Chainsaw Repair

exSW rednecked tool.

Thanks Cut4fun.  I got a pile of brakes that need repaired and didn't know how.  Got a much better understanding of it now.

I keep hearing this. Was there a production change somewhere in the handle. I couldn't get mine together and I'm not the only one. Tree Monkey is way ahead of just about all of us and he uses the tool. Somewhere I missed something.

There were at least two variants of the plastic flag chainbrake.  Many 2-series IPL's show two different clutch cover assembly diagrams, with "below serial # xxxxxxxx" and "above serial # xxxxxxx".  Maybe one is more difficult (or is impossible) to install the flag on with the brake un-cocked (and I haven't installed a brake flag on that variant yet).

In any case, you can remove the coil spring (under the plastic cover).  This allows you to move the knee link to the cocked and un-cocked positions as needed.  You can assemble the whole brake assembly, return it to the un-cocked position, and then lever the spring back in place with a thin flat blade screwdriver.  That's what I did recently when moving all CB parts from busted covers to better covers (on a 288XP cover and a 272XP cover). 

The upper end of the spring engages the knee link.  The lower end rests against the bottom edge of the spring pocket.  That's where I lever the spring out and back in using a screwdriver.