Sometimes I can't stand people...
My coworker borrowed my pole saw a 2nd time, and brought it back to me Thursday. First time he borrowed it, the chain jumped off the bar. So I had to open it up to reset it, and there was a lot of debris inside the motor case. I know I had an issue with oil leaking, so that was on my list of things to investigate at some point.
Went into the garage today, to do some other stuff, and moved the saw to my work bench so it was out of the way. Noticed the casing was surprisingly dirty. Pull off the chain cover and there's dirt all over the bar, like it was laid down in top soil or something.
Stopped the other stuff I was doing, and removed the motor cover, to find it PACKED with oily dirt!
All of the air vent holes were caked up too. OK fine, keep digging, removed all of the screws and cracked open the housing, that had a ton of dirt inside it too.
At this point I'm thinking he tried using it like a roto-tiller or something, cuz that's the only way I can think of to fill that thing with that much dirt, and no traces of wood at all. Took me forever to wipe that down and blow things out with compressed air. I was so irritated by the time I got that done, I didn't have the brain power to troubleshoot the leaking oil problem. No cracks in the tank, rubber hoses were tight. I assume it's the connection from the tank to the pump, as it's the lowest transition point, and even with 1/3 of the tank full and the saw sitting horizontal and upright, it would still leak a few drops. I'll try adding some silicone around that joint at a later time. Didn't want to be bothered with it anymore. Will just add oil before use, and pour back whatever's left.
One thing's for sure, gonna be more selective with who I loan my tools to.
