Attention new saw buyers, big difference noted today!

[MacLaren]

Good post Springs, I have to agree with you about the strato saws taking alittle longer to peak out. Alot of guys rush to have a new saw modded without even running a few tanks through them.

Good point. But.....would/does it make a difference in your opinion to break a saw in before modding it? Or is it just as ok to have a saw modded before fueled. Ive talled to some excellent modders that say it dosent make a difference. I just have it in my head that it would be better to break a saw in 1st before modding. I wander if anyone else feels this way?

 

[lone wolf]

Why cant anyone wait for them to break in anyway?

 

[MacLaren]

Why cant anyone wait for them to break in anyway?

True. lol. I guess for me its an inevitable kinda thing.

 

[wyk]

I have a 440 i bought and it has had a total of 5 tanks or so through it. I am really hoping it loosens up some more.......


On a side note one thing that really bothers me on here is the guys that rant and rave about thier saws (that are ported) but they dont always say they are ported. they show vids and make claims and it leads people to believing that stock saws of the same model are the just as fast.

I have a video of my 372 easily beating an ms660 in the exact same wood, and the 372 wore 4" more bar. The only difference was the 372 had a hand-filed chain. Not a race chain, just a 'woods grind' chain. Don't trust videos

 

[Urbicide]

I have a video of my 372 easily beating an ms660 in the exact same wood, and the 372 wore 4" more bar. The only difference was the 372 had a hand-filed chain. Not a race chain, just a 'woods grind' chain. Don't trust videos

I agree. Kind of hard to be objective when 2 different chains are being used to establish a comparison between saws. Especially with something as important and vital as AS bragging rights are concerned. Grandpa's chipper verses some square ground chisel done up right on a nice Silvey grinder isn't much of a contest, unless your Grandpa is DC and he just built you a new bike saw. Hahahahahaha! Really need 2 identical chains pulled right from the factory boxes to be fair. And no slick Art Martin chains allowed, not unless Art builds 2 of them!

 

[hardhat]

Also. I know this is dumb. My old saws when you squeeze the trigger it goes full throttle before trigger was buried flat against handle. The new 441c doesn't go full throttle till you squeeze it all the way. I made quite a few cuts at part throttle thinking I was wide open. My hand moved a little and I squeezed a little more and was like wow. Yep. I know dumb. Flame away.

 

[huskystihl]

I break every new saw in on synthetic, Ultra, like Bowtie stated nothing but horse manure on the dino vs synthetic break in stories. I want the maximum protection, cleanest burning mix with stabilizers I can run through my new saws. Stihl engineering wouldn't be offering to double the warranty for a year on the purchase of a six pack of Ultra if they didn't believe it is good for the saw.

I know you cut a ton just like we do and every since it's intro whether it's been ultra or amsoil every new saw I get gets the dealer mix whatever he uses and my own put in. If Dino makes your saw break in better nobody ever told that to mine and if thousands of hrs per unit isn't enough than sign me up for dino. My wife just got a new Volvo filled with their own synthetic right from the factory.

 

[indiansprings]

Between Saturday and Sunday afternoon the crew got almost 19 cord cut and processed up, I'll be perfectly honest and very candid, the new 261 vs the old 261 just made me sick, if I did not know what the saw will become, I'd be feeling pretty dang low right now. Like Anthony mentioned about the 362, it just takes these newer designs seemingly longer to break in, the biggest noticeable difference is in torque, in the top end, it's not that noticeable of a difference. I had all the crew try it to see if I was nuts but they all agreed, night and day difference, again same chain, same tune at least by tach.
The guys that are liking the new 555 out of the box should really love them when they get 20-25 tanks thru them. Not to turn it into a oil thread, but I'm sold on the good synthetics after having ran the orange bottle dino for 25 years. The saws I've has apart just have less carbon, I may be way off base, but I think they are formulated to handle this pizz they call gas anymore. How many on here are old enough to remember buying ethyhl at the pump.lol

McClaren, good question whether a porter prefers a saw to be new out of the box, or whether they would prefer some run time on it. I think I'm correct in Simon prefers new out of the box but can't speak whether it is due to them being perfectly clean and easier to keep them that way, keeping debris out of the case etc, or if it is for some other reasoning. I know the 460 he did for us had several hours on it, but after porting it was similar to breaking in a new saw, it has really and I mean really woke up compared to when it first came back.

