My Dads Husqvarna 350 is a peice of crap!!! What would you do?

[yetty734]

My Dad who is totally anal about chainsaws and doesnt know a thing about them owns a husqvarna 350. I told him to buy a stihl or a 346xp but he didnt wanna spend the money. I also told him to buy a deere but instead he bought a craftsman which breaks all the time to.... Anyways this chainsaw doesnt even have the paint worn off the bar yet, the husqvarna letters on it are hardly worn...maybe 20 hours of use...maybe in three years. The first time when i taught my dad how to run the saw the bar fell off of it sending everything flying...thank you dealer for improperly assembling with the wrong size bar nuts... The saw ran fine cutting this seasons 3 cords last winter but this winter it ran for about 15 minutes, stalled, and then quit. Sent it to the dealer cause i thought it was an electric issue...they said it was a rotten fuel line. A fuel line shouldnt rot in two years! Anyways aftert that $70 was dumped down the drain by my dad i was up to visit him again and the saw did the same thing where it stalled and wouldnt start again. Im sick of it so i said dealer and now they claim the saw wore out from not being used enough. Thats a big pile of Bullshit in my opinion. My back up saw sits for two years at a time and works fine when i need it.(thank you 13 y.o stihl 026) He has contacted the dealer asking them to replace the pos with another a 346XP, (which costs the same as his 350 does with all the service hes paid for when the 350 broke) or refund all his money so he can go buy a stihl. the dealer isnt budging just jerking him around saying it his fault because its worn out from not enough use...what do we do? The saw has been meticulously maintained.....

thanks for your help

cody

 

[LLigetfa]

Fuel additives are known to rot out some fuel lines. Don't buy gas with ethanol.

My saw isn't worn out and it got lots of professional use in the past. These days it only cuts my firewood and isn't wearing out from light use either.

 

[BJN644]

I bought my 350 Husky on Ebay for $200 bucks a couple years ago. It's cut well over 20 cords of stove wood and is the best saw I've ever owned. I had a Husky 50 for many years before the 350.

 

[Brian VT]

I'll 2nd the ethanol thing. It's wreaking havoc on snowmobiles, motorcycles, lawnmower, etc.
Drain the gas completely if it's gonna sit for much more than a month or find gas without it.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Fuel additives are known to rot out some fuel lines. Don't buy gas with ethanol.

My saw isn't worn out and it got lots of professional use in the past. These days it only cuts my firewood and isn't wearing out from light use either.

All gas in WA has ethanol. . .except for the 100LL AvGas I run in my saw.

 

[yetty734]

my dad always buys meijer gas...which is 100% non-ethanol. the gas was always drained no matterr what and stabil was used always, i told him to so it didnt get carb problems.

 

[Brian VT]

Ok. Ruled out the ethanol.
The problem is that fuel line has rotted again ? Then try some "Stihl" fuel line on his since yours has had no problems.

 

[yetty734]

its not the fuel line this time. the dealership says it un-fixable...

 

[Brian VT]

What's wrong with it ?
You could just mail the saw to me and pretend it was all a bad dream and that it never happened.
I'll pay the shipping + $25.

 

[sapratt]

Could be fuel line or maybe the carb is gumed up.

 

[yetty734]

neither....carb nor fuel line. The dealership said something about a manifold i guess....that was my dad telling me what is wrong and as i said he doesnt know jack chit. but they said it would cost more to fix it then to buy a new saw.

thanks for attempting to help

cody

 

[Brian VT]

So....can I have it ? How about your 45 ?

 

[yetty734]

100+ shipping will buy it

 

[yetty734]

the 45....for 100+ shipping. idk about the 350

 

[yetty734]

correction 200+ shipping...im just to lazy to install $7 worth of parts. the 45 hasnt been used very much either...

 

[webby3650]

I have a husquvarna 350. I cut all my wood in about one month, the rest of the time it just sits. I don't use any special fuel or stabilazer, I hate to say but I treat it like a tool. I have had it about 4 years and don't have one complaint about the saw. I have a friend in the tree trimming business, all they use is husqvarna saws because of their availibilty and reliabilty. Sorry to hear about your problems, sounds like you got a lemon! :down:

 

[yetty734]

thats our thought...but the fricken dealer wants to blame us.... I told him to get a stihl not because of stihl being so much better but because his husqy dealer is horrendous, and because ive always had problems with homeowner huskies....

