Stihl Pullin'

[toolmaker]

Disclaimer: I am a true Stihl fan, all my ope equipment is stihl.

Why is a stihl so hard to start compared to other brands?
It's embarrassing.

 

[Stem]

lot of factors here, you're opening a can of worms lol. specific models are you referring to? stock/modified? fuel type?

all my mine (numerous Stihl's from 150TC to my 880, my Husq 390 & Echo 620PW) start within 3 pulls being dead cold no matter how long they sit.

I run non-E gas mixed at my preferred ratio with my preferred oil, but none of these saws are "stock"

 

[Seachaser]

Believe it or not, my 500i is one of my hardest starting professional saws. I run both brands.

 

[toolmaker]

I have a variety of machines:
025 saw, stock. 026 pro, stock. 036 pro, modded. 462c, modded. 2 blowers. 1 string trimmer. I have run a wide varietry of fuel from 87 pump gas to av gas.

 

[Maintenance Chief]

Disclaimer: I am a true Stihl fan, all my ope equipment is stihl.

Why is a stihl so hard to start compared to other brands?
It's embarrassing.

The decomp has a smaller blow hole, I usually swap them out with a Husqvarna 372xp decomp.

 

[Sloughfoot]

Shot of starting fluid is policy now for me. I'm done jerkin saws 5 to 20 times depending on which when they can all be started in 3.

 

[EFSM]

Disclaimer: I am a true Stihl fan, all my ope equipment is stihl.

Why is a stihl so hard to start compared to other brands?
It's embarrassing.

A lot of it is the poor startup timing curves in the coils. Also super dumb starter design doesn’t help.

 

[Maintenance Chief]

I've exploded alot more other brands starters, and not 1 stihl.

 

[Lawless]

I hear this complaint a lot but all of my equipment is creamsicle and I don’t have the issue.

 

[EFSM]

I've exploded alot more other brands starters, and not 1 stihl.

It’s all about technique. People who engage Stihl’s plastic pawls before pulling are fine. Those who don’t will wear out the pawls occasionally. I think that overall Stihl starter pulleys are a little smaller than other brands, although I don’t have hard data to back that up.

 

[Brad Button]

Shot of starting fluid is policy now for me. I'm done jerkin saws 5 to 20 times depending on which when they can all be started in 3.

Starting fluid = scored piston/cylinder

 

[Sloughfoot]

Starting fluid = scored piston/cylinder

.
Cylinder and piston are wet from the last time it ran. I don't run it on starting fluid, put just enough in to make it pop. Every time it turns over more mix goes in.

 

[mainer_in_ak]

Did u check the piston for casting herpes damage? Surprised he cut this video. The fan boys who have their heads so far up Stihl's aszhole, u never hear about this:

 

[Sloughfoot]

Did u check the piston for casting herpes damage? Surprised he cut this video. The fan boys who have their heads so far up Stihl's aszhole, u never hear about this:

One more reason to be a fan boy of vintage.

 

[Wolley]

I've never had an issue with starting any brand if it's running correctly. But I've sold a few saws and even the cremesickle enthusiasts with the most senior experience seemed to have developed their own techniques for starting contrary to the mfg procedure.

 

[EFSM]

I hear this complaint a lot but all of my equipment is creamsicle and I don’t have the issue.

It’s all about how aggressively you can pull the engine over. At 25 and blessed with more than my share of shoulder muscle, I haven’t found a chainsaw that gives me trouble, but customers who are complaining about how hard machines crank usually are talking about MS250 or 290 or related models when they aren't able to crank them fast enough. Then they fire before the piston is at TDC and jerk the cord out of your grip.

Most of these people would benefit from a notch cut in the roof of the exhaust port to reduce engine compression enough to let them crank it faster. Stihl does that on some of their EZ start trimmer models, and other manufacturers have as well (Kawasaki and Echo employed similar technology in their trimmers).

 

[Stem]

It’s all about how aggressively you can pull the engine over

I somewhat agree with this. I think a lot of people just grab a saw (or other OPE) and start yanking the cord like its their chode, by then they've either flooded it or their arm is tired.

put it on choke, pull it over slowly a few revolutions to "prime" it, then yank that MF like it owes you money, once it burps turn the choke off and give er one more yank. It'll run.

again, none of mine are stock. mostly because I can't leave anything alone... I hate how lean stock saws are.

 

[MtnHaul]

Disclaimer: I am a true Stihl fan, all my ope equipment is stihl.

Why is a stihl so hard to start compared to other brands?
It's embarrassing.

What exactly do you mean by hard to start? Having to pull the starter handle too many times? Prone to flooding?

With the exception of a Husqvarna 545FR clearing saw I only own Stihl and everything starts reliably even if it has sat a long while--BR450, FS 561, 028 Super, 261, 044, 046, 461, 462, 661, FS 240, hedge trimmer. Last week I started an 029 that belongs to a client and after a year of sitting with Motomix in the tank all it took was full choke and 3 pulls before it popped--not bad considering it sat for a year.

 

[toolmaker]

By saying hard to start I mean: I have to pull the cord 10 to 12 times before it farts. Then a couple more til its running. I take a lot of crap from my friends. At about 4 pulls, they all start saying "Stihl pullin".
Most of them have Husky saws. They start in 3-4 pulls.

 

[MtnHaul]

Hmmm. 10-12 pulls would aggravate me too--that ain't right. I'm at about 1400ft elevation and don't see too many extreme temperature changes--40F to 90F covers most of the year--but pretty much everything Stihl pops after 2-3 pulls on full choke, and then 1-2 pulls at half choke. Even my FS561 with M-Tronic and less than a year old reliably takes 2-3 pulls at full choke and then 1-2 more to start. The few times I've had in issue with getting that first pop on full choke I think it was a minor carb adjustment that helped straighten things out. IIRC adjusting the "L" screw fixed the problem.