The 361 options and mods thead

[Harzack223]

When I purchased my wrap kit it I was told it would take 3-4 weeks. So I waited and waited and then finally went back in probably 5 weeks later to see what was up. Apparently there was a problem and the item was never requested from the new england distributor. My dealer called someone at stihl and they had it for me 4 days later. Could be something like that or it may not be. Once you get it though you will wonder how you managed without it. To me it made a big difference and made me love the saw that much more.

 

[ridgeland]

I really can't wait to get the kit on the saw, even though I am left handed I have learned to use many tools with my less dominant hand. Does the wrap make it difficult to remove the chain cover? Does the scrench in the kit work on the sparkplug as well or will I need a second one? What are the pluses to the kit?
I was a little hesitant about the 361, alot of people complaining it was hard to start, but the price on the used one was hard to pass up. And so far I have not had any issues starting it.

 

[MS390]

3/4 wrap handle,is it worth the money??

I finally got my wrap kit today and just put it on. Will get to test it out tomorrow.

is the 3/4 handle worth it? and what makes it better?

I want the double dogs and maybe the kit with the 3/4 handle.....

what is your opinion???

sorry about the bad english,should I try in Danish??:check: LOL

 

[777ER]

is the 3/4 handle worth it? and what makes it better?

I want the double dogs and maybe the kit with the 3/4 handle.....

what is your opinion???

sorry about the bad english,should I try in Danish??:check: LOL

Can't speak for the handle but the double dogs from STIHL rocks!

It's worth it.

 

[JJay03]

Any new mods out there for the 361?

 

[windthrown]

Here is the StihlBilly shark gill muffler mod for the 361. Its easy to do and only takes 20 minutes or less. Cut slits in the lower right side of the muffler as seen in the photo. Then pry them open with a flat tipped screwdriver. Then re-tune the saw with the limiter tabs removed from the jet screws. It will need to be tuned richer (or it will run lean and overheat and score and turn to toast).



This of course does not have a muffler screen. You can screen it over and use a Husky muffler baffle to cover it with and use 2 screws to keep it in place.

 

[WoodTruk]

Windthrown, I copied your fish-gill mod on my 361. Before I did, the saw was tuned to a slight blubber on WOT, no load. This translated into a clean 2 stroke sound in the cut. Now, after the muffler mod, what do I need to do with the carb? Can I still tune it to a slight blubber again? Or have things changed and now tuning by sound isn't a good idea? I don't have a tach (yet, looking for one now), but i don't think the rpms have increased very much at WOT. I guess what I'm asking is: What exactly do you mean by 'tuned richer'? I also know richer/leaner means fuel/air, not fuel/oil, but I'm running standard 50:1 mix if that's needed info. I just don't want to burn up my saw.
Thx in advance!

 

[SawTroll]

Windthrown, I copied your fish-gill mod on my 361. Before I did, the saw was tuned to a slight blubber on WOT, no load. This translated into a clean 2 stroke sound in the cut. Now, after the muffler mod, what do I need to do with the carb? Can I still tune it to a slight blubber again? Or have things changed and now tuning by sound isn't a good idea? I don't have a tach (yet, looking for one now), but i don't think the rpms have increased very much at WOT. I guess what I'm asking is: What exactly do you mean by 'tuned richer'? I also know richer/leaner means fuel/air, not fuel/oil, but I'm running standard 50:1 mix if that's needed info. I just don't want to burn up my saw.
Thx in advance!

It basically is about opening the H screw of the carb slightly, letting a little more fuel in. Tuning by sound should be fine - but it always is nice to confirm that the max rpm isn't going wild with a tach.

 

[WoodTruk]

Thanks, SawTroll. I had occasion to have it at the elevation I do most of my cutting in today. At elevation, with the mod and no carb tune, it sounded a little too blubbery and RPM's seemed to be a bit low from what it was before the muffler mod. I tuned it (H screw clockwise) until it was on the edge of blubber/2 stroke again. Sunk it in some old standing-dead oak and it seemed to cut well and almost perfectly 2-stroked while in the cut. RPM's in the cut while making the perfect 2-stroke sound seemed to be about 80% of the sound of max WOT with no load. This is a 20" bar and full comp chain, BTW. I'll run a tank through it this week and see what the plug looks like after that. As I understand it, the plug should be a tannish-cocoa brown, not white, not black. Once I decide on a tach, it'll be interesting to see how close my ear has tuned it. Seems to me that you probably can't go wrong with a slight blubber on the WOT. Isn't that indicative of on-the-edge of over-rich...a slight blubber?

 

[windthrown]

I have been off the site to deal with my aging mother. Lots of doctors and hospitals and nurses. She is not going to be around much longer. But she is 90 and has lived a full life.

Anyway, SawTroll pretty much mailed it. Though one thing to beware of, if you are tuning any saw at elevation, it will run lean if you drop in elevation. Air is thinner at elevation, and when you drop in elevation the air gets denser, and your saw will run leaner unless you re-tune it. I have seen near-new 361s fail from overheating being run at low elevation after being tuned at altitude (not mine, fortunately). I live in a widely variable elevation area in the Cascades, and I can go up 4000 ft in elevation here in a 30 minute drive, and drop 1000 ft in 10 minutes. So I re-tune my saws a lot. I also run them, a tad rich so when I drop 1000 feet to city level, my saws are OK.

The burple/4-stroke tuning method takes a while to get used to, but the basic method as explained on the Madsens site here (probably THE best chainsaw carb tune post on the web):

http://www.madsens1.com/saw_carb_tune.htm