Snapped Pole-saw....plz tell me there's ANY hope!! (Echo PPT-266)

[eyehearttrees]

[I should note that that central axle was just pulled-out for the pic, it goes up&down freely (and spins in-place) in the pole, however on the powerhead side of the snap where it's just powerhead & trigger-handle, the axle will spin 360 freely but it can't be pulled-out at all, unsure if that means this fracture occurred at a junction-point along the axle or if it's just that powerhead-side motion is related to the engine being on!

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Unsure what the central 'axle shaft' is but this pole was snapped, repairing&securing the fiberglass&pole is of course very simple but the shaft that's transmitting power from the powerhead to the saw-head is snapped :/

Is this just 'a lemon' at this point? I scooped it for next-to-nothing (cheap enough that, w/ its 12" bar&chain, that I can't 'lose' anything except time), I can't imagine it's gotta be scrapped over this but no idea whether this is something you'd be looking to get welded (locally, or @Echo service-center?), or be looking to replace with a new shaft or entirely new handle+shaft?

Even if it needs an entire new shaft/handle-bar, still seems worth it for this piece of equipment (SO much value to me as far as how often I use pole-saws, this thing will do sooo much for me!!)

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['top' half:

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['Powerhead half':

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Thanks a TON for any guidance on what my '1st/next steps are, I'm getting OK at regular chainsaws but this guy's powerhead is just fine (and the saw-head) it's just this broken 'transmission-shaft' and I've no idea if I should be contacting friends who weld or an echo retailer or ordering a new shaft....just hoping it's something besides "chuck it to parts-bin" ;D

 

[colb]

My lithium-powered pole chainsaw has no drive shaft. I bent the extension the other day. It's working just fine. I'd sell or trash that gas pole chainsaw and buy a lithium-powered pole chainsaw. I love my Echo tophandle gas saws, but the gas is steadily getting phased out across my smaller power units.

My job site this morning (12" loquat removal) used a lithium pole chainsaw, a lithium chainsaw, a lithium blower, and a gas blower (doubling up). I used both the analog and digital velocity adjustments on the lithium blower to gently blow the last of my loquat blossoms into a pile. I can't do that with my gas blower.

 

[eyehearttrees]

Just to show a side-by-side of the shaft @pole-side and @powerhead-side, now inside the pole there's a metal sleeving for the thin axle-shaft so maybe that's identical to what I'm seeing on the powerhead-side but uncertain so figured I'd show this:


Can't get the idea out of my head "If you just take a loss in pole-length you should be able to repair this in-house"....but maybe that axle is like a piston in a sense IE once broken the entire drivetrain's done until fully replaced or major replacements at least :/

 

[eyehearttrees]

My lithium-powered pole chainsaw has no drive shaft. I bent the extension the other day. It's working just fine. I'd sell or trash that gas pole chainsaw and buy a lithium-powered pole chainsaw. I love my Echo tophandle gas saws, but the gas is steadily getting phased out across my smaller power units.

My job site this morning (12" loquat removal) used a lithium pole chainsaw, a lithium chainsaw, a lithium blower, and a gas blower (doubling up). I used both the analog and digital velocity adjustments on the lithium blower to gently blow the last of my loquat blossoms into a pile. I can't do that with my gas blower.

Oh I can use my Husq 125B to craft a pile of leaves as-neatly as with a broom ;D

Will be all lithium someday but it's too pricey for me right now and, with how quickly it's coming-down in price, I'm planning/hoping that in ~12-24mo I'll be at the point of getting a kit (my research into lithium arbor stuff, and experience w/ getting my lithium based powertool kit, has me sold on the idea that you really need to get kits!!! Batteries are too expensive you gotta reduce $$ by buying a good chunk of your setup via kits so when I go to switch it won't be piece-meal it'll be a large swapover to Husq 40v (or 36V, unsure if they do actual or nominal) gear all at once....can't wait!)

 

[Reach]

My experience with broken Stihl power pruner shafts is that you have to go to the dealer to buy replacement parts, nothing in there is repairable/shortenable. I would guess that echo is the same, so your next step is probably going to need to be a trip to the dealer to find out what all the pieces are going to cost. With what it looks like to me, it may not be worth the cost of the parts to repair it, unless perhaps you can find another power pruner on the eBay with a blown engine and a good shaft.

 

[chiselbit]

Over the years I’ve had 3 stihl polesaws damaged by groundies. My local saw shop fixed each time and I was surprised that it cost less than $200. To replace shaft and tube

 

[Merle Nelson]

I suspect that was 'parts' of shaft and tube that were replaced chiselbit. Whole shaft and tube assembly for Stihl extendable is $450.

 

[chiselbit]

Ahh. So maybe one or the other is what they did. Either way, it’s worth taking it to the echo dealer and finding out exactly what the cost would be.

 

[Birdyman88]

@eyehearttrees The splines from the broken part appear to be consistent all the way into the female receptacle on the power head. If you know a welder, you could cut the shaft, dress the male end up to where it will fit up to the female, then weld in a "spacer" at the cut to bring it back to length.

Of course, the real trick is welding in spacer. If you can, drill a hole in each side of shaft at cut, slide each part of shaft onto a rod, then weld rod to each shaft segment. May be way easier said than done. You may also have to contend with welded joints being too bulky to slide back through bearings, but some grinding and sanding should take care of it. I've done this sort of thing before, but not for a rotating shaft with a lot of applied torque.

 

[Birdyman88]

By the way, Im assuming the shaft is steel. When I bought my stihl extendable, my dealer said something about the stihl shafts breaking more than the echo because the stihl was aluminum. But, he did say the echos were easier to replace.

 

[JeffGu]

Well, that thing's a cobbled up mess... I can't tell from your pics or rambling what all needs replaced, but I guess we gotta start somewhere.

If the cutting head assembly is all good, that saves you $128 for the whole assembly, or parts to fix the existing one. Move the chain and watch the drive socket and make sure it turns as you rotate the chain.

If the upper pipe is ok, that saves you $88. If the upper driveshaft is ok, that saves you $48.

If the lower pipe's outer (orange) housing is ok, that saves you $46. Obviously, the coupling/driveshaft for the lower pipe is shit, so that's going to cost you $100. Might take an additional $15 worth of parts, depending on condition.

With all the duct tape around the main pipe fixture kit (powerhead attachment) I can only guess that it might be hosed, too. That's $16 if so. Or is the control handle/pipe assembly and driveshaft hosed? That short, flexible driveshaft in there is $36.

Best case scenario, you're probably looking at around $100, worst case it could be about $325. This assumes you buy the parts online and not at a dealer.

If you get away with just the coupling/driveshaft assembly for $100, you probably have a bargain. I'd start by getting all that duct tape, dickcheese, gum, bailing wire, etc. off of it and cleaning it up real good.

 

[eyehearttrees]

Best case scenario, you're probably looking at around $100, worst case it could be about $325. This assumes you buy the parts online and not at a dealer.

If you get away with just the coupling/driveshaft assembly for $100, you probably have a bargain. I'd start by getting all that duct tape, dickcheese, gum, bailing wire, etc. off of it and cleaning it up real good.

ROFL @dickcheese!! FWIW I didn't do those repairs, I am all for over-board projects but glassing inside the cuff would obviously not fix that shaft!!

Does your pole's powerhead have a casing that's part-metal? The lower/front powerhead shell is metal and it gets CRAZY hot after just a few cuts...I am almost-positive that something that *needs* heavy-grease is dry and it's bad frictional heat, but have no idea what/where as this is 1st pole-saw work ever (also does yours have a carb with 'hidden H&L screws'? Mine does...gotta find the carb-model so I can locate its screws, the engine is so choked-up but don't wanna un-choke it(muff, air-box) until I can fatten the carb..)
Pic of the spot that gets real hot, it's not 3rd-degree-burn hot but probably too-hot to carry the unit from that spot (it'd hurt like hell if you could, am not even sure it'd be possible though)
Edited--- that pic is MIA and phone is broken, this picture with the saw upside-down shows the metal "bottom-half" of the casing, it spans from the pole to that black-plastic "bumper" plate, whole orange bottom is metal(and top is plastic, though there is a metal shield under the plastic)

My lithium-powered pole chainsaw has no drive shaft. I bent the extension the other day. It's working just fine. I'd sell or trash that gas pole chainsaw and buy a lithium-powered pole chainsaw. I love my Echo tophandle gas saws, but the gas is steadily getting phased out across my smaller power units.

My job site this morning (12" loquat removal) used a lithium pole chainsaw, a lithium chainsaw, a lithium blower, and a gas blower (doubling up). I used both the analog and digital velocity adjustments on the lithium blower to gently blow the last of my loquat blossoms into a pile. I can't do that with my gas blower.

I know I'd already replied to you guys but in finishing this rebuild it's re-kindled these tools for me (poles), also gotta say how much more emphatically I agree w/ this sentiment now, while building(rebuilding) this 266 I "decided I now have a pole-saw" and was/will buy a lithium unit as soon as this 266 proves futile (it's fully rebuilt so far as the driveshaft, but am finding the powerhead's getting real hot real quick so can't tell if it's ready-to-die :/ ) Would love to know which unit you got! Having used some lithium gear in the time since last-posting I can't agree more on lithium for sub-30cc equipment of all sorts (and suspect that'll go to 50cc within a few years) Am liking Husqvarna's lith-poles but haven't really compared the market...

 

[eyehearttrees]

[plz don't be upset if this "should be obvious", I understand safety- being what it is- probably forbids this @ face-value but worth asking since not positive!]
Can I cut w/ this thing while aloft? Granted, this particular unit would blow for @height use but Harbor Freight advertises a <9lbs unit so am sure the real brands are pulling 25cc power @ <10lbs weight... You guys know what I mean about how sometimes there's just going to be a situation where it'd be easier to have someone send-up the pole for a cut, than to climb-over and regular-chainsaw something...

Am aware to stay the hell away from power lines (in all instances but especially mindful w/ this tool), and to be wary of drop-zones!

 

[Merle Nelson]

I use power pole saws in the trees a lot. HT 101 and HT131 Stihl with 12 and 14 inch bars. Husky Battery with 12 bar.

I don't think any of them are anywhere near 10lbs. (All extendable to 12/14 feet.)

I can work from the ground and do clearance work without climbing. I can be in one advantageous position and shape back the heavy limb I'm on, some below me, and some above. I can take apart trees that are no longer safe to climb. I can trip precarious limbs being rigged from up to 12 or 15 feet away.

When you start out you may feel your arms are about done after 15 minutes. Fine, do other work for a few and then back to it. Not only will muscle build but tricks and skill will too.

My wife and many customers have the impression I hold a 14 foot saw straight out and work - I don't. Tricks.

 

[eyehearttrees]

I use power pole saws in the trees a lot. HT 101 and HT131 Stihl with 12 and 14 inch bars. Husky Battery with 12 bar.

I don't think any of them are anywhere near 10lbs. (All extendable to 12/14 feet.)

I can work from the ground and do clearance work without climbing. I can be in one advantageous position and shape back the heavy limb I'm on, some below me, and some above. I can take apart trees that are no longer safe to climb. I can trip precarious limbs being rigged from up to 12 or 15 feet away.

When you start out you may feel your arms are about done after 15 minutes. Fine, do other work for a few and then back to it. Not only will muscle build but tricks and skill will too.

My wife and many customers have the impression I hold a 14 foot saw straight out and work - I don't. Tricks.

Gonna go look at those models but based on context I'm assuming they're petrol and the Husqvrn is not? If so, *any* and all comparisons/etc you could give would be great, for instance I see climbing-saws as something where "optimal" is (at least) two saws IE your primary saw(mid-20cc's, 10-->14" b&c) and your 'diesel'/take-downs saw(mid-30cc's, 16" b&c) If you're Echo and not considering lithium, this'd be a 2511+355, or from Stihl it'd be a 150t and a 201t...anyway now that I'm "getting into" polesaws I've already begun thinking 2 pretty 'main' things:
1 - 40-->60V lithium can move a 12" setup as-aggressively as any sub-30cc engine, ergo lithium is superior unless there's a major loss in power//weight(was very surprised to see lith units not coming-in much lighter than they do, though to be fair they never get weighed-down with a tank of gas/dry-weight is real-weight) So would be especially interested in comparisons between the petrol stihl units(or any petrol poles) and your husq lithium pole as the Husq ones I saw at Lowes really impressed me / made me think "If Echo isn't on-point w/ lithium, I am getting this product!" lol (not now, but soon enough to have alongside the 266 or, hopefully not but we'll see, as-replacement for the 266.
2 - Maneuverability of the unit seems a paramount distinction among various units, but IF we can say "They're all comparably-powered" then, staying within the power//weight ratio our price-range allows, I'd imagine that we'd want to err towards lightness over power, right? (and wow 12-->14" b&c's?? Is there a reason the 12 isn't a 14? Now that you've put the thought in my head, a 14" would be FAR easier to work with especially when it's at full-extension and you're cutting nearly-overhead, I've got a perfect/nearly-new Echo-pro 14" b&c setup but it's heavier than my Oregon 16" was so I'm not keen using it on this 20lbs polesaw lol, though I guess at the same time the heavy base/shaft of this thing 'counterbalances' a heavier bar, heck I am gonna try the 14" once I've got the powerhead fully tuned)

