In reply to HotNotch :
I definetly love to port them and hop em up. I have lots of old ones that I cherish. We race em thru logs and the yearly event Sawfest is held nearby. I have and build the worlds fastest Poulan Strato 42cc saws here in my shop.
In reply to HotNotch :
I appreciate that advice! Those Poulans seem to be plentiful in my area too. And that old school green looks pretty good...
Chainsultan38 said:In reply to HotNotch :
I definetly love to port them and hop em up. I have lots of old ones that I cherish. We race em thru logs and the yearly event Sawfest is held nearby. I have and build the worlds fastest Poulan Strato 42cc saws here in my shop.
Mind sharing details? I've worked on / ran 2 of the strato saws. One is bone stock and very picky on carb tune. The other I muffler modded and it runs quite a bit better.
budget_bandit said:In reply to HotNotch :
I appreciate that advice! Those Poulans seem to be plentiful in my area too. And that old school green looks pretty good...
I'll bring up one other option of a clone
I will warn you that I have no first hand experience with this saw - just watched a lot of Youtube and read up on them.
The Neotech NH843 is a clone of the Husqvarna 543XP / Redmax GZ4350. The OEM saws are mag case, 43cc, strato port.
Neotech's Clone is identical, except they don't cut out the gasket for the stratoport behind the intake plate. Supposedly as a way to get around copyright laws.
The gasket can be trimmed and supposedly they run quite a bit better.
Now, the consensus is that they may not be as high of a build quality as a more mainstream clone saw (372XP, MS660, etc)
But, at $130 new on Amazon, might be interesting to you. Just do your own research.
https://www.amazon.com/NEOTEC-Chainsaw-Gasoline-Chainsaws-Firewood/dp/B0DMS717XD/ref=sr_1_3?crid=36HYDFZ9ECNCU&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.l7ESKXOwfMm5dgCR2Tgvb_eNgkJsIyKBgW4kKaKI-7OkwwWezk2eEhMICFiagwAILETktbTS_9N-S3ZbvUT1sg.OLwNXN9OfU5SxKlmzcHutCGT5KzKNloQNe0ZYEYkXPg&dib_tag=se&keywords=nh843&qid=1736522633&sprefix=nh843%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-3
https://youtu.be/FaeNEKVX50A?si=zezUDDXp0_rOV5Iz
The impression i've gotten from the internet is that Stihl makes a good saw, of higher quality than the older Poulans. Do you agree? I've seen the odd older Stihl saw on FB for ~$50 and wondered if it would be worth throwing gas lines/carb kit at it
In reply to budget_bandit :
You will have a hard time finding someone who does not agree that Stihl is generally top of the heap, though they also sell homeowner equipment that is nowhere near BIFL pro grade. Just be aware that some stuff is old enough that parts may be NLA, which may be why the ones you're seeing are so cheap. Or they may have seen daily use for years and be comprehensively whooped. A great old saw missing an unavailable ignition system is decor at best.
The clamshell Poulans we are talking about are not comparable to a (pro) Stihl. They're homeowner grade. But they're so ubiquitous that it's fun to pick them up, often nearly new, as cheap projects. They're a lot like old ten speeds or 90s mountain bikes; people buy them, then barely use them, and sell them when they realize just how much clutter they have collected.
In reply to budget_bandit :
As DarkMonohue said, Stihl is basically one of the "Big 3" of the chainsaw world. But they build a variety of stuff, and a majority of the smaller stuff in recent years is homeowner grade.
Which, isn't bad, and on or above par to the Poulan offerings.
There's a wealth of aftermarket parts supports for the Stihl stuff too.
There are also a MS250 clones, the Neotec NS846 and Farmertec G255, if that floats your boat
Had some family and work matters to attend to that have prevented me from getting any shop time, but I was able to spend most of Saturday in the shop.
Most of my time was chores, like fetching and stacking firewood, but I had an opportunity to make a stainless screen for the exhaust port on the muffler mod
Bought some fine stainless mesh from Amazon, and was able to trim it with scissors to rough donut, a little bigger than the pipe I used to port the muffler.
Then, I found a socket big enough for the 1" Sch 40 Pipe to fit down into, and used the pipe and socket as a die to form a flange.
Then, dug around and found an appropriately sized hose clamp and installed.
Doesn't make it any quieter, but does prevent debris from being sucked back into the muffler and does help with spark arresting.
Then, I dug into my Poulan MicroXXV Deluxe and found that the upper flange which seals the intake reed to the cylinder, was loose. So I took everything apart, cleaned everything, and re-tightened. Fires up and runs now, but needs some carb tuning. But it's a huge improvement over what I assume was vacuum leak, that prevented from sucking fuel.
Used my Farmmac 2511T (Echo 2511T Clone) to trim down some cedar planks for a roof rack on my winter beater 88 Accord. Trimmed off the knotty / damaged ends, loaded up and headed down the shop.
Unfortunately, went to fire it up down in the shop and the recoil assembly fragged itself. Which, to be honest, wasn't surprising - lots of users of these saws on the Faceballs group have had issues, and supposedly an improved assembly will be available shortly.
