Farmertec ms250 kit build problems

[Nutball]

Has anyone here built one of these? Those who have worked on OEM are welcome to comment on how parts should fit.

I hate the FT 250, a lot doesn't fit well in the engine area. As far as I know, there is little or no gap between the engine halves even without the bolts installed, but there's a huge gap on these FT clamshell, like 1mm. It's like the bearings & seals are too big around. Really they didnt machine the pockets deep enough in either half by the same amount as if it was intentional. I guess I could just use a lot of gasket maker and not tighten the screws too much to avoid possibly deforming the seals.











I ground the cylinder side pockets to reduce the gap. The crank pan doesn't seem to fit well to the clutch side plastic, and it doesn't sit down on the metal screw holes as if the recess cast around each hole in the pan isn't large enough.

I also had to grind back a couple cylinder fins so the heat shield can fit between the cylinder and muffler, but I don't know yet if it will all fit.

 

[Sagebrush33]

I've been tempted to buy some of their cr.....stuff but resisted and waited till I found OEM. Was looking at the FT 440 crank. I'm glad I waited for the good used OEM. On another note, I hear from members here that their plastics fit well and are of good quality.
The exception would be their gas tank/handle assemblies. I'm not sure where I heard it but, something about the plastic used for the tank not compatible with fuel.

Good luck with your MS250 build.

 

[Nutball]

Some of the good reviews you see, are they good kits people got or were they ignorantly assembled poorly? The 250 seems consistently poor with the 2 kits and 3 extra engines I have.

 

[Sagebrush33]

I was referencing the plastics covering the engine, filter covers, and carb bases.

 

[Nutball]

I was speaking generally about FT kits.

I just found a couple other threads talking about the pan not fitting, and ignition timing being a potential issue, but the timing was off when putting a 250 engine in a 210 with a 210 flywheel. One picture I saw showed the halves fully together, which I find hard to believe, when they were sealing the engine.

 

[Wonkydonkey]

It’s hard to say what’s wrong, but somthing is not right.

Either they sent something wrong (ie, model) or it’s not machined right.
I guess the only way is if someone can measure oem parts for you.

And or get the oem ipl and check bearings and seal sizes.

if the top half bearing pockets are not machined correct. Your squish will be way to big.
So I’d forget about filling the gap with anything

 

[Czed]

Has anyone here built one of these? Those who have worked on OEM are welcome to comment on how parts should fit.

I hate the FT 250, a lot doesn't fit well in the engine area. As far as I know, there is little or no gap between the engine halves even without the bolts installed, but there's a huge gap on these FT clamshell, like 1mm. It's like the bearings & seals are too big around. Really they didnt machine the pockets deep enough in either half by the same amount as if it was intentional. I guess I could just use a lot of gasket maker and not tighten the screws too much to avoid possibly deforming the seals.
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I ground the cylinder side pockets to reduce the gap. The crank pan doesn't seem to fit well to the clutch side plastic, and it doesn't sit down on the metal screw holes as if the recess cast around each hole in the pan isn't large enough.

I also had to grind back a couple cylinder fins so the heat shield can fit between the cylinder and muffler, but I don't know yet if it will all fit.

The only ft issue I had was I bought a cylinder kit for a 372
That didn't have the muffler bolts tapped
And had one broken ring.
So I e-mailed pics
Oddly they sent three piston kits
And two cylinder kits with pistons.
And had me keep the old cylinder I tapped and used.
So they've been good about replacing parts for me.

 

[Egg Shooter]

The only ft issue I had was I bought a cylinder kit for a 372
That didn't have the muffler bolts tapped
And had one broken ring.
So I e-mailed pics
Oddly they sent three piston kits
And two cylinder kits with pistons.
And had me keep the old cylinder I tapped and used.
So they've been good about replacing parts for me.

They love you long time

 

[Sagebrush33]

Since their QC sucks, I wonder if they cheaped out on the quality of their metals too.

 

[Nutball]

The 250 pan fit issue seems common, I ground the metal bolt hole inserts to a smaller diameter. Having ground the bearing and seal pockets some, I got it to fit together. Engine is sealed, I'll install it later. Squish is still big enough.

 

[Nutball]

The engine sits too low so the clutch rubs. It's most likely from the plastic being out of alignment. I'll try shimming the engine higher with 1184 as washers.

 

[Nutball]

I had to shave out some plastic to get the clutch drum to stop rubbing.

Does this part go on before the engine is bolted into the case? I'm not sure there's any hope of getting this piece to fit.

 

[Nutball]

More plastic shaved and I managed to stuff that piece in place.

Now the handle won't fit the top cover. Time to shave more plastic

 

[Nutball]

And here I thought I was assembling a fake

 

[Nutball]

The stubby impulse line is on the wrong side.

 

[Nutball]

Major pain getting the boot through too. Who do I blame for all this, Stihl? Echos are so super easy compared to this.

 

[Wonkydonkey]

I’ve tried a few different ways to get the boot through the plastic, it usually involves spraying with a bit of silicone and bit of strong thin cord in a larks foot for pulling it through, but easy to take off. And a pair of long nose pliers to help with the last bit.

I use silicone spray on most rubber parts, as it just reduces the friction it has on the matting surfaces

 

[Nutball]

I think they included the wrong wires. I don't see the one that has a pin on the end for the off switch.

I wish I had some pictures of what it's all supposed to look like on the saw.

The parts explosions from Stihl are not much help as they don't show how things line up half the time. I'm not sure how the choke linkage connects.

Looks like the L screw can't be reached with the air filter cover on, so why protect it with the rubber thing?

I'm not sure I can figure out how to hook the fuel line to the carb. Many things seem to be missing or backwards. Maybe they mixed parts from different versions of the 250.

 

[Nutball]

Thanks, you guys have been a lot of help. Now all I need to do is grind the flywheel key, and mod the muffler.

 

[Nutball]

The starter cover is a pain to get on and off. I tried to start it and the recoil had a lot of trouble pulling the rope back in. Another yank pulled the cord out. After I got the cord back I in it it started recoiling a bit better after several pulls.

I got it running. The clutch springs are too strong or something because it has to reach a very high rpm before the chain starts moving. I almost thought something broke because I could rev the saw and the chain wouldn't budge. First cut was terrible, 4 stroking and clutch slippage, little torque. With an H screw adjustment and that warm up cut it got better.

The clutch is still a problem, but it cuts well if you keep the rpm up.