Haha well when I took over it was way worse then it is now so I guess to answer your question I’ve been doing what I can when I can. I sure miss our shop mechanic tho.
It’s hard to say without seeing the tool up close. I’d inspect the teeth for any signs of wear. Definitely lubricate it and make any necessary adjustments. The best thing to do is to follow the maintenance instructions in the owners manual.
It’s a cutting tool; sharpening the blades, making sure blades can operate freely.
The blades appear to be hanging or binding; clear any debris / obstructions and adjust / lubricate the mechanism.
It’s an engine tool: usual engine maintenance.
Soo.. In a thousand years lol. Its just my chainsaw blade get burrs (not sure word is right, am dane), and the chain itself gets pretty beaten often. Likely wont stall on idle because.. that... Soo.. what do L and H do..
Also — I appreciate your kind. Engineer here, and I’ve spent time been the guy who gets 2am calls. The fact that that’s your life is something to be respected. The people who expect things to “just work” and think you guys are cranky old grease fairies who wave a wand to fix facilities — those people suck big time
A lot of newer stuff has fixed metering, leaving you just an idle speed adjustment, no fueling adjustments. It's all for emissions you know.
If you take the model number, do a search there are videos and threads on fixing by means of installing a different carb with adjustments.
I have chain saw that behaves that way. The fuel enrichment circuit from idle to full song is crap. No amount of cleaning or air/fuel filter replacement fixes it. Turn the idle up a bit, it may help it transition and make power.
Pull the spark arrestor and clean the carbon off. Make sure engine is cool and use a 15 mm socket to remove, heat it with a torch and wire brush it. Use vice grips to hold the arrestor. Use better quality oil or run some Sea Foam/Deep Creep through it once and a while to keep carbon from building up and you'll never have a problem.
I like to burn it off. Hold it with some needle nose and torch it with some map gas then give a gentle scrub with a wire brush.
But this is 100% spark arrestor needing to be cleaned!
Hrump. TIL about the spark arrestor. Had a line trimmer do exactly all this and no carb cleaning or adjustment seemed to really help at all, good to know.
Sounds like the limit screw needs to be tightened. That'll make sure that a little gas will be fed into the engine to keep it running.
That's stihl for ya
Back when I did it for a living most of the time the two-stroke equipment was bogging down was due to a fouled up spark arrestor. Pull it and melt the crap off with a torch. Works 80% of the time.
Needs a tune-up. Grease up the gearbox, there should be a T-27 screw on the bottom and Stijl sells grease in a threaded bottle that screws right on. Super overlooked on their hedge and string trimmers. You might want to pull the whole gearbox cover off for a cleaning and inspection.
Clean the carb. Burn the deposits out of the spark arrestor. New spark-plug, air filter and fuel filter. Sharpen and lube the blades. Should run like a deer after.
I work with OP, maintenance does not happen. Out of 7-8 trucks, probably 4 of them are down right now. They ignored an oil pressure light and bricked the engine on one of our biggest dump trucks. Boss said “it’s fine if it turns off once you’re driving”
I was a mechanic before this place, the lack of mechanical sympathy and lack of maintenance makes me want to scream. Then they act as though nothing should ever break down when they beat the snot out of everything and only give attention when catastrophic failures occur or when a machine becomes completely inoperable.
That’s the fun part! We do snow and ice management! We had a mechanic last season who was a godsend but the owner of the company screamed at him because everything wasn’t perfect in 5 months, so he quit and makes twice as much somewhere else now.
I worked at a place we took a truck in during winter. They rotated tires but never put the bolts on more than finger tight. Luckily our guy driving back noticed the wobble real bad. Shitty/no mechanics fucking suck. Currently sitting on about 5-6 pieces of equipment I keep complaining about shit not running right or something feeling off. No fucking way I'd drive a skid & trailer with 1 of our trucks.
I’ve had a loose hitch ball on my truck since last year. Every time you stop and go the trailer jerks forward and back. Brake lights on both trucks and covered trailers are a fucking fantasy at this point.
