The lil saw that could

[Crftrapper535]

Time to talk about the little saw that could and if anyone else has a little saw that could heres the story on mine it was March 2023 and I was scrolling on good ole facebook marketplace and came across 2 saw deal 2 black max 38cc saws 2 for 25 1 had a heavy used and bent 16 inch bar other had a random black bar 14 inch with some rusty Oregon chain so having some spare time that day I picked up both saws and got a included bar cover for the 16 inch bar and a bent scrench so opon getting home both saws had gas in them and they were used for 2 years so I threw the 14 inch bar away and got a wild hair that hey I happen to have a 18 inch bar and chain 62 dl just collecting dust so I put it on the saw left the 16 inch bar and saw alone set it back took the 18 inch bar and saw out to play with cut about 3 wild cherry trees around 12 to 13 inches big no problem then went to my scrap pile and found some 16 to 18 inch red oaks that were not rotten and about 9 foot logs to with knots and belive it or nor that little 38cc saw just zapped threw it no problem ran about 5 tanks of gas threw it and had it so hot I swore the plastic was melting off and it had burnt the hair off my hand so I let it cool down and thought it's definitely dead now be surprised nope it's good so I just set it back and waited for a good job to use it on and I did had 2 big branches fall 1 a walnut and 2 a Hickory both about 14 to 15 inches big and the saw absolutely ran threw them no problem so then just little playing around and cut up about 5 Rick's or so of oak with it then the big job came a huge huge 28 inch water oak and a 23 inch red oak and a 18 inch white oak fell across a local road I happen to be on and so I thought well hell I'll blow this little saw up on these nope no problem cut all three up in a day and yet again the saw was so hot I swore the metal inside was red hot but nope let it cool for 6 hours took if in no problem so about 2 months go by cutting elm and Hickory and maple all of which small trees and daily it was fine but then......... the cursed one a medium size red oak that was down that was the blame for killing saws and almost some one well I thought it should kill this saw to and it did and didn't it was about 28 feet long and from the top 16 inches and the bottom well I'm not to forsure cut about almost all 28 feet just had maybe 5 feet left and it happened I was giving the saw all it had the muffler bolts by this time were red hot and welded themselves to the muffler and I got it all cut up even that 5 ft and set the saw down turned it off to go down for a drink I come back up and boom I try to start the saw and its hard to pull the rope and its squeaking and won't start so now the other saw has the same bar and chain and is in service and so far it's giving my friends poulans and small huskys a run for there money

 

[Crftrapper535]

heres the pics of the saws and the big red oak piece that kileed the one

 

[Crftrapper535]

here's the oaks that fell across the road

 

[jellyroll]

Muffler mod will wake those saws up. the exhaust is so restricted on them plus they have a cat in the muffler.

 

[Crftrapper535]

Muffler mod will wake those saws up. the exhaust is so restricted on them plus they have a cat in the muffler.

Oh really I never new that so what do you recommend drilling some holes in the muffler?

 

[Crftrapper535]

Oh really I never new that so what do you recommend drilling some holes in the muffler?

I mean exhaust also how do I get that cat ou?

 

[jellyroll]

un crimp the muffler and remove the partition inside the muffler

 

[Crftrapper535]

un crimp the muffler and remove the partition inside the muffler

I'll definitely do that

 

[singinwoodwackr]

Anyone save the vid Randymac did long ago? Felling a 3’ Fir with a cs400 Echo, 16” bar …

 

[jellyroll]

Anyone save the vid Randymac did long ago? Felling a 3’ Fir with a cs400 Echo, 16” bar

Good saws!

 

[rogue60]

50:1 softwood and melted saws yeah sounds about right lol

 

[flatsfisher]

Time to talk about the little saw that could and if anyone else has a little saw that could heres the story on mine it was March 2023 and I was scrolling on good ole facebook marketplace and came across 2 saw deal 2 black max 38cc saws 2 for 25 1 had a heavy used and bent 16 inch bar other had a random black bar 14 inch with some rusty Oregon chain so having some spare time that day I picked up both saws and got a included bar cover for the 16 inch bar and a bent scrench so opon getting home both saws had gas in them and they were used for 2 years so I threw the 14 inch bar away and got a wild hair that hey I happen to have a 18 inch bar and chain 62 dl just collecting dust so I put it on the saw left the 16 inch bar and saw alone set it back took the 18 inch bar and saw out to play with cut about 3 wild cherry trees around 12 to 13 inches big no problem then went to my scrap pile and found some 16 to 18 inch red oaks that were not rotten and about 9 foot logs to with knots and belive it or nor that little 38cc saw just zapped threw it no problem ran about 5 tanks of gas threw it and had it so hot I swore the plastic was melting off and it had burnt the hair off my hand so I let it cool down and thought it's definitely dead now be surprised nope it's good so I just set it back and waited for a good job to use it on and I did had 2 big branches fall 1 a walnut and 2 a Hickory both about 14 to 15 inches big and the saw absolutely ran threw them no problem so then just little playing around and cut up about 5 Rick's or so of oak with it then the big job came a huge huge 28 inch water oak and a 23 inch red oak and a 18 inch white oak fell across a local road I happen to be on and so I thought well hell I'll blow this little saw up on these nope no problem cut all three up in a day and yet again the saw was so hot I swore the metal inside was red hot but nope let it cool for 6 hours took if in no problem so about 2 months go by cutting elm and Hickory and maple all of which small trees and daily it was fine but then......... the cursed one a medium size red oak that was down that was the blame for killing saws and almost some one well I thought it should kill this saw to and it did and didn't it was about 28 feet long and from the top 16 inches and the bottom well I'm not to forsure cut about almost all 28 feet just had maybe 5 feet left and it happened I was giving the saw all it had the muffler bolts by this time were red hot and welded themselves to the muffler and I got it all cut up even that 5 ft and set the saw down turned it off to go down for a drink I come back up and boom I try to start the saw and its hard to pull the rope and its squeaking and won't start so now the other saw has the same bar and chain and is in service and so far it's giving my friends poulans and small huskys a run for there money

