261/262xp exhaust port area 4 muffler mod

[Gwiz]

Every post I make here, I just know I'll get a good bashing from someone who knows more than me. Just the other day someone was quick to criticize the guy who wanted to build his own bucking spikes using AutoCAD when he could have bought new ones for $15. That caught my eye because I'm just learning to use AutoCAD: a very handy tool for such things.
I just traced the shape of the factory cylinder exhaust port of my 261 and then measured it as accurately as I could with the tools I have. Then I drew it on CAD so the computer could figure the area for me. After printing the shape at full scale, I held it back inside the cylinder to confirm a near perfect shape and size.
Maybe there is a better source of area out there that I haven't heard of, but I know this was a lot easier than trying to figure this area by hand. I figured the area at .4169 square inches.
Maybe that can help someone with there muffler mod. How does that compare to any of your figures for the same saw?
Maybe when I take the muffler apart to drill more holes I'll calculate the area of the factory exhaust in relation to the exhaust port area. We'll see how far below the recommended 80+% the factory EPA muffler was.
James

 

[SawTroll]

The most important thing is to make sure that your new piston is a domed 262xp one - and then you need to get the much less restricted 262 muffler, and the better clutch......

 

[HUSKYMAN]

How about a pic of your 261 muffler? I can get a pic of my 262XP muffler so you can see the difference

 

[Gwiz]

Domed or flat top?

The most important thing is to make sure that your new piston is a domed 262xp one - and then you need to get the much less restricted 262 muffler, and the better clutch......

I think you have mentioned that before, but in my searching here, haven't seen any confirmation that a domed piston exists. I have the flat top one. Never heard of a better clutch till now.]
James

 

[WSJchester]

Huskyman:

Apologies for dropping into this thread so late, but I'm also looking for a photo of a 262xp muffler so I'll have some idea what my 261 muffler ought to look like. Any chance you could post one? Thanks. -WSJ

 

[funky sawman]

On my modded 262xp I like the 261 2 piece clutch if you wood is smaller or just using the saw for limbing, as it is much lighter than the 3 shoe clutch used on the 262 which I would use if I was falling with the saw. As for the muffler, I removed the face plate and cut a square hole out measuring 11/16" by 13/16" and sandwiched a stainless screen between the plate and the muffler. Husqvarna never had a domed piston for the 262, they are all flat top and the 261 is dished.

 

[andrethegiant70]

Regarding the good "bashing" folks ocasionally get, remember its just the internet... even on a high-quality, professional-like site like AS *cough* there are still folks who won't appreciate the DIYer. It matters not. Guys on this site are always welding things up, creating sculptures out of JB Weld, and improvising with coathangers, for very little if any practical reason. The AutoCad things sounds like fun. If, by now, fellas don't see that making stuff yourself (hard) is far more satisfying that going out and BUYING things (easy), then they just are completely missing the point. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of folks on here who go out buy a new saw, and then we all talk about it for days. I don't personally get it as I like to dig into the broken, old, and silent machines, but TO EACH HIS/HER OWN!

For example, Bsnelling (Brad) on here has laboriously designed a homebuilt magnesium smelter in his back yard so, sure, he could go out and BUY used parts for his AMAZING restorations but he chooses to MAKE them up from handbuilt molds and paint the parts up in the paint shop that he built on the property he purchased next door.

Alright, that's all a lie, but he does go totally over the top and has now turned many crusty relics into things that are actually quite special and then sells them for millions... dangit, I'm doing it again.... he either keeps them or sells them for what he can get for them. The point? He loves it, he makes something gorgeous from basically nothing, it makes him feel good, and impresses the hell out of the rest of us.

Another option for the muffler is to gut the 261 muffler you've got (oh, gosh, I hope I don't get a load of crap.. wait, we do that all the time!! :hmm3grin2orange: ). It's one less thing you have to find and, if done properly, should work out just fine. I believe there are threads on here.

 

[WSJchester]

(it's a rainy day here in western NY - can you tell?)

Funky Sawman: Regarding the 2-shore or 3-shoe clutch, I'm not sure if what I whittle on is large or small by Idaho standards. I cut firewood for the house in NY and the camp/family place/grandparents old farm down in PA. Almost red oak, hard maple & black cherry in PA, and those plus hickory, white oak & black locust in NY. Sizes run from 15" to >30". Large? Small? Stock 261 clutch or 262 type?

Andre: Spot on about "buy vs tinker!" If it was all about what was most efficient or cost effective we'd all live in a hive. Without guns or chainsaws or beer for chrissake.

Like I said, I'm no mechanic or craftsman like a lot of the folks here, but I am interested in trying to un-EPA my 261 and make it run like I'd hoped a 60 cc saw would when I bought it. As for buying, I bought a new 372XP 2 weeks ago and I couldn't be more tickled with it. It's probably the saw I should have bought back then, but since I didn't and there's all this encourging information here, I'm going to try to do the muffler mod and stick a new piston & (probably) 262 clutch in it and see what happens.

I went out this afternoon and took the saw apart down to the connecting rod and put it back together with the original parts, including base, intake & muffler gaskets, with a screwdriver, a couple allen wrenches, and a pair of needle-nose pliers. The only thing I broke was the little plastic turbo air snorkel thingy that I guess keeps sawdust away from the air filter (live and learn). I had no idea about the torque specs for the head bolts but just gave them a hard wrist-tight torque (more questions here in another post). Otherwise it all went back together and started and seemed to run just like it did before I started fooling with it, so I aint' a-feared.

More questions to follow. Thanks. -WSJ