Turd Furgeson
Well-Known OPE Member
Looking for advice here, I have the worst luck doing any type of business with friends. More often than not I get left holding the bag on things.
I have an old work buddy, that became a chainsaw buddy. We worked at two companies together, great guy. We're not best friends or anything, but I enjoy catching up from time to time. Anyways...
His dream saw was a Stihl 064, they have a cult following as you know. Clean examples can bring really good money. I wouldn't say I'm great at finding deals, I'm just a bachelor with a dog so I have more free time than my friends that have families do to look. Said friend told me to watch for an 064 for him a while back. He said anything under $550 in decent shape would be good for him. I tried sending him ads and eBay auctions, but he was always slow on the draw and never pulled the trigger. I'd hear remorse on deals passing him by.
So, last fall I did a random ebay search and saw a 064 listed seconds before my search. An estate sale flipper listed it "AS is" bought at a local logger's estate sale, turns over and has compression, know nothing about chainsaws. All in and to my door it was $425, saw looked fairly clean and well taken care of other than a dented muffler cover and standard paint loss. Said "F" it and pulled the trigger. I had no desire for an 064 and knew if the saw ran it was a steal, and if it didn't I could probably re-list it on eBay and get my money back. Told my buddy I bought it and eventually let him know I bought it for him. He said he was interested, and to be fair I forgot he was trying to piece together a 066.
The saw came, looked as good in person as it did the pictures. Had great compression. Pulled the muffler, checked the P&C, it wasn't factory fresh but looked good. Buttoned it up, filled the tank, gave her a prime down the carb and it fired on the second pull. Took a video and sent that and the pics to my buddy. Ran for a bit and started loading up. I adjusted the low jet and it sat and idled away while I did other things in the yard for 20 or 30 minutes. Revved it a few times, turned it off, dumped the gas, and put some MMO in the cylinder to soften the carbon up and get into the ring groove.
Checked in with my buddy, he said the money was tight and to check back in after the holidays. I was going to pass it on for the $425 I had in it. I threw it on a shelf. I checked back in after the holidays and he said he couldn't swing the saw and I should keep or sell it. I was bummed, disappointed, but not surprised. I have a transmission in my shop with a similar back story.
Anyways, the saw sat for 4 more months. During a conversation the buddy asked if I had the saw yet, I said yes. He offered $450 and I said sold. So we did the deal. I didn't try starting the saw again, I didn't see a reason to.
That night I get a text that it has no spark. Seems odd for a coil to suddenly go bad sitting on the shelf. I wonder if the plug got fouled by the MMO or it was just over-choked, but my buddy would take offense if I asked simple things like that. I ask what he wants and he said he'll just get a new coil since he "stole a big Stihl" from me, the coil didn't bother him.
A while goes by and I don't hear anything. I text and get a response later in the day and I'm told that a new coil went on and he's used the saw a bit, he likes it a lot and it has more power than his 460 at about the same weight. He ordered new seals, case gaskets, and a bunch of other stuff as preventative items. I would have just left it unless a problem came up.
Later that same day I get a text, saying the saw is "f'ed". He was willing to overlook the coil, but now a cylinder head bolt is stripped. He sends a video with an impact driver running the M5 bolt up and down like my cousin's kid at his little tikes workbench. There are block-off plates on it now and it looks like he was doing a pressure test. I'm not sure if it was a pre or post seal/gasket job. The saw did not run like it had an air leak, and he didn't mention it earlier in the day.
I know a lot of guys use impact drivers, but I've broken and stripped enough larger stuff with them on my car, that I won't use them for anything but the flywheel and clutch nuts on a saw. There is no second chance with impacts as far as I am concerned. They're great until they're not and then you're screwed.
Furthermore, I believe stripped cylinder head bolts are semi-common on 064's. Stihl changed it from M5 to M6 for later 064's and 066 saws. I wouldn't consider that being an "f'd" issue either. A heli-coil or tapping it to M6 would both be easy low-risk repair. Especially if he was willing to tear it down earlier in the day for preventative maintenance.
So now I'm at a loss on what to do. I want to just give him his money back and be done with it. But I also don't know what else was messed with now, and if there will be hard feelings because he went out and bought a bunch of stuff it didn't need. The video makes me uneasy, free running the stripped bolt in soft magnesium is essentially making the situation worse. If he wallowed it out too big for a heli-coil or m6, then I have to deal with that headache.
At the end of the day it's a 35 year old USED saw that I tried to do a solid for a buddy on. His dealbreaker is a known easily fixed issue (could be wrong on that) on a model he wanted. I was going to pass it onto him for no profit but took $25 for holding it for a few months. I've bought stuff from this same friend for more than $25 that he dragged home from the dump.
What would you guys do?
