Video: How to tune a chainsaw

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its funny...


the wife and i were watching tv the other night and a commercial (i think its an insurance company commercial) came on with a guy running a chainsaw and i turned to my wife and asked her if she thought I was sick because the second i heard the chainsaw, i raised my head, and when i realized my reaction, I had to chuckle...the worst part about it is i think I got a little horny lol!! I made the mistake of telling my wife and I got the most awesome of eyerolls!! Is that wrong?
 
Thanks Brad! great info, seen alot of good tuning info on this site. i used to think 4 stroking was bad :hmm3grin2orange:
 
not trying to hijack or anything but here is the one i did not to long ago

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2HLpx5mqvW8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
your videos are how i learned what a saw was supposed to do!! thanks Scott
 
Hello!
I have a dolmar 5000 similar to the 5100.
Tuned 3 turns out on the H 12500 rpm.In the wood(fresh oak holds 8500 rpm).Factory settings says 13500 rpm.
I am using stihl hp at 45:1
Its too rich?
 
I am pretty new to tuning chainsaws. My question is why wouldn't you read plugs and piston wash also to assist in tuning. Sound can be interpreted in different ways by different people.

I like to pull my plugs, but just outa general curiosity cuz I'm new, and maybe to be sure I haven't glazed one. Also bought a tach at first b/c I couldn't discern the 4-stroke, which Brad really nailed here. But more time in the wood and I'm comfortable now, and tuning in the wood is the only way to go day-to-day, especially as temps, humidity, elevation, etc., will change your mix. Otherwise, if you're gonna use your plugs to know how you are in fact tuned, a chop is the only reliable method and not easy to read, and even then its not gonna tell you what you'll get from tuning in the wood on any given day, mix batch, etc. thereafter. Conditions change. But if you're gonna read your plugs to adjust your timing, diagnose some prevailing malady, etc., then itsa safe bet yer already tuning by ear, given the knowledge you'll have acquired to do such. It can't help, though, if you take the saw outa normal elevation, from hot to cold, picking up new gas along the way, maybe adding more oil than usual, and can't back the saw out of its new lean mixture.
 
There's more to tuning a chainsaw than just adjusting the high end, but this is a start. It also gives an excellent example of what 4-stroking sounds like.

In the first cut, the saw continues to 4-stroke, even towards the bottom of the cut. That's a little too rich. It should run clean all the way through the cut once under load.

After that first cut, I tune the H screw. I turn the H screw in clockwise until the engine peaks out and is totally 2-stroking. No 4-stroke at all. I then quickly richen the mixture back up by turning the H needle counter-clockwise. Immediately you hear the engine begine 4-stroking again.

The next cut you can hear the engine immediately clean out once underload, and stay that way for the entire cut. After that cut I rev the saw and you can hear that it is still 4-stroking at WOT. It's important to check for that after a cut, since that's when your saw will be its hottest and leanest.





I'll try to make a more detailed tuning how-to video that includes L and LA adjustments.



So in the first cut the saw is making that stumbling/mini bog sound(you know what I'm talking about)

When you talk about the saw "cleaning out" that's what you're trying to get rid of?..
 
So I think I got mine tuned right. I can't tell for sure but I think its 4srroking till it gets in the cut then smooths out when I apply pressure. Might still be a tad rich. But for being 70% deaf think I'm close.
372xpw moded muffler only, 75ft above sea level. 22* Celsius

What's the consensus of the experts

 
So I think I got mine tuned right. I can't tell for sure but I think its 4srroking till it gets in the cut then smooths out when I apply pressure. Might still be a tad rich. But for being 70% deaf think I'm close.
372xpw moded muffler only, 75ft above sea level. 22* Celsius

What's the consensus of the experts


You're real close. Lean it out about 1/8 turn or less.
 
i have a carb with a limiter on my 076s, gets up a little over 9000rpm on bench wot. carbs set at factory settings, low-1 1/4, high-1. in the cut its 7500 to 8500 i think. feels rich but it hasnt ran in years so i'm taking my time.

have you tuned one of these saws blsnelling? i may be able to get a video
 
I know this is years late, but Thank You.
Your video was the beginning for me to be able to be able to tune my saws and I have professionally used saws since I was a teenager.
Your videos on muffler mods and timing advance have helped me completely change my saws.
So again, Thanks.
 
Do you notice in the change of temps in the colder late fall to the warmer spring weather? The saw gets blubbery. Once my high speed is set I only need to change the low speed setting during the temp changes.
 

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