Nik's Poulan Thread

[3000 FPS]

This is my Poulan 295 that I did some tinkering with. Now that I am at over 6000 feet above sea level I am retuning all my saws. Sounds like I need to do a little more to this one. I am eventually get around to doing some compression checks to see how much they have dropped because of the altitude here. The wood is 14" piece of elm. The bar and chain is 18" .325.

[video=youtube_share;ldnrJDpUSbk]http://youtu.be/ldnrJDpUSbk [/video]

 

[Modifiedmark]

i am ready to utilize my bow bar #4484 and need a chain (80 links) correct? and the chain guard. Does anyone have a fabrication for this or now where i could get one? it likes like a bicycle chain guard to me.View attachment 310583

Well first off the 4484 13" bow is actually listed for a 245/306 saw and to be honest I don't know what the difference would be between it and the 44235 13" bow listed for the 3400-4000 saws.

The handguard for the 3400 is 22204and is used as a upper and or lower guard but there again I don't know if the guard holes in the 4484 bow would line up for the 3400 guard.

I have a bow on my 361 that if I remember right came from a 3400 that I could compare to my 245 bow. If I ever get time and remember too. :msp_wink:

You are correct on the 80DL for that bow though.

If you have access to the right material and a good brake, the hand guards could be fabricated without too much trouble.

PM Guido I know he has some 3400 bow saws and might help you with a handguard for a pattern.

 

[redunshee]

This is my Poulan 295 that I did some tinkering with. Now that I am at over 6000 feet above sea level I am retuning all my saws. Sounds like I need to do a little more to this one. I am eventually get around to doing some compression checks to see how much they have dropped because of the altitude here. The wood is 14" piece of elm. The bar and chain is 18" .325.

[video=youtube_share;ldnrJDpUSbk]http://youtu.be/ldnrJDpUSbk [/video]

Do you need to go a little richer? Where are all the trees? Looks like North Texas.

 

[3000 FPS]

Do you need to go a little richer? Where are all the trees? Looks like North Texas.

There are no trees, I have to truck them in. So far I have found all I want.

 

[3000 FPS]

This one is the Red 3800. These saws with the aluminum cylinders cut pretty good.
This has a 3/8 16" bar and chain. The wood is still the 14" elm. You got To have wood to tune them.

[video=youtube;ktcnVAvGCgM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ktcnVAvGCgM[/video]

 

[OhioGregg]

Looks good Roger :msp_thumbup: Makes me want to use my old red Craftsman 3.7 again. I got a bunch of that size & smaller Ash trees to drop and cut up for firewood. I use to use my 3.7 quite a bit, but switched to using a 4000 smaller trees.

Most of my wood cutting has been larger trees, so the 4200 & 5200 get lots of use. Be nice to use the old Craftsman again. Assuming it still runs..:msp_sleep: Something tells me it will.


Gregg,

 

[3000 FPS]

I have to tell ya Greg I do enjoy that series of saws and have quite a few now. But later this week I have a chance to get some more elm in the 30" diameter range and will be taking my 475, 5200, and maybe my 445. The 475 and 5200 are ready to go and I fired them up today and gave them a good checking over.

Thanks Roger

 

[JohnCC]

You have an air leak somewhere. Extra air is getting into your cylinder somewhere causing the mixture of air/fuel to be lean, therefore causing it to rev up like it's doing. You can start by checking the fuel and impulse lines. If they are ok check the intake boot. A little more reading around the site will help you out a lot more than I can type. Vacuum testing is the easiest way to find air leaks.

Thx for advice. Tore off carb yesterday and cleaned it up. Diaphram looked ok. Probably needs a gastket/seal set, but after re-assembly the saw runs alot better. Still occasionally wants to hunt up in idle, but for the most part is running fine. Now I see though my chain isn't getting oil, so I assume the oil pump is out. I was able to cut some with it to test power and how it ran before I stopped as I didn't want to ruin the chain or bar due to lack of oil. Hand lubed the chain prior. So good news is the saw should survive, at least as a backup. Will probably search info on the muffler mod and maybe port the jug at some point, as I've ported other 2 stroke motors before and I'm probably just dangerous enough to give it a go .

 

[jerrycmorrow]

Thx for advice. Tore off carb yesterday and cleaned it up. Diaphram looked ok. Probably needs a gastket/seal set, but after re-assembly the saw runs alot better. Still occasionally wants to hunt up in idle, but for the most part is running fine. Now I see though my chain isn't getting oil, so I assume the oil pump is out. I was able to cut some with it to test power and how it ran before I stopped as I didn't want to ruin the chain or bar due to lack of oil. Hand lubed the chain prior. So good news is the saw should survive, at least as a backup. Will probably search info on the muffler mod and maybe port the jug at some point, as I've ported other 2 stroke motors before and I'm probably just dangerous enough to give it a go .

carb kits are cheap. go ahead and do that. also, don't know much about your saw but the idle still sounds like a small(er) air leak. go ahead and replace the fuel lines while you're doing the carb kit. being methodical is a major key to success.
btw, welcome to AS. are ya gonna be a 3-shot wonder or ya gonna hang around for a while. dont really matter, just wondering. if ya gotta go, ya gotta go. hope ya hang out though. jerry.
rep'd ya

 

[JohnCC]

lol Not sure if I can hang around too long b/c I have enough expensive hobbies and I'm starting to like chainsaws now lol.

thx for the reply and yes I agree about the air leak. I fly RC aircraft, mainly helicopters so I'm used to tuning those 2 stroke nitro motors and their peculiar behaviors when a/f isn't right. These carbs are a bit more complex, or at least different enough to what I'm used to, to give me a bit of pause, but yes I'll order the new gasket sets when I order the oil pump for the chain oil. Not sure when I'll get around to it though as I have a million projects in front of me right now. so it may wait till winter and I may just redo the motor or at least port it then .

