My Chainsaw Flew yesterday
 

Been having issues with my chainsaw. Craftsman 20" bar. It will start when cold, no problem. If I stop it after using it it will restart fairly soon after I shut it off. But when it sits for any length of time it will not start. So yesterday I was "in deep need" for my saw to work, it wouldn't start....that POS grew wings and flew across the yard!!! any ideas of what would cause this to happen?? No not how it flew, but why it won't start....

That sounds like normal behavior for small engines to me.

Start them cold, use the choke.

Once they are warm, they'll usually start back up.

Once you've gotten them warm, but they've been allowed to cool down, you'll probably need some combination of priming and choke to get it started again.

If it's been a while, have you tried cleaning/changing the plug?

Yeah I did that a few weeks back. This may be an perfect excuse, without my wife thinking I am justifying, to get a new Stihl.

I would go electric if it is just for use in the yard, mine starts every time.

Ethanol. It's been ruining more and more small engines. It gels up as it sits.

Either drain the system after you use it (if it's going to sit for a few weeks or more), or start using something like Staybilt in your gas.

Edit: Reading your post again, I might be way off. I figured when you said "won't start after sitting a length of time" you meant between jobs, not sitting for 30 minutes. It still might be the ethanol.

Electric wont even cut some of the branches I have, 36 to 48" diameter trees.I forgot about the ethanol issue, but now that you remind me I remember a conversation I had with a dealer and he said that manufactures arn't honoring warranties on new equipment that are damaged by ethanol/oil issues.

Buy the Stihl.
The one i've been using for the last 6 years i bought used.
It's cut about 30-32 cords of firewood plus all the trees that went into building my 28x56 garage. Think i've changed the spark plug once.

I grew up around chain saws, and in the 53 years of my life the verdict has stayed the same. There are only two makes of chain saws. Husqvarna and Stihl. The front runner being Stihl. The rest are not chain saws. They are toys. A Stihl costs twice as much as a toy, and delivers ten times the value.

The best might gum up with poor gasoline.

However, if it started, ran and then wouldn't run a short time later, it's not gummed up. Have you tried starting fluid on those re-starts?

Superman is right on except my Husqvarna rancher 50 has served me well for the last 25 yrs, it even went flying out of my pickup on a bumpy road, broke the arm and had it replaced, fired right up.

Always use hi octane gas without that ethanol, it is getting hard to find out here and throw in some stabil with the oil mix, marvel mystery oil doesn't hurt either.

After the saw finished its flying lesson did the chain still move?? if that safety bar moved it won't start because of that.

Your talking about the chain brake. No that wasn't the problem. If it was I wouldn't be writing this. Have replaced the bar twice though.
I bought this right before Katrina and used it more after Gustav, so I guess i can't complain. But when you need a tool, you need a tool and you need it to work.

good chainsaws are smart buys, I have 2 husky's and would only buy them odr stihl(I prefer husky) most of the smaller homeowner ones are made by poulan (cheap husky too) so if you need a new one, buy a 345/350/359/357 xp...you won't ever need another saw again

Stihl for big jobs.

Electric for trimming.

I have had some luck with crappy two strokes starting them with ether, and if I'm stuck, propane from a plumbing torch (unlit).

When's the last time you cleaned the air filter?

it might need a carb kit?

Shaft seals that leak when hot and it needs good compression when just warm???

You could read through this site.
Small Engine Repair 2-Cycle - HobbyTalk

dirty air filters destroys a small gas motor. keep it clean. no exceptions.

for yardwork, i got an ECHO. my yard shop sells ECHO, STIHL and Huskies..my 16" echo will smoke every friend's stihl..everytime. i attribute it to my near OCD with keeping a sharp chain. once a year, we meet at a buddies cabin to clear trees and get free firewood. my saw is every bit as good as the "big two".
it starts easier than any stihl. i love it.

electric chainsaws are for women living in condos..useless in my yard.

Been running old gas from my shifter kart in all my small 2 stroke engines. Too old for the high performance engine but runs great in all the low RPM motors.
Hey at 10 bucks a gallon I am not going to pour it out.

Smells real good cutting wood with that burning VP C12 gas mixed 24:1

Just babbling but all these motors run great!!!!!!!!!!!

TWSS :eek: