Chainsaw engines don’t last for crap............the ethanol washes away the oil that’s supposed to lube the piston and cylinder walls.................
My main problem is melted O-rings, melted plastic thinfilm breather gaskets, etc. It pretty much destroys all them over a season or two if you let it sit. I’ve taken to letting them run completely dry before storing.
I haven’t gotten around to looking at rings, although I have rebuilt those once or twice. My repair pricepoint is about $100. If it’s over that I fix/rebuild it if the parts are cheap. If not, chuck it and buy another one.
Only if you are a pro logger or something.
Most chainsaws flat out say use alcohol free fuel, if you don’t follow that advice you do indeed risk wear, mostly to the rings and piston, though over time you could wear out the cylinder itself.
However, for most home users, who are using their chainsaws a few hours a year, not going to notice much of a problem even if you use fuel with ethanol.
And while you can pay a repairman an arm and a leg for labor, parts for small 2 strokes are relatively cheap, and they aren’t that hard to fix, only a few real parts on the things honestly.