The whole point I was trying to make is, that give your saw a chance to run 20 tanks through them before you really decide whether you are pleased with the performance or not. I really hadn't ever had the chance to do a side by side comparison were we had identical saws, same chains, bars and tune, mix , every thing the same except run time.

 

[RTK]

Indian, maybe your new saw is a dog and the old saw was really hot??? Sometimes it is the luck of the draw.......... Don't forget to let us know how the new saw runs after some use.

 

[huskystihl]

Indian, maybe your new saw is a dog and the old saw was really hot??? Sometimes it is the luck of the draw.......... Don't forget to let us know how the new saw runs after some use.

Could very well be I had 2 ms250's purchsed at the same time set up by the same shop used pretty much equally on the ground and 1 needed thrown from 40 ft in the air while the other was a flat out cutter. I tached them both and the hot saw was turning over 15k while still 4 stroking and is still in play today while the other was given away.

 

[indiansprings]

Freak Accident going to cost me 1700.00-1800.00 dollars yesterday

I've been doing a lot of property clean up of standing dead timber for the free wood. Almost everything we have been taking down is in small one to two acre woodlots were cattle have stood for years and the high concentration of manure has started killing all the timber.

I will not let any of my crew fall these, mainly due to liability, tops are often dead, half rotten and dangerous, I do all the falling of these trees, for safety of the crews sake, plus I don't know if I'm any better but have a lot more expierence falling than my guys. We usually will drop them and then skid them up to a central landing, where both splitters are set up, the trailer and trucks also set in that general area.
Due to always being behind we usually will work after church on Sunday, I make it optional, not a requirement to respect everyones different religious beliefs. Yesterday one big post oak out all by its lonesome, looks like it had been a lighting casualty. Prolly some where in the 36-38" dbh, my oldest son pulls his wood truck up to within about 25 yards from where we think the outermost branches will hit. We even mentioned about backing it up a little farther, but he decided to be nice so my old butt wouldn't have to pack the 460 so far.
I proceed to fall this tree, great hinge, it's like it's a perfect drop, very controlled almost in slow motion, when it hit the ground one of the big top branches, prolly about 6-8" goes cartwheeling thru the air and flys like 25 yards, hits the truck in the grill, flops up on the hood and dang near knocks the windshield in.
It's his wood truck, a 2003 Chevy K3500 4x4 with a flat bed dump, the truck was literally immaculate for it's age. Liability only, took it to the body shop this morning, new grill, new drivers headlight assembly, new hood and windshield. I guess the man upstairs was sending a message, first time I've ever really suffered any vehicle or serious equipment damage. But there are two blessings in this story, the first no one got hurt, vehicles can be fixed, and the second while at the little local country auto repair shop, while getting an estimate I notice he is using a Hardy OWB to heat his house and his wife's beauty shop, I aske who cuts his wood, he says "I do" but I'm just way behind, been busier than ever at the shop." So it looks like all it's will wind up costing me is for all the parts and paint, and windshield. I'm trading out wood for the labor portion of the bill, the only downside is he wants all hedge and I hate cutting hedge, but it's better than cash out of pocket.
At least the son was talking too me within an hour of it occurring, he takes a lot of pride in his work trucks appearance, he was so pizzed when it happened he wouldn't speak for an hour.

Never think you know it all, no matter how long you've been doing it, keep them trucks, tractors, saws, equipment and people way back when falling. Be safe, happy cutting, expect the unexpected!