Chainsaw Tip

I’ve always had dramas with chainsaws flooding. I just took it to be part of using them. I’d helplessly put the chainsaw down and go off to do other work till it cleared. (Sometimes hours – sorry the chainsaws flooded I’ll have to sort out the firewood another time…)

I finally did what I should have done years ago, which is jump on YouTube and look up why this is happening and what the hell to do. The answer lay with some guy with a very southern U.S accent and long pauses between each sentence.

I’m still surprised I’m actually writing a post about this. The reason is – it was such a lightbulb moment that I just want to share the knowledge with anyone else who is pulling their hair out (and I’m sure there are millions of us).

Chainsaws flood because there is too rich an air and fuel mix in the engine. This means the fuel will not ignite (I would have thought more air means more explosive, but this is not the case – there is a Goldilocks-perfect mix required). The chainsaw will only start once this over rich mixture has been cleared.

So for everyone out there, the solution for a flooded chainsaw is so simple:

Apply the chain break
Put the chainsaw in run mode and pull up to 30 times – it will start.