455 Rancher Questions-Porting

[Tinkerer Carver]

Hey y’all, I’ve some questions about a 455 rancher I’ve been asked to energize a little. I’m still fairly new at this. So far I’ve only done mild port jobs on an ms260, ms440(clone), and a 660(clone) and they turned out great, but this Husky has me baffled. I’ve read what I can find on the forums about this saw and most say it responds well to a muffler mod, but I’ve not been able to find much more. It’s just so foreign compared to the Stihl saws I’m used to that I’m not sure where to even start. If anybody has done any port work on these, any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

 

[Stem]

probably best thing to do is put a 460 top end on it, and maybe a pop up piston.

 

[Stump Shot]

@Mastermind ported my 460 Rancher for me many a moon ago. Maybe with a shot of Ginko or something he can recall what he did possibly. I never peaked so have no clue what he did other than make it pull the 24 inch bar it came with like it should.

 

[Tinkerer Carver]

@Mastermind ported my 460 Rancher for me many a moon ago. Maybe with a shot of Ginko or something he can recall what he did possibly. I never peaked so have no clue what he did other than make it pull the 24 inch bar it came with like it should.

I’d love to put the 460 top end on it, but seeing as we use almost exclusively Stihl, he wanted it as budget as possible. Ordered a pop up for it today. Ports look super clean, so I guess I’ll just do the pop up and muff mod unless others have ideas‍

 

[Stem]

winter air filter (white nylon mesh) helps them breath a little better as well.

 

[Mastermind]

@Mastermind ported my 460 Rancher for me many a moon ago. Maybe with a shot of Ginko or something he can recall what he did possibly. I never peaked so have no clue what he did other than make it pull the 24 inch bar it came with like it should.

I don't remember much about it really.

 

[Wanab]

If it my saw I wouldn't lean on it. They run good for what they are. @$350 they where a decent saw, @ $500 not so much.

 

[mettee]

I smoothed the lower transfers, and I did some work on the upper transfers by way of the covers. I might have barely touched the ports themselves.

I also ported the piston a little bit in a few areas where it was rough.

It runs a 24" bar buried in misquite no prob.

Think I posted pics on ab.

 

[mettee]

https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/husky-455-to-460-upgrade-and-porting.319813/

 

[Mattyo]

imho after working on plenty of 455's, this is not the best candidate for modding. because of its clamshell design adjusting squish is nearly impossible.
however, the husky 350 is MUCH easier to tinker with, and has better power to weight than the 455's. plenty of 350 stuff on my youtube channel.

i'd keep the 455 stock personally, and its one of the rare models i'd recommend leaving stock (or just bolt on the bigger jug as mentioned above).

 

[Tinkerer Carver]

imho after working on plenty of 455's, this is not the best candidate for modding. because of its clamshell design adjusting squish is nearly impossible.
however, the husky 350 is MUCH easier to tinker with, and has better power to weight than the 455's. plenty of 350 stuff on my youtube channel.

i'd keep the 455 stock personally, and its one of the rare models i'd recommend leaving stock (or just bolt on the bigger jug as mentioned above).

I completely agree, but for some reason, my boss insisted on attempting to port this instead of any of our Stihl saws that I have experience on. Pop up piston is on the way already, so from what you all have said, I’ll just slap the piston in, maybe open the exhaust a little and call it a day. Thanks for all the input.