Craftsman 3.7 / Poulan 3700 performance

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SamT1

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So I bought a 3.7 off here a while back. I cut 2 cords with it this weekend. I’m pretty impressed with it. Torque is very good. It took me a bit to get used to the slight difference in length of pull vs a stihl saw, but after that we did work. I think it will cut with an 036 all day in stock form!

This thing has really good potential. I think I’ll do the muffler and base gasket delete on it and see what I have then.

While I was running it today with an aggressive chain now and then it would stop the clutch. Do you recogn the clutch is worn out? Can I swap it for a clutch that uses rim sprockets?
What about an 8 pin to get the chain speed up to where a stihl is? Good or bad idea?

This saw is in great shape, starts easy. Anti vibe is almost as good as my stihl 440’s. I’d say it’s a great backup saw for me. Useful piece of nostalgia.
 
I have a rim drive on mine, got it off eBay from Oregon products, full chisel chain, but no clogs tho.


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So I bought a 3.7 off here a while back. I cut 2 cords with it this weekend. I’m pretty impressed with it. Torque is very good. It took me a bit to get used to the slight difference in length of pull vs a stihl saw, but after that we did work. I think it will cut with an 036 all day in stock form!

This thing has really good potential. I think I’ll do the muffler and base gasket delete on it and see what I have then.

While I was running it today with an aggressive chain now and then it would stop the clutch. Do you recogn the clutch is worn out? Can I swap it for a clutch that uses rim sprockets?
What about an 8 pin to get the chain speed up to where a stihl is? Good or bad idea?

This saw is in great shape, starts easy. Anti vibe is almost as good as my stihl 440’s. I’d say it’s a great backup saw for me. Useful piece of nostalgia.
Sure you can switch to a rim sprocket. Maybe your rakers are too low which is causing the chain to stop cutting.
 
Sure you can switch to a rim sprocket. Maybe your rakers are too low which is causing the chain to stop cutting.
Yea they are way low. .040 That’s how I run them on the 440’s. I belive the mesquite won’t let the chain bite at a normal height. I just felt like the chain was stopping a little too easy, but maybe I was loosing more RpM than I thought.
 
Well guys I went all in. I widened up the exhaust port and made it a little bigger all around. cleaned up the bends in the intake and some nasty burrs at the cylinder to piston edge. Base gasket delete. And did the exhaust like my other saws. No guts in it, factory holes welded up, tube is wide open. On the initial start up it was way lean so I’m optimistic for big power when I tune the fuel back in it.
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I didn’t realize how much porting I had done until I had to portmatch the muffler!
 
I got to put this in some wood today and WOW. I’m gonna make a video of it against my stock 440. I’ll have to put it on a scale too. Sure feels like more ponies. I cut up some 12” and down mesquite that was so dead it was white and all the bark was gone. I could lean on it pretty dang hard without stoppage. I really didn’t even notice that the saw runs at lower RPM than the stihl saws.
I know it’s way better than a stock 361, so that’s pretty awesome for an antique! Only complaint is my exhaust is loud, I built it the same as I do stihl saws and it was uncomfortable running it without muffs on, I even had my AirPods in and they block a small amount of sound.
Im gonna try tomorrow to go cut a couple cords and find a 18” dead tree to run it against a stock 440 that’s got some age on it. Feels like it’s a good match!
 
I ran it today against my almost stock 440 (just has an extra stock size hole drilled right beside the stock hole)
Both 18” Oregon full chiesel chains. Stihl 50:1 mix with 92 octane, I give the Poulan a dash of extra oil per tank. I’m shocked how close it got. The last run of the Poulan vs the first of the stihl is probably the best comparison. I’m shocked at how close the Poulan got!
 
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