Lesson finally learned I'm done trying to help people out.
Thanks,
TF
I have an old work buddy, that became a chainsaw buddy. We worked at two companies together, great guy. We're not best friends or anything, but I enjoy catching up from time to time. Anyways...
His dream saw was a Stihl 064, they have a cult following as you know. Clean examples can bring really good money. I wouldn't say I'm great at finding deals, I'm just a bachelor with a dog so I have more free time than my friends that have families do to look. Said friend told me to watch for an 064 for him a while back. He said anything under $550 in decent shape would be good for him. I tried sending him ads and eBay auctions, but he was always slow on the draw and never pulled the trigger. I'd hear remorse on deals passing him by.
So, last fall I did a random ebay search and saw a 064 listed seconds before my search. An estate sale flipper listed it "AS is" bought at a local logger's estate sale, turns over and has compression, know nothing about chainsaws. All in and to my door it was $425, saw looked fairly clean and well taken care of other than a dented muffler cover and standard paint loss. Said "F" it and pulled the trigger. I had no desire for an 064 and knew if the saw ran it was a steal, and if it didn't I could probably re-list it on eBay and get my money back. Told my buddy I bought it and eventually let him know I bought it for him. He said he was interested, and to be fair I forgot he was trying to piece together a 066.
The saw came, looked as good in person as it did the pictures. Had great compression. Pulled the muffler, checked the P&C, it wasn't factory fresh but looked good. Buttoned it up, filled the tank, gave her a prime down the carb and it fired on the second pull. Took a video and sent that and the pics to my buddy. Ran for a bit and started loading up. I adjusted the low jet and it sat and idled away while I did other things in the yard for 20 or 30 minutes. Revved it a few times, turned it off, dumped the gas, and put some MMO in the cylinder to soften the carbon up and get into the ring groove.
Checked in with my buddy, he said the money was tight and to check back in after the holidays. I was going to pass it on for the $425 I had in it. I threw it on a shelf. I checked back in after the holidays and he said he couldn't swing the saw and I should keep or sell it. I was bummed, disappointed, but not surprised. I have a transmission in my shop with a similar back story.
Anyways, the saw sat for 4 more months. During a conversation the buddy asked if I had the saw yet, I said yes. He offered $450 and I said sold. So we did the deal. I didn't try starting the saw again, I didn't see a reason to.
That night I get a text that it has no spark. Seems odd for a coil to suddenly go bad sitting on the shelf. I wonder if the plug got fouled by the MMO or it was just over-choked, but my buddy would take offense if I asked simple things like that. I ask what he wants and he said he'll just get a new coil since he "stole a big Stihl" from me, the coil didn't bother him.
A while goes by and I don't hear anything. I text and get a response later in the day and I'm told that a new coil went on and he's used the saw a bit, he likes it a lot and it has more power than his 460 at about the same weight. He ordered new seals, case gaskets, and a bunch of other stuff as preventative items. I would have just left it unless a problem came up.
Later that same day I get a text, saying the saw is "f'ed". He was willing to overlook the coil, but now a cylinder head bolt is stripped. He sends a video with an impact driver running the M5 bolt up and down like my cousin's kid at his little tikes workbench. There are block-off plates on it now and it looks like he was doing a pressure test. I'm not sure if it was a pre or post seal/gasket job. The saw did not run like it had an air leak, and he didn't mention it earlier in the day.
I know a lot of guys use impact drivers, but I've broken and stripped enough larger stuff with them on my car, that I won't use them for anything but the flywheel and clutch nuts on a saw. There is no second chance with impacts as far as I am concerned. They're great until they're not and then you're screwed.
Furthermore, I believe stripped cylinder head bolts are semi-common on 064's. Stihl changed it from M5 to M6 for later 064's and 066 saws. I wouldn't consider that being an "f'd" issue either. A heli-coil or tapping it to M6 would both be easy low-risk repair. Especially if he was willing to tear it down earlier in the day for preventative maintenance.
So now I'm at a loss on what to do. I want to just give him his money back and be done with it. But I also don't know what else was messed with now, and if there will be hard feelings because he went out and bought a bunch of stuff it didn't need. The video makes me uneasy, free running the stripped bolt in soft magnesium is essentially making the situation worse. If he wallowed it out too big for a heli-coil or m6, then I have to deal with that headache.
At the end of the day it's a 35 year old USED saw that I tried to do a solid for a buddy on. His dealbreaker is a known easily fixed issue (could be wrong on that) on a model he wanted. I was going to pass it onto him for no profit but took $25 for holding it for a few months. I've bought stuff from this same friend for more than $25 that he dragged home from the dump.
What would you guys do?
Lesson finally learned I'm done trying to help people out.
Thanks,
TF
