them0nk
ArboristSite Member
I've been browsing and searching around a bit and still haven't really found all the answers to questions i've had with this saw...
One of them would be max bar length... i never really thought i'd need more than the 20" bar already on it. In my area the forestry service brought down a HUGE amount of logs from the mountains, they're all pine, cedar, doug firs, etc. Some of them are pretty massive greater than 40" in diameter. I actually pulled off cutting some of the 36-40ish inch ones with my 20" bar (of course i quickly abandoned that idea because apparently i can't really cut perfectly straight all the way around). While i was there a friend of mine (who actually knows nothing about saws, but knows other tree "professionals") said that you can put a bigger bar on saws than whats recommended. To me it somewhat makes sense... of course i'd think the saw could that way but it seems like it would probably bog down more, etc. Is this a bad idea to do?
Which brings me to the next question i had... this "Muffler mod" stuff. I've see some pictures of a MS280 with it done with a brief description and wondered how much of an improvement this would bring, etc. And what the downside to doing one would be... I'm sure voiding the warranty would be one of them, but what other effects? more pollution? Also any tips or better guides on how to do one would be greatly appreciated.
Another question i had was the chain... i'm pretty sure this is going to be the one that people are going to flame me for not finding somewhere on the forum... I have 3 stock chains... I've seen carbide tipped ones, I know stihl themselves have multiple types of chains... but i wondered which kind is best for dry wood -vs- wet wood, hardwoods, etc. The ones i have now are anti-kick back chains, which i read someone's comment about them basically being junk. This is actually what got my thinker going. The kickback aspect of the saw is an inherent risk, and personally when I cut with my saw I know there is enough power to throw it at me... so i make sure to pay attention AT ALL TIMES and not bury the tip into anything, or try to cut too deep into a large tree where it could run itself out of there... --- what i'm basically shooting for here is a type of chain that will basically make a quicker cut, etc. I'd probably only plan on putting this chain on the 20" bar because i think it will eat up more power than the anti-kick chains.
Air filter clogging? i've read on the forums about the ms280 air filter clogging and causing problems - which happened to me... is there a better type of filter out there for them that doesn't clog AS often... cutting dry wood seems to be really hard on my saw... between the air filter clogging and the chain dulling faster it seems... i just wondered if there is a better way...
Winter/Summer switch... from what i read in the manual it's supposed to be only used in LOW temps... what about close to those "low" temps and high elevation (5800 feet) - my saw seemed to run like a champ when i finally decided to switch it to the winter operation after 1/2 a day of cutting( temps were maybe 55-65 F... I just REALLY don't want to mess up my saw... This one has to last for a LONG time...
The most newbie question of all is going to be about the low end (i guess it's called) setting screw... is there a "default" way of adjusting it? my saw REALLY pissed me off this last weekend because it'd either die RIGHT BEFORE i'd go to make a cut, or right when i'd hit the gas... which i think was caused by the air filter... but i adjusted the hell out of that screw throughout the weekend. I still have bruises on my inner quads from starting the saw with the handle between my legs... lol.
Lastly, and here is one that is probably debated all day long on here... my neighbor uses used car oil for his chain oil... is this a totally bad idea? Other than the obvious void your warranty issues... use car oil is free... and seems like a good way to at least re-use something that would just get given to autozone anyways. This guy has a 200ish dollar poulan 16 incher... that he really doesn't care about it seems. I paid (yes really and i know i got jacked on this deal) 550ish with tax on my MS280 (new), and would HATE to fork it up.
To anyone that read this, thank you... you're a trooper... and sorry about being a newbie with questions (i'm a member on a ton of other forums and know how it is to be sitting in your seat reading the same stupid questions over and over...). So don't flame me too much, and i'd greatly appreciate any input about these poderances...
the stihl link for my saw is: http://www.stihlusa.com/chainsaws/MS280.html for any reference needed
thank you for your time,
the :newbie:
One of them would be max bar length... i never really thought i'd need more than the 20" bar already on it. In my area the forestry service brought down a HUGE amount of logs from the mountains, they're all pine, cedar, doug firs, etc. Some of them are pretty massive greater than 40" in diameter. I actually pulled off cutting some of the 36-40ish inch ones with my 20" bar (of course i quickly abandoned that idea because apparently i can't really cut perfectly straight all the way around). While i was there a friend of mine (who actually knows nothing about saws, but knows other tree "professionals") said that you can put a bigger bar on saws than whats recommended. To me it somewhat makes sense... of course i'd think the saw could that way but it seems like it would probably bog down more, etc. Is this a bad idea to do?
Which brings me to the next question i had... this "Muffler mod" stuff. I've see some pictures of a MS280 with it done with a brief description and wondered how much of an improvement this would bring, etc. And what the downside to doing one would be... I'm sure voiding the warranty would be one of them, but what other effects? more pollution? Also any tips or better guides on how to do one would be greatly appreciated.
Another question i had was the chain... i'm pretty sure this is going to be the one that people are going to flame me for not finding somewhere on the forum... I have 3 stock chains... I've seen carbide tipped ones, I know stihl themselves have multiple types of chains... but i wondered which kind is best for dry wood -vs- wet wood, hardwoods, etc. The ones i have now are anti-kick back chains, which i read someone's comment about them basically being junk. This is actually what got my thinker going. The kickback aspect of the saw is an inherent risk, and personally when I cut with my saw I know there is enough power to throw it at me... so i make sure to pay attention AT ALL TIMES and not bury the tip into anything, or try to cut too deep into a large tree where it could run itself out of there... --- what i'm basically shooting for here is a type of chain that will basically make a quicker cut, etc. I'd probably only plan on putting this chain on the 20" bar because i think it will eat up more power than the anti-kick chains.
Air filter clogging? i've read on the forums about the ms280 air filter clogging and causing problems - which happened to me... is there a better type of filter out there for them that doesn't clog AS often... cutting dry wood seems to be really hard on my saw... between the air filter clogging and the chain dulling faster it seems... i just wondered if there is a better way...
Winter/Summer switch... from what i read in the manual it's supposed to be only used in LOW temps... what about close to those "low" temps and high elevation (5800 feet) - my saw seemed to run like a champ when i finally decided to switch it to the winter operation after 1/2 a day of cutting( temps were maybe 55-65 F... I just REALLY don't want to mess up my saw... This one has to last for a LONG time...
The most newbie question of all is going to be about the low end (i guess it's called) setting screw... is there a "default" way of adjusting it? my saw REALLY pissed me off this last weekend because it'd either die RIGHT BEFORE i'd go to make a cut, or right when i'd hit the gas... which i think was caused by the air filter... but i adjusted the hell out of that screw throughout the weekend. I still have bruises on my inner quads from starting the saw with the handle between my legs... lol.
Lastly, and here is one that is probably debated all day long on here... my neighbor uses used car oil for his chain oil... is this a totally bad idea? Other than the obvious void your warranty issues... use car oil is free... and seems like a good way to at least re-use something that would just get given to autozone anyways. This guy has a 200ish dollar poulan 16 incher... that he really doesn't care about it seems. I paid (yes really and i know i got jacked on this deal) 550ish with tax on my MS280 (new), and would HATE to fork it up.
To anyone that read this, thank you... you're a trooper... and sorry about being a newbie with questions (i'm a member on a ton of other forums and know how it is to be sitting in your seat reading the same stupid questions over and over...). So don't flame me too much, and i'd greatly appreciate any input about these poderances...
the stihl link for my saw is: http://www.stihlusa.com/chainsaws/MS280.html for any reference needed
thank you for your time,
the :newbie: