Chainsaw Repair
How To Basics - Carb Fixes + Mods - IPL and Service Manuals => How To Basics and Fixes => Topic started by: wkpoor on March 04, 2012, 01:14:42 pm
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This posted on Hearth.com. What do you guys think. Says he is a pro. Seems a little off the mark to me.
The difference is a non or EPA stove isn’t gonna kill someone.
You’re hyping high performance, high horse power saws on a mostly newbie saw using/wood burning crowd as a resonably priced alternative. I doubt in the end it is factoring in emergency room bills.
The difference in weight between a 346 and 372 is 2.5 lbs. Big whoop! I don’t need more HP and less weight with a saw that kicks like a Columbian pack mule cranked up on his own freight!
If you wanna party in your back yard droppin a hopped up saw on logs makin cookies so be it. Don’t make it sound like the end all to a bunch of newbies with little saw handling experience in real world , wood under pressure, wood cutting circumstances.
I’ve been felling for 28 years and never felt the need to port a saw.
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Bill I hate to say it but I have found this to be true.
I take care of local firewood cutters and all they want is a saw to start and run good. They want it to idle all day when set down and have sharp chain to cut with to start. Someone to depend on that they can take their chains to for sharp chain.
They think it is neat seeing a ported saw in action but that is where it stops, they dont see the need for it. Most will however put up with a little extra noise of a muffler mod. Some wont do to the extra noise.
This is why I dont port anything (not worth my time) and just rebuild stock saws for resale to the firewood crowd.
Heck I even got out of the ported stuff myself. It just dont matter to me if I can get through a hardwood log 40% faster. Now if I was getting paid by the amount cut it would be a different story.
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What puzzles me though is the ported saws I've ran actually run better, start easier and after a day of firewood cutting are less tiresome because they cut so much easier.
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Have you ever dealt with the average income firewood cutters out there running the wild things and 33cc poulans. It is hard enough to move them up and spend the money on a good used pro grade saw. Let alone the average cost of woods porting a saw.
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Seems there are many good used ported saws for sale that cost less than new stock. But I realize getting someone to buy a used ported saw might be a stretch too. Everybody wants a saw from a local dealer so he can get **** when he brings it back.
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It's best to buy woods ported used saws if wanting that IMO. Just watch out on the porter and their reason for selling. They have been known to fib.
I know of 2 357 woods ported here latley that sold for $300. Now those are steals and deals. But these guys around here would have laughed at that price too.
You tell these local guys a pro grade used saw is $300 and they go bugged eyed.
I priced a like new limited edition poulan bad boy 3750 60cc for $250 with new 20" b+c and runs right with a 262xp but handles better IMHO. Now go and try and buy a new 60cc saw and see what that cost. Guys will go buy the $400 out the door ms290 first thinking they got a real saw. :D Most guys around here wont even spend that though.
Now I did sale a woods ported 372 by Dave Neiger for $400 24" b+c with new oem tank on it and a woods ported 026 by Dan Henry for $300 with 20" b+c. But this buyer also new the cost of new stock saws and the difference a pro saw makes.
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I know a few people that will go every year to the pawn shops and pick up 1 or 2 little husky/poulan/stihl home owner saws for $75-100 a piece and use them til they quit and most don't make it a year instead of buyin gone decent saw and keeping the chains sharp and using fresh gas instead of whatever is left over. My friend his step dad uses those little poulan/craftsman saws and heats his house with them. It takes him 3x as long to get a load cut then it does stepping up to say a 555 sized saw.
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What puzzles me though is the ported saws I've ran actually run better, start easier and after a day of firewood cutting are less tiresome because they cut so much easier.
I dont use small cheap saws for firewood. I dont like to use 50cc saws unless they are ported. 60cc saws or bigger for me. The faster i can get my work done the better. And sounds to me this "pro" has never run a ported saw. ;) Have you ever dealt with the average income firewood cutters out there running the wild things and 33cc poulans. It is hard enough to move them up and spend the money on a good used pro grade saw. Let alone the average cost of woods porting a saw.
They need to run a 440 or a 372 for a day to open there eyes. I started out on cheap junk saws, then i ran a pro saw and never looked back. Now, would i send out a saw to be ported for work?, probably not. Would i port it myself to gain a little performance.... Hell yeah. ;D
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It's all how you look at I guess .Those average Craftsman /Poulans or Lowes grade Husqvarnas have cut a lot of firewood .To the person only cutting a couple three cords maybe per year they do very well .
Now granted usually when they die that's it .They go out and buy another but it might take ten years to kill one and that's usually just a funky carb .
Myself ,I soup them because I can .Not a big deal just something I do because I get a lot of enjoyment out of it .I mean what the hey if I need a more powerfull saw I've got a shed full to choose from .It's just kind of neat to get a 70 cc to run about heads up with a 90 . ;D---but it's not for everybody ,ya gotta be a gear head at heart I guess .
