spudulike

I haven't forgotten it Andy, just been fixing a flood of non working kit before takling it:thumbup: There is no confusion over working and racing saws, I do the work that reaps 80% of the power gains and that fits with most peoples needs. The longest running saws I have done are Stubbys 346XP and Burrells 357XP and both have now had a lot of work done with them to much satisfaction! The only saw I have got a bit radical with and gone pop up and full port plus a couple of other extra tweaks is my 357XP and that would just be too expensive in time to do as a standard offering on a working saw. I guess two heads have different thoughts whizzing around in them, that and a background of motorbikes and having watched much racing doesn't help:blushing:

Thats one good reason for tuning a saw - lighter saw doing the work of a larger one and being less tiring on the old body. My involvement in porting was just getting a bit fed up with just FIXING saws and wondered what I could do with a 346XP and what it would go like...that did it for me!

The only heads that get broken are undoing rusted up bolts that won't shift, usually on mufflers. Nice set of kit, only trouble is the T27 would get used all the time and the T25 would be too long for side covers and internal covers on the recoil MS200T - the rest would never get used! I use these - EXPERT T27 1/4" HEX. DRAPER TX STAR TITANIUM NITRIDE COATED INSERT BIT 25MM LONG x 2 | Insert Bits | General Hand Tool | ToolSupermarket.co.uk Never felt the need for anything more for this sort of application - why over complicate matters!

The guy that I did this saw for already has a 357XP that I prepared for him, for jobs where he would have typically grabbed a MS660, he is now using a saw that weighs a lot less, cuts nearly as fast and has better AV - he has noticed a big difference on the impact on his body. Apart from that, most guys that run these saws just get more out of them - lighter, faster, more work done, greater satisfaction......I run mine and they are just more enjoyable than their standard counterparts. I guess you just love modified kit or you don't, I am always looking to get the most from any mechanical kit I have, others leave it well alone! Never knocked the MS200T, best topper out there but when it comes to others - the 346XP is just a better saw than the MS260 and the 254XP better then the 026 IMO - the Stihl is just a bit of a banger compared to the Husqvarna in this range - Saws from each manufacturer have their own strengths but I love the Swedish saws for many reasons and having worked for a German company for 30 years has kind of jaded my opinion against Stihl and toward the Swedish kit:thumbup: Everyone is entitled to an opinion and their own views - Rich, you may change yours if we ever have the next Sawfest and you come up here:thumbup:

Finished porting the 372XP, nice job, pics on the Muffler Mod thread....just had three more MS200Ts in, all with idle issues, have baked the carbs in the cleaner and just need to strip them and pressure/vac test them before reassembly and testing.

You just use a small "T" bar and get used to giving it just enough:thumbup: you can usually tell by the torsion in the bar as to whether it is about right or not.

May as well add to this...been lightly modifying a 372XP for my mate Burrell (Martin), Exhaust port and inlet port widened, upper transfers re profiled, lower transfers heavily modified and a muffler mod to wake the dead. Sounds rather nice now, fast off the throttle and the tweaks to the squish have given a whopping 180psi comp.....:thumbup:V nice. Lookng forward to testing it - should eat 441s for breakfast:thumbup:

It appears that the OP is elated about finding a decent beverage being sold by the roadside by some dudes that looked like ZZ Top, he appears to have had a drive home looking forward to drinking said beverage safely in his own armchair....I hope! No need for the aggression unless the OP confirms he is a drink driver and got wazzed on zider with ZZ Top and then drove home:001_rolleyes:

Barrie - have you ever thought about lawnmower racing - you could run an alternative to carting with that lot, charge the punters £40 a time and tell the owners it is part of the testing procedure:thumbup: Tached another MS200T, the accelerator pump is now isolated and the saw runs spot on - it is the fully tuned variety so has a bit more....punch:thumbup: The MS260 was a worry, it had a new piston, was returning high compression but stopped after around 5 mins of running and wouldn't restart, had visions of a failure like Rich had - snagged rings but the conpresson still felt good and I had smoothed the exhaust port as I always do. Checked the spark - none, checked the lead, fine. Changed the plug....a good spark, tried my patent special plug with 4mm gap....fat spark so...the plug had failed, first one ever:blushing: New plug fitted, tached, still pulls 180psi so all is rather good apart from telling the owner I wasn't that happy with the bore and would knock £20 off my repair bill.....before I measured the compression:blushing: Oh well!

