Pawn shop John Deere cs56

[DougNH]

I have a CS 62 and a CS 56 Bought the 62 new and the 56 very slightly used. In my opinion there is not much difference between the saws especially in a firewood capacity. I run a 20" 3/8 full chisel on the 62 and a 18" 325 semi chisel on the 56. I have run the 56 with a 20" 3/8 and it does just fine. If I had to point out a down side. ...I wish you the best of luck they are EXCELLENT saws. THe RPM's are 13000-13500 per my manual.

:agree2: The CS56 is very underrated by those who know it only by specs.

Of all the new saws I've had that was the one with the most noticeable improvement after break-in. It was really a dog until after 5 or 6 tanks were run through it.

:agree2: My CS56 ran like $#!t until it was broken-in and retuned. Now it's awesome. I use it for everything.

 

[Nogoingback]

Was wondering about the filter seal. VERY little time on this saw and i can see a bit of dust getting by. Good idea with the greese. Have had this prob with my 455 also. I may leave this set up on the saw but it is handy to have all the same chain for every saw. This saw should pull a 20 ok as my 359 does.
How did you open up the muffler? I usually use 3/4 conduit out the side but was thinking something a bit more suttle. This muffler is very restrictive.

When this weather passes I will replace the safety chain and get some vid. Maybe a little side by side with the 359.

I use grease on every work saw I have since the filters are plastic and some are two piece and they don't always fit together tight and can be warped some. Makes for a little bigger mess cleaning them up but it's worth it to me.
For the muffler mod I used 3/4 pipe and had to do some work on it to change the profile for clearance between it and the brake handle and reduce the overall diameter a little. I thought it might be a little to big for the displacement of the saw.
You have to make sure the exit clears the handle when the brake is engaged too which I found was a problem with mine and had to make some adjustments. Since the muffler can't be separated to get to the inside, I used a Dremel to enlarge the existing holes in the baffle and the exit. I also drilled a couple of extra holes in the baffle and enlarged them as much as I could with the dremel.

 

[Nogoingback]

More pics showing where I use the grease.

 

[mweba]

That exhaust looks good. Thanks for the heads up with the handle clearance.
I may try a square exhaust tube on this one.

 

[Taxmantoo]

Ya I wasn't very clear on that. Dealer has them all in stock yet but does not take trades.

Really? What are they asking for a 62? $350-400 was the going rate last year.

Around here, the 62s were gone in early December, the 56s and 81s by the end of January, and everything else got blown out for chump change in February/March. I think I paid $169 for my 36 around Thanksgiving 2008, and then early this year they were selling the 40 for $150 or $155 (they sold out fast at that price before I could get one).

 

[DougNH]

"Fugly" saw on the outside, but I know the innards are pretty good.........

Beauty is in the eye of the owner. Some people say that Boxers and Bulldogs are ugly too, but to me they're beautiful.

 

[mweba]

Gonna check in with the Deere dealer on Saturday for price and stock check. I know they had these discounted but I don't believe it was significant.

 

[Trigger Man]

"Nothing Runs Like A Efco" just does'nt sound right. I like John Deere colours , maybe not on a saw but, at least you won't have any problems finding it in hurry.

 

[Moss Man]

We have a local dealer here selling Efco, he says he moves quite a few and it's price driven.

 

[mweba]

Could not wait. Got some video today stock then moded the muffler. Did not get done in time to get a video after the modd. First impressions are it made a big difference. I opened up the baffles and increased the size of the muffler exit port. Made a deflector to channel the exhaust safely away from the plastic and clutch cover. Looks kindof like the old school cowl induction hoods. Will get some vid after the mod tomorrow. Sorry I have not figured out how to down size pics yet so I have to show my work with the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ_NEb7t5I4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ID91EjukXE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-AthcZoDEM

 

[Nogoingback]

Nice design for the muffler mod.That definitely solves any clearance issues and should look pretty stealthy once you get some hi-temp paint on it.
First video was stock?

 

[mweba]

Thanks. Will get some paint on it after some test runs. Want to make sure there is enough clearance between the top cover and muffler. Seems to be good so far. Yes the first video is stock. Will get an after vid today when the neighborhood wakes up.

 

[SawTroll]

"Nothing Runs Like A Efco" just does'nt sound right. I like John Deere colours , maybe not on a saw but, at least you won't have any problems finding it in hurry.

My "fugly" post wasn't really about color, it was about the shape/design of some covers and the brake handle......:yoyo::yoyo:

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Sorry I have not figured out how to down size pics yet

Good stuff on the Efco's! I have the CS-52, and really need to upgrade. My wood usually goes over 24 inches, and up to 36 frequently, sometimes more. That poor 52 has been worked hard!


For shrinking the photos, there are several different free programs you can use. Here are a few:


http://www.xnview.com

http://www.irfanview.com

http://www.photofiltre.com/


I think for all of them, the process is to go to the menu and select Image, then Resize. Pretty easy once you have the right program. I think Xnview is the simplest of these. I've used all three.

Don't bother with Paint - it's pretty much worthless.

 

[mweba]

First try at pics. here goes

 

[jra1100]

mweba: Nice score on the saw, and good job on the mod. Where are you in Iowa. I'm in the north central part. We got less than an inch of snow, but some ice, not bad and today the sun is out. I don't think that will last. JR

 

[mweba]

JR, thanks. I live in Aplington and from the Dike area. I went to school with Mark's boys. Looks like I am a half hour south of you. We may have gotten an inch of snow at most but the ice layer from the rain is going to be a pain.
I got some after video today. Only thing I changed was the muffler.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYXshv-C_mY

 

[lavs4x4]

Muff mod looks good! How is the performance compared to stock? I've been happy with my CS56 and I've been reading about all the muff mods and was thinking of trying it. However, I've always learned if it isn't broke don't fix it. Are the gains noticable and what did you do to tune the saw once you the muffler was done?

Like the vids too!

 

[mweba]

Thanks. It was broke, it wasn't fast enough ha ha. Really though, the exhaust on this saw is very restrictive. I tuned the saw by ear and then checked it with the tach before the mod. After the mod I checked it with the tach and it reved approx 1000 higher. I did not adjust the mix. I left it rich for break in. As for cut times I think there is to many variables although it is a tool. The saw responded better and seemed to hold rpms in the cut better.

 

[Modifiedmark]

That new deflector is a good way to do that muffler mod since the clearence is kinda tight on that series saw.

I came close to buying a new John Deere 5220 a year or so ago. They were firm on there price at the time and I was firm on not givin it to em.

I may try one in the future though, they look good.