I bought this thing 10-15 years ago and it's had moderate+ use. Before I bought it, it was returned to Sears under warranty, repaired, and I bought it for $50 clearance, under warranty, missing the manual.
Contrary to what I hear most people say, this thing always started and ran great! Normally 2 or 3 pulls in temps from 20F to 99F.
OK, the 2 nuts to hold the bar on and the chain adjustment always gave me a little trouble loosening up and the chain would loosen up. This led me to tightening the 2 nuts more and more. Finally I pulled one of the bolt heads partway through the plastic casing. A quick look seems like it's one hell of a job to replace the case where the bolt pulled through, plus I don't see that part listed on searspartsdirect.com
Any ideas what to do? I had pushed the bolt back into where it should be but that area is cracked so I can't make the nut very tight without the bolt coming out again. My one idea was to pull the bolt partway through the broken case how it was. At that point I could clean it as good as I can with carb cleaner, and/or maybe ether? After it's dry I'd fill the cracks and voids with epoxy, then bush the bolt back to where it belongs, adding more epoxy if there are any more voids.
And if I don't fix it, are the newer Poulan / Craftsman better or worse that the old? It is basically the same as the bright green Poulan "Wild Thing". I don't use it all the time, but when I do it often gets a heavy workout. I don't think I need a heavier duty model. If the $50 one lasted this long