pp 330 vs. other's in it's class

[nighttrain]

I'm just curious if any one has run there 330 with any other saw's in it class ? my cutting partner as was i , was very surprised when , we where cutting on the same tree , we realized that the 330 was a little faster than his 260 , this may not have been the best comparison , the 260 has a 18" bar I'm not sure what chain it was new is all i know . the 330 has a 16" with a 3/8 lp chain , the 330 had about 2 tanks of fuel at the time , the stihl is two years old , plenty broken in .... maybe the 260 is getting tired ?

 

[Modifiedmark]

No need to make any excuses! It may hurt some Stihl owners feelings but it is what it is.

The 330 is a well made good strong running 54cc saw.

Several others here have commented on how it will outrun there Husky 55's also.

I'm curous about you saying that you have a 16" with a 3/8's lp chain on it.

Are you sure you mean 3/8's low profile chain?

 

[nighttrain]

when i got the saw i picked up a 16" bar and chain with it , i thought that the 22" bar was way to big for this saw .. the 22' bar & chain is still new in the bag , the chain is a 3/8 low profile Oregon , again i got this combo thinking the saw would be under powered and could use all the help it could get

 

[Cliff R]

I own a Poulan 330, and a Husqvarna 55, and the Poulan is not any stronger the Husqvarna. I do have the closed port model, which is considerbly faster and stonger than my open port 51.

The real sleeper in the bunch is the Echo CS-510. It outran the 330 yesterday doing some timed cuts. I didn't want to run a thread on it, just to have folks pick away at the results because I didn't have a helper to run the stopwatch for me. I also had the 22" bar and chain in place, which isn't that great of a set-up right to start with.

Ya, no ship, I know a real test involves the same bar/chain set-up in the same wood, etc, etc, but I'm not about to invest in a .325 18" deal for the 330 just to make timed cut tests with it, when it is already set-up for 3/8 and I have an 18" bar/chain for it.

The timed cut testing will be closer with the 18" bar on the 330, but still slightly flawed when testing since the Husky 55 and Echo CS-510 run .325" 18" bar/chain set-ups. Bottom line, it's really a strong running saw, but isn't going to lay waste to a close port 55, 5100, 346XP, or any other saw in that class.....IMHO.....Cliff

 

[Banshee]

Mine is very strong and pulls the 22 without problems. I really don't have another saw to compare it to. A friend of mine has a Husky 55 he's going to bring over to run them someday.
My guess would be my 330 will smoke his 55.

 

[Vibes]

Doesn't suprise me either. I have a Craftsman version of the Poulan 2800. Its 46 cc with an 18'' bar. Its running some type of .325 Windsor, or Sabre chain that I got from Ebay for a good deal.

That saw flat out smokes my freinds Stihl ms250 with a 16'' bar. I didn't see how sharp his chain was but it was throwing nice chips. He wouldn't admit it because his saw was pretty new. I'm assuming it was Stihl chain that came on the saw.

I've yet to run my 330. I'm looking for a 18'' bar set-up for it.

Mark, you mentioned something about enlarging the oil wholes on the large mount Husky bars to work on the 330. I hate to rehash but could you explain that again. I have a nice 16'' PP 60dl hardnose bar I'd like to fit to my 330. Its the Husky bar mount pattern.

 

[Modifiedmark]

Doesn't suprise me either. I have a Craftsman version of the Poulan 2800. Its 46 cc with an 18'' bar. Its running some type of .325 Windsor, or Sabre chain that I got from Ebay for a good deal.

That saw flat out smokes my freinds Stihl ms250 with a 16'' bar. I didn't see how sharp his chain was but it was throwing nice chips. He wouldn't admit it because his saw was pretty new. I'm assuming it was Stihl chain that came on the saw.

I've yet to run my 330. I'm looking for a 18'' bar set-up for it.

Mark, you mentioned something about enlarging the oil wholes on the large mount Husky bars to work on the 330. I hate to rehash but could you explain that again. I have a nice 16'' PP 60dl hardnose bar I'd like to fit to my 330. Its the Husky bar mount pattern.

Its the small Husky bar that can be adapted, not the large mount.

You have to file the adjuster holes straight up on them up into the bottom of the bar groove. That will let it oil up into the bar groove through the adjuster holes like the original K041 bar did.

Beware that you will then need the same drive link count on your chain that the Husky bar uses.

Example, the small Husky bar in 3/8's uses 72 drive link chains instead of the Poulans bar useing 70 drive links.

It could be a advantage if most of your other saws use this chain size.

 

[Zero Gravity]

You guy's should try the Narrow Kerf .325 chain. I run it on a 353 Husky and it smokes! I have tried both the Husky H-30 and Baileys NK. I like both, but the Husky H-3 0 seems to be smoother. For a 50 cc clas saw it's the biggest boost you can get.
ZG

 

[J.W Younger]

You guy's should try the Narrow Kerf .325 chain. I run it on a 353 Husky and it smokes! I have tried both the Husky H-30 and Baileys NK. I like both, but the Husky H-3 0 seems to be smoother. For a 50 cc clas saw it's the biggest boost you can get.
ZG

thats for sure a good setup but you are limited to semi chisel which in my opinon is not all that bad.

