Farmer Tec piston and seals

[sefh3]

Well I've been out of the game for a bit. I was searching for a new piston for an MS260. I found Definitive Dave's store and noticed he has what I need. My question is how are these pistons holding up and how "good" are the seals?

 

[Genius]

I've been using a fair amount of their seals and cylinder kits. I've been happy so far and guys who I've put their kits in for haven't had any issues to date.

With the pistons, do put Cabers in.

 

[Mark71gtx]

I have had the same luck as Genius. I put Cabers on all of my keepers, customer saws get what they want. I always suggest the Cabers, they do not always bite. The ones that left with the Farmertech rings have not had any problems as of yet either FWIW.

 

[Czed]

Almost two years on a bigbore 371 with Caber's high use saw I've been impressed also did pistons for a husky 257 and a stihl ts400 cut off saw I believe they were farmertech too I always run Caber's when I can find them.

 

[Mastermind]

I use a metric chit ton of aftermarket seals. Use them and be glad that you don't have to pay a Stihl dealer retail prices anymore.

 

[Definitive Dave]

if you are looking for a specific model, post it up here and I will give you my thoughts
as they develop or have developed for them new products they are adding their embossed Farmertec logo, in general these items have been exceptional
I am not a cheerleader of the Farmertec Carburetors, they are made by Hunai and work but have a cheaper feel to them than the Zama sourced carbs at about the same price for me - I like the Zamas well enough so far that I don't mind having to buy them on batches of 100 for each model.
The Farmertec Crankshafts are not as nice and tight as the crankshafts out of NWP Taiwan, they have a bit more slop and I would rather pay a few bucks more for something that would be such a huge pain in the ass to replace again.
Poge let me know the carb gaskets in the Husky 51/55 complete gasket and seal kit from NWP are a bit off and need trimming and finagelling to work right.
For some reason the MS260 farmertec fuel tank assemblies (they don't make them) all have leaking tank vents, luckily Farmertec sources their bulk vents somewhere else so I include those with the tanks and they work fine.
Farmertec large fuel caps have had a run of recent oversized O-rings intermixed in bags that make them unusable
NWP 051/075/076 gasket sets only include two of the oil seals needed, not all three
The crankcase gaskets that come with most of the nice crankcases out of Farmertec are the thin white waxy paper style I have gotten from HL in the past and they frankly suck out loud. Again the funny thing is Farmertec sells the nice slightly thicker black gaskets separately.
I STRONGLY PREFER caber rings and clips or OEM Stihl Clips with all pistons regardless of if they come from Farmertec or NWP. The FT rings are meh, and the NWP only slightly better.
Secrets are evil
I had a complaint from a guy who ordered 4 Farmertec MS200T intake manifolds that they were too stiff when cold and he was afraid they would pop off during use, but no complaints on the other 93 sold so far.
Farmertec decompression valves used to be hit or miss, I switched to the NWP valves and let FT know that I had switched and why, lo and behold the FT valves are now identical to the NWP valves
I don't manufacture anything I sell, when guys tell me something sucks, I take notes and adjust my orders accordingly.


Wow I am a long winded dummy, his first line said it was for an MS260 <DOH>

those are fine, no complaints, make sure you need the 44.7mm, I occasionally have guys who buy them for an 026 by mistake
Again Cabers and OEM circlips are way better.
Dave

 

[sefh3]

Thanks for the input, Dave. I have never used these so that's why I'm asking. The aftermarket world has exploded in the past year to year and half. I've been out of the saw building for that time.

 

[Definitive Dave]

gotcha man no problem
thanks

 

[Gypo Logger]

I have two 372's with BB 52mm P&C by Farmertec. With only a GD & MM, both saws really get up and talk.
Been thinking about doing a bit of porting on them, but I am very satisfied with the way the run now.

 

[jmssaws]

I use lots of aftermarket seals and haven't ever had a problem, good product.

 

[David Young]

I use lots of aftermarket stuff,

only thing I have had problems with is a 5 pack of 026 crank seals. i'd put in a set, start the saw couple blips seal would fail, repeat and repeat. After the third set I bought the seals from stihl ( pronounced steal). It went in tested and seems to be fine saw went back to owner.

I'm glad they work for people but I am going to shy away for a while.

