16"-18" Chainsaw recommendations

Not at all. I just find your case to be the extreme exception. Never heard of a saw making 2000+ hours without a clutch drum, recoil, rings, carb etc… What brand and model? because I'm gonna buy a few. Like I said, cool story. lol

I'm not sure why you think I'm making this stuff up, but here's some info so you can either go out and buy a few saws or at least fuck off and die a happy man:

Both saws are Stihl FS250's - I've gone through a few angle drives, shafts and a snapped throttle cable but the powerheads are still in fantastic shape mechanically. I know you're probably itching to point out that these aren't chainsaws, and that's a good point, except that I'm only sharing my info about performing the muffler mod and it's effects on carb adjustment. As far as I know people muffler mod everything from hedge trimmers to chainsaws to leaf blowers and the mechanics are all the same.

So now, you're all set. You can go out and buy a couple of saws or at least tell your friends about some saws that made it past 2k hrs with little work. When you tell the story though, don't forget to include the part where you had to try and insult and argue with someone on the internet about it, because you know, that's a really important part :lol:

Anyways, I've wasted enough time in this thread. For anyone buying a saw and wanting to open up the muffler, let er rip!

This is weird thread..tw knows his saws im pretty sure…

I'm not sure why you think I'm making this stuff up, but here's some info so you can either go out and buy a few saws or at least fuck off and die a happy man:

Both saws are Stihl FS250's - I've gone through a few angle drives, shafts and a snapped throttle cable but the powerheads are still in fantastic shape mechanically. I know you're probably itching to point out that these aren't chainsaws, and that's a good point, except that I'm only sharing my info about performing the muffler mod and it's effects on carb adjustment. As far as I know people muffler mod everything from hedge trimmers to chainsaws to leaf blowers and the mechanics are all the same.

So now, you're all set. You can go out and buy a couple of saws or at least tell your friends about some saws that made it past 2k hrs with little work. When you tell the story though, don't forget to include the part where you had to try and insult and argue with someone on the internet about it, because you know, that's a really important part :lol:

Anyways, I've wasted enough time in this thread. For anyone buying a saw and wanting to open up the muffler, let er rip!

:rofl: apparently I succeeded with near zero effort.

I'm just saying that I have not had the same experiences as you with chainsaws and dont want any of these guys to fry their saw by muffler modding and not re-tuning….my leaf blower and week wacker are muffler modded with a non-adjustable carb, but I did it in stages so as to not over do it and only because I knew what to listen for. Telling guys to gut'em and let'er rip is irresponsible IMO.

Anyone who wants to mod their two strokes, read up. read some more. read some more. mod on a yard sale junker if you have to. There a few websites that will discuss this over and over again for different saws. Learn how to tune your saw. It's not as simple as cutting a hole and forgetting about it no matter what your personal experience is.

I'm just saying that I have not had the same experiences as you with chainsaws and dont want any of these guys to fry their saw by muffler modding and not re-tuning….my leaf blower and week wacker are muffler modded with a non-adjustable carb, but I did it in stages so as to not over do it and only because I knew what to listen for. Telling guys to gut'em and let'er rip is irresponsible IMO.

Anyone who wants to mod their two strokes, read up. read some more. read some more. mod on a yard sale junker if you have to. There a few websites that will discuss this over and over again for different saws. Learn how to tune your saw. It's not as simple as cutting a hole and forgetting about it no matter what your personal experience is.

this is a good post and good advice - much better than just saying "cool story bro"

this is a good post and good advice - much better than just saying "cool story bro"

yup

My opinion is that Ported saws are loud and obnoxious and have no use in the real world. A dull chain spinning at 15K can't cut dogsh!t . You are far better off spending your time learning to hand sharpen than spending time"hogging" out the muffler and tweaking the jets.. I have made a living with a chainsaw for 20 years and I have only met a handful of guys that could truly sharpen a chain but I digress…. Further to the comment about 2000 hrs on a saw- bought a MS660 in 2004 - ran it regularly ~ 10- 20 hours per week until I sold it earlier this month. Don't know the exact hour count on it but it was well used and there had to have been near or over 2000 hours on it. Never had the recoil side cover off of it. Changed the plug a few times and would only clean the air filter and pre-filter once it was thoroughly plugged and the saw wouldn't rev up. I always used cheap gas in it ( read: Esso 87 Octane) and usually cheap Esso Easymix. Oh ya and another thing…. I ran it with an 18 inch bar most of the the time …. but hey what do I know……. let the venom and vitriol begin !

with that in mind, whats your recommendation for sharpening?

i totally agree that it is an art in itself.

i put my bar in the vice on the bench and use the filing gauge w its guide etc..

i take my rakers down approx every 5or 6 sharpenings..

i use my saws a lot but i am def no "pro" always looking for good real world advice…..:)

UD- Sharpening is definitely an art. Without looking at your chain - hard to say where you are at with your filing. Sounds like you are doing the right things but often times if you aren't getting good results it is because you are not filing deep enough into the gullet, or the tilt angle is off or the rakers are not matched to the tooth depth. Also - it is very common to sharpen your dominant side deeper than the non-dominant side. I usually file 3 times on dominant side and 4 on non-dom side to even things out. But again, what do I know…….

But again, what do I know…….

but hey what do I know……. let the venom and vitriol begin !

Not sure where this^ came from, but:

regardless, I think we would all agree: a sharp chain [HTML_REMOVED] any motor mod you can do (for a work saw, anyways)…

I disagree about the ported saw thing - my 440 cuts with stock 660s easy and is a bunch lighter with less vibes. Louder, yes, but that's what hearing protection is for. my chains are sharp ;-) running a chain out of the box is a slow chain in my books.

my experience is that a saw needs rings after about 1000hrs…I couldnt stand to cut with a saw that'd down on compression.

… Sounds like you are doing the right things but often times if you aren't getting good results it is because you are not filing deep enough into the gullet, or the tilt angle is off or the rakers are not matched to the tooth depth. Also - it is very common to sharpen your dominant side deeper than the non-dominant side. I usually file 3 times on dominant side and 4 on non-dom side to even things out. But again, what do I know…….

overall i think I'm on the right path. it would be good to have a proper tutorial w somebody. i have done youtube searches etc..

my chains seem to cut pretty good , always room for improvement. i know the fallers around here have bench mounted specific tools for sharpening..

It's turned into a full Pro show, good shit

Go back 4-5 pages and [HTML_REMOVED] one year ago to read where I was the anti-christ for suggesting that a pro saw gives you a better quality of life while you got it in yer hands and that it will likely cost less in the very long run if you buy 1 pro HUSKY/STHIL instead of killing 3 poulans … WHAT THE FUCK??

A faller bud who tells me he has 7 saws in various stages of working tells me a a ported saw will have as much power as a heavier saw so he can do more, I belive him cuz I find running a saw on a mountain to be fucking hard work

Go back 4-5 pages and [HTML_REMOVED] one year ago to read where I was the anti-christ for suggesting that a pro saw gives you a better quality of life while you got it in yer hands and that it will likely cost less in the very long run if you buy 1 pro HUSKY/STHIL instead of killing 3 poulans … WHAT THE FUCK??

oh come on now, it wasn't that like that. nobody denied that the pro saw is a better saw. the debate was centered over cost and whether one really needed to spend the extra money on a pro saw if they were just doing casual trail manintenance or cutting.

in that respect and if budget is a concern it is hard to justify spending the extra cash for a pro level saw. take care of your saw and keep the chain sharp and even a poulan can give you years of trouble free service.

sure! whatever you say there big fella!