Made some vids
OK boys, finally got the opportunity to make a couple videos today. So without further ado here is my Poulan 335 Pro in 14" dry Douglas Fir:
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It has a 16" .325 setup, full-house full-chisel, filed round by hand with a guide. It's been filed back a couple times since the rakers were taken down so it could stand to be a bit more aggressive there - it definitely has the spare torque in wood of this size. You can see the two 3/8" holes I drilled in the front of the muffler to open it up a bit. They're virtually straight out from the exhaust port so they really help with restriction. Notice the smoke/steam coming from the log after the cuts though! I do plan on piping the holes once I get access to a MIG/TIG welder. Don't feel like messing with that with my stick welder like I did with my 395... :censored:
Up next, just for comparison's sake, is my Husky 50:
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It's also setup with .325, but on a 20" bar. Same full-house chain and filing profile, though it has maybe 40% cutter life remaining while the Poulan has probably 80%. In my mind, the resulting narrower kerf and improved gullet space for chip clearance should make this chain cut slightly easier than the Poulan's. This used to be my go-to small firewood saw before getting the Poulan early this year. It hasn't seen much use since then. It is pretty old and tired, but still runs great, though it could probably use a set of rings and a bit of port work to bring it back to life.
In the end the fastest cut time for the Poulan was about 14 seconds, and the Husky was about 18. Of course there is a 6cc difference, but the 50 was the closest competition I had for it of similar vintage. Not sure the Stihl 031 or 041 would really be applicable here, tho I already have videos of them anyway. Either way the Poulan holds its RPMs much better in the cut than the Husky, and IMO has a better overall feel, not to mention the
sound - love that idle bark. Personally I would rather have the 20" setup on the Poulan and the 16" on the Husky, which I may try sometime. I also think it would be happier with a 3/8" setup, but I can't remember right now whether it has a spur or rim drive - never had to take it apart that far yet since getting it from the pawnshop. Not bad for a $90 saw. Right now I'm trying to chase down a small tank vent issue, which is the cause of the run-on you can hear after the last cut. The vent will intermittently start to stick, but it isn't often and usually resolves itself in a couple seconds without having to shut the saw off or crack the fuel cap. Honestly haven't put much time into this yet though; the problem only manifested itself a couple days ago.