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That thread like a lot of them got a little off track. It started with someone asking about porting their saw. I have some posts over there talking about how well I like ported saws. Then it got to the point, who in the world would want to do that, ain't safe, and cutting cookies for sport is just plain stupid.
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It turns into hoopla and horse chit after a while .They line up on the side lines like a bunch of cheer leaders .
Although it's amusing it gets a little old after a while .
Kind of funny how they carry on about someones work ,bad mouth them and just carry on .Then low and behold through one thing or another try to sell the very saws they've chastised as if they are the greatest things since beer in a can .
Bunch of phoney want to be's . I pretty much take what they say with a grain of salt . ;)
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Been a logger for over 25 years. Cut with ported saws for about 4 months of that time. Owned every pro Husky from 394 down, every Stihl from 088 down. Throw most Partner, Dolmar, Jonsered, Redmax and Efco in there also in that time frame..
Left logging last July and went back for six weeks this winter. Did 2 weeks with a ported saw and 4 weeks with a bone stock one.
For me stock is all I have ever needed. Ported are fun for sure but not necessary.
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For me, cutting wood is not the greatest job.
Running ported saws makes it a LOT more fun.
Did my azz stay warm when I didn't know what a ported saw was???...........Absolutely!
Does running a nicely ported saw make it a BOATLOAD more fun????.......Damned straight it does!!!
Anyone who hasn't run a well ported saw cannot possibly comprehend!
Mike
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Back years ago .I mean like at least 30 years ago all we did was pull most of the baffles and called it a day .They cut a lot better although a lot louder .
That was long ago when the 042 Stihl was newly on the market and we could make those Mac PM 610's out run them .Not a big deal just something we did and the Macs were 1/2 a cubic inch smaller in displacement 8 ccs' .
You either enjoy screwing around them or you don't simple as that .Either way,souped or no they all cut wood .
As far as running over the blocks at a GTG ,great fun but it doesn't tell the whole story .Take that puppy to the woods for a day,that tells the true tale . ;)
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I just checked that site out .Those folks seem to be more concerned about EPA type wood stoves than high performance chainsaws .
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I just checked that site out .Those folks seem to be more concerned about EPA type wood stoves than high performance chainsaws .
Now that seems boring. ;D
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For me, cutting wood is not the greatest job.
Running ported saws makes it a LOT more fun.
Did my azz stay warm when I didn't know what a ported saw was???...........Absolutely!
Does running a nicely ported saw make it a BOATLOAD more fun????.......Damned straight it does!!!
Anyone who hasn't run a well ported saw cannot possibly comprehend!
Mike
WORD...
hanging on to a saw is work, and I like to do the most amount of work in the shortest amount of time with the least amount of weight...
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Oh I think too more often than not if the subject of saw mods arise among a group that don't understand them you often get controversy .
Many people are under the impression that a moderate soup job shortens the life of a saw where in most cases it extends the life .You can't explain that to a person who has no working knowledge of an engine though and it's pretty much a waste of time to try .
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I just replied to a post over there where someone posted links to a guy who had a vid on youtube of a before and after port. He shaved 7 full secs off the cut, basically cutting his time in half and the poster was basically trying to point out porting gained this fellow nothing. I said are you crazy man, you don't think that much gain was worth it? I really don't know what planet they are on over there!
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Yeah but again you're talking about people that cut a few cords of wood a year and don't comprehend how a saw even works for the most part .Nor do they care for that matter as long as it cuts .It might take them half a day to get a pick up truck full of firewood but they don't seem to mind .
You get on a lot of those forums and half the posters don't even know how to file a chain .They're concerned about trivial stuff like what ratio of oil in the gas ,40-to 1,45 to 1 or whatever and spend more time arguing the virtues of Amsoil than cutting wood .
I have a couple buds in the tree service biz that don't trust modified saw even though they've seen mine time and again out run them .I'm okay with that .
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Fell timber in the North west for 25 years. Never seen a saw that didn't need a little help. A least a muffler mod. Ported saws run a lot stonger and seemed to last as long. If our saws blew after six months you said o well. Nine months, that was a really good saw. If you had it a year that better be a back up saw or the bullbuck (Fallen boss) was breathen down your neck.
Admire what you guys do. If it was more serious than a carb rebuild or maybe rings it went to the shop. Helped to have a good shop.
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Some of us are hopeless gear heads that have done pulling tractors ,quarter mile hot rods ,fast boats and any number of things .If it's got an engine we really can't help ourselves than to make it run better than those who designed it .It's not really a bad thing .I mean we could collect postage stamps or something . ;)
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+1
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for myself ive been porting saws for 12 years now,got some saws to play with and do competitions,but i was doing firewood with regular,bone stock saws. then last year i was thinking about that,why i got quick saws for the fun,then have to run slow saws for work.....
then i did some woodsport. its the day and night. add a little fun of cutting 16 inches
everything is fair now
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From what I gather many of the PNW crowd will run a saw for a season then get a complete rebuid and run it one more season .
I can't quite undestand how you could wring a saw in a season but then again I've never cut under those conditions .