Makita EA3601...the most intriguing saw to date

[fordf150]

Figured out these were available so I ordered one to tear down and have a look. I saw the ipl last year and couldnt wrap my head around it so I had hoped holding the parts in my hands would help....it didnt!

Overall impression:

I love it, easy to tear down and work on. I had about 45 minutes in the complete tear down and reassembly of the saw and never once had to go to the service manual for guidance on how something came apart or went together. Very smooth controls and perfect alignment/fit/finish of all the pieces/parts. Seems well built with metal inserts in the plastic, lots of gusseting of the plastic housing in important stress areas. T27 fasteners for 99.9%, remaining fasteners were phillips head screws holding reeds and the reed plates so.

Lets start off with some general pics.

 

[fordf150]

Big air filter for a 36cc saw.

Strato is the bottom throttle bore...You'll see why I am having trouble understanding this saw later on and why i mention this now.

3 T27 screws hold the entire top cover on.

 

[fordf150]

Starter has the familiar "Easy Start" feature except it looks like they figured out how to shrink it down a bit because this saw doesnt have the bulging starter housing like all the other Makita/Dolly saws.

Picture of the flywheel shows the scoop on the back side of it for the air injection so air filters should stay nice and clean if it matches the performance of the 6100 air filter system.

 

[fordf150]

Muffler is held on with 4 bolts, one into the lower left corner of the muffler bolts to an extension on the crankcase. No cat and no SLR, just a standard old muffler with birdcage for a baffle, bad news is that its crimped together.

 

[huskihl]

Nice looking saw.

Do the stickers line up with the multifunction switch?

 

[Stackowood]

Made in Japan? It resembles a Redmax saw I once owned.

 

[fordf150]

Nice looking saw.

Do the stickers line up with the multifunction switch?

no stickers...molded in markings. yes they line up.

Made in Japan? It resembles a Redmax saw I once owned.

Made in China. My first impression was updated Redmax/Shinny with nicer fit/finish.

 

[Backtroller]

Are those removable covers on the sides of the cylinder?

 

[fordf150]

4 bolts and the control bracket/air filter mounts comes off in one piece revealing separate boots for the intake and strato.



removing the lower intake reveals the first set of reeds....yes I said first set.

 

[fordf150]

Adjustable metal oil pump bolted in. metal bumper spike, aluminum chain catch. Overall a pretty well built saw for the 30-40cc class of saws.

 

[Dolmar Junkie]

Nice looking saw.

Do the stickers line up with the multifunction switch?

I hope not,since I like controversy so much.
#You know it ain't worth a flip if the stickers ain't right...

 

[fordf150]

I normally stop on a teardown of new models at this point because I use these as demo saws for a few months and sell them, nobody wants a 6 month old, 10 tank saw that has been torn down buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut this saw just had me even more curious at this point so i kept going

 

[fordf150]

So here is what she looks like inside.

Nice looking cylinder with MAKITA proudly cast into it. Removable transfer covers. Sorry for the fuzzy pics, didnt realize they didnt come out very good until after the saw was back together.

 

[fordf150]

First pic is the crankcase side of the strato block that house reed set #1.

second set of reeds mounted to the engine crankcase

reeds removed on the crankcase reveals the entry into the crankcase

 

[fordf150]

complete case assembly with reed block installed.

 

[fordf150]

 

[Dolmar Junkie]

Could you tell us the advertised weight and Horsepower and price point? If you don't mind...

 

[fordf150]

@Miller Mod Saws

 

[Dolmar Junkie]

View attachment 73256

Gonna have to get a new Makita gauge, looks like a whole new range is gonna be required! I like it...

 

[fordf150]

Could you tell us the advertised weight and Horsepower and price point? If you don't mind...

35.2cc
2.3hp
advertised 9.3lbs

actual dry weight with no B&C on my scale=9.4lbs

not sure what list or MAP pricing is. To keep from getting myself in trouble i will say $290 +/-