Anybody else satisfied with stock chainsaws?

[Definitive Dave]

The Taliban run stock saws

 

[Wilhelm]

I know that it makes me sounds boring,

And it could get me ostracized on a fan site like this.

But it's an election year, so a good time for all opinions to be heard.

Anybody else satisfied with stock chainsaws? Happy if they start and run the way that STIHL or Husqvarna (or other) engineers intended them to? I never heard of 'modded' saws until frequenting sites like this. And a few have been fun to try at GTG's. But I have had plenty of frustration with saws that wold not start, or were dirty, or poorly maintained. So give me a clean, well maintained saw that starts, runs, and has a sharp chain, and I am probably going to be a happy camper.

(flame on)

Philbert

No flame from me!
I love my saws stock, as the manufacturer made them.
The only "mod" I did is a MM on my PS-7900 and it is rather modest (stock/modded)!

The best modification you can make to a chainsaw is a properly sharpened chain.

^-^-^ THAT ^-^-^

 

[Jon1212]

 

[Backtroller]

I was satisfied with stock saws until I met @drf255 last year. Now I've been corrupted.

 

[Deets066]

I was satisfied with stock saws until I met @drf255 last year. Now I've been corrupted.

Did Doc make you turn your head and cough!??

 

[Backtroller]

No, then I would have said violated.

 

[MustangMike]

He ports a mean jug! That 046-D he did for me is Aces! (pics on this site)

 

[michaelmj11]

21 years of tree work without ported saws. Muffler mods only and a few with a timing advance.

Somebody else resurrected this post, but I am still curious about some information I was recently presented with.

Let me start off by saying that I know nothing about how a motor is put together.


But.... I was recently told that if you do not have the air intake and output, balanced; that you get a weaker saw. I guess to my thinking I am not sure about this statement and would love some more informed input. Especially concerning the "just muffler modded" side of things.

 

[Cut4fun]

Stock 65cc saw.

Yeah it could be faster ported. Wood will never know it working if it took 10 seconds or 6-7 seconds.

Now heII yeah port the crap out of them for racing.

 

[MustangMike]

Somebody else resurrected this post, but I am still curious about some information I was recently presented with.

Let me start off by saying that I know nothing about how a motor is put together.


But.... I was recently told that if you do not have the air intake and output, balanced; that you get a weaker saw. I guess to my thinking I am not sure about this statement and would love some more informed input. Especially concerning the "just muffler modded" side of things.

The biggest restriction on most chainsaws, (due to the EPA) is the muffler. They want to trap the heat to burn all the fuel, even though it hurts performance and the life of the saw, so generally that is the easiest mod to improve performance.

Once you open up the exhaust, if you then add a less restrictive intake (like a Max Flow or even a HD-2 on a Stihl) you further improve the flow of air/fuel in and out of the saw. As this improves, a timing advance will help to keep everything in sync. If you get it right (and the information on these websites helps a lot with that) you can often get a very noticeable improvement in performance w/o even porting your saw, and porting can improve things even further.

It is very similar to what we always used to do to the cars (before electronics). You would add headers & low restriction mufflers, a K&N air filter, then advance the timing to make it all function correctly. You would feel the difference immediately, and often get better gas mileage also. We also used to install steel shim head gaskets to bump up compression, similar to a base gasket delete.

I suspect that although your saw may consume fuel a little faster with these mods, that you will be able to cut more wood on a tank of fuel (something the EPA regs fail to take into consideration). They only measure emissions output for each size saw, not productivity.

 

[michaelmj11]

The biggest restriction on most chainsaws, (due to the EPA) is the muffler. They want to trap the heat to burn all the fuel, even though it hurts performance and the life of the saw, so generally that is the easiest mod to improve performance.

Once you open up the exhaust, if you then add a less restrictive intake (like a Max Flow or even a HD-2 on a Stihl) you further improve the flow of air/fuel in and out of the saw. As this improves, a timing advance will help to keep everything in sync. If you get it right (and the information on these websites helps a lot with that) you can often get a very noticeable improvement in performance w/o even porting your saw, and porting can improve things even further.