 

[Gypo Logger]

I use lots of aftermarket stuff,

only thing I have had problems with is a 5 pack of 026 crank seals. i'd put in a set, start the saw couple blips seal would fail, repeat and repeat. After the third set I bought the seals from stihl ( pronounced steal). It went in tested and seems to be fine saw went back to owner.

I'm glad they work for people but I am going to shy away for a while.

Stihl probably got said seals from China anyway and sold for a 1000% markup. It's the North American way.

 

[Genius]

Before Dave I ordered a lot from various overseas suppliers from China off of eBay.

More than once a few parts actually had all the Stihl markings and PN's.

Two China carbs that were Zama replacements had the Stihl stampings on the top covers.

 

[Definitive Dave]

there are a few former Stihl subcontractors using up parts stashes I believe
Dave

 

[fearofpavement]

I use a lot of Farmertec parts and overall have been happy with them. The fuel lines don't work on the 1127 series saws but haven't had problems with other model's fuel lines.
I've had one mechanical failure over the years and that was with a circlip that broke an ear. There's a thread somewhere on some forum regarding that.
I've had some of my 039 rebuilds doing commercial firewood and no complaints.

I do have an issue I'm sorting out with Huztl right now regarding an MS660 crankcase. It came all corroded. (like it had been exposed to an ocean environment). Nothing else in that shipment looked like it had been wet or moist so I think it must have been that way before it was shipped. It had enough corrosion on it that the sealing surfaces were rough and it would have taken a lot of work to clean it up. I'll see what happens with that.

I will say that Huztl/Machinesdoctor does seem to be responsive to issues that are brought up to them regarding parts quality and that they do seem committed to marketing higher quality parts than some of the Asian vendors. Overall, I don't think you can beat their products for the money. They are often not the cheapest for a particular part but I buy from them because I have confidence I will get a consistent product. Some vendors just seems like a crap shoot. Sometimes nice, sometimes not...

 

[Genius]

Are Farmtec, Huztl and Machine Doctors all the same stuff and off the same line, just different marketing?

 

[fearofpavement]

Are Farmtec, Huztl and Machine Doctors all the same stuff and off the same line, just different marketing?

Farmertec is the manufacturer, Huztl and Machinesdoctor sell their stuff. However, I have received Farmertec items from other Asian vendors too. Best I can tell, Huztl and Machinesdoctor are the same seller.

 

[sefh3]

I use a lot of Farmertec parts and overall have been happy with them. The fuel lines don't work on the 1127 series saws but haven't had problems with other model's fuel lines.
I've had one mechanical failure over the years and that was with a circlip that broke an ear. There's a thread somewhere on some forum regarding that.
I've had some of my 039 rebuilds doing commercial firewood and no complaints.

I do have an issue I'm sorting out with Huztl right now regarding an MS660 crankcase. It came all corroded. (like it had been exposed to an ocean environment). Nothing else in that shipment looked like it had been wet or moist so I think it must have been that way before it was shipped. It had enough corrosion on it that the sealing surfaces were rough and it would have taken a lot of work to clean it up. I'll see what happens with that.

I will say that Huztl/Machinesdoctor does seem to be responsive to issues that are brought up to them regarding parts quality and that they do seem committed to marketing higher quality parts than some of the Asian vendors. Overall, I don't think you can beat their products for the money. They are often not the cheapest for a particular part but I buy from them because I have confidence I will get a consistent product. Some vendors just seems like a crap shoot. Sometimes nice, sometimes not...

With your last statement is why I asked the question. I've built a few 1127 series with aftermarket kits. A few were sketchy while others were good. It was a crap shoot then.

 

[DSS]

Are Farmtec, Huztl and Machine Doctors all the same stuff and off the same line, just different marketing?

There's about 20 sellers with Farmertech stuff. I've ordered from two different sellers and had it all arrive in the same bag. I think it all comes from the same warehouse

 

[fearofpavement]

There's about 20 sellers with Farmertech stuff. I've ordered from two different sellers and had it all arrive in the same bag. I think it all comes from the same warehouse

There's definitely different shipping companies. Huztl and Machinesdoctor always came wrapped in yellow tape balls and no one else packed their parts like that. The yellow tape has now stopped as of a month or two ago and now everything comes wrapped in big plastic envelopes.