Friday, October 04, 2024

Two Pulls

 Being a country boy, I've owned chainsaws my entire adult life and I truly hate the damned things.  Noisy, oily, and dangerous,  I have never been comfortable running a chainsaw.  My latest chainsaw was one I bought at the local power equipment store, and it's a good one.  Echo brand. I've had it for 10-ish years and it still starts on the second pull.

For that, I give credit to my Dad, who said that there are several things that we must do for our small engines so that they run consistently.  1) Good, fresh fuel.  These days I run True Fuel in the chainsaw.  40:1, although the book calls for 50:1  That little bit of extra oil doesn't hurt a thing, and might actually help.  Then, when you're done, drain the fuel from the tank, and start the engine, letting it idle until if runs dry.  There may be a little fuel left in the lines, but not enough to gum things up.  And 3), give it a little cleaning before you put it away.

The chainsaw has been around for 10-ish years, gets run maybe twice a year, and still starts on the second pull. I changed the spark plug and filters maybe two years ago.

When this one gives up the ghost, I won't buy another gas-operated saw.  The electric ones are so much nicer, and probably better for my applications.  They still need bar oil, though.

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