It is very similar to what we always used to do to the cars (before electronics). You would add headers & low restriction mufflers, a K&N air filter, then advance the timing to make it all function correctly. You would feel the difference immediately, and often get better gas mileage also. We also used to install steel shim head gaskets to bump up compression, similar to a base gasket delete.

I suspect that although your saw may consume fuel a little faster with these mods, that you will be able to cut more wood on a tank of fuel (something the EPA regs fail to take into consideration). They only measure emissions output for each size saw, not productivity.

So what about the newer saws that come with the HD-2 ?

The same source of information pointed out that instead of upgrading to the Maxflow (which I have/had done) I could simply have washed the HD-2 that came with my saw, and or gotten a second HD-2 and washed them in rotation.



AND regarding the timing advance etc. Wouldn't a M-tronic saw automatically adjust the timing?

 

[mdavlee]

So what about the newer saws that come with the HD-2 ?

The same source of information pointed out that instead of upgrading to the Maxflow (which I have/had done) I could simply have washed the HD-2 that came with my saw, and or gotten a second HD-2 and washed them in rotation.



AND regarding the timing advance etc. Wouldn't a M-tronic saw automatically adjust the timing?

I hate the HD 2. I'd rather use the cheap $10 filter from HL supply if I don't have a max flow.

 

[MustangMike]

I like the HD-2s, and yes, M-Tronic will adjust to the timing, but it may act a bit funky till it does. I adjusted it on my 362. It acted a bit strange for the first few days, and then it has been fine.

I often just tap most of the chips out of them, and every now & then blow them clean with the air gun.

 

[CoreyB]

The mt/at systems adjust timing? I thought they only adjusted fuel mix.
Hoe do they do that?

 

[MustangMike]

I think they just adjust within a range based on RPMs. My statement said they will adjust to YOUR CHANGE OF TIMING (taking material off the key), but they need some time to do it.

In other words, you can advance the timing on a ported M-Tronic saw. It will learn to deal with the new parameters.

The coils on just about all modern saws (even w/o M-Tronic or Autotune) adjust the timing based on RPMs.

 

[Mutley]

Just mean a worksaw, l have some old shelf queens, some NOS in box saws, some older saws that are cool saws but to heavy and vibrate too much, a modified saw for fun and the rest get used daily for work. Some worksaws are ported and modded, most are near stock. One of my most impressive saws is bone stock and will outcut similar displacement modded saws....the 681 Solo I have had since 2009. One saw I use a lot is a T/H 23cc makita 231t its the lightest gas saw on the market but N/A in the US...2.5kg with b/c!

Hi, sorry to resurrect an old thread; I have a 231T that I use as a pruning saw on small diameter tree branches. I've even been blocking very small trees down with it lately (slowly lol). My 360TES feels very heavy after I've been using the 231T. Had it about 5 years now & its been used hard. I even dropped it out of a tree once!

My 350TES & 360TES both have opened up mufflers, that's it for me, the rest of my saws are all as I bought them. The 231T really could do with a MM, but it has a fixed jet carb (& I don't want to spend any money on it)

 

[Keith Gandy]

!! No!! Port them all. All saws can benefit with even minor mods

 

[Keith Gandy]

What dictates ported? A 550 and 562 run dang good with just a MM

 

[Simondo]

What dictates ported? A 550 and 562 run dang good with just a MM

I think you have to get into cylinder work of some sort to call a saw "Ported" IMO
I tend to think of all the other useful stuff we can do to saws as "Modifying"

 

[Keith Gandy]

I think you have to get into cylinder work of some sort to call a saw "Ported" IMO
I tend to think of all the other useful stuff we can do to saws as "Modifying"

Ive seen very few cylinders Ive been into yet that couldnt benefit from casting flaws removed and ports squared a bit to improve flow?