I sent a message on FB to the Farmmac rep to see if I can get a new cover, as it's only been started like 10x.
In the mean time, I ordered an aftermarket OEM assembly and shield from Duke's, as it's more or less a direct fit and a stronger assembly.
Really impressed with this little saw, so handy, light, and easy to use.
I live in the woods and burn wood for heat and I've been using Poulan for years, I think I've had my Pro 4210?(can't remember off hand) for 8 years now and it's worked fine for my uses. I just put a somewhat spendy full chisel chain on it that's made a huge difference in cutting power too.
When I was a kid and we moved to the woods my dad borrowed an ancient Pioneer saw for our first winter. It weighed several million pounds and kinda sucked so he was happy when he got his first Poulan. I don't remember what it was only that it had a 14" bar. It was probably too small for what it was doing but it worked, we just wanted firewood we weren't logging. You can imagine how a guy using a 14" Poulan in logging country was viewed though lol
After about a decade it was pretty tired so he bought a Pro series. That saw was trouble free for about 15 years and it is somewhere in my shop. It's the older Pro series that's yellow and black and needed help at the end, I remember the chain tightener assembly was kinda buggered.
I like my Poulan but I'll probably go for a bigger saw soon. I over insulated my house so 2 cords a year was enough, now that my dad can't do his firewood my cutting is up to 12 cords a year. The Poulan can do it, but cutting for long periods of time kills my back and I kinda need something bigger for what I've got around I think. My neighbor's 455 Rancher cuts way faster and I think it's time.
Also, I bought a Stihl ms170 because the common thought is they are far superior than anything Poulan put out and my wife wanted to have a smaller saw that she could use too.
I don't see a huge jump at all,they both start in about the same amount of pulls, if anything the Poulan cuts better although the Stihl is lighter with a smaller bar.
I think I killed this thread lol
In reply to Antihero :
I hope not, building my own little husqvarna 51 was a lot of fun. Next time I do it I'll give it a 55cc top end, ported Chinese cylinder and a base gasket delete . It's a little heavier than most of the poulans in here ...but it's also a little more rugged.
I bought a non-running Husky 340 and tore it apart. Thing was abolutely filthy. Piston's not scored so i'm planning to just replace the notchy bearings, open up the transfer/exhaust ports, and build a bearclaw muffler for it. Thought about a 353 top end but decided not right now
In reply to budget_bandit :
I did a stock piston and ring on mine, I've regretted it ever since. I use the saw twice a year, it's a toy... I keep asking myself why didn't I mod it the first time?
In reply to 1SlowVW :
I started with a similar train of thought. I was initially only going to clean the carb out (figuring that's all it would take to get it running) but I learned that these saws are known for a plastic clamp on the intake boot breaking and causing an air leak that kills the saw. Well, you have to pull the jug off to get a replacement clamp on there. And the factory mufflers are known for coming loose (long fasteners) and melting the case. So as long as i have the saw apart, might as well port it and build a pipe for it....
In reply to Antihero :
Nah, if anything has killed this thread it's the USPS. My aftermarket recoil and cover has been lost in USPS purgatory since Monday of last week.
On the plus side, Amazon refunded me the entire purchase price of the saw. So now I'm into it for like 30$... once the parts get here.
In reply to budget_bandit :
I approve of this message.
If you end up welding in a straight thru port like my 372XP, and still desire a stainless spark arrestor, let me know. The minimum quantity of that stainless mesh was 5 sheets and I used a corner of one for my spark arrestor
In reply to HotNotch :
i appreciate that!
Did i just see you say that you got this saw for free? because the recoil/cover broke? That makes me want to buy one and hope something breaks...
In reply to budget_bandit :
Yes, that is correct.
I sent a message to the seller, and got no response. Amazon stepped in, and after 4 days, ended up refunding me.
In reply to HotNotch :
Righteous! Nice score
Disclaimer: i haven't done any math on this, so i have no real evidence that it will work other than anecdotal evidence from other internet people.
I knocked up a quick pipe for the husqvarna, this style is known as a "bearclaw" pipe. At least it will make good noises, and most people report more power on the finger dyno with one.
Did some small porting on the cylinder tonight. Widened the exhaust by a hair less than 1/8" each side (leaving just over 1/8" to the piston skirt). Unfortunately the cylinder and riser are all one piece so no easy way to tighten the squish. I broke the piston ring when I was putting it together so i have to wait for a new one in the mail. Bummer
The clone 372s have really been catching my eye lately...not sure why, but i think these look so much better than the Stihls.
My family has about 25 acres of property that i plan on doing a lot of camping/hunting on this year, so we'll see how much I use my little 340 and how nice it might be to have a bigger saw
Antihero said:I think I killed this thread lol
No you didn't.
But last Sunday I felled and cut up this ~60' tree (partially cut up in the photo already) that was dead and about 16" diameter...
...with a 12" pruning blade in a (120v cord style) Milwaukee sawzall. Worked a lot better than expected. Certainly multiples better than my Milwaukee M12 hackzall...
I operated a chain saw for a whole summer when I was 20. But I never owned one. I kinda want one after reading this whole thread.
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