Mmmm, the neighbours are still talking about your 372XP, one of the villagers came round to complain after my test run, took one look at it and whinged at another neighbour I had sold a 024 Stihl to and had been using it a little:001_rolleyes: Don't think he liked the look OR the sound of it - flippin loud! Oh...the muffler was on their already, my work was the trick stuff to the porting:thumbup: One fast saw!

Possible - had a couple of MS200Ts I have had to convert over the last few days, both had a slight bogging in the early mid range, poor idle and didn't pickup without feathering the throttle. The trouble is that many carb faults give the same sort of issues so are sometimes hard to pin down

Sometimes they just need a good clean in an ultrasonic cleaner - seen loads of these in my time!

So is it safer to take a conventional rear handled saw up a tree to use in place of a topper? Wonder if my 009 Stihl will be classed as a topper or rear handle -it is somewhere in between:001_rolleyes: The two stroke laws are getting really silly - a 737 can take onboard 20,000 litres of fuel and burn the lot on a long flight and the big nobs are looking at a small number of chainsaws running for a small period of time - the world is an ass IMO, someone needs to look at the bigger picture rather than hammering the easy targets!

Looks like I am going international now, sending out a repaired saw to Sweden:thumbup: Already done a couple to France and repairs as far afield as Isle of Mull, Isle of Man, Scotland, Cornwall, Wales....not done Ireland yet! Just got the last MS200T to tach, the MS260 to tach and the 372XP to port!

Sorry, I just use the kit, the last one was imported from the US from Baileys, a well known arb outfit but if you purchase from the US, factor in the custom and excise costs, £35 in this instance! Pistons are available on eBay and from one or two UK retailers. Is the cylinder definitely Chinese? One very simple way of telling is to look at the cylinder top plate around the plug hole and see if it has "A", "B" or "C" stamped on it, if it does, it will be the Mahle original:thumbup: Oh - and lastly, if the pot is aftermarket and it has now seized twice - I would be looking for the cause of it going....air leak, lean carb H screw, bad mix etc. If you just fit new parts without doing this, it may end in tears!

365 or 372XP on a 20" is ideal, 24" at a push, the 372XP is the stronger saw, the 365 the cheaper. Personally I would use a 20" and two cuts but others will have more experience - larger saws will be more wonga:thumbdown:

Only ever serviced one saw that had been running old engine oil in the chain oil tank - a right old mess and not sure I want to do it again. I do notice some bio oils go really gloopy and form a rubbery gunge when mixed with wood chip - it is almost impossible to shift as well. I stick to the Stihl stuff - works just fine.

If I did that, you beggers would be up trees with dodgy non starting MS200Ts:001_rolleyes: Not got a minute to myself:lol: I'll have a rest when I am in the box:blushing:

Is the original cylinder shot - I have a high success rate of salvaging seized cylinders and fitting a quality replacement piston as many on here will testify:thumbup: Just done an MS260 - thought it was a little scored but is pulling 190psi with standard setup - can't be bad:thumbup1:

But what is best...Windows, Mac or Android:001_rolleyes:

I didn't say it is the best, the Synthetic oils are probably better but I do run saws a bit hot and have never had any issues with it - apart from it stinking a bit:blushing:

I re-beveled all the ports on the kit I had, small thing to do but is less prone to snagging a ring that way and relatively easy to do! smoothed the bevel with emery same as I do on all the modified saws I do.

Stihl HP....does the job!

Yeah, what saw, some of the Jonnies share Husqvarna parts - just fitted a 372 pot on a 2171 - needed a 372 inlet boot but the rest fitted just fine! Let us know and we will see what is what:thumbup:

Yup, can,see it now, thought the top looked a bit weird