Craftsman hose clamping pliers...

Another tool that, up until today, I had never realized just how often I use.  Perfect for clamping off fuel lines on small engines while changing out inline fuel filters, or removing carburetors, especially if they don't have a petcock or fuel shut off valve between the tank and carb inlet.  Squeezing the pliers clamps down on the hose, obviously the harder you squeeze the tighter they get, but the jaws are smooth and wide enough as to not damage the hose, unlike the jaws of a pair of Vice Grips which can tear and damage the line.  They are self locking, and simply release by pulling the handles apart.  I find myself using these pliers all the time, especially when working on the GX series Honda small engines, which only have a fuel shut off on the carb itself.  Anytime you remove the carb, you will find after removing the fuel line from the carb inlet, there is no valve to keep the fuel from gravity draining out of the tank.  These pliers solve that.  Sure, you could jam an appropiate size bolt into the hose to plug it temporarily, but these just make the job a bit neater and easier.  These are made in the USA, but from the current trend of Craftsman, they may soon enough be made in China like many of their line of hand tools are becoming, but that's a subject for a blog post another time...

Mike Muir for President.

Stihl MS310 oiler problem

This particular saw, a Stihl MS310, was having someone oiling issues, as no oil was reaching the bar.  I'm hoping this post will help any other Stihl saw owners if they encounter the same problem, which from what I understand isn't all that uncommon.  Ok, this is how the oiler works, the oil tank has a rubber line with filter on the end inside it, not much different to the fuel tank feed lines on many two strokes  This line and filter is where the oil pump pulls the oil from the tank through.  The line exists the interior of the tank at an angle towards the rear and bottom of the saw and across towards the clutch and bar side.  If you remove the handle of the saw itself you will see it exit the main case and tank on the saw, do a 90 degree angle back up towards the clutch side of the saw, and re-enter the case.  To access the oil pump you need to remove the clutch, take off bar nuts, cover, and remove the bar and chain.  Remove the E clip, washer, and sprocket on top of the clutch drum..  The nut on the clutch is 19mm and left hand thread.  To keep the clutch from spinning while you remove it, simply remove the spark plug and feed a few feet of small diameter nylon rope through the spark plug hole so when you spin the motor over the rope stops the piston.  Now you can remove the clutch nut, remember its left handed so you need to turn it clockwise to loosen.  Once the clutch is loose you can remove the roller bearing on the crankshaft, as well as the large washer, and expose the oiler drive gear.  Examine the drive gear, if the wire arm of it has a worm end it won't engage the groove on the clutch drum, which then won't spin it, which in turn won't drive the oil pump .  You will most likely see a lot of old dirty saw dust and gunk, so lightly blow it clean with compressed air, being careful not to blow any dirt into the spark plug hole.  There will be two no. 27 torx head screws that hold the oil pump on, and you will see the black oil feed line  we discussed early attached to the lower nipple on the pump.  The upper outlet to the pump is attached to a white plastic elbow which continues to lead to the passage in the main chainsaw case, and the oiler hole which emits the oil to the chain.  You can disconnect the black rubber hose from the inlet of the pump and blow compressed air through it, which should eventually spray back out to the filter in the tank, so empty your tank first as to avoid a mess of oil being sprayed everwhere.  You can remove the oil pump all together from the saw, and make sure the worm drive screw moves freely, and blow it out again with compressed air.  If their is a lot of gunk I recommend wd-40 to help loosen it up.  Now you can again blow compressed air through the outlet hole where the oil reaches the bar to make sure its clear of  obstructions.  With everything clean and clear, you can reinstall the oil pump attach the rubber inlet hose. I use a dab of blue loctite on the screws securing the oil pump.  While reinstalling the clutch drum, you must make sure the arm of the oiler gear wire engages the slot on the clutch drum, or the oil gear will not spin and drive the pump  I used a long breaker bar with 19mm socket to torque the nut back down. Don't use an impact gun to remove or install this nut or you could possibly shear the keyway on the flywheel  With all that said re-install the bar, chain, and cover.  Fire up the saw and see how shes oiling.  Many of the MS series saws have a screw underneath the saw labeled with a "chain link" icon and "oil drop" icon.  This is the oiler adjustment screw.  Using a long flat tip screwdriver can adjust the amount of oil the bar gets, clockwise increases it, counter decreases it. This particular saw was leaking lots of oil near the muffler area.  There is a plastic plug inserted by the factory near the oil outlet hole galley that can come loose and fall out.  To remedy this you will need a course thread 1/4" tap, along wit a small allen head set screw of the same thread type.  Tap the threads in the hole, smear a bit of RTV silicone on the threads of the set screw and insert until snug.  No more leaks and the oil can now reach the bar adequately.  Hooray!  Pat yourself on the back for fixing your own saw and not having to take it to shop and pay 90 dollars an hour in labor!

My newest favorite tool...18 volts of goodness.

 

This is my newest favorite tool.  DeWalt 18v half inch drive impact driver.  There are times where a pneumatic impact gun just isn't convenient and an air compressor isn't available (like out on the golf course when utility cart gets a flat and you grab the breaker bar and socket to remove it by hand).  This is where the impact driver comes in handy.   I had tried out the Snap On version which has nearly 700 foot pounds of torque, and a price tag per dollar to match that torque spec.  Not wanting to spend almost 700 dollars on a tool I wouldn't use everyday, I looked at other brands.  I am a DeWalt fan, and have always been happy with their products, so after a little online research, onto the Amazon wish list it went, Xmas came, and into my greasey hands it wound up.  First impressions had me questioning how a battery powered tool smaller than my regular 18v drill could contain so much torque?   My first test was to try driving some six inch long lag bolts into the work bench at work.  A normal drill will struggle with a bolt that long, and many will fail without drilling a pilot hole first to accompany such bolt.  Not this one.  I put numerous lags into the bench where the 4 by 4 legs met the 2 by 4 upper frame with little effort.  It was fun, but I'm no carpenter and putting lag bolts into wood isn't something I would be doing on a daily basis..  I needed to test it where I know I would be using it the most, on the various mechanized vehicles used to meticulously groom grass so the well-to-do can chase a small white ball around on.  I'm talking golf course equipment.  I slapped on a few larger sized impact sockets and proceeded to test the DeWalt out on various carts, mowers, and groomers lug nuts.  Busted them loose without a hitch.  I was pleased. We had a big 4wd Toro rotarty mower which need the rear hydraulic cylinder removed in order to rebuilt its leaky seals.  Castle nuts on the ball joints hold these onto the spindle, so after pulling the cottor pin, I gave the DeWalt another go at it, and handled it without fail.  There hasn't been anything it wouldn't loosen.  Even the blades on the mower which I always installed with my Ingersol Rand pneumatic gun were removed by the DeWalt with much ease.  It's badass.  My only complaint would be not owning it sooner.