353 Muffler Mod

[huskyboy1978]

Hello All,

I'm new to AS and have been bitten by the chainsaw bug. I purchased a Husky 353 several months ago for firewood and ditched the cat muffler after my first use. The saw has about 20 tanks thru it now and has started to wake-up (I was worried the first day I had it out with the cat muffler on it - it was a dog to say the least - swapping the muffler and richening up the carb made all the difference in the world).
Now I want to see if I can get a little more out of it with a muffler mod. I have done the research and have decided to do a thru the bracket exhaust hole with screen. My question is what is the best hole(s) size to use. I have read from different spots anywhere from one 1/2" to two 1/2" on this saw.
What size are you using and how's it working?

Earl

 

[HUSKYMAN]

A single 1/2" hole is a good mod, and the saw will not be obscenely loud.

If you want to do two holes I would do two 3/8" holes, the saw is only 53cc. For a bigger saw like a 70cc saw you can try 1/2" holes. It all depends on how loud you want the saw to be

 

[JeffandJess4806]

I agree 1/2 will do the job, Make sure to richen it up again for the new muffler mod

 

[HUSKYMAN]

I agree 1/2 will do the job, Make sure to richen it up again for the new muffler mod

Good point I forgot to mention that

 

[huskyboy1978]

Thanks, that's the kind of advise I was looking for - I didn't want to overdue it and two 1/2" holes seemed a bit much.
I'll go with one 1/2" with screen installed and richen it up a bit afterward. I will probably do it this weekend and it a test Sunday. Will the gain be easily noticable (and I'm not talking about the noise gain)?

 

[Tazman1602]

Thanks, that's the kind of advise I was looking for - I didn't want to overdue it and two 1/2" holes seemed a bit much.
I'll go with one 1/2" with screen installed and richen it up a bit afterward. I will probably do it this weekend and it a test Sunday. Will the gain be easily noticable (and I'm not talking about the noise gain)?

Hey I'm getting ready to do this on my 353 -- got any pics or reviews of how you went about this? How did it run afterwards?

Thanks

 

[SawTroll]

A single 1/2" hole is a good mod, and the saw will not be obscenely loud.

If you want to do two holes I would do two 3/8" holes, the saw is only 53cc. For a bigger saw like a 70cc saw you can try 1/2" holes. It all depends on how loud you want the saw to be

51.7cc.....

I am considering it myself, as it looses bigtime to the NE346xp and 5100 as it is - the alternative is to keep it as is, as a loaner.

I have too many good memories with the saw, to let it go......

 

[decableguy2000]

Please post some photos, I'm thinking on doing this on my 55 just for kicks and grins. I'm still a little foggy on what to do.

JEREMY

 

[gremlin]

do a search for muffler mod pics and you will see lots that other people on here have done. might get some ideas from the pics

 

[Tazman1602]

51.7cc.....

I am considering it myself, as it looses bigtime to the NE346xp and 5100 as it is - the alternative is to keep it as is, as a loaner.

I have too many good memories with the saw, to let it go......

Hey ST --

Just got done with doing this for my 353 -- haven't put it on the saw yet as I'm gonna high temp powder coat it. I bought the non-cat muffler from Baileys, figured out what I wanted to do and then went to work.

I took an old barrel I had cut off -- used to build rifles back in the day from an old 6.5mm Swedish Mauser. Chucked it in my lathe, bored a 7/16" hole in it, and turned it down to .500.

I then proceeded to get out the MIG and burn holes all over hell. That muffler metal is THIN! I went back to mild steel rod/flux and torch welded it. That worked OK but was still a pain. Rifle barrel too thick, muffler metal too thin. My bust but it came out OK.

Waiting to get all my firewood done before I try to screw up a perfectly good saw.....................[GRIN]

Just waiting for wifey to go to work so I can spray with high-temp black and then bake in her oven at 450 degrees for an hour while she's gone.......

 

[SawTroll]

Why such a long pipe?

 

[Tazman1602]

Why such a long pipe?

Only two inches................and it looks really cool! Yeah I know. I'm really 18 but am stuck in a 50 year old body..................

Long pipe will help with backpressure. I can always go bigger if I need to or cut off some pipe whichever works.

Through the bracket screen mod would have been MUCH easier..........

 

[SawTroll]

....
Through the bracket screen mod would have been MUCH easier..........

Sure, but some say it will burn the wood........

I really don't know how much truth is in that though - my guess is that is really is a non-issue in most cases.

 

[Tazman1602]

Why such a long pipe?

DOH! I just remembered. I made the pipe so long (it's not really as long as it looks in the pic) so that it would clear the chain/bar and the chain brake mechanism. Didn't want exhaust getting blown all over the bar and didn't want exhaust pointed at the wood I'm cutting either.

 

[Tazman1602]

Sure, but some say it will burn the wood........

I really don't know how much truth is in that though - my guess is that is really is a non-issue in most cases.

Yeah, I just posted to you. VERY dry up here and the LAST thing I want to do is set the woods on fire. That was one of my design parameters........

 

[sawinredneck]

51.7cc.....

I am considering it myself, as it looses bigtime to the NE346xp and 5100 as it is - the alternative is to keep it as is, as a loaner.

I have too many good memories with the saw, to let it go......

Pay shipping each way to me and let me have it for a couple months then see what you have to say!!!
I'd like to play with one anyway, I have an idea what that saw can be made to run like and I'd like to see it

 

[huskyboy1978]

Reporting Back Finally

Well I complete the muffler mod to my 353 a while ago. I went with a simple 1/2" hole thru the muffler bracket and used the screen from my old CAT muffler in between the bracket and muffler. I adjusted the carb afterwards.

Results: A definite increase in power. Very noticeable gain in torque while buried in 12 - 16" hardwood.

 

[Tazman1602]

Why such a long pipe?

Been a while but I guess they don't call it research and developement because I know what I'm doing. Just going back over this post and wanted to let you know I did end up trimming a bit off of that pipe and re-adjusting carb.

...........It was running fine but that pipe DID run into the wood at times. Trimmed it back and got all the power I had and now it clears everything.

Art