know? Because we sell many parts for cut off saws every day such as Stihl TS400 and TS420 saws. Cutoff Saws a.k.a Concrete Saws are used mainly in the construction business by block masons. So the fact that these saws are going through many parts such as cylinder/piston kits, starter assemblies, etc is a sign that they are being put to good use. In 2009, it was tough to find a construction site. Many people were put out of work which caused a ripple effect throughout the entire country. After all, construction workers buy things such as groceries, clothes, furniture, cars, etc. when they don’t work, they don’t buy. That’s a lot of other businesses losing a lot of revenue. So construction people using their equipment is good for everyone, not just us in the parts business. If you are in need of some parts for your concrete saw, Hyway has a wide selection for both Stihls and Husqvarnas. So give one of our distributors a call...
by Jim Folsom | Aug 12, 2014 | SAW NEWS |
School buses all of America are firing up again. This can mean only one thing. Summer is over and fall is fast approaching. It’s time to start getting those chain saws back up and running and cut those fireplace size logs now before it gets too cold outside. Many of you may go out to the shed and put the chainsaw to use, only discover it isn’t running quite as well as it was last time you cut wood. Here are some things you may encounter and possible solutions: Won’t start: This could be caused by many things but is most likely an electrical problem. This might mean a new ignition coil, or it could just need a new spark plug. Also could be a carburetor problem. You go to pull the cord and it won’t budge: This sounds like you may need a new starter recoil spring or perhaps an entire starter assembly. You pull the cord and it pulls way to easy: This could be a sign you need a new cylinder and piston kit. Low or no compression causes there to be no resistance when you pull the cord. Starts and runs for a bit, then sputters and quits: This could be another sign of a bad carb, but also could be a cylinder/piston problem. Or it could be a case of a bad fuel mixture. tank. Lots of smoke and leaking oil: That’s a case of a bad fuel mix or perhaps over filling the tank. You are probably going to want to change you air filters, oil/fuel lines and oil filters out before you...
by Jim Folsom | Aug 7, 2014 | SAW NEWS |
In this era of liberalism run amok in the USA, many industries have been demonized. Environmentalists have had their sights on ruining the logging industry for years. Some of these extremists have gone so far as to “spike” trees in an attempt to damage equipment or even injure tree cutters. They claim cutting down trees ruins the environment and destroys the habitat of many animals. They also claim this causes global warming because fewer trees producing oxygen and providing shade warms up the planet. But does this make sense? If a company is making money by cutting down and selling trees, then what is the worst thing that could happen to them? Running out of trees, of course. So these companies will plant trees to replace the trees they cut. Makes sense right? I live in an area where there is a Georgia-Pacific plant. So every day I see trucks loaded down with freshly cut trees on the way to the plant where they make paper products that you and I use every day. One would think there wouldn’t be a tree to be found anywhere within a hundred miles of this place. Yet, everywhere one looks on my one and a half hour commute to and from work it is nothing but trees. There has been barely a dent put in the tree population in the area. That is because no trees to cut means no more money. So they plant more trees. If you believe that companies cutting down trees is immoral and they should be stopped, then I would ask you what you wipe your backside...
by Jim Folsom | Aug 4, 2014 | SAW NEWS |
If you are in the Wisconsin area this week and you are a chainsaw junkie, you may want to check out the US Open Carving Championships at Carson Park in Eau Claire. Some of the best chainsaw sculptors in the world will be there showing off their skills in a competition to see who is the best of the best. Admission is free on Thursday and $5.00 in advance for Friday, Saturday or Sunday. A weekend pass is $10.00 and children get in free. Tickets are $6.00 at the door Friday-Sunday. Some of the professional carvers who will be competing include Jim Denkins, carver of the “World’s Largest Gnome” from Michigan, Chris Foltz, , from Oregon, Michael Frohlich of Germany, Takao Hayashi You will be amazed at the skill of these competitors as they turn a log into a beautiful work of art using only one tool…a chainsaw. Here are some photos from the 2013 US Open which was held at Carson Park. If we get the word out about this, who knows? This could become a huge event one day. If thousands of people will pay money to watch a bunch of people stuff themselves with hot dogs on July 4th, then surely people displaying this kind of skill is worth...