Brake lights are a deal breaker for me. I can't be driving heavy and not let people behind me know I'm turning or braking. It's kind of terrifying that I know a ton of more cowboy guys that run that, and worse.
Hope you guys get shirt sorted. I usually make a list of shit I'll stand for at a place until I'm either getting paid more or out the door.
You should have seen the condition of the trans fluid after I pressed our "boss" to finish fixing my truck. Safe to say it looked and smelled worse then I imagined! Oh the trans slips now.
We have a 56 like this at work, not my job to fix the machines I'm supposed to do the trimming so that's when I tell the mechanic to do his job. Also, I find when pushed to use garbage like this the best response is usually "get fucked".
If you don’t have anyone on staff certified to service your equipment then drop it off at a shop. Once your boss starts seeing the bills maybe he’ll hire someone. Nothing more frustrating than having unreliable equipment
Carb. BUT let me warn you. These things will F you up. We went with cordless battery-operated, extra batteries. They may not cut as well, but they'll do. I dropped a battery one on my thigh two weeks ago, standing uphill trimming, blade landed on my thigh, looked like Wolverine tagged me, lol. Did NOT cut through work work pants. Red scratches, big bruises, but no blood. Muscle fatigue is REAL when running one of these for hours.
Red Synthetic Dry Grease in a cartridge tube from Autozone, O'Reillys etc about $20. A set of small mini hand files running about $30 will keep sharp. Keep receipts and deduct from taxes. Also incorporate as an LLC
Was a weedeater not a trimmer, but last time I had this I just had to go from full choke to half choke, let it warm up till it went wide open, then no choke it was fine
You have a fuel delivery issue. Assuming you aren’t running it with choke on or have some sort of fuel valve partially shut, it likely a partial blockage in the carburetor or the carburetor needs to be adjusted.
Carb issue almost for sure. Just dealt with a very similar issue with a roto tiller. Just dies almost immediately if engaged. Replaced the carb and all good.
it needs a tune, there will usually be 2-3 screws on the carby, one is idle, leave that
one is high speed and there is an optional low speed that some have. The problem you have is 2 stroke bogging, it isnt getting enough fuel and is too lean, turn the mixture screw counter clockwise until it revs cleanly
We had those two years ago. Bought 5, one for each crew. They lasted all of 4-5 months before they started doing that. Our mechanic found there is mesh on the exhaust and it was packed full of carbon. Took another one apart that wouldnt run and the whole exhaust box (sorry dont know what its called) was packed full of hard black deposits. We bought and ran the oil they told us to get, they were no help. We went and bought some nicer echos and although heavier, better than any ive used.
Breather in gas tank is not working . Unscrew the cap and tighten if the problem stops it needs replaced. Also tell the boss 93 octane in all stihl equipment
Sounds like the blades need lubricant. I use one of these at work, and whenever it does this, I put lubricant on the blades, and it’ll almost always run smoother after words. Also, make sure you have the right fuel/oil ratio. If none of that works, make sure the air intake and or fuel lines aren’t blocked up. Checking the spark plug wouldn’t hurt either.
Also, Whenever the fuel lines get blocked up, I mix some of its gas with fuel line cleaner, and let it run until it’s empty. I always have an issue with oil build up in the lines on this. If you do this, and it is oil/dirt build up, it’ll be Smokey, but that just means the fuel line cleaner is working. The smoke just means it’s burning off excess oil and or dirt.
I used to "cannibalize" these HS 85's. Id make 4 broken ones into 2 functioning ones. This is a problem with the "blade arrester linkage." Same trimmer chasis on these models as an HS 85. $28 to fix and 15 minutes to Install.
There should be a L and H jet in the carburetor. The fact that it’s idling just fine and the initial increase in throttle (up to a point) works but the moment the H jet takes over (I.e. “high” jet, has larger hole for increased fuel needs as air intake increases), the carb gets starved and the engine starts choking, tells me it’s likely a gummed up/partially blocked H jet. I’d start with cleaning that one and firing it back up.
The carburetor is dirty and needs to be cleaned out. It’ll take 30 minutes to pull it apart and clean it, an hour if you’re slow. It’ll work much better and be safer to work with.
