Stupid Chain Saw Mistake...No, Not Dangerous!
I was using my chain saw, and refueled it, and added more bar oil, and it got to where it would barely run, and then it quit and would not re-start. Hmm...
So, I took it to Glen's Small Engine, and my good friend Glen Tucker checked out my saw from stem to stern.
Do you know what I had done? I had put bar oil in the fuel tank and fuel in the bar oil tank. It didn't run long like that. That was stupid!
It didn't require much fixing. Just empty the tanks and fill with the correct fluids for each. Works fine now. When he told me what I had done, I thought, "NO WAY!" For crying out loud, there are markings next to each filler cap!
I was embarrassed, but Glen said he has done the same thing.
-
You're not alone Nunn,done stuff like that myself. Thankfully I haven't thought about gassing up the truck while watering the lawn. 3 -
If you had any pitch or sap on the bar I bet the gas cleaned that right up. 
Bob0 -
You forgot to put the chain on backwards.
0 -
Ever put shot in the powder hopper while reloading shotgun shells? 0 -
Wanna talk about feeling Stupid.
My old trusty Murray riding mower from the 80-90's was a well built workhorse. 17.5 horespower. I let the grass get really high one time, and was having to go really slow giving it a workout. Ran out of gas. Broke out a new red plastic gas can. Within 5-10 minutes it started chugging white smoke. I figured I'd finally blown the engine. Limped it back to the garage. After it cooled down, I tried to start it. No Bueno.
A couple weeks later bought a new riding mower. (Poulan Pro, apparantly built by Husqvauarna.) Grass was even higher by now. Going really slow, giving it a workout. Emptied the tank it came with. (Really big yard.) Grabbed that same red plastic gas can. Yep about 5-10 minutes later blowing white smoke and vibrating. Took it back to the local Farm Store. They couldn't figure out what was wrong with it either. We unloaded it. They didn't have any more. (I had got a really good end of season deal on it.) Took a refund check. Bummer.
Went home put some "gas" from that same red plastic gas can in my fairly new Poulan Pro push mower. Pulled my brains out, it wouldnt start. Feeling totally jinxed, I headed to the house. About a day later the farm store called. "Are you in the market for a good riding mower?" Yes, what did I do? "Come on over we'll show you." It fired right up and purred. (Like a total DA,) I had poured clear K-1 Kerosene in it from an unmarked gas can. (I'm usually religious about labeling, if it's not gas in the gas can. So I hadn't checked it.) The said they had a "Old Timer" that worked there. He had stuck his finger in the tank, pulled it out and smelled it. Doh.
Feeling like an idiot, I gave them back the refund check, reloaded my lawmower and headed home. By now the light (more like dim bulb) was going on in my head about what I had done to all three mowers. Doh. I gave a work buddy a screaming good deal on the Murray, which he got running good as new/used, after new plugs, dumping the oil and filling with super (non-ethanol.)
It took a long time to live that down at my Work lunch table and with my friends. It still gets brought up on occasion. Not my finest hour.
0 -
I grabbed a can of white Flex-Seal one time, thinking it was window cleaner. What a mess! 3 -
Had a friend who bought a non-running Sears 24 horse mower off a guy for a hundred bucks. It did not have 50 hours on it. Turns out there was a broken wire under the seat on the safety shutoff. Cost $0 to fix it. He used it for 3 or 4 years and sold it for $500. 0 -
You are in good company with me guilty as charged. On my saw both ports are the same size and neither marked and just being In a hurry to finish work for the day the switch was easy to do.nunn said:I was using my chain saw, and refueled it, and added more bar oil, and it got to where it would barely run, and then it quit and would not re-start. Hmm...
So, I took it to Glen's Small Engine, and my good friend Glen Tucker checked out my saw from stem to stern.
Do you know what I had done? I had put bar oil in the fuel tank and fuel in the bar oil tank. It didn't run long like that. That was stupid!
It didn't require much fixing. Just empty the tanks and fill with the correct fluids for each. Works fine now. When he told me what I had done, I thought, "NO WAY!" For crying out loud, there are markings next to each filler cap!
I was embarrassed, but Glen said he has done the same thing.
0 -
I knew what you did before I read your post. I know some other guy that did the same thing. Can't remember his name right off.nunn said:I was using my chain saw, and refueled it, and added more bar oil, and it got to where it would barely run, and then it quit and would not re-start. Hmm...
So, I took it to Glen's Small Engine, and my good friend Glen Tucker checked out my saw from stem to stern.
Do you know what I had done? I had put bar oil in the fuel tank and fuel in the bar oil tank. It didn't run long like that. That was stupid!
It didn't require much fixing. Just empty the tanks and fill with the correct fluids for each. Works fine now. When he told me what I had done, I thought, "NO WAY!" For crying out loud, there are markings next to each filler cap!
I was embarrassed, but Glen said he has done the same thing.
0 -
On some brands it is easy to do because the tanks are close together and have the same caps. 0 -
Was in a saw shop one day and a guy came in complaining that the fuel and oil kept running out of the tanks as he tried to fill them.He thought that it was a very bad design to have those holes on the side of the saw like that.0 -
While I was filling some 5 gal. cans for my small engines with non-ethanol gas, a young man pulled up to the next pump. He was driving a nearly new Ram diesel pickup, and promptly started filling up with gas! Before I realized it, he had pumped in about 6 gallons. I told him I didn't want to ruin his day, but pointed out his mistake. He started panicking, and asked what he should do. I told him not to start it and call a tow to the nearest mechanic, which would save him a ton of money in the long run. He asked where he could take it, and I called my mechanic, who said he could take care of it that afternoon. The next day the young man called me to thank me after he got my number from my mechanic. 0 -
I wouldnt feel too badly, I think everyone who uses a chainsaw regularly has done the same thing. Its very easy to make that mistake, and for the most part little harm is done. My neighbor bought an electric saw made by Milwaukee, and is very nice, and he brings it over to me for maintenance. He didnt even know that it needs oil. 0 -
I'm another one that has done that very thing, perfectly normal .......... unless of course you do it again, then you are an official old fart. 0 -
My dad was an irrigation farmer. Back in the '50's we ran Chrysler hemi engines as our irrigation pump power plants.
Went to sleep much of the time with that engine purring away.
One evening we heard the engine just quit. Never heard it do that before.
A little while later dad came in and we asked what happened and he reluctantly told us.
He carried two gallon cans in the back of his pickup. One was gas and one was engine oil.
Yep, he'd grabbed the gas and dumped in a good bit of gas in the hot engine. Hit the kill switch and got away before anthing happened.
Let it cool off overnight, drained the oil and refilled the crankcase with 30 weight and engine took off like normal.0 -
Future SIL changed the oil in the daughter's Toyota. Afterwards, it started but wouldn't move. Yep, he drained the transmission & added more oil in the engine. 0 -
A cousin of mine attempted to change the oil in his brand new 1966 Ford Fairlane GT. He drained the transmission instead, and then added 5 quarts of oil to the engine. He got about 100 miles before the transmission scattered on him. Amazingly, Ford repaired the car under the warranty. 0 -
...."but Glen said he has done the same thing."...he just said that to be nice, when you left it was 30 min. before he could get up off the floor and stop laughing ...heck, I laughed for 20 min..... 3 -
Ear wax drops in eyes, bottles are identical except labels. That burns a lot 0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
19 comments