g395 & ms361 "Farmertec" Power at work

[afleetcommand]

 

[afleetcommand]

 

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[Maintenance Chief]

Finding the weakness Walt!
Ive really been enjoying this series of videos.

 

[davidwyby]

Haven’t been keeping up…has it been run against an OEM 395?

 

[afleetcommand]

Haven’t been keeping up…has it been run against an OEM 395?

Yes. Not ready to post how that went. Get enough "hate" as it is. So rather just let it do it's thing & earn it's way in the saw world on it's own merits of performance vs hassle & cost. I'll let someone else break the news.

 

[afleetcommand]

My g395 is sorted out with a popup piston, OEM full wrap, muffler mod, and a few other bits and pieces. About $450 to replicate, In this fellows video his g395 is stock Holzfforma out of the box vs. sorted out OEM 395xp with a muffler mod But throwing out a measuring stick kind of misses the point. The real comparison is this blue saw, some better parts & elbow grease some would consider a hassle vs. another $450 dollar option. Including "blue" options. Pretty sure the g395 matches power with any blue 90cc class saw and vibrates a lot less. BUT has inconvenient bar and chain adjustment and external clutch internal sprocket. So what does a cookie cut race really mean if you have to work with a saw for a while.

 

[afleetcommand]

Actually it's relevant .... after four "paying" tree jobs & bucking a load of timber, my g395 is cash positive, paid for itself and all the part & stuff I did... anything else is essentially earning more money. So if I still run it this season and into next year, it's a good work saw. Think of it this way, if I spend $1300 on a new OEM vs. the $450 on this, that's a $850 difference to make up either in fuel usage , parts & repair etc. SO we will see, maybe it lunches in a month or two years later like the g660's it's still making money. Time will tell. THATS the true measure of a decent saw build & option

 

[davidwyby]

I dig. I’ve probably said it before, but my personal preference for a budget saw would be rebuilding a used OEM one. I’d trust it more. You have more exp. with the blue saws and junk pile saws, does your experience point to more or less reliability on either side?

For breaking down tops, I like a top handle. My rotator cuffs don’t like to lift much above chest high, plus it leaves one hand free to deal with limbs.

I also am on the path of lighter saw, longer bar, less aggressive chain for felling and bigger, more aggressive saw for bucking.

 

[afleetcommand]

I dig. I’ve probably said it before, but my personal preference for a budget saw would be rebuilding a used OEM one. I’d trust it more. You have more exp. with the blue saws and junk pile saws, does your experience point to more or less reliability on either side?

For breaking down tops, I like a top handle. My rotator cuffs don’t like to lift much above chest high, plus it leaves one hand free to deal with limbs.

I also am on the path of lighter saw, longer bar, less aggressive chain for felling and bigger, more aggressive saw for bucking.

I guess like you. I have multiples of saws now so the "risk" isn't there. Honestly doesn't matter if these "for fun" saws live or die quick as my "main" saws can hold down the fort. The thought process "frees" me quite a bit to build these saws and frankly every job I do with them, every tree I take means my more expensive OEM saws have less wear on them. I have found over time some of these are a not worth the time and others are most certainly worth it if you factor the education, fun factor along with the productivity they allow w/o taking time off my OEM's. I also prefer the building from OEM for someone else or a true work saw.. But for just kicks and grins these work fine and for that matter have a few advantages over a whooped OEM. They are clean. Cost about the same as a OEM carcass. And I have proved over the last few years SOME , not all; will reward the effort with a useful work saw. THIS g395 chassis looks to be following in the 660 path where the "bones" are solid enough to build a work saw without replacing the more expensive hard parts.. SO far I have done a muffler mod...elbow grease & brass, a piston , muffler bolts, and for cosmetic reasons a OEM full wrap. About $120 over the cost of that power head. And I've more than paid for it with its work so far as I HAVE put it to real "money" work...like I said anything more done with this machine keeps wear and tear off my 565/572's and puts money ahead in my pocket. EVEN as a work saw, I bring "backup" as I have for decades so if it craps...my work doesn't stop. No risk. But I'm not a "Bjarne Butler" who can only carry a few saws in, and they HAVE to be solid. I have a truck or tractor to carry effectively a shop & back up saws. All fun & profit from this point forward I had a lot of fun developing the 660 clones, and these are doing the same for me. I will evolve these in a variety of ways from more power to understanding what's the limitations for long term reliability.

I understand this isn't for everyone. I'm not selling, just documenting

 

[davidwyby]

The education is valuable. It occurred to me when I was doing some work with with my box of parts 288 that if I had to start over with nothing I could buy a junk saw and junk truck, fix them, and go to work.

 

[davidwyby]

I agree a cookies test is too narrow of a field for testing, actual field use is where it’s at…but if an OEM saw whupped an AM one hard right out of the box….eh….

I think that happened with guilty of treeson and the 372s.

 

[afleetcommand]

I agree a cookies test is too narrow of a field for testing, actual field use is where it’s at…but if an OEM saw whupped an AM one hard right out of the box….eh….

I think that happened with guilty of treeson and the 372s.

Is the implication then that all blue saws will be whupped by their OEM counterpart? Folks really like simple conclusions to things "uncomfortable" For 1/3 price I guess they should be right?. And what was the cost difference. And BTW the g394 is within "tolerance" of a stock OEM 395 in a cookie race But mine "tweaked" is a bit faster than the stock 395 I have at my disposal to test. I see that as irrelevant as it's about how LONG will it perform that way & what other issues will pop up over time. But what is the cost difference? I could put a OEM top end on and they would be a statistical tie by definition.

You don't see the AM 372's much on my channel anymore The one I modded was a strong saw. For six months of everyday production felling. Then it stopped and everything in the lower end was done. Bearing pockets opened up, rod bearing toast. The seals and main bearings were actually...good. It was lean because air was getting by the outer race of the mains.

But just because those saws didn't "cut" it for me , doesn't translate to ALL the blue saws. I hate generalizations as they might be simple to understand but almost always misrepresents some part of the thing they try to define. The 660's have lasted done right. I think the 288 and 395 will as well. My humble opinion that will either be backed up with real testing or not...next year we will see. mean time every jb I complete with the blue 395 is one I don't have to put wear and tear on my 572/565's.

 

[Maintenance Chief]

The education is valuable. It occurred to me when I was doing some work with with my box of parts 288 that if I had to start over with nothing I could buy a junk saw and junk truck, fix them, and go to work.

That was me, my first truck was a 77 D200 club cab that I drug out of a field, I got a cheap Hanes manual and read it front to back several times and fixed the truck. It was free (sort of) I planted 7 sizable silver maples as payment.
I drove and worked out of that truck for 4 years.

 

[Maintenance Chief]

I agree a cookies test is too narrow of a field for testing, actual field use is where it’s at…but if an OEM saw whupped an AM one hard right out of the box….eh….

I think that happened with guilty of treeson and the 372s.

Agreed , I watched G.O.T. video. I think Jake could have at least put a screwdriver on it for a bit, that thing was pig rich. Jake admittedly doesn't work his own saws over either, I think he just has Madison's special port done to them, and of course his top handle worked over twice by that skinny tattooed boy.

 

[davidwyby]

Agreed , I watched G.O.T. video. I think Jake could have at least put a screwdriver on it for a bit, that thing was pig rich. Jake admittedly doesn't work his own saws over either, I think he just has Madison's special port done to them, and of course his top handle worked over twice by that skinny tattooed boy.

I sometimes forget that tree guys are often not saw guys.

 

[afleetcommand]

This guy here more represents what a guy with a few skills can accomplish with the "right" kit

 

[afleetcommand]

I sometimes forget that tree guys are often not saw guys.

yup I see that more often than not, In fact I was advised to NOT give a couple of my customers a tuning tool for 372xt's. I did. They tried to make them sound like their other 372's (OE's) . I got more work.

Autotunes and M-tronics are a blessing more than they are a curse.