 

[JohnCC]

btw this is off topic and I'm sorry if I should have posted elsewhere. I have an elm I dropped that was dead on the upper half of the tree. I have a nice 16-20 inch diameter x 16+ ft section of the tree that I'm wondering if I could sell??? Do places buy these or should I just chop it for wood. I have 5.5 acres and quite a bit of woods to clear of dead/dying or fallen trees, so I really don't need the wood. I would think a nice straight section of good elm might fetch a decent price, but then what do I know!!!

 

[Warped5]

btw this is off topic and I'm sorry if I should have posted elsewhere. I have an elm I dropped that was dead on the upper half of the tree. I have a nice 16-20 inch diameter x 16+ ft section of the tree that I'm wondering if I could sell??? Do places buy these or should I just chop it for wood. I have 5.5 acres and quite a bit of woods to clear of dead/dying or fallen trees, so I really don't need the wood. I would think a nice straight section of good elm might fetch a decent price, but then what do I know!!!

Howdy, neighbor ... IME, Elm doesn't fetch any interest from the sawmills. A mill that processes wood for pallets MIGHT be interested, but don't expect a fortune.

You have 2 things working against you ... 1) It's Elm 2) You only have one If the tree can be characterized as a 'yard' tree, no mills will touch it since the risk of some embedded metal is too high.

I'd saw it for firewood myself ..

Just my $.02 ..

 

[OhioGregg]

btw this is off topic and I'm sorry if I should have posted elsewhere. I have an elm I dropped that was dead on the upper half of the tree. I have a nice 16-20 inch diameter x 16+ ft section of the tree that I'm wondering if I could sell??? Do places buy these or should I just chop it for wood. I have 5.5 acres and quite a bit of woods to clear of dead/dying or fallen trees, so I really don't need the wood. I would think a nice straight section of good elm might fetch a decent price, but then what do I know!!!

Like Warped5 said, best for firewood. Or better yet, save it for testing your saws in, just like 3000FPS did in his videos.


Gregg,

 

[redunshee]

Like Warped5 said, best for firewood. Or better yet, save it for testing your saws in, just like 3000FPS did in his videos.


Gregg,

All the elms in Vermont are dead. Make okay firewood but are real stringy and tough to split.

 

[redunshee]

Pp325

From earlier posts you may remember my PP325 that I rebuilt, re-ringed, etc. Comp is only 90psi but the saw starts on three pulls cold and seems to run okay, though somewhat rich. Thinking about getting a new piston and ring for it cause I've got to be missing some performance.. Problem is I'm not sure if it needs a new piston. I did clean up both the piston and cylinder. At $55 for the piston kit, I'm wondering if I'm taking the right approach. Any way to tell if a piston is too worn? Thoughts?

Bob

 

[3000 FPS]

From earlier posts you may remember my PP325 that I rebuilt, re-ringed, etc. Comp is only 90psi but the saw starts on three pulls cold and seems to run okay, though somewhat rich. Thinking about getting a new piston and ring for it cause I've got to be missing some performance.. Problem is I'm not sure if it needs a new piston. I did clean up both the piston and cylinder. At $55 for the piston kit, I'm wondering if I'm taking the right approach. Any way to tell if a piston is too worn? Thoughts?

Bob

Bob to me i am surprised that the saw starts and runs as good as you say with only 90 psi. As far as the piston goes if the skirt is real thin it can cause it to rock in the cylinder. You could pull the cylinder off and take the piston off and then drop it into the cylinder with out the ring. You can then check for any excessive side to side movement.

 

[3000 FPS]

Well I had a chance to go cut some more elm today in the 30" range. I took a 5200 and the 475. I had 24" bar chain on the 5200 and it buzzed right through that wood. I am very pleased with the 5200 and will eventually get a bigger bar for it.

On another subject I checked the compression on 3 of my saws to see how much of a change there was. The PP 295 was at 160 psi and now 6000 feet higher it is 150 psi.
The Red 3800 was at 150 psi and it is now 138 psi.
The PP 475 was at 180 psi and it is now at 165 psi. I could tell on the 475 because I could never drop start tha saw and now I can.

Also it seems like the bigger displacement saws lost more compression than the smaller ones.

I tell you it's tough being retired, cutting wood, doing compression testing, sharpening chain, cleaning saws after use. I would never have time to go back to work.

 

[fossil]

I tell you it's tough being retired, cutting wood, doing compression testing, sharpening chain, cleaning saws after use. I would never have time to go back to work.

Life is good. You will never find time to work at your old job again.

 

[redunshee]

Bob to me i am surprised that the saw starts and runs as good as you say with only 90 psi. As far as the piston goes if the skirt is real thin it can cause it to rock in the cylinder. You could pull the cylinder off and take the piston off and then drop it into the cylinder with out the ring. You can then check for any excessive side to side movement.

Yea thats what is puzzling. I know my tester is fine as I checked It on another saw. Don't think I could have cleaned up the the P & C enough to cause low compression.

 

[fossil]

Yea thats what is puzzling. I know my tester is fine as I checked It on another saw. Don't think I could have cleaned up the the P & C enough to cause low compression.

Did you check the squish to see where it is?