wyk

Thanks. But, uh, I'm currently in Ireland Though I AM looking at some forestry work happening in England. We'll see how that pans out. BTW, here's a pic of the jug on that 444SE that is running the 3/8 chain: Standard 444SE's are fully skirted.

A well-done muffler mod on a 50cc Echo can garner a LOT of gain. A man on the AS forum has a home-made dyno that showed a 20% increase simply adding the factory dual port muffler front to a STIHL 460 and retuning the carb. Problem is a good MM can be loud. HEre's my CS-520(US market) I recorded simply to share the sound. Hrm... bar is a tad loose . This is after the 2nd time ported. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlRuyVtQI5I&list=TL8eBz7nVnap8]Echo CS-520 Ported - YouTube[/ame] I removed the internal baffle and added a 3/4" hole to the outlet next to the factory 1/2" or so outlet. There was a lot of tampering with the H I went into the cylinder itself a few times since I didn't have a degree wheel to work with at the time. So, I can't say what the timing specs were. But it was relatively mild compared to what I have seen some folks do. Randy/MAstermind has a GREAT thread on a ported 520 or 510(basically the same saw nearly stateside) on the AS forum. However, it did surprise a few lads on the crews I was on in southern England. I'm currently trying to hunt down a decent price on the new CS-500P that's out. Do they have them in England yet?

Hell, I run 3/8 on my 444se

I somehow doubt anyone is thinking that Echo 8800 is for milling. A 'woods' ported saw can last nearly as long as a standard saw. I have an Echo 50cc saw I ported 3 years ago that is still working every day in forestry.

Nice cannon bar, Cut4Fun. Never seen a newish looking wheelie bar like that. Ever thought of letting what's his face from AS dyno one of yer saws?

You mentioned removing the spark arrestor made a big difference. In another forum in The States, a man finished building a dyno specifically for chainsaws recently. He made it more to see what difference mods made than to compare saws, really. He found that on an MS460, simply adding the dual port muffler and retuning the carb gave a 20% improvement in HP with a much broader power curve.

I might have made the mistake of opening up the muffler on my 385xp a tad too much. Here she is with about 5* or so timing advance as well. This is a bifurcated sycamore I am stumping. At least that looks to be a syc...mebbe a maple...blah. Was a couple years ago. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klPIIyEkAGE]Stumping a 32" Sycamore with a ported 385XP. - YouTube[/ame] I loved the sound of that 385, but I would have ported it more for torque had I done it again. It ran fine in Douglas Fir with 32" of bar, but here we just use it for stumping, and she could use more bottom end. Maybe I'm jis being fickle, tho.

If it is new, and an 'x-torque' model, that is a good price for a work horse of a 70cc saw. Almost forgot to add - If it is an older 365 special model, the price is a bit high, but it is still a good saw for forestry. They take the 372 top end, and can be made to run very strong when rebuilt/ported.

Get a 550XP and don't look back. Since you are starting, most outfits you work with will have a larger saw available for the bigger jobs.

I just repaired a Husqvarna 235R Strimmer, and went over the motor front to back. I wanna say Kudos to Husqvarna for making every freaking bolt the same size. I bet it's also a 4mm to remove the jug(but that wasn't necessary today). The internal muffler baffle was damaged(cracked in half nearly), so I removed it and opened up the muffler a bit and retuned. It seems to like it a lot. Replaced the fuel line, but the carb internals and the engine internals looked very fresh. Is there anything I need to check with the drive train since she's been sitting for a couple years?

I noticed a huge difference when I went with NK chain on my Echo CS-520.

The chain can make a LOT of difference on how a saw performs. That, and the size the the bar relative to the saws engine(it's all about torque, right). I have a video somewhere of me testing some wood grinds on chains. Lemme see if I can find it... OK, I have one up(the old account where I had several was deleted, but that's a different story...): [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SASAJbPX3Q]Different chains, different saws - YouTube[/ame] The chain on the Husqvarna's is the exact same chain, not sharpened between cuts. It is a full skip, Stihl square grind(RSLFK, if I recall)) with the gullets relieved, the rakers and cutters thinned just a tad with a bit of fluting on the cutter, and the top plate ground off at an angle on the back of the cutter with some beveling of the straps. It sounds like mroe work than it it - about an hour or so per chain with 92-93 links. The Stihl has the standard Stihl full chisel from the factory(RSK). The wood is freshly felled Pacific Northwest red alder(Alnus Rubra). The Huskys have a muffler mod, and the Stihl has the standard dual port factory muffler; none of these saws are ported.

I have had a couple Macs:

Those are both large mount Stihl saws. May as well stick with Stihl and get a 461.

Cutting cookies and falling timber are different things. Cookies do not require as much torque since the bar isn't being pinched in the cut as the tree moves. However, it is still a good indication that the saw can pull. They are having good results with the 562 using 20 and 24" bars with a simple muffler mod in The States. The 550's also pull well with an MM: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqWehQMEq-A]Stihl MS362 vs Husky 550XP - YouTube[/ame]

They are good saws. A bit heavy by todays standards, but they get the job done.

I usually bring mine as is, and leave it running. This is how it went last time: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg11m4NNSeg]Funny Echo Chainsaw Commercial - YouTube[/ame]

He's simply testing the saw with a buck or two. He's a saw builder, not an arborist. His industry is building saws, and it has been for decades. For all day arb or logging work, I'm sure he'd wear PPE. Most Americans aren't as afraid of being maimed as Europeans, it would seem.

They did - it's called the 880. The 661 is still being tested in the PNW as we speak. I am being told it's AV is light years better and they run very well. Haven't seen the insides of one yet, tho. SO, dunno if it's jis a bigger 461 or not.

Nah. But your really only hurting yourself. Thousands of them out there are doing fine and making their owners money. I had a bad break-up with a GF once, but I decided not to air out the laundry in public

From everyone I know that has used or owned a 562, they are stellar performers. Some have even mentioned that their teething problems may have been weeded out in the European theatre before they introduced the 562 to the US...purposefully. They are getting a pretty good hang for porting them nowadays, too: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtqIqkR00Jw]Husqvarna 562XP Woods Ported With Popup Piston - YouTube[/ame]

And how do your ported 560's pull? [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlM_wlCYp-0]Stumpbroke Husqvarna 562xp, Ported, Muffler mod, 28" B&C, 7 pin rim, whits oak. - YouTube[/ame]

But a long bar does a gooder job on a gooder saw. If you do not like to fiddle with mechanics, or you let someone else fix your saws, it makes sense to keep it simple. But when you can spend a little time and have a 44cc saw cut nearly like a 65cc saw, or better, why not? I found a 444SE with a scored piston last spring. I replaced the piston with a milled 346XP OE that had a pop up on it, redid some of the timing and the ports, and ended up with a $60 chainsaw that worked hard all summer clearing trails up in the Pacific Northwest while I was timber cruising. It actually beat a ported 60cc saw at a PNW saw GTG(but some of that had to do with the work I put in to the chain as well). Your work is a lot easier and efficient when your tools are faster and more efficient. Your back will certainly thank you. I now can also carry a smaller saw in my kit and leave more room for other things. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT8gmZRllrg]Husqvarna 444SE chainsaw. Ported, piston popped, timing advanced, 230PSI, carb bored 1mm - YouTube[/ame] That thing has more chips flying out the front of the clutch cover than I see most 40cc saws put out the back. I really suggest you try a ported 372XP. The way the transfers are done on the 346 and 372 allows a LOT of gains when porting with very little modding. If you play with the ports right, they are monsters, and they last.

When I cut trees in the Pacific Northwest I use a ported Husky 372xp and 390xp. In the UK it's usually a ported BB 365 or 372 and a ported Echo 520.

Benzene turns in to all sorts of nasty stuff once you ingest it through your lungs. I do not handle spent engine oil, and I would suspect no one else here does, either. It's simply poured into the oil reservoir. So the likelihood of it being carcinogenic to you is low by comparison. If you are using it for mix - that's a different story altogether