spudulike

It is possible that the manufacturers could do more - another thing that can be done with autotune kit is storing the owners details on it - not often done!

All the fella has done is report on here what he has seen and has the van reg if anyone suspects that the saws are theirs, it is highly unlikely the local plod would have come out on one mans call and even less likely they would have done much if they had. Think it is time to stop having a pop at the guy as he has done more than most and perhaps use the facility as Steve B has mentioned. I do keep a note of most serials on the kit I service so if anyone has it pinched, drop me a line for the serial!

I don't normally get a chance to get too much time testing on what I do but recently I ported a 372XP which was already wearing a jungle muffler - that is an empty can, a bit like a big 346XP muffler with an enlarged outlet hole. The owner was good enough to test the saw pre porting and then we tested it afterwards. The 372 is one of the best saws to port and on the first cuts with it tached to near maximum standard rpms, we got an average improvement of 20% but noted the saw loading up toward the end of the cut. We leaned the saw to 14,000rpm max (500 rpm above standard) and got a further 10% improvement so a total of 30% improvement in cut speed JUST from porting ONLY. The muffler AND porting would give much more. Difference in fuel consumption - you will have to ask the guys that run these saws regularly!

There's a mans saw:thumbup:

Here is one I had on the bench recently, from the 1980s model 935 so a massive 35cc engine. This one has reed valves so good on torque but bad for top end revs. it tops out at a lowly 11Krpm but does have a decent amount of go for a relatively tiny saw. The saw was pretty good, the owner wanted a complete rebuild but the only real issue was the cylinder base gasket was blown and leaking but the rest was pretty good TBH.

And I thank you:thumbup: Game over.....insert another £1:lol:

You should only use a compressor on a carb as a last resort and not down the H screw hole as it will bugger the high speed check valve - thought everyone knew that! If it is flooding all the time.....is this when it is running, being started or standing? If the saw is flooding, it is most likely the fuel is being pushed past the needle valve by the pressure in the fuel tank. It is worth pressure testing the carb.....you still with me.....or failing this, check the needle spring is seated correctly, make sure the needle and seat are 100% clean, make sure the metering arm height is correct and the diaphragm spacer gasket is between the diaphragm and main carb body. If this is all OK, you may have buggered the check valve or blown the welch plug out:001_rolleyes:

The old McCulloch 1-40 is loosing its covers one by one, the crank seal on the flywheel side is shot so have got that out and one on order. A new carb kit and recoil spring on order, found out quite a bit about how to make them go a bit faster so the exhaust port will be drilled and the head gasket (yup - it has a removable cylinder head) will be removed and the squish measured to see if the compression can be upped some:thumbup: The only issue I have is the quantity of customers saws I have stacked up for repair - looks like yet another busy week ahead!

I am agnostic - I like a drink on Sunday:blushing:

It is a clam style engine so not the easiest to work on. Would suggest a simple muffler mod to get a bit more ZIP out of it:thumbup:

Probably been caused by the side cover being removed with the chain brake still being on and then having to push the side cover on to the brake handle to take the brake off and it slipping. If the side cover is fitted correctly, the mesh should be deep with no chance for this sort of damage.

Interesting question! I work on many types of saw and from an engineering point of view, the older saws have proper threaded metal castings, proper screws, over engineered bottom end bearings and we all know they will last 10-15 years with sensible use and not show any obvious wear issues. The newer saws now use lighter harder screws, the manufacturers now don't tap the castings and instead rely on self tapping screws which tend to shear. Sure the saws are light, more economical, rev faster, make more power but when you see a 2014 saw being binned for a bearing in the bottom end letting loose and taking out the top end...it aint great! I cant see many of these newer saws being around in 5 years let alone 15! The manufacturers are having to make the saws more environmentally friendly, this means, strato, autotune etc. The trouble with this technology is that it is relatively new and we have seen that there have been bedding in issues. I am not talking about the clutch bearings collapsing on MS261s (God knows what that was about) but more, the starting issues and seizes on autotune machines. If you look at these issues, these new machines use a lot less fuel, les fuel means less oil, less oil means less lubrication and more heat which is bad for any two stroke - my opinion - use fully synthetic and 40:1 mix and that will hopefully keep the saw cooler. Do I prefer the older machines - well......yes, they are easier to work on, parts are plentiful and they are solid workhorses with most of their issues ironed out but......I don't use them everyday to cut wood!

Problem over, got an acid bath to get the oil off, put the saw in it overnight and next morning the issue is gone:thumbup:

Oh yes, I forgot:sneaky2:

That busy at the moment, I think I will return it and invoice you for the return journey:sneaky2:

Rebuild???.......Top end, bottom end, what is the condition of the saw? Piston, cylinder good condition.......compression.........clutch, sprocket, rim OK?? I can give you a labour price but if parts are needed then they will be extra!

The open port is where the transfers are open to the side of the cylinder and closed are enclosed with the cylinder wall. Open ports are often used in homeowner kit but the MS200 is a good exception to this.

It sounds like a carb issue but have just had one in that sounds very rich but the tach is telling me the coil is faulty as it wont rev over 9000rpm! You could try a cheap aftermarket carb but may just confuse the issue if you can't be 100% sure it is of good quality. If the saw dies after a good thrash, it could be running lean or rich as bith will have similar effects.

Am I to take photos of all the machines I get in:sneaky2:

I did do one once, think it was for a fella down in Kent. The exhaust and inlet ports can be widened some, the muffler can be modded!

They are good machines, not the same as the 357 or 346 as the engine sits in and engineering plastic case but it does have a traditional flat bottomed cylinder that sits on an alloy riser top crankcase and the lower crankcase is formed by the plastic engine cradle. They go well, used the smaller 345 for quite a while. They are open port rather than closed port like the 357 & 346. Not a bad saw IMO, low vibes and a good turn of cutting speed.

181SEs are the dogs despite their little foibles:thumbup:

Some would call it making a living - Amazon, although great for the initiated customer, pretty much decimates any chance of any sort of reseller making a living as they purchase direct from manufacturers and sell at the lowest online prices leaving no scope for a reseller purchasing through a distribution network! There are always two sides to all arguments!

Now there is a question, I have done both plus done a pop up piston in addition! The term "Porting" generally means the ports are widened, flowed and in some cases, the timing changed. Pop up pistons can be machined, squish bands can be machined or simply the base gasket can be left out depending on the saw! A change to the flow of an exhaust, generally is covered under Muffler Mod (MM). Some saws benefit from an ignition advance but would add this to "Porting"!

Ported 346XP NE.......not sure I can say any more:thumbup: