ms 391. i have a feeling this was a bad purchase.

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Saw chain

Safety chains sold by stihl have a green side strap, the non safety side strap is yellow. Safety chain has alot of extra pieces near each cutter, The non safety has only the cutters.
 
arrowhead can you pm me with some ideas. im 2 1/2 hours away but thats not an issue. and yes im a dumb@$$ when it comes to knowing things about saws but how do i tell the difference between a safety and non safety chain? im just running whatever it came with.

If your willing to make the drive, I'll do a muffler mod and retune it for you. (no charge of course)

Your saw will run a 25" bar. I believe a 20" is more suitable. A friend has a ms390 with a 25", I muff modded it and it does pretty well. When the bar is buried, you need to let it cut at it's own pace and not lean on it.

I have a 20" bar you can try out in some wood here. I can show you the different chains... safety, semi-chisel, chisel, skip etc.

I like as small as a bar as I can get the job done with. I run a 25" on my ported 460 and a 20" on my ported 044. Less weight and less cutters to sharpen. ;)

I'll be chasing turkeys around the next few days.... season open tomorrow. :rock: I'll pm you my phone number.
 
Whats this I hear about using a skip chain on the 25'' bar??? This has got me thinking I should maybe try one on my 391 I have been using a full comp chain on both bars.
Not to hijack but what would be better half or full skip ? I want to say that full skip is faster because it keeps chain speed higher. Also how many teeth are there to sharpen on both styles I know on the full comp it is 84 teeth.
 
A lot of testing has shown the skip to be faster than full comp in larger wood. :msp_thumbsup:

Of course there are many variables, but worth checking out for yourself.
 
A lot of testing has shown the skip to be faster than full comp in larger wood. :msp_thumbsup:

Of course there are many variables, but worth checking out for yourself.

I would like to buy both a skip and half skip from ebay in case I do not like them but they are hardly on there. I guess my local dealer is going to get some more business lol all he has is full comp on the shelves but I am hoping that he is able to make a half and a full skip twice because it is buy 1 chain get 1 free where I go. What would be better for felling because I do like to use this saw for felling some trees, or should I just stick to the skips for woodcutting?
 
Saw Chain

Semi skip is a compromise between full house and Full skip :msp_smile:
Semi Skip is a good choice for a falling and buckin and swapin, it is not real grabby like Full Skip. It has about a 1/4 of the cutters of Full House.
Full Skip is a good choice for a falling and buckin and is not as goood for swapin, it is real grabby unlike Semi Skip. It has about a 1/2 of the cutters of Full House.
 
yep thats the same bar i have. i do not know why on stihls website it says to only run a 20 in bar. all the 391's i have seen have had the 25 in bar.

A co-worker has that saw new and came w/25in bar.
It is a mid range use saw has more power than the pro ms261 about the same price.
he is also thinking about needing more power and i keep thinking its the chain but ...:msp_mellow:
 
Saw chain

The chain can be a major reason a saw has limited power in the cut. A sharp well maintained chain can make saw work easier or harder.
 
The new saw dealers say carb adjusting say from working at sea level,then to high elevation like 10,000 feet.
 
Wierd? I run a 28" on mine....definitely not too much bar/chain.



Scott B
A more experienced cutter can get away with stuff a rookie can't. This may not be the case, I don't know. With the home owner saws, one has to be careful because the saw doesn't have the power to blow through a chunk of hardwood, you have to take your time and let the saw do the cutting.
 
You guys must be use to running monster saws. Lol

So what is the best way to make that saw run better and cut faster?
 
I keep extra chains on hand that are sharp....

Change them out at the very first sign of getting dull....



Stay away from gas with corn squeezin' in it!!





Scott B
 
I keep extra chains on hand that are sharp....

Change them out at the very first sign of getting dull....



Stay away from gas with corn squeezin' in it!!





Scott B

Amen, at the saw shop I frequent they have a big string of completely trashed pistons that were taken out of saws that had ethanol run in them, it's scary what that crap will do to your saw
 
I keep extra chains on hand that are sharp....

Change them out at the very first sign of getting dull....



Stay away from gas with corn squeezin' in it!!


Scott B

I also run a file over my cutters every time I fuel up, it gives me a chance to take a breather plus keeps the chain nice and sharp with out changing it. Most premium 2 stroke synthetic oil has a preserver in it to help combat the evils of ethanol, premium gas also helps.
 
i generally only have a couple of smaller saws that dont get used too awful much just the occasional storm cleanup and a few loads of firewood a year. anyways a couple weeks ago we had a few windy days and i lost a largish tree roughly 23 in dia. none of the other saws i have were big enough and id been wanting to get a bigger one for a while i just hadnt done my research.............. needless to say i went to the local powershop and the biggest he had is the ms 391 so i picked it up and have proboably ran 2 gal of fuel total through it and dont have any complaints other that i was expecting more power. is there anything i can do such as muffler upgrades? ive only ran the moto mix in it, could it need richened up a tad? its still at factory specs on the carbs. or is this thing just a pile and i should go trade it in and get a 440 or 460? btw the guy told me it was out of the pro line up...typical salesman.

Just get rid of it, it is way too heavy for its power! ;)
 
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