Can't believe none of yours are >10lbs, hell Harbor Freight's lil 40V unit (doesn't reach a full 9' extended..) is 8.8lbs, my ppt-266's OEM weight (fully dry of course) is 17.5lbs w/o bar&chain and I've easily added 3-->5lbs with my "reinforcing overlay/cast" when repairing/strengthening this thing's shaft so with fluid will be >20lbs for sure...starting to think I should go get a sub-10lbs lithium unit ASAP to be "analogous to the small-climb-saw" and then just be more aggressive modding the 266 so it's very competent w/ a 14" and "analogous to a large-climb-saw" so, in that paradigm, I'll have the right pole-saw for the job! Which Husq model do you have? Would you change models now,if you could go back?

Thanks a ton and sorry for such a long reply, was so much great stuff in your post!! OH and 1 more thing-- Re "holding it", can you share any non-obvious tricks? I've got a couple for my 266:
- forward-handle for left-hand about halfway-up the pole, not only allowing more precision & force application while in-use but also makes it safer to carry the unit(ie less stress on the shaft-collar), and
- shoulder-strapping!! My unit came w/ a strap-mount but it was lashed wayyyy low on the pole, ie if you had it on you and let-go of the front-end of that pole, the cutter-head would slam into the ground.... My shoulder-lashing originates from the same point on the pole that my forward-handle is positioned, and is only 1" longer than my left-arm so when I let-go of the forward/left-hand handle the unit's front "falls" for a split second before the weight is taken by my shoulder, I set it up pretty precise so it's not banging my shoulder or anything , expect this'll help a TON w/ maneuverability/control!!

 

[Sbruneau]

I just posted a note on a crude hack coupler for a pole saw shaft extension. Maybe that would help your situation.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Was just in the saw shop and saw the Echo extendable listed as 17 lbs. Feels about like my gas Stihls. HT131 a pound or so heavier than the HT101.

Husky Batt extendable feels a little lighter but, adds leveraged weight when horizontal because motor is out near the cutting head. Very torquey, excellent for a lot of smaller work - sub 6 inches.

 

[Merle Nelson]

I just did another entire days work yesterday without putting on climbing gear. Four trees that most people would have climbed and had a host of other issues in rigging them down etc.

Power pole saws are just another tool. Not right for everything but when they are, they really are.

By the way bent shafts are a cost of doing business. I think despite all my best efforts to prevent any damage I bend one about once a year. At first I took it off and replaced whole shafts system at $450. Now I do 10 or 15 incrimental re bends and run it a little less than perfect - then replace individual parts as mandatory.

 

[Jonny]

A place I worked at almost 20 years ago had the Echo power pruner with a small circular saw blade on it. Surprised how fast and clean the cuts were. A nice shaping tool.

 

[eyehearttrees]

I just posted a note on a crude hack coupler for a pole saw shaft extension. Maybe that would help your situation.

It's fixed & has been solid since then but will check your posts to find it as I've been meaning to open it up & re-do it (I used a 2.5" wide galvanized pipe, cut in half length-wise, as an "outside brace" over my new/OEM coupler-bracket, as the base of my fiberglass pole just sucked....have gotten my handful of 'tricks' for using it effectively but it's still such a hog/heavy that my intent is to re-do the "bracing" so may very well be able to adapt your coupler-hack, gg check your posts thanks )