Firewood? (3 Viewers)

[rkymtnflyfisher]

any updates on this rkymtntflyfisher?

Seized piston. Root cause is unknown, everything checked out through the software perfect, no issues with the carb. Nothing wrong except the piston seized. No explanation as to why.

It is currently waiting for parts availability to be repaired under warranty. Unfortunately there appear to be no parts in existence to make the repairs.

I'm arguing for full replacement with a new saw.


Every day I don't have my saw is going to delay my wood cutting, I usually try to be done with the majority of it by July.

 

[Big Ed]

Aftermarket parts are probably plenty, but I can understand not wanting to go there.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

Aftermarket parts are probably plenty, but I can understand not wanting to go there.

14 hours on a pro grade saw, I'm either getting a brand new saw or they're rebuilding it with all Stihl parts.

 

[e9999]

what can that software tell about the saw?

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

what can that software tell about the saw?

From what I'm gathering, a lot.

@D'Animal may have better input.

 

[Big Ed]

14 hours on a pro grade saw, I'm either getting a brand new saw or they're rebuilding it with all Stihl parts.

Even if it means buying firewood this year, and maybe they’ll have the saw fixed by next season?

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

Even if it means buying firewood this year, and maybe they’ll have the saw fixed by next season?

The hell with that, they better hand over a brand new motor before we get to that point.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

Got my saw back yesterday, they replaced the piston, cylinder, and upgraded the ignition module. Still no idea on why the piston seized to begin with, all parameters logged on the saw were normal, the carb checked out fine. I put a fresh chain and new bar on it yesterday to run it for a few, runs great.


Leaks oil like an old Cummins diesel engine now.

 

[Hojack]

 

[Big Ed]

What length bar is the longer one?

 

[Hojack]

What length bar is the longer one?

MS 461 with 3’ bar

 

[Big Ed]

Here’s mine with the same bar, great saw.

 

[YODA 88 62]

Recently took a sawyer/felling class for work and decided to dive deep into to chainsaws. I own an MS180 that I was given and did basic refresh minus a cylinder job. I also learned how to properly round file a chain which was proven in three days of cutting trees at 9000ft using an MS362C. Great saw but the cold starts suffered when the barometric pressure changed when storms were rolling around. It would take a minute or two of warm up to get reacclimated.

Started building a MS460 from scratch today using the Farmertec kit from HL Supply. Overall, I think the quality is pretty good. The head could use some polishing but it came with the sharp edges of the ports smoothed down. The wrist pin fit nicely in the cylinder. The kit was missing a couple crucial parts…the right size crankcase seal, throttle rod were the big ones.

Does anybody have any opinions of tolerance for the assembly of the saw? Got the crank spaced around .013 and .022. The rings provided are at .012.

Non-Genuine Complete Repair Parts fits Stihl 046, MS460

www.hlsproparts.com

 

[YODA 88 62]

Finally got the MS460 completely built and tuned-ish. The assembly was pretty straightforward with a build video on YouTube. All the steps should be similar for any professional style Stihl saws. 2hrs 20 mins long.



Further reading has mentioned using stock Stihl parts for the oil pump, oiler plate, decompression valve, NGK plug, bumper spike, bar and chain.

First pulls-
The saw started after 15 or so pulls. After a little while of running, the saw would die after it warmed up. The spark plus that came with it would short out after the saw warmed up. I first played with the carb setting it to stock specs and flooded it to the point fuel was coming out of the exhaust. Once cleared out, I pulled the plug when cold and hot. The saw had two different colors of spark. When cold the spark was bright white and after warm up it would be come weaker looking dark brown/purple spark. Seemed like a short in the plug when warm. Changed the plug to and NGK and the saw ran smoother at all temps.

Tuning-
The stock, 1 turn out on the H and L, got the saw start and run. I could fine tune the L but got a little response from the H and no response from the LA with multiple turns from seated. It’s strange, but this is an off brand carburetor instead of the stock Walbro. It currently is idling around 2500 rpm and hitting a high around 12,500 rpm. Hard in a cut puts the saw around 9-10,000 rpm. I have a little over an hour of cutting time with it. My plan is to run 35:1 fuel for added lubrication. The saw won’t see a ton of use in the future…more of just a project. The money spent on a Walbro vs a $23 carburetor isn’t worth it. I’m also basing my tuning on a $20 tachometer.

I added 3/4 wrap handle for $40 and likely purchase and chain or two in the future. The saw is perfectly balanced with a 20” bar.

After this project, I am comfortable with doing another build, tuning, and feel more confident in doing field diagnosis or repairs. There are tuning videos out there that do a great job of explaining how to tune the edges of the piston for maximum lubrication, and tuning the intake/exhaust edges in the head for ring longevity. The head walls were already done pretty well from the factory.

Pics of after the build and with the added tachometer. Also, added a proper spark plug cap instead of the odd spring that pokes two holes in the plug wire.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Good Job!

 

[Big Ed]

Just spent eleven nights at our mountain place, took two loads to our friend’s store during that time. I’ve gotten bad about getting firewood pictures, I keep forgetting. This is from our first trip.

 

[Big Ed]

The first three pictures are from a few weeks ago.

I cut rounds into quarters or eighths, because we didn’t bring the splitter. They’re too heavy to load when whole. Cutting with the grain makes long chips like this, this is about half of them. Some people sell them for fire starter or animal bedding, but we just burned them.

This wood looks like it’s been dead a very long time. As usual for logs this size it’s only dry about three inches in, the middle is very wet. And it’s mostly good wood.

I only cut up one of the three logs.

The biggest piece is still up the hill, we’ll probably drag it down and cut up all of it early next season.

At home I made kindling from well seasoned softwoods, pine and cedar. I used the hydraulic splitter to do this. It won’t take a sliver off a log, but it will split in half until this size.

 

[Big Ed]

That oak is the second highest density wood in North America (66), it’s California black oak. The highest density is live oak (76), third highest is the black oak found in eastern states (62). For reference, lodgepole pine is (39).

 

[pb4ugo]

If you do that a lot you might consider getting a ripping chain. The cutter pitch is set around 10-15 degrees instead of approx 30 degrees for a standard chain.

 

[flintknapper]

Cutting with the grain makes long chips like this, this is about half of them.

View attachment 3173329

They are called 'noodles' where I am from.

Can be hard on a saw too. I try to avoid cutting with the grain, preferring to split the wood but you have to do what you have to do sometimes.