[PSUscaper]

Well,

I use to love partner cut-off saws...............use too that is.

Over the past two weeks, I had a K950 destruct and then a brand new k650 go down the toilet too.

The 950 was about 2 years old.........over the past months, I noticed a little bit of dust getting into the inside of the filter.......after further inspection, I noticed that the entire plastic air filter system was just flat out failing.

all the rubber gaskets were shot, bolts were vibrating lose, bolts were becoming lose (due to just the wear of cleaning the filter) and the plastic was just becomeing deformed and not creating a tight seal around the joints.

I called for some pricing on new parts......basically the whole top half of the saw......and well,,,,,,,,forget it.....seemed cheaper to buy a whole new one.

So I just ran it as it was, and well, thats it....dead now.

Is 2 years a short life on a saw??????

As for the 650.........well, don't get me started.....

This was the second one now.....both of them ran for a solid whole hour before they failed.

Took the first one in for service and they told me it was toasted and that I hadn't mixed the oil right....I tole them they were nuts being that I personally mix the oil every time and personally am the only one to run the saw and that I run every other piece of equipment that requires mixed oil out of the same can and NEVER had a problem......they basically still said tought luck.

The next one ran fine for about 1 hour. ......then.......never wanted to start again.....I changed the plug, filter, etc. no luck.

Finally, I broke down and said screw it. I bought a stihl.

I have to say this...........I hate the stihl compared to the partner. No where near the same power and much less comfortable to operate.

But, Stihl has service centers everywhere and the dealer guranteed me I 'd never be without a working saw again.

Maybe if partner had somewhat of a service dealership around here I'd go back.......but not for now. Partner Dealers are everywhere......but their 'regional' repair shop is 6 hours away.......doensn't quite work out. Went to every small engine shop in the state and not a single one wanted to touch them....

I just really do miss my partner saws though!!!!!!


steve

[Paul]

Are you talking two years of every day use? Ok the saw cost you about $800-$900 and you got 100 days use out of it? May be more? so your talking less than $10 a day to have it. Our saws last a bit longer we figure 3 years out of them. We have our saws serviced every winter, thinking it's cheap insurance. Yes we had the same thing happened to one of our K650's I too it in and they said we ran it with out oil mix I said BS check the fuel right now! They did and they broke out a new saw for me.

[PSUscaper]

Ya...maybe right there!

I can only begin to think about how many cuts that 950 did for me.

I guess its kind of personal! Like having a dog run away and not come back........

As for the 650.....

honestly, I just think that saw can't handle the big jobs. Both of them went kaputz the day after I did a big job.

I mean jobs where you are doing one of those long, 3 tanks of fuel cuts down the side of a rounded patio.

Maybe the 650 is just too small and can't handle the heat involved with that. Both times, I put the saw away after the long cut and then was never able to get it running again.

I thought it might have also been the fact that the saw was brand new and I jumped it right into full action without letting it break in, but everyone I've talked too say you really don't have a break in period on them, so I kind of disregarded that.

I only bought the 650 because of the weight.........holding that 950 all day puts a hurting on the old back...............but I have to say.....holding that ts400 isn't much better that the 950.

I also have a stiilh 460(470???) coming next week..........what a heavy bastard that is..

I reallly hate this whole situation. Why me???

[Rex Mann]

We run the Stihls. Have never had any major problems with any of them. If we get over two years of life we consider it good. We used to build allot of Pisa 2 retaining walls and they always seemed to have a tighter radius than they were designed for. Lots of block cuts on them saws.

Peace,

Rex

[Stonehenge]

Steve, were those all saws you got from Ebay? I have heard that those are sometimes refurbished saws. Just passing along some info.

That does seem like a short time. You should handle it my way - use them for about 4 years them have them stolen. Seems to work for us... Our 4 year-old K650 was still doing fine, but would overheat sometimes, getting vapor lock or something. And it wasn't running quite like it did when it was new. But it was stolen from us a few weeks ago, so someone else gets to use it during it's last days.

[Stonehenge]

I have a mason who used Stihls religiously. He started work for us and began always grabbing the Stihl. Then he tried the Partner one day. The Stihl hasn't left the shop for a month.

Use it for 10 minutes and your hands get tingly.

[PSUscaper]

yes,

the two 650's were ebay purchases, but, they were Brand new in a sealed box.

When I bought the first one, I didn't even think about sending the warranty card in because, at the time, the 950 was such a great saw and I expected the same.

When I bought the second 650, I sent the warranty in right away.

The thing is, I really just am pissed off so much I don't want to even deal with them. Also, because of the fact I didn't purcahse the saw from the one dealer who services them (who is 6 hours away), they are incredibly hard to deal with on any kind of repair work.

Basically, my real problem is this........I love partner saws but there is no way to have them serviced around here. Just getting air filters has been a major pita. When the starter recoil broke on the 950, it was like finding a rare car part for a old automobile.

Without a doubt , the partners out perform any other saw out there. Now comparison.....................I just can't get them fixed though!

[Stonehenge]

Yeah, dealer service could make it a harder choice. There's a dealer in my town that services Partners all the time - makes getting any spare part a breeze (and I've tested them a few times).

[Tim]

Just a small preventative care tip for everyone out there concerning chop saws. We have always used those heavy Stihl saws to cut literal miles of concrete paving joints. We use the special carts whenever we can to help keep straight lines, and constant depths. Anyway, we keep small air-chuck nozzels on all of the trucks. Just as soon as we would finnish sawing, a guy always takes the saws to the nearest gas station to blow them out while they are still hot. That is really important. That abbrasive dust is the biggest humidity magnet in the world!! The longer the machine cools, the less dust you will get out and the more wear you will have. I am happy to say that I have had several saws for better than 5 years. Now if I could just get the guys to quit busting the recoil ropes! Hope this helps someone. Tim

[dan deutekom]

I don't think there is much that can be done about the recoil ropes. All that stone dust is very abrasive on the rope.

[Stonehenge]

Thanks for the tip Tim.

We usually just carry a couple extra starter cords in a tool box, so when one breaks we can swap it out quick. That is, unless someone is on the ball and changes it when the filter gets changed.

[dan deutekom]

Always have a spool of cord in truck. Still you always say sh*# because the cord always breaks when you have just one last cut to finish the job

[Tim]

I will have the guys do that! Thanks for the tip, it just took one excuse out of their arsenal of many that they give me for why the job isn't done! Tim