You're gonna love that saw, Al. Here's what I did to my 181SE last winter:
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=89498
And now it sounds like this:
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Yeah it's heavy and loud but man does it eat wood fast. I can lean right down on it and it keeps on pulling. I also have another stock 181SE runner that I haven't quite decided what to do with yet, and I have a 288 as well that's in bone stock form still; to be honest I haven't used it nearly enough to justify keeping it, but I just can't bring myself to part with it, if for no other reason than that others want them so badly! I'm looking forward to seeing what you can pull off with one of these guys after your 371/2 thread. I don't have the equipment or skills to pull off a lot of the things you can, but I love the ideas nonetheless.
I don't think I noticed you mention whether or not you had sourced a new top cover for yours; if not, they're still available new from Husky, at least here in Canada. I just had one (the lowtop cover) ordered at my local dealer this past summer. It wasn't that bad either; only a bit over $50 CDN.