does porting and mods lower saws life?

[Ndigity26]

When a saw is ported and metal is taken our does this lower the life of the saw? I was reading in one forum that the finish on the inside if the cylinder becomes compromised. Is there any truth to this? I use my saws for work and I don't want to take a year or two off it's time.

 

[064AV]

Good question. Quite general though. If you have a knowledgeable person port a saw for work, I don't think you'll have to sacrifice longevity to see results. A ported muffler, for instance, was a given on the older 066 MAGNUM Also, the older cylinders supposedly have better ports than newer models. If you're not going extreme, or exceeding the recommended RPMs, then my opinion is that you can realize gains without shortening the life of your saw... unless you have one of the old magnums with a dual port muffler. I don't think they need any help

 

[tolman_paul]

Think of it this way, the purpose of porting is to flow more air and fuel into the combustion chamber to produce more hp and torque. This is done in two ways. One is to smooth out the flow and make minor improvements in power at the same rpm, the other is to change the port duration so that the engine will opperate at higher rpm which will show the greatest gains in power.

Now, with your engine producing more power, and running at higher rpm, the loads on the bearings and rod are increased. If you increase the loads on those parts, they will wear out faster. You'll also burn more fuel for the added power. If someone claims their modded saw will last as long as a factory saw, either they haven't increased the saws performance, or they are falsly claiming that the mods won't wear out the saw faster. There is no free lunch.

A properly modded saw will cut faster, so that is the performance you are paying for. Time is money, so it is worth considering modding a working saw, or getting a larger cc saw. The disadvantage of the larger saw is it's heavier and wears the operator out faster.

 

[GBD]

Think of it this way, the purpose of porting is to flow more air and fuel into the combustion chamber to produce more hp and torque. This is done in two ways. One is to smooth out the flow and make minor improvements in power at the same rpm, the other is to change the port duration so that the engine will opperate at higher rpm which will show the greatest gains in power.

Now, with your engine producing more power, and running at higher rpm, the loads on the bearings and rod are increased. If you increase the loads on those parts, they will wear out faster. You'll also burn more fuel for the added power. If someone claims their modded saw will last as long as a factory saw, either they haven't increased the saws performance, or they are falsly claiming that the mods won't wear out the saw faster. There is no free lunch.

A properly modded saw will cut faster, so that is the performance you are paying for. Time is money, so it is worth considering modding a working saw, or getting a larger cc saw. The disadvantage of the larger saw is it's heavier and wears the operator out faster.

Longer durations does not automaticely lead to higher revs. It is the relationships between the port timeareas that dictates the torquecurve:msp_thumbup: It is entirely possible to quite radically port a saw for a much higher torque at even lower rpm than stock. Fuel they use, though.

 

[Ndigity26]

Makes perfect sense

This makes perfect sense and Yes I guess I was a little general in the nature of my question. Thank you for your help.

Think of it this way, the purpose of porting is to flow more air and fuel into the combustion chamber to produce more hp and torque. This is done in two ways. One is to smooth out the flow and make minor improvements in power at the same rpm, the other is to change the port duration so that the engine will opperate at higher rpm which will show the greatest gains in power.

Now, with your engine producing more power, and running at higher rpm, the loads on the bearings and rod are increased. If you increase the loads on those parts, they will wear out faster. You'll also burn more fuel for the added power. If someone claims their modded saw will last as long as a factory saw, either they haven't increased the saws performance, or they are falsly claiming that the mods won't wear out the saw faster. There is no free lunch.

A properly modded saw will cut faster, so that is the performance you are paying for. Time is money, so it is worth considering modding a working saw, or getting a larger cc saw. The disadvantage of the larger saw is it's heavier and wears the operator out faster.

 

[pops21]

Do yourself a favor and ask this question in the chainsaw forum. A ported saw does not generally cause a saw to loose life. Not saying the ones that have answered your question don't know what there talking about. I'm just saying there is no real proof that porting a saw shortens the life of the saw.

 

[samdweezel05]

The quick answer is yes. By porting you can intake more air, that leads to needing more fuel and both of those cause higher cylinder pressures. That causes more stress on the wrist pin, connection rod, crank and crank bearings. If your worried about saw life, leave it as you bought it and go cut your firewood.

 

[AlfA01]

Think of it this way, the purpose of porting is to flow more air and fuel into the combustion chamber to produce more hp and torque. This is done in two ways. One is to smooth out the flow and make minor improvements in power at the same rpm, the other is to change the port duration so that the engine will opperate at higher rpm which will show the greatest gains in power.

