Stihl 034 Super AV EQ

I know my coworker was complaining about the chain on his old hoosky wasn't smooth when he pulled it across the bar by hand while sharpening...said he had just replaced the sprocket and put the same old chain back on... I had him put a new chain on and it was fine...makes sense to me, just as with a drive chain, they work best as "matched sets" (wear wise)

 

Over on AS I've seen a lot of people who say they buy one sprocket and two chains and when the chains are done they replace the sprocket.

I've always been a change-your-oil-early kind of person with my equipment. I'd rather change it early than change it late. I try to keep track with a spreadsheet. Gonna have to add a chainsaw tab now.

 

Took out the 034 S today and split a round in half to make a nice mounting stump for my tire. This is nice and wide and low.

Took me a second to get used to the power of the bigger engine and man I feel like it just carved right through that white oak. I will say, though, that the chips from the RM chain looked a bit less "chippy" than from the RS chain. I'll have to try out the RS chain next.

Throttle felt good and had no issues at all. Very happy. Fingers crossed.

 

Took the 034 S out today to buck up some pine from a FBMP ad. Man this guy sure has a lot of logs. Everything was going great until.......the starter pawls disintegrated. I knew something was funny when I started it the other day. Felt like the pawls were not catching and when I took it apart to look they were getting stuck every once in a while. I lubed it up with some pb blaster but I guess they were on their way out.

The bark on the pine pretty much fell right off. Those logs have been there a while it seems. Wood was still pretty wet though.

Also went to the dump and got a nice score of Norway Maple. Man I love splitting and burning that stuff.

I did some quick research and I was not starting the saw properly....instead of pulling lightly until the pawls engaged I just pulled straight away. Lesson learned. That said I didn't start the 034 S many times at all but I think that increased amount of compression puts more strain on the starter pawls and maybe they were going already. I sure didn't help them last though.

 

That can happen. Is everything on correctly (flywheel, recoil pulley, spring that holds the pawls, etc.)?

Ive had it happen with a couple AM recoils. I typically replace the guts with OEM.

 

The pawls disintegrated as did the plastic inner part where the pawls attach. I'm pretty sure they didn't retract and got eaten up by the ribs of the flywheel. The rope is ok, the spring is ok, that flat cover over the spring is ok, as is the outer shell. But I need to replace the piece that the rope coils around as well as the 2 pawls, the small washer, and the spring clip.

There are two versions of the starter on this particular parts diagram. Mine looks like this one.

Stihl 034 Chainsaw (034) Parts Diagram, Starter (31.2001)



#8 Rope rotor
1125 195 0401

#10 Washer
0000 958 0923

#11 Pawls (2)
1125 195 7200

#12 Clip
1128 195 3500

 

Tree guy said it's sugar maple and looking at the bark I agree...but the inside just reminded me of norway maple and it smelled like it too. I wonder if it was some sort of cross breed. Had that dark center line I'm used to seeing in Norway maple.

 

Ok so I need a new replacement starter coil spring. The one I have was slipping and when I took it apart the bend that's supposed to hold it in place was inside and under the cover instead of being on the slot that is visible next to the cover. Also it looks like the cover got bent up and damaged so that will need to be replaced as well.

#6 1118 190 0600 - Stihl Rewind Spring
#7 1118 195 0300 - Stihl Spring Housing

This is what it should look like:



and this is what it looks like now:



You can see a tear just before 12 o'clock on the pic below on the top side of the cover where the spring opening is. I'll order both parts.

 

Ordered a 3-pack genuine OEM. $40 free shipping. It fits the 028 as well so I figured I might as well get 2 extra just in case. Came with the covers included and the package sealed tight with the coil already inside the cover.

 

Also installed the oem chain guards (2 in the front, 1 black rubber one in the rear) on the cover of the 034 S. The OEM ones fit very snugly and the AM ones are crap.

 

I learned my lesson on recoil springs today. It wasn't too bad but after the tree guy stopped by the two of us put the coil back in......and then when I went to install it it popped right out so I had to do it myself...which I didn't mind. Much easier having seen it done. For this saw there's the old style with the cover that holds the spring face down so you have to coil it into the metal spring cover first and then flip it into the flywheel cover.

I also learned my lesson on the pawls. I had the spring clip upside down so it was not catching properly. Once I flipped it the pawls worked as they should.

Trimmed up a small load of red pine from the dump and the saw felt awesome. Woo hoo!

 

Well it feels like 5 years have passed since I built this 034 Super............but it has only been 1.5 years and today is a sad day.

Got the 24" Sugihara bar and because I couldn't get the MS460 to start (I fixed that by opening up the gas cap and closing it. Pressure had built up from sitting so long!!) I decided to test the bar out on this saw.

Trimmed up maybe 6 rounds of white oak and it was cutting great. Then I noticed that the chain brake was all loosey goosey all of a sudden. Made 2 or 3 more cuts with the chain brake not functioning at all and then called it quits.

When I opened the cover the first thing I saw was a chunk of magnesium and I knew it was bad. I was also shocked at how dirty it was under the plastic cover. I have not cleaned under that cover since it was rebuilt.





Broken chain brake handle.



And here is where the chunk of magnesium came from. The hole for one of the pins for the chain brake just chipped right off. It seems like this is somewhat of a common issue as I was scouring eBay for an 034/036/ms360 crankcase and saw a guy selling one cheap........only to look at the pictures and description carefully and noticed that saw is broken in the same exact spot!!! The broken chunk is sitting right below the oil hose.





Here is the chunk held in place with my finger.



I wonder if using 3M's 2-part epoxy would be strong enough to fix this issue. I'm guessing no. I think the proper thing to do is buy a replacement crankcase for it. I've put a bit of money into this saw with all the parts I bought (Meteor piston, fuel tank vent, oil pump, dogs, and who knows what else) and I'd like to be able to re-use them.

Reading through this thread brought back a lot of fond memories of excitement because this was the first saw I ever "built". Thanks again to huskihl BuckthornBonnie M2theB and all the others who helped me out on this build and the subsequent ones.

I think this saw shall live to see another day but with a donor crankcase.

 

I know where several complete saws are if you want to have some spares. Imo it’s the way to go when parts are nla.

 

I think I have a o34 av in the shed I just sent Chud some pictures of a saw I dug out of the shed tonite I have used a epoxy from enecon that works real well you can drill and tap it it is real expensive but if you want to try I could try to send you some ( I have a container of it) maybe I could put some in ziplock bags for you you would not need a lot let me know JB

 

Yeah man that would be cool. I'll send you a DM.

I forgot to include the ebay listing that showed the same exact broken spot.

 

I appreciate the info. I will do some research. Given that the damage is to a pretty darn important part of the safety system, I hesitate slightly to consider repairing it. But I will research it thanks.

 

And I suppose my options are:

1. Run the chainsaw without a brake (very unlikely option for me)
2. Sell the chainsaw
3. Repair the broken magensium

• Option 1 - jb weld
• Option 2 - 3m epoxy
• Option 3 - stick weld (I don't even know if it's possible to stick weld magnesium)

4. Buy a donor crankcase/saw or buy a new crankcase
5. Look for a different saw (Husky 372xp!)

Opinions and experience with any of these repairs welcome.

 

Too bad about the saw after all the work you put into it. Hoping my recent 034 purchase doesnt chit the bed anytime soon. Id find a donor saw for parts.

Isnt magnesium impossible to put out if it catches fire?

 

I think I saw a bucket of sand is handy but I wouldn't know based on experience. Yeah I'll keep an eye out. 034/034 Super/036/MS360 crankcases would all work I believe.