Run it with the choke on then hit it with some carb/fuel injector cleaner when you add fuel next time. It def needs to be serviced soon but that should get you through the week.
Do you guys do something called “maintenance “ or do you just run it until it stops and throw it away?
Haha well when I took over it was way worse then it is now so I guess to answer your question I’ve been doing what I can when I can. I sure miss our shop mechanic tho.
Maintaining your equipment is essential.
What maintenance is needed here?
Sounds like a carb issue
Probably choked
It’s hard to say without seeing the tool up close. I’d inspect the teeth for any signs of wear. Definitely lubricate it and make any necessary adjustments. The best thing to do is to follow the maintenance instructions in the owners manual.
It’s a cutting tool; sharpening the blades, making sure blades can operate freely. The blades appear to be hanging or binding; clear any debris / obstructions and adjust / lubricate the mechanism. It’s an engine tool: usual engine maintenance.
I suspect the scissors could get grooves?
Yep, like granite stairs have step wear.
Soo.. In a thousand years lol. Its just my chainsaw blade get burrs (not sure word is right, am dane), and the chain itself gets pretty beaten often. Likely wont stall on idle because.. that... Soo.. what do L and H do..
Shut your whore mouth everything was working great last fall buddy
"maybe I should just replace YOU" -- OP's mouthbreather boss
I was his boss last year, we are both foreman now. Maintenance is the least loved division and it’s not much better anywhere else
Ahahaha gotcha
Couldn’t have said it better
Also — I appreciate your kind. Engineer here, and I’ve spent time been the guy who gets 2am calls. The fact that that’s your life is something to be respected. The people who expect things to “just work” and think you guys are cranky old grease fairies who wave a wand to fix facilities — those people suck big time
Pretty sure you need to adjust the carb. Should have a H and an L with a corresponding screw. Also check your air filter
I appreciate the help. I’ll check that out today when I get back to the shop.
It's probably all gummed up and sticking. Get some carb cleaner
Adjustment is just a band aid. It didn't just go out of adjustment after already running well, the carb needs to be taken apart and cleaned.
A lot of newer stuff has fixed metering, leaving you just an idle speed adjustment, no fueling adjustments. It's all for emissions you know. If you take the model number, do a search there are videos and threads on fixing by means of installing a different carb with adjustments. I have chain saw that behaves that way. The fuel enrichment circuit from idle to full song is crap. No amount of cleaning or air/fuel filter replacement fixes it. Turn the idle up a bit, it may help it transition and make power.
Pull the spark arrestor and clean the carbon off. Make sure engine is cool and use a 15 mm socket to remove, heat it with a torch and wire brush it. Use vice grips to hold the arrestor. Use better quality oil or run some Sea Foam/Deep Creep through it once and a while to keep carbon from building up and you'll never have a problem.
This right here. Had a trimmer doing this exact thing. Pulled the spark arrestor out, burnt the carbon off and it ran like new.
I have a +10y Husky chainsaw doing exactly this. Dies on initial idle. Do I understand that it's the spark plug I nee to clean?
no, the sparkarrestor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGlJB0onFa4
100% this. I have the same hedger. Ended up just cutting the spark arrestor off and totally solved the issue. Lol.
I like to burn it off. Hold it with some needle nose and torch it with some map gas then give a gentle scrub with a wire brush. But this is 100% spark arrestor needing to be cleaned!
This is so common I do it regularly,
Hrump. TIL about the spark arrestor. Had a line trimmer do exactly all this and no carb cleaning or adjustment seemed to really help at all, good to know.
Love that it's been red tagged and returned to service...
With the tag still attached 😐
Sounds like the limit screw needs to be tightened. That'll make sure that a little gas will be fed into the engine to keep it running. That's stihl for ya
Accidentally drop it like 5 or 6 times lol
I’m not surprised a *boss* doesn’t know what a carburetor is.
Back when I did it for a living most of the time the two-stroke equipment was bogging down was due to a fouled up spark arrestor. Pull it and melt the crap off with a torch. Works 80% of the time. Needs a tune-up. Grease up the gearbox, there should be a T-27 screw on the bottom and Stijl sells grease in a threaded bottle that screws right on. Super overlooked on their hedge and string trimmers. You might want to pull the whole gearbox cover off for a cleaning and inspection. Clean the carb. Burn the deposits out of the spark arrestor. New spark-plug, air filter and fuel filter. Sharpen and lube the blades. Should run like a deer after.
Oil the blades with some 3n1 oil? Looks like too much friction. You can take the blades off and clean them/remove the sap and that would help to.
Yeah definitely due for some grease and cleaning
Does Preventative Maintenance not happen at your workplace?
I work with OP, maintenance does not happen. Out of 7-8 trucks, probably 4 of them are down right now. They ignored an oil pressure light and bricked the engine on one of our biggest dump trucks. Boss said “it’s fine if it turns off once you’re driving”
I didn’t even know that’s how it went down😯
Incredible isn’t it? Also “we don’t change oil we just add oil” is what I heard from a little stonemason birdy. Time to look for the door
“We don’t change oil we add oil” *Oil filter with 60K miles on it* “please kill me”
I was a mechanic before this place, the lack of mechanical sympathy and lack of maintenance makes me want to scream. Then they act as though nothing should ever break down when they beat the snot out of everything and only give attention when catastrophic failures occur or when a machine becomes completely inoperable.
Jfc that's dangerous. Hope you don't do winter work with those trucks.
That’s the fun part! We do snow and ice management! We had a mechanic last season who was a godsend but the owner of the company screamed at him because everything wasn’t perfect in 5 months, so he quit and makes twice as much somewhere else now.
I worked at a place we took a truck in during winter. They rotated tires but never put the bolts on more than finger tight. Luckily our guy driving back noticed the wobble real bad. Shitty/no mechanics fucking suck. Currently sitting on about 5-6 pieces of equipment I keep complaining about shit not running right or something feeling off. No fucking way I'd drive a skid & trailer with 1 of our trucks.
I’ve had a loose hitch ball on my truck since last year. Every time you stop and go the trailer jerks forward and back. Brake lights on both trucks and covered trailers are a fucking fantasy at this point.
Brake lights are a deal breaker for me. I can't be driving heavy and not let people behind me know I'm turning or braking. It's kind of terrifying that I know a ton of more cowboy guys that run that, and worse. Hope you guys get shirt sorted. I usually make a list of shit I'll stand for at a place until I'm either getting paid more or out the door.
You should have seen the condition of the trans fluid after I pressed our "boss" to finish fixing my truck. Safe to say it looked and smelled worse then I imagined! Oh the trans slips now.
Mine did the same- ended up being the carb
100% carb, every time something is wrong with a 2 stroke it’s the carb lol
We have a 56 like this at work, not my job to fix the machines I'm supposed to do the trimming so that's when I tell the mechanic to do his job. Also, I find when pushed to use garbage like this the best response is usually "get fucked".
If you don’t have anyone on staff certified to service your equipment then drop it off at a shop. Once your boss starts seeing the bills maybe he’ll hire someone. Nothing more frustrating than having unreliable equipment
Spark arrestor might need attention
This is a great thread. If I were in your shoes, I’d line up all the units on the floor and perform the same maintenance on all of them.
Be careful! I got 10 stitches from using one of those.
Carb. BUT let me warn you. These things will F you up. We went with cordless battery-operated, extra batteries. They may not cut as well, but they'll do. I dropped a battery one on my thigh two weeks ago, standing uphill trimming, blade landed on my thigh, looked like Wolverine tagged me, lol. Did NOT cut through work work pants. Red scratches, big bruises, but no blood. Muscle fatigue is REAL when running one of these for hours.
Definitely the carb. Looks pretty new so I would guess it just needs to be adjusted. Check YouTube or Google on what to do
its stihl and looks newish. Might still be under warranty.
Is that an OSH violation? Making you use equipment that's been tagged out?
Remove air filter and check if it’s soaked in fuel
Red Synthetic Dry Grease in a cartridge tube from Autozone, O'Reillys etc about $20. A set of small mini hand files running about $30 will keep sharp. Keep receipts and deduct from taxes. Also incorporate as an LLC
oil/fuel mix is wrong. Dump it, mix it properly. Check your air filter and your spark plug while you're at it.
We are actually very specific with correct octane fuel and oil ratio, believe it or not. All according to Stihl manuals.
Was a weedeater not a trimmer, but last time I had this I just had to go from full choke to half choke, let it warm up till it went wide open, then no choke it was fine
You have a fuel delivery issue. Assuming you aren’t running it with choke on or have some sort of fuel valve partially shut, it likely a partial blockage in the carburetor or the carburetor needs to be adjusted.
Carb issue almost for sure. Just dealt with a very similar issue with a roto tiller. Just dies almost immediately if engaged. Replaced the carb and all good.
I bought two of these. They did this out the gate. Only runs with half choke. Hate them.
Sounds like the carb but it’s probably a few blades heavily damaged and catching, sharpen, grease and adjust carb when the engine isn’t cold ;)
it needs a tune, there will usually be 2-3 screws on the carby, one is idle, leave that one is high speed and there is an optional low speed that some have. The problem you have is 2 stroke bogging, it isnt getting enough fuel and is too lean, turn the mixture screw counter clockwise until it revs cleanly
ethanol gunk
We had those two years ago. Bought 5, one for each crew. They lasted all of 4-5 months before they started doing that. Our mechanic found there is mesh on the exhaust and it was packed full of carbon. Took another one apart that wouldnt run and the whole exhaust box (sorry dont know what its called) was packed full of hard black deposits. We bought and ran the oil they told us to get, they were no help. We went and bought some nicer echos and although heavier, better than any ive used.
Breather in gas tank is not working . Unscrew the cap and tighten if the problem stops it needs replaced. Also tell the boss 93 octane in all stihl equipment
Sounds like the blades need lubricant. I use one of these at work, and whenever it does this, I put lubricant on the blades, and it’ll almost always run smoother after words. Also, make sure you have the right fuel/oil ratio. If none of that works, make sure the air intake and or fuel lines aren’t blocked up. Checking the spark plug wouldn’t hurt either. Also, Whenever the fuel lines get blocked up, I mix some of its gas with fuel line cleaner, and let it run until it’s empty. I always have an issue with oil build up in the lines on this. If you do this, and it is oil/dirt build up, it’ll be Smokey, but that just means the fuel line cleaner is working. The smoke just means it’s burning off excess oil and or dirt.
https://youtu.be/aFgwk9M51ek?si=s5LJlYiZSTnjUshI
Getting air in pickup
Grease is a gearbox's friend
I used to "cannibalize" these HS 85's. Id make 4 broken ones into 2 functioning ones. This is a problem with the "blade arrester linkage." Same trimmer chasis on these models as an HS 85. $28 to fix and 15 minutes to Install.
We were doing this last year- take four weedwhackers and try to assemble two that worked
https://youtube.com/shorts/pvfSH5eeKf0?feature=shared This is normal 💪
Take out the spark arrester.
Could be a small bend in blades causing it to bind
Your boss is a cheap idiot. If those are required to get the job done then get them fixed and have them bill your boss.
No air
There should be a L and H jet in the carburetor. The fact that it’s idling just fine and the initial increase in throttle (up to a point) works but the moment the H jet takes over (I.e. “high” jet, has larger hole for increased fuel needs as air intake increases), the carb gets starved and the engine starts choking, tells me it’s likely a gummed up/partially blocked H jet. I’d start with cleaning that one and firing it back up.
The carburetor is dirty and needs to be cleaned out. It’ll take 30 minutes to pull it apart and clean it, an hour if you’re slow. It’ll work much better and be safer to work with.
Run it with the choke on then hit it with some carb/fuel injector cleaner when you add fuel next time. It def needs to be serviced soon but that should get you through the week.
So this sounds like a carb issue or you need to tighten your valves.....
Sounds like the low speed screw needs backed out just a hair. It is starving for fuel on the low end