husqvarna 288xp question

[rpowell]

i just bought a husqvarna 288xp off of craigslist. i talked to the guy and he told me that it had just been rebuilt with a new piston and rings. the saw was a little rough cosmetically, but i thought that if it had just been rebuilt, it should be good to go. my dad used it for the first time yesterday with a 28 inch bar on it in oak wood. the bar was pretty much burried in it, and after he used it, i asked him how it felt. he said it had less power than my husky 281 and his husky 385. i was pretty dissapointed. i bought me a compression tester, and it only had 150 pounds of compression. the guy said it only had about a tank of gas through it since the rebuild, but i am thinking there is no way it will gain 30 or 40 pounds of compression. i have not checked the compression on my 281 yet, but i know it has a ton of compression on it, as it takes a man to crank it. i guess i got hosed on this deal. do you think it will gain compression, or do you think i am screwed on this deal?
thanks for any opinons

 

[mdavlee]

It will gain a decent amount of power when broke in. 150 lbs isn't bad compression. Is it tuned just right or is it real rich? Tuning can make a big difference in power.

 

[TRI955]

150psi is pretty common for a stock saw, it should gain 10psi or so as it breaks in. Your comparing it to similar saws, all should run close to each other, might want to fine tune the carb.

 

[lfnh]

150psi is pretty common for a stock saw, it should gain 10psi or so as it breaks in. Your comparing it to similar saws, all should run close to each other, might want to fine tune the carb.

Expect anywhere from 8-16 tanks.
Agree carb tuning makes a difference. Run slightly on rich side thru breakin.
Chain cutter/raker profile and sharpness make all the difference.
What brand p/c used in rebuild ??

 

[little possum]

Check the rim out. Maybe it has a 8, and would be better suited with a 7.

 

[RVALUE]

Lots of good info here. My husky rebuild didn't hum for maybe 15 tanks. ???????

It was the absolute cheapest p & c on ebay. May quit tomorrow, but running great today!

Put a tach on it. It makes a world of difference.

 

[jockeydeuce]

All the stock 288's I've owned have run around 160 comp. I would expect that 150 to come up in the next few tanks.

If it's pulling a 28" bar buried in hard wood, it can't be too wimpy. Like others have mentioned, carb tuning could be off a bit......Having said all that, I suppose the piston was replaced for a reason, so who knows, there could be some slight imperfections in the cylinder and it's losing some compression there.

 

[cpr]

I think you're good. Mine has 160psi, a 28" with full comp and an 8-pin and rips just fine. Might make a little speed at 28" with a 7-pin, but if I switch to the skip, it screams. BTW it is MMed.

 

[spike60]

Having said all that, I suppose the piston was replaced for a reason, so who knows, there could be some slight imperfections in the cylinder and it's losing some compression there.

Yeah, that's always something to keep in mind when using a refinished cylinder. Such imperfections may result in a saw that's runs at 80%-90% of peak. Not a bad thing really, because a saw running at 85% is better than a dead saw that doesn't run at all.

But there still is some break in time required for the new piston, so it will likely get better after a few more tanks.

 

[SawTroll]

I think you're good. Mine has 160psi, a 28" with full comp and an 8-pin and rips just fine. Might make a little speed at 28" with a 7-pin, but if I switch to the skip, it screams. BTW it is MMed.

You generally loose more initial cutting speed by using skip than you gain with an 8-pin, but it will even out in larger wood of course......

As usual, there is only one way to determine what really works best!

 

[nmurph]

yep on the answers-

rebuild will seat in a few tanks and gain up to about 10psi
my 281 and 2-288's run about 160psi
check the carb tuning-yours may have the govenor
check the rakers
check the rim 7 or 8 pin?
a 288 should be faster than a 281, but about even with a 385

 

[TRI955]

Look what showed up at my door...

 

[little possum]

Thats a beaut Mike. New hi-top?

 

[SawTroll]

Look what showed up at my door...

......

Surely you had nothing to do with the fact that it appeared, total surprice! :jawdrop:

:msp_laugh::msp_laugh:

 

[TRI955]

Thats a beaut Mike. New hi-top?

New to me...

Surely you had nothing to do with the fact that it appeared, total surprice! :jawdrop:

:msp_laugh::msp_laugh:

I think somebody told me it was coming...it's just here for a make over.

 

[TRI955]

It's starting to fall apart...

Somebody started to hack on the muffler...

It's had a few chains come off the rails in the past, started to eat at the fuel tank.

Notice no wire to the kill switch, that's what the choke it there for!!!

 

[TRI955]

 

[TRI955]

Well, finally got her top off...

Intake side has some scoring, gonna need a piston.

Cylinder should clean up...I hope

 

[nmurph]

itlooks good on the outside, too bad about the piston. the cylinder should clean up with no problem.
i cleaned up my 288's tonight. one is a lite and the other is a regular. i had to replace the kill switch on both. my 281 is like yours. it needs the switch and wiring. i got the lite running right. i broke the rope on the regular and i don't have any suitable cord for it, so it will have to wait until next week.

 

[TRI955]

This saw is a "Lite", just the wrong sticker on the recoil. Cases are split and the crank is out, all looks good for the most part. Saw has been apart and repainted before, there's a couple layers of orange and sanding scratches. I guess it will get stripped down for a proper paint job this time. One thing that I found was the gasket between the cylinder was missing...well there was a piece of it under the muffler if you look closely in the one picture. That could have been some of the problems with this saw running properly and the scored intake side...