 

[Cliff R]

Guys, the bar mod takes less than 10 minutes. I very carefully clamped the factory 22" bar to my spare 262XP bar in a soft jawed vise, making sure everything was lined up perfectly. Then I opened up the holes with a small chainsaw file, just a small amount of material is actually removed. The 330 is pretty happy with an 18" 3/8" full chisel set-up, and since I already had a spare small mount Husqvarna bar, saw no need to go to the extra expense of dropping it back to .325".....Cliff

 

[Modifiedmark]

Cliff, there pretty happy with the Poulan bar in 20" also.

The Husky 18' takes a 68dl chain right? The Poulan 20" takes 70dl.

 

[Gizzard]

About 2 weeks back I took my Husky 55 & 359, Homelite Super XL, and Stihl 028 woodboss AV out to do some cutting and let a couple of guys try them out. One coworker showed up with his 330 Poulan Pro and ran the 22 inch 3/8 chain setup it came with. Several white oak logs from 20-25 inch were used for all the cutting. Only thing I had that outcut the 330 was the 359 with 20 inch 3/8 oregon 72lgx and 24 inch 3/8 woodland 38RC. The husky 55 is closed port, mahle cylinder & piston with good compression. Ran the 55 with 20 inch 3/8 woodland 30RC and 20 inch .325 woodland 28RC. The husky 55 was not much behind the the poulan 330 and closest using the .325 setup. That poulan got me worried, but I got the husky 55 and the homelite super xl sold that day.

Thinning the herd, but now interested in the poulan 330. That 330 ran the 22 inch setup fine. The stock spike being so large somewhat limits the cutting length down to about 20 inches.

 

[nighttrain]

any one know the specs on this motor all i can find is that it's 54 cc. and that the max rpm is 13,800 the poulan web site doesn't have anything , a buddy just used the 330 today he runs a Shindaiwa 488 it's a 47.9 cc rated at 3.5 hp it has a 18"bar w/.325 chain , when he brought the 330 (16" bar with 3/8 chain) back he was very surprised to find that it was a $200 saw , he said it cut better/faster than his 488 ...

 

[Cliff R]

"The Husky 18' takes a 68dl chain right? The Poulan 20" takes 70dl."

Correct, 68 drive links with the 18" Husavarna small mount bar.

"One coworker showed up with his 330 Poulan Pro and ran the 22 inch 3/8 chain setup it came with. Several white oak logs from 20-25 inch were used for all the cutting. Only thing I had that outcut the 330 was the 359 with 20 inch 3/8 oregon 72lgx and 24 inch 3/8 woodland 38RC."

That's good news for the 330. The chain they show up with is horrible. Those folded over rakers don't allow the chain to cut nearly as well as standard 3/8" full chisel. I ran ours against the our Echo CS-510, which was outfitted with .325" 18", and it smoked the 330 in hard Maple about 18" diameter. The 330 was a solid 10-11 seconds behind the CS-510 for 5 cuts. The chain was the culprit here, IMHO. I'll repeat the test with an 18" 3/8" set-up on the 330. My guess is that it will be every bit as fast as the CS-510 if not a tad quicker.

"a buddy just used the 330 today he runs a Shindaiwa 488 it's a 47.9 cc rated at 3.5 hp it has a 18"bar w/.325 chain , when he brought the 330 (16" bar with 3/8 chain) back he was very surprised to find that it was a $200 saw , he said it cut better/faster than his 488 ..."

I also had a Shindaiwa 488, and it was considerably slower than my Husqvarna 55 and the Echo CS-510. I did like the Shindaiwa, built like a tank and a very reliable saw......Cliff

 

[Farm_Boy_61]

Poulan Pro 330

I have a 330 in my hands now. I have been running it for about two weeks and it runs the 22" bar fine. I tossed that big dawg from the saw on advice from my papaw. I trust him since he logged for around 30 years and hardly ever used anything bigger than a 20" B&C. I'm thinking about going to my local shop and having them make me a new chain for the bar out of Oregon super 70 chain. I agree with the people who say the rakers suck and limit the performance of the saw. I might order a 20" B&C for the 330 and see how that does.

 

[ms46021]

Stupid Question

Did they stop making the Poulan Pro 330(3430) 54cc because i cannot find it any were???
:greenchainsaw:

 

[Farm_Boy_61]

Pp 330

Try your local Tractor Supply Company. If they do not have one ask them to ship one from the Leitchfield, Kentucky branch to you.

 

[Scooterbum]

TSC in Winchester, Virginia has bunch also.