Hi folks. I recently joined this forum but have been lurking here a while now gleening info on maintaining saws. I've takne an interest in hotrodding them as well (especially those Wildthings, but that's another topic for another time).
I recently loaned out my trusty PP 255 to a friend who had a couple of old powerline poles he had to cut up and get rid of. He did so but in the process, apparently, had an issue with my saw. He said "something" happened to it and it wouldn't spin the chain. After getting it back and having a quick look, it turns out he was trying to run it with the brake on. He ran it enough to wear through the band and even melt a bit of plastic on the housing! But, here's the interesting part, when I gave the starter a tug the cord stayed out. I thought that was strange as it ran perfect when I loaned it out (I just installed a brand new coil). So I popped off the starter and immediately saw that the pulley was worn very oddly. The center of it was worn oblong. So I never really thought any more of that and went and bought a new pulley, fitted it and got it all back in working order. Next I figured while I was at it I would give it muffler mod and a new tune for some fun. I also took the clutch off to have a closer look as is worn bad from the loose chain and the brake being on (still have to get a new band too). While I was messing with it I noticed that the whole engine was moving around an awful lot..... and then noticed the four bolts missing from the bottom of the saw!!!! Which explains the oblong hole in the starter pulley and why it was hanging when it was pulled and also explains the ridiculously slack chain. The engine must have been jumping all around in the body.... weird. But how come the crankcase never split open with no bolts in it? It definately ran as I saw the pile of cut poles he had by his garage.
I'm not sure if it's worth bothering to put any money into this saw. The piston and cylinder look good but it'll need a complete clutch, those four bolts, a brake band (possibly the whole assembly). All is not lost though.... To make amends he gave me a decent looking Husky 359 that he got in some deal or another. He had never used as he couldn't get it going. I had a couple tugs at it and after a bit of fooling and I had it running, but it needs a bar and chain (and a few mods probably....
). It is however worth a good bit more than the 255.... in fact it's probably the best saw I've ever owned.