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A Craigstlist tale: Chainsaw, Hard to start cold harder to start warm?

Gillbot

Gillbot

Lifer
Sometimes I love shopping on craigslist!

I needed a cheap-o chain saw to remove a couple of trees in my back yard. Saw an ad for a McCulloch for $30 listed as "hard to start cold, won't start warm" yet it includes 2 extra chains and a case. I figured hell, if it'll run long enough from cold for me to cut these couple of trees, $30 is well worth it. I could always sell it "for parts" on ebay after i'm done with it and most likely get my $30 back. I emailed and asked if it was available and if he could verify it would at least start before I came to get it. He assured me yes, so I went to get it after some further email exchanges and then a phone call.

When I arrived, the guy seemed fidgety and nervous but hey, a stranger was at his house late at night so whatever. He sure did have a hard time getting it to start, but what seemed odd to me was that he didn't once touch the primer bulb on the saw. Whatever, maybe he knew a better way of getting it running than the instructions. After he fought with it for a few minutes he finally got it to run. I told him that was good enough and peeled off $30 to hand him. No point in haggling IMHO over $30 as it was the cheapest saw I could find on CL and he's had a few other calls for it. (Saws go quick here in redneck country.) My hope was that he just didn't know how to work the damn thing and it was a decent saw overall.

I get home and toss it into the garage. With the rain, I haven't had a chance to mess with it until a couple days later. I go to the garage, look at the directions on the handle and proceed. Full choke, Set trigger lock, Primer bulb 10x, pull 1x, choke to 1/2, pull 1x and BAM fires right off and purrs like a kitten. I let it warm up for the directed 10 seconds, choke off and decide to stretch it's legs a bit. This thing runs GREAT! Ok, let's see how the chain is. Eh, it cuts but could use a sharpening, still I already cut most of what I needed to so bonus. I shut it down and decide to test this "won't start hot" statement. I flip the kill switch back to run and pull the cord once. Yeah, purrs like a kitten again. Hmm, lets try again. One pull, it's again purring. Hmm, $30 well spent!! Anything I cut with it from here out is just icing.

tldr cliffs:
Bought "barely running" chain saw from craigs list for $30
Includes 2 extra chains and case
runs perfect
 
Was my victory short lived?

I decided to clean up the saw today and take the time to sharpen the chains. Sharpened the chain on the saw using the dremel kit, switched to the "spare" chain and sharpened it as well. Now I have a spare one that's already been sharpened.

Then I decided to test my skills. Once again followed the directions and the saw fired right up so I got to work. Dropped another tree and began cutting it into log sized pieces. Then it happened..... The saw flat died. Pulled the cord and it fired right back up. Hmm, what gives. O-well, hit the throttle and limbed up some of the logs then BAM, died again..... SHIT. Fearing the worst, I pull the cord. Yep, fired right up but any touch of the throttle and it instantly dies. Double SHIT. After a couple more pulls of the cord, getting it running and it consequently dying, I think the guy may have been right.

Then my brain kicked in. Popped off the fuel cap, yep, don't see a level. Pour some gas/oil mix from my weedeater in and pull the cord. Fired right back up and off to work it goes.... WHEW!

BTW, for those with a chain saw, I HIGHLY recommend the dremel sharpening kit. I bet it wasn't 5-10 minuter after setup that I had both chains sharpened. That thing is easy as pie and makes short work of sharpening.
 
James your a lucky shit... ($30 chain saw just add gas/oil)...😛

Guess I should not tell you about the Stihl 28V Farm boss my brother in law gave me because it did not run...? (cleaned the little piece of tip cleaner tool that was broke off in the carb main jet & had a brand new bar and chain on it)...:biggrin:
 
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I'll bet you not only wasn't he priming it, he probably kept the choke on. That's what was probably causing it to die out on him when it was warm.

Perfect case of RTFM!
 
I kinda had the same experience with a band saw. The people didn't know how to adjust the blade guides. "It cuts but I won't stay straight. I just want it out of here."
 
Yeah, sometimes there are gold ads on craigslist. I really just needed a saw for a couple trees. I have an electric but it's only a 10" bar so it's limited in what it can cut. Though, after the father in law saw some of the trees i dropped with it, he was seriously 😱😱😱

I just figured since I have a HUGE Catalpa tree I want to limb up and thin out, it'll be much easier to get into it with a gas saw than worry about a cord.
 
CPA said:
I'll bet you not only wasn't he priming it, he probably kept the choke on. That's what was probably causing it to die out on him when it was warm.

