Sthil ts 400

[Jimoz]

Old pull cord was looking a bit ropey (excuse pun) on disc cutter. Said to myself better order one as its been bodged once and bound to break when you need it. Well today that happened. Very stressful including the spring coming off and unwinding!

Anyway an hour and another bodge and one or two youtube videos later the spring was rewound and saw back in business with about a 6" pull cord!

Was going to order new pull cord but what the hell may as well order a whole service kit give the old girl some love! Wheres best to get one? I've looked on the Bay they are around £15 but all non genuine. I assume its what all the fleets and big firms are using. Can't be any worse than the years old filters and plug on there now? Any recommendations from yourselves?

Also I recently got given 2 brand new Bosch blades. They are 12" but must be made for another saw as the bore is bigger than normal. They do come with a washer though which reduces them down to the right size. Stuck one on the other week seems pretty good but the bricks I'm cutting are like butter. Anyway when I had to cut some concrete the last week and the saw had to do a bit of graft the washer is coming out of the blade and its spinning wildly. Still in line on one axis as it's clamped in but because the washer has come out the blade starts going mad. You feel it straight away and remove blade and re set washer. Is there a workaround to this? Any other washer set to stop it coming out under force?

Thanks

 

[Shovelhands]

L&S Engineers for all Spares like that, genuine Stihl stuff, amongst other brands, good prices and the service can’t be beaten in my experience.

If your blade is slipping, then it might be time for a new pair of mounting flanges? Or am I reading your issues incorrectly?

 

[Gunners]

I'd second going genuine. I have used the cheaper ebay stuff and especially the pull cords just don't last half as long. Treat them well and those old saws go on forever. My 2nd hand £100 off ebay TS400 did me 4 years of contracting and I sold it for £220 - thats what I call a hard working saw!

 

[Smiffy]

Rolls of pull cord are cheap enough to buy and it's worth having a whole roll it also comes in handy for other things
Pull cord is to tree surgeons what baler twine is to farmers
And I'd get the parts from your local dealer even parts for Stihl aren't meant to be sent by post

 

[Shovelhands]

Rolls of pull cord are cheap enough to buy and it's worth having a whole roll it also comes in handy for other things
Pull cord is to tree surgeons what baler twine is to farmers
And I'd get the parts from your local dealer even parts for Stihl aren't meant to be sent by post

Any chance of expanding on why you shouldn’t post Sthil parts?????

 

[Smiffy]

Any chance of expanding on why you shouldn’t post Sthil parts?????

It's not you it's the dealers are not allowed to post anything Stihl it's a rule made up by the top men at Stihl to promote the use of local dealerships and stop online competition
Can't even buy merchandise from online from genuine Stihl dealers

 

[Shovelhands]

I get all my sthil parts from a dealer who posts them to me, as stated above. My local dealer are rip off merchants who like to put a big percentage on the rrp!
I’d like to use the local dealer, but they are quite frankly taking the piss.

 

[Smiffy]

I get all my sthil parts from a dealer who posts them to me, as stated above. My local dealer are rip off merchants who like to put a big percentage on the rrp!
I’d like to use the local dealer, but they are quite frankly taking the piss.

They take the piss as they know they can as very few dealers will post parts out and risk loosing there franchise
It seems an attempt at price fixing to me really and another reason why I wouldn't buy anything Stihl now
Just had a full new set of chainsaws polesaws blowers and strimmers and disc cutters turn up at work all Stihl and the quality is rubbish I used to love their kit but the 1 husqvarna chainsaw and the couple of Makita disc cutters are far better built

 

[doobin]

The Stihl rule has recently been relaxed- they must have lost sales. Now it's only chainsaws that they don't want posted.

Stihl mowers are overpriced rubbish- a £400 Mountfield with a Honda engine is a better bet.

I've bought some Husky kit recently (basic chainsaw (135) and polesaw, and found it nicer to use and better value than Stihl. Had the Husky equivalent been available when I needed a bigger saw then I would probably have got that rather than my Stihl MS461, but it is a great saw and I already had loads of bars to fit. And my FS-460 strimmers have been some of my hardest worked gear, can't fault them.

Regarding dealers- I'm lucky enough to have a local dealer who stock EVERYTHING! Almost every spare- unbelievable. All machines in stock from Echo, Stihl and Husky. DM Chainsaws is the place- if you're passing Chichester then pop in, you won't be disappointed. Great guys to deal with.

For most Stihl gear like the OP's cutoff saw, Chinese parts through someone like LS Engineers will be perfect. My TS410 started pissing about with the pilot jet. New carb from eBay at £12 and she's been faultless. Same with a Honda powerpack recently. Chinese spares are good for 90% of jobs. I'd have a Chinese Honda copy over a Briggs engine, too.

 

[Jimoz]

I'll look at ls engineers then as a couple of good votes. That and the problems getting original parts as discussed.

I agree these saws are good workhorses hence giving it a bit of love

@Shovelhands no it's the reducing washer coming out from the blade. I would of thought the mounting flanges would hold it in place but they are obviously hollow around bore of blade. If that makes sense?!

 

[doobin]

I'll look at ls engineers then as a couple of good votes. That and the problems getting original parts as discussed.

@Shovelhands no it's the reducing washer coming out from the blade. I would of thought the mounting flanges would hold it in place but they are obviously hollow around bore of blade. If that makes sense?!

Shouldn't make any odds, as the clamping force on the blade via the mounting flanges is what holds it. The spacers just do the initial aligning. Sounds like something isn't right on your mounting kit.

I'd just get a blade to fit with the right bore. About £20 from Toolstation.

 

[Shovelhands]

All the stuff I’ve had from L&S Engineers has been genuine, and brilliant service. Genuine Stihl chains, half the price of Oregon at the local stealers.

They recently had bits for our CP9 breakers, when I couldn’t find them listed at some of the Chicago Pneumatic specialist dealers! I was impressed

 

[doobin]

All the stuff I’ve had from LfS Engineers has been genuine, and brilliant service. Genuine Stihl chains, half the price of Oregon at the local stealers.

They recently had bits for our CP9 breakers, when I couldn’t find them listed on some at some of the Chicago Pneumatic specialist dealers! I was impressed

For chains, look no further than Rotatech at Northern Arb Supplies. Crazy cheap, and good quality. A 24" loop is about £15- how much would a Stihl one cost for that size?

 

[Shovelhands]

Think I paid about £25 ish for 30” bar chains. Genuine Sthil, local stealers were almost £50 for an Oregon chain to fit.

For the amount we use I will stick with the genuine chains I think.

They are about £11 for the baby Sthil we’ve got, so not a big deal really.

 

[doobin]

Think I paid about £25 ish for 30” bar chains. Genuine Sthil, local stealers were almost £50 for an Oregon chain to fit.

For the amount we use I will stick with the genuine chains I think.

They are about £11 for the baby Sthil we’ve got, so not a big deal really.

Each to their own, but if you're buying online you might as well but from, them at half the price? Stihl 181 chains are a pack of two for £10.

I use nothing but Rotatech, and run around ten saws.

 

[Monkeybusiness]

I’ve had some crap chains and bars from Rototech in fairness, wouldn’t cut straight from brand new. Not sure what the issue was as they looked fine, but ended up in the bin.
Have also had decent stuff from them too in fairness - that’s where all our chipper blades come from.

 

[Mintsauce]

We have a few hire centres who will do repairs and supply parts for stihl saws. Not saying that they're the cheapest but can often do a quick repair if I'm under pressure to get the saw back. Or I just hire one anyway.
They can have ts400 parts in good used condition on the shelf as most of the hire stock is now ts410 they're only to pleased to get them over the counter. ☺

 

[Jimoz]

Well the kitI got off eBay is crap. Messaged the seller as belt only lasted an hour. Put onldun on and still (excuse pun) going strong.
Think spark plugs crap too. Old one was ngk never had a problem starting. Now it doesn't like to start when hot. Is this spark plug related never happened before changing

 

[Rob 210]

I always use these guys https://www.chainsdirect.co.uk/ They've got the lot and sensible prices