Fantasy to reality, hot saws... Spud? and others

[David Dobedoe]

Inspired by to much time on 'you tube' and owning one or two saws in need of attention i have started wondering about sourcing two or three tuned saws.

Ones that I keep to myself and don't let every tom, dick and harry use to cut dirty woody, touch the road, fill with poorly mixed fuel etc. grrrrr

 

From what i understand a tuned saw can give better power to weight than a standard saw. From those of you experienced with these things which saws show the best performance gains without too much compromise in terms of reliability?

 

Is it best to have a problem or older saw rebuilt or start with a new saw, forfeit the warranty and 'go for it'?

 

As a climber I'm particularly interested in saws that mean I can work with better power to weight so which saws tune well?

 

At the moment i'm pondering

a Stihl 150 or Echo 2511

 

Stihl 201, Husqvarna 540 ( or a Stihl 200 if i can find a good one.)

 

Husqvarna 560. At the moment i sometimes use long bars on a stock 560 (it struggles) how much performance gain is realistically possible or would i be better of simply using a bigger saw.

 

What sort of costs are involved if somebody like spud does the work?

 

Spud obviously has a good reputation for this work, who else in the UK specialises in this work with a good reputation?

 

Thanks in advance

D

[Husqvarna King]

Have you watched the recent reg coates video? Even the American guys were mentioning spud. Which is very good considering there seems to be more "saw doctors" over that side of the water. I currently don't have any modded saws, although it has crossed my mind especially on the 660. I would imagine the older style saws would be more worth it as they seem sturdier built and will last longer than the new high performance throw away crap. Just my opinion.

[treevolution]

I had X2 200, 46 and 66 all ported by spud and had the chance to meet him in person and can highly recommend him.

 

All four saws are brilliant and there is a real difference in performance.

 

For the work that Steve puts into the saws it's great value for money.

 

You can also post them to him if you're not near.

[Andrew McEwan]

Steve will be along to give the list, but big gains are possible (~ +30% cut speed) on husky 3 series, very happy with my spudded 350, 357 and 372. I think 200t and 201t  are popular but don't have one.

[Rough Hewn]

I own stock saws for work,
But I've used a few ported saws before.
Tried a few by spud too.
The husky560 (I believe) is a corker once it's passed through spuds hands.

Wonky's stihl ms660 ported, jungle muffler and 100cc big bore:

My stock 661 in the same log:

Spud ported 560 vs stock 461:

[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

[Pete Mctree]

All my saws apart from an 084 are ported. Some by Spud, some by myself & other builders. The increase in performance is noticeable & for me they have been a great investment.

However, there may be issues with employees and persons other than yourself using them however.

[oldwoodcutter]

Spud opened up the piston on my 660 , reshaped the inlet and exhaust ports, and did a big muffler mod , 20mm or so.
Apart from using it myself , I only allow one or two trusted and very experienced employees to stand behind it.
And I doubt I will ever sell it, it’s my favourite saw of all time, and I’ve owned most of them at one time or another.

[SbTVF]

Love my spud ported 576xp. Been cutting some oversize firewood today and it really makes light work of it. Will probably have one our 550s done next year too I think.

[shavey]

2 hours ago, David Dobedoe said:

Inspired by to much time on 'you tube' and owning one or two saws in need of attention i have started wondering about sourcing two or three tuned saws.

Ones that I keep to myself and don't let every tom, dick and harry use to cut dirty woody, touch the road, fill with poorly mixed fuel etc. grrrrr

 

From what i understand a tuned saw can give better power to weight than a standard saw. From those of you experienced with these things which saws show the best performance gains without too much compromise in terms of reliability?

 

Is it best to have a problem or older saw rebuilt or start with a new saw, forfeit the warranty and 'go for it'?

 

As a climber I'm particularly interested in saws that mean I can work with better power to weight so which saws tune well?

 

At the moment i'm pondering

a Stihl 150 or Echo 2511

 

Stihl 201, Husqvarna 540 ( or a Stihl 200 if i can find a good one.)

 

Husqvarna 560. At the moment i sometimes use long bars on a stock 560 (it struggles) how much performance gain is realistically possible or would i be better of simply using a bigger saw.

 

What sort of costs are involved if somebody like spud does the work?

 

Spud obviously has a good reputation for this work, who else in the UK specialises in this work with a good reputation?

 

Thanks in advance

D

Iam only a couple of miles down the road from you,  come over and try a couple of ported saws

[MattyF]

Had a 560 with pop up piston ,port and other mods , saw was pretty mad ... never ran bigger than a 15” bar on it but it would drop through wood.
Got a 395 with Port and timing mods spud did years back and it’s still going and will out cut a 880 with 36” bar..
Last saw he had was a 576 which he took the auto tune off and woods ported, it isn’t stupidly loud but works well and the saw is definitely one I would miss and I hated the thing before !
The echo 2511 is about on par with an exhaust modded 150 anyway, you need a basic exhaust mod on a 150 to make it a usable saw imo but either fully modded would be a good choice , I’m thinking of sending a 2511 off as it’s a cracking saw ,especially with the stihl bar and chain.