Now, with your engine producing more power, and running at higher rpm, the loads on the bearings and rod are increased. If you increase the loads on those parts, they will wear out faster. You'll also burn more fuel for the added power. If someone claims their modded saw will last as long as a factory saw, either they haven't increased the saws performance, or they are falsly claiming that the mods won't wear out the saw faster. There is no free lunch.

A properly modded saw will cut faster, so that is the performance you are paying for. Time is money, so it is worth considering modding a working saw, or getting a larger cc saw. The disadvantage of the larger saw is it's heavier and wears the operator out faster.

Agreed....mostly! The newer saws are coming out with catalytic converters, which has never been a determining factor on reliability. Actually the addition of cats makes them less reliable because they tend to clog and reduce power over time. So, if one was to mod the saw by removing the catalytic converter, he/she may be doing no harm to longevity.

Also, cleaning up forge defects, gasket mismatches and opening exhaust ports, would not necessarily lean in to the heavy modded arena, but are mods that won't really affect the life expectancy of the saw. These light mods probably don't really see the saw running at higher RPM's as you've indicated of other mods, they tend to achieve the max RPM's more efficiently than stock.

That's my two cents on two stroke engines. If you are looking for efficiency and small gains, you can get them. If you are looking for the saw to suddenly jump out of your hands with power, that's a different story. Ultimately, the degree of the mod will determine power and longevity.

 

[Chainsaw Jim]

Old thread but still a recent question.

If a saw is properly modified for work purposes by a professional it will actually increase the lifespan. Most mods for work saws are generally to eliminate the restrictions the epa has imposed. Then there's the maintenance aspect that doesn't follow regular factory recommendations of 50:1 and use of e10. A good builder will educate the owner on better maintenance and tuning which in itself will prolong the life of any saw.

 

[Huskybill]

As said above if properly ported, and the 50:1 mix is used your picking up free horsepower. It shouldn’t effect the life expectancy.

 

[Del_]

Do the higher emissions shorten the life of the operator?

There's no such thing as a free lunch, but if you're dead you don't eat much lunch.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

As said above if properly ported, and the 32:1 or 40:1 mix is used your picking up free horsepower. It shouldn’t effect the life expectancy.

Fixed it for you.

 

[Chainsaw Jim]

Do the higher emissions shorten the life of the operator?

There's no such thing as a free lunch, but if you're dead you don't eat much lunch.

Or you could look at it from another perspective where the saw completes the task much quicker and has less overall run time which should balance out or fall below factory specified emissions?
Thus saving wear and tear on the operator and having less impact on the environment?

 

[Huskybill]

Porting and polishing go together. Let’s say that extreme porting when you drastically changing the port timing could hurt the engines life.

I moved the port timing on the air cooled older post vintage husky dirtbikes with no problem. No more than 1/8” up on the exhaust (250cc) lowered the intake 1/8”. I did advance the ign timing to help the port change. I got the 1/8” specs from a ported 2100.

 

[trappermike]

You can do various saw mods that won't hurt but can help reliability and gain power,but when you make the port openings bigger in the cylinder,then piston and cylinder wear can occur,depending on how the ports are reshaped,there is no way around it,much bigger holes in the cylinder will cause more cylinder and piston wear,however if port mods are carefully done and don't go too big,premature wear may not be significant. However there are mods(muffler,carb,etc.) that will increase power and not affect wear at normal rpms,an example is a free-flowing muffler will make more power and evacuate heat faster making the piston run cooler and help engine life. Mods that make an engine run and make more power at higher rpms will create higher strains on the piston and crank assembly,but if rpms are kept to a reasonable limit there shouldn't be a problem. So carefully done mods can create more power in the normal rpm range and not adversely affect engine life.

 

[Little Al]

Or you could look at it from another perspective where the saw completes the task much quicker and has less overall run time which should balance out or fall below factory specified emissions?
Thus saving wear and tear on the operator and having less impact on the environment?

If the saw is modded for commercial cutting it is probable that less time will be spent per unit but it will still be used for a set time period =more wood cut = hopefully less time for the money amount/shorter contract time before moving on to next contract So probably no reduction in run time or operator fatigue but better/more production 2 things wev'e found aides saw longevity more oil in the mix 32/1 & a razor sharp chain

 

[Chainsaw Jim]

Keep

If the saw is modded for commercial cutting it is probable that less time will be spent per unit but it will still be used for a set time period =more wood cut = hopefully less time for the money amount/shorter contract time before moving on to next contract So probably no reduction in run time or operator fatigue but better/more production 2 things wev'e found aides saw longevity more oil in the mix 32/1 & a razor sharp chain

Keep in mind there is typically a predetermined amount of timber to be cut in the commercial industry. Get in, get it done, get out.