Paragraphs.

 

[Crftrapper535]

50:1 softwood and melted saws yeah sounds about right lol

Ha melted alright thing was probably a million degrees hot

 

[Crftrapper535]

Paragraphs.

Paragraphs? Never heard of him is he nice?

 

[Crftrapper535]

Main point of this post is does anyone have a saw that was cheap and was pushed to its max and survived hell?

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Main point of this post is does anyone have a saw that was cheap and was pushed to its max and survived hell?

I have two Craftsman S185 42cc saws with 18" bars, purchased new for about $31 each on clearance (the store was dropping the entire brand of saw, they were normally $185 each). The oilers are adjustable and I set them "reasonably," 40:1 mix per the manual.

On a few 24" cuts I stayed in the cut wayyyyy too long and should have pulled out for a few seconds several times, one saw might have lost some compression due to that (or it was crap fuel on the refuel, not sure).

They've been great "beater" saws for jobs you really don't want to use a good saw for. They were made by MTD who seem to have "borrowed" the best Jonsered ideas when they folded.

Keep 'em cool and try to not run them out of gas, 40:1 works great (32:1 does not in these), and keep the chain sharp.

 

[Crftrapper535]

I have two Craftsman S185 42cc saws with 18" bars, purchased new for about $31 each on clearance (the store was dropping the entire brand of saw, they were normally $185 each). The oilers are adjustable and I set them "reasonably," 40:1 mix per the manual.

On a few 24" cuts I stayed in the cut wayyyyy too long and should have pulled out for a few seconds several times, one saw might have lost some compression due to that (or it was crap fuel on the refuel, not sure).

They've been great "beater" saws for jobs you really don't want to use a good saw for. They were made by MTD who seem to have "borrowed" the best Jonsered ideas when they folded.

Keep 'em cool and try to not run them out of gas, 40:1 works great (32:1 does not in these), and keep the chain sharp.

Yeah I really like them I've been running them till the fuels empty so guess I'll change that

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Yeah I really like them I've been running them till the fuels empty so guess I'll change that

On that, my understanding from others experiences is as soon as they start to feel like they're running out of gas, pull out of the cut and let them cool off so they don't run out of fuel in the cut and suffer from heat-soak. In theory the Chinese saws can't handle being under heavy load without having the heat evacuated, and in some cases the piston ring can partially weld itself to the cylinder.

I let the saw cool down short of the expected run time and refuel early. That and pulling out of big cuts frequently so air blows over the engine and oil hits the tiny, welded-layers [cheap] bar and cools that off. Also, I turn down the oiler for cutting brush and turn it up for logs.

 

[drumbum]

Paragraphs.

....and punctuation.

 

[Chucksta]

Paragraphs?? Let's try sentences and punctuation too!! WTF?? LOL.

But anyways, first off, I've got to admit that most of what I learned was from forums, and YouTube.. From that "education", I (thought) I learned the following...

!) A 2 stroke engine, is cooled by the fan blades on the flywheel. The faster it turns, the more cooling air goes over the fins. Run them at the top of their rev range to keep them cool. They may produce great torque at lower R.P.M., but there's a definite loss of cooling.

2) A saw chain, is supposed to be "self feeding".. as in, that you don't have to push the saw chain and bar into the cut, it should pull itself in all by itself. You should be able to just lay the saw on a log and pull the trigger, and the chain should chew through the wood.

3) If you have to push or rock the crap out of the saw on a vertical cut, then the saw chain needs service, especially the rakers ( depth gauges ).

4) Dogs help with horizontal cuts, because there's no weight on the saw chain. Use them, but keep the revs up, especially when the bar is buried.

I don't know.. Am I missing something? I've never had a saw "overheat", even when buried bar deep in a big one. But then again, in that scenario, I let the revs do the work, I don't push the saw to the point that the revs drop more than into the sweet zone.

Seriously.. Am I missing something? I've got some real sweet old school Stihl stuff. Some of them get used for slabbing on an Alaskan mill, and it'd be nice not to damage one of them because of my ignorance. I run Amsoil Saber at 70 to 1 , with Ethanol free Premium.

Thanks..