 

[deadon]

I have a Husky 350, just purchased it last season. I had sthil 028 it was all problems, It is not that Husky or Sthil are any better than the other, sometimes a lemon comes of the line. My 350 is the best saw I have had. I cut 25 cord this summer with it and the only problem was my son cut a couple cord and somehow (did not engage brain) cut with little or no bar oil, burnt the bar. I now have 2 good bars and 6 chains and always cutting. My suggestion is try and trade it on a saw you like or sell it and buy what you want. Once you have several problems then whatever brand it is becomes junk in your mind so buy the brand you like do not put more money into something you are not satisfied with you will only become more dissatisfied. Boy did I ramble on but this I find goes with anything in life.

 

[Valhalla]

yetty,

You have some easy choices. Sell it to one of good guys here on Hearth.com and buy a new one, or fix it yourself or by a competent dealer/shop or friend.

If you see this a big problem, buy a new saw of your liking!

Go for it.

 

[Corey]

Sorry to hear about the troubles. I'd be a little cautious with this dealer...press them and find out what manifold they are talking about on a single cylinder, 2-stroke saw! I can just see them telling you the saw is 'unfixable' and offering to take the 'junk' off your hands for 50 bucks...then a week later you find the saw on the showroom floor with a new $2 sparkplug.

I was going to chime and and mention how my Husky 350 has been super reliable for the past 7 years and certainly seen it's fair share of 10% ethanol fuel. But wouldn't ya know...I was out this weekend cutting up some wood and the saw went from running perfectly to stalling every time I would hit the gas. I knew I had just filled the gas tank, but thought I'd take a look. When I cracked open the gas cap, it made a "P-S-S-S-H-H-T" kind of sucking sound - there was plenty of fuel inside, so I capped it back up and the saw ran perfect for the rest of the tank.

I don't know what caused it to build a vacuum in the tank, have to get out the manual and see if there is any mention of a vent hose. Maybe it's plugged up somehow?

 

[sapratt]

Find a small engine repair shop that is not a dealer. Ask them if they will look at the saw.

 

[Wet1]

Find a small engine repair shop that is not a dealer. Ask them if they will look at the saw.

Do that or part it out on ebay. Next time buy a pro level saw and chances are he will get a lifetime out of it.

 

[cmonSTART]

Husky (and Stihl for that matter) has fuel line issues. The rot out when exposed to gas or any ethanol. Make sure the stabilizer you use doesn't contain it. They also recommend you do not store fuel in the saw for any time you're not using it. Not even overnight. This is their official position on that matter.

The 350 intake manifold is troublesome, the earlier ones more than the newer ones. Best thing to do IF the dealer won't fix it under warranty is to take it to a good saw shop who is experienced with the problem. We used to buy the new version of the bellows and partition, toss their garbage clamp aside and put a certain Stihl screw clamp on it which fit well. Also, use used a touch of high temp silicone on it when we put it all together and let it sit tight for 24 hours before running.

Hey, make sure your muffler bolts stay tight. They may loosen themselves up and let the muffler fall off. Loose muffler may also cause the piston/cylinder to burn up. If you find this happening, take the whole thing off and ditch the gasket. Reassemble with red thread locker. There are longer bolts available if needed.

The folks at Husky are very glad that saw is no longer produced. They had tons of problems with them. Some will serve their owners very well, but others - a significant percentage - are chronic problems. I own one. I've gone through it and corrected the issues and it's a good saw. Good power to weight ratio.

 

[yetty734]

so does anyone think that a good deal to make with the dealership is to trade for a new 346XP.....with the cost of the saw and labor for "Fixing it" it ends up being about the same...i forget exactly what it was but i figured it the other day.

 

[sl7vk]

so does anyone think that a good deal to make with the dealership is to trade for a new 346XP.....with the cost of the saw and labor for "Fixing it" it ends up being about the same...i forget exactly what it was but i figured it the other day.

If they'll trade for it, then do it, that is a phenomenal saw.... all depends on how much they give you for the trade Naopleon.