Perfect case of RTFM!
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I never really thought of that!! Google searching before buying it told me it could be a leaky carb gasket or basically worn motor. I accepted this and got it anyway thinking that if it lasted long enough to do what I needed it to do, that's fine also. After seeing it in person I was shocked since it looked nearly new. After watching him fight it, I had high hopes that it was just the user not knowing any better but accepted that it might be short lived.
 
You lucky bastard!

I'd do Craigslist more often, but most of the places are at least an hour away.
 
I got a pressure washer in a similar fashion. Drove by a dudes house with a big pile of junk in the driveway with a 'Free' sign. Pulled up, saw the PW, dude mentions how it never would get pressue and it was a big waste of his money and time, etc etc. Into the car and an hour later I'm at home trying it out. Yep, no pressure. Take it apart, re-seal the pump head (Simoniz makes garbage pump assemblies) and start it up. No pressure. Check the wand tip, sure enough it's in low pressure soap mode. Click it in and bam full power.
 
Picked up a 30ft extension ladder that was being sold by local church from CL. $50. Normally extension ladders are 5-$10/ft.

Now I can clean the gutters and prune the dead tree limbs around the house
 
EagleKeeper said:
Picked up a 30ft extension ladder that was being sold by local church from CL. $50. Normally extension ladders are 5-$10/ft.

Now I can clean the gutters and prune the dead tree limbs around the house
Click to expand...

better to put gutter guards on them gutters and be done. Go to supplier, don't go to home depot since they gauge. I think I paid like 1 dollar a foot for aluminium gutter guards in 400 linear feet box.
 
I'm guessing that the guy left the choke on or something. The older McCulloch chainsaws are freaking awesome and high quality. After the original owner sold it to Black and Decker quality was the first thing to get dropped, and intentionally so. A lot of my family worked at their plant and knows the details.

Before B&D : After a flywheel broke they went through the process of x-raying every flywheel for cracks even though it only happened once.
After B&D : Replaced a steel part with a plastic part for the purpose of having it wear out in three years.
 
Yeah, people are dumb. I scored a free lawnmower off the curb awhile back. Idiots thought the engine had seized up. I guess no one told them about the safety handle that needs to be held down for the engine to rotate/start.

The other day I got a free gas grill off the curb. The previous owners had bought a new one and put the old one on the curb, with a full tank of propane. $20 bucks in free propane and only cost $10 for a new grate. The burners are in perfect condition.
 
Gillbot said:
Sometimes I love shopping on craigslist!

I needed a cheap-o chain saw to remove a couple of trees in my back yard. Saw an ad for a McCulloch for $30 listed as "hard to start cold, won't start warm" yet it includes 2 extra chains and a case.
Click to expand...

The memories McCulloch brings back. My dad had a McCulloch back in the 1970s and 1908s, we used to pull on the cord for an hour before that thing would start.

After dad started buying Sthils, the McCulloch sat in the shed and was never used. I think it was sold off, or traded off just to get rid of it.

If that thing cranks and runs, consider yourself lucky.
 
Jimmah said:
I got a pressure washer in a similar fashion. Drove by a dudes house with a big pile of junk in the driveway with a 'Free' sign. Pulled up, saw the PW, dude mentions how it never would get pressue and it was a big waste of his money and time, etc etc. Into the car and an hour later I'm at home trying it out. Yep, no pressure. Take it apart, re-seal the pump head (Simoniz makes garbage pump assemblies) and start it up. No pressure. Check the wand tip, sure enough it's in low pressure soap mode. Click it in and bam full power.
Click to expand...

lol, what a moron (not you, the original owner), that's the first place to check.
 
I've gotten some TV's (32 inch) that people were basically giving away for $10 because they got an LCD. Well after 2.5 years the tube is finally going so I'm going to curbside alert them.
 
Well, so far it's been running great. 2 pulls from cold and it runs fine. 1 pull and it fires right back up hot. No idea why he had trouble with it but after tearing it down and cleaning it up, it has little wear on the sprocket. I think this one will last me a while and was well worth the $30.
 
Gillbot said:
Well, so far it's been running great. 2 pulls from cold and it runs fine. 1 pull and it fires right back up hot. No idea why he had trouble with it but after tearing it down and cleaning it up, it has little wear on the sprocket. I think this one will last me a while and was well worth the $30.
Click to expand...

I'd guess that's likely from him not adjusting the tension properly on the bar. But new sprockets aren't exactly bank breaking parts.
 
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