I managed to find a nice looking 288XP on the weekend at an auction. I stayed all day and watched as numerous people looked her over. She was pretty. Then finally it comes time for the showdown!
Auctioneer starts at $50........I wish!! I think everybody's hand went up! It quickly jumps to 150, then 250, then 300. One guy says 325. I think to myself "slowing already". Another says 350. The other guy drops out. I say 400. The other bidders shake their heads.....she's mine!! After fees, comes to $448 Aussie dollars, which roughly equates to $2.50 US!!! (may be a slight miscalculation!)
So I take her home and we jump into the shower together........hang on, no that's not quite right........I give her a bath. She looked good at the Auction house, but I wanted to see her insides before deciding on what path our relationship would take. I pull the muffler..........pristine is the only word I could use!! I get a slight movement down below!
I pull the plug and screw in my compression tester. It is brand new and good quality ABW. I yank her chord 5 or so times.......she stops at 135. The movement down below now travels in the opposite direction!! I give her another half dozen pulls. Nope, no higher. I know the tester is good. Some of my other saws have told me that. Oh well, going to need a new ring at least I guess. I check squish - 35 thou. I guess a quick muffler mod won't hurt!
So then today I touch up the chain and take her up the back to my test log. To give you some idea of numbers, my 10hr old stock 046 cuts it in 22.2 seconds, my stock 044 with Meteor top end and dual port muff does it in 26 seconds and my "cleaned up" OEM 044 with dual port does it in 22.4. It is Aussie Apple Gum, which is a hard wood, but not very hard by our standards. It is about 18 inches in diameter (22 seconds for a like new 046, 18 inch diameter.......so yeah, a hard wood still).
I crank up the 288. The sound fixes any problem I was having in the nether regions!! Best sounding saw I've ever heard, period! I move over to the log, warm her up a bit and............mess the first two cuts up. Reset please.
Now I'm ready. I rev to 13500rpm. Drop her into the cut, and hold on for dear life!! The chain rips through the log like it's made of wet tissues!!! Holy sh#t balls!! I come out the other side in 16 and a bit seconds!!!!!!! I cannot believe how fast she is.
I am truly in love. The sound.......oh the sound! And the power is just ridiculous. How can 135psi do this to my test log??!! Now I can't wait til after Christmas so I can put together my MMWS 660 and run them against each other.
288XP is for now "my precious".
