266 refurb, questions in general

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You may find the power warrants taking the depths down a hair or two from stock out the gate,

The saw cut OK but not spectacular on it's first tank of gas, and I think it ate more gas than my 288. Power was OK but not spectacular. I wonder:

Should it get stronger after a few tanks of gas?
As I lean it back out will it really pick up?
Could I have messed it up with my porting? I widened intake/exhaust and opened lower transfers just a hair.

Compression is decent with the new ring, old piston and old cylinder but I am not super happy with it. The saw will drop slowly in slow incriments when hanging from the starter cord with 20" bar. I'd rather the compression hold it up.
 
The saw cut OK but not spectacular on it's first tank of gas, and I think it ate more gas than my 288. Power was OK but not spectacular. I wonder:

Should it get stronger after a few tanks of gas?
As I lean it back out will it really pick up?
Could I have messed it up with my porting? I widened intake/exhaust and opened lower transfers just a hair.

Compression is decent with the new ring, old piston and old cylinder but I am not super happy with it. The saw will drop slowly in slow incriments when hanging from the starter cord with 20" bar. I'd rather the compression hold it up.


Despite compression, that's a heavy saw for the cord to hold up. If it drops slowly and your readings are strong, compression sounds good.


It's always possible the porting could be a hair off one way or another, or the timing. I'd have to defer to someone with personal experience there.

It generally takes 5-10 tanks to "wake up" a new top-end. My 572 is about 15 tanks in and still hasn't really "woken up" yet.

I would definitely play with the jets before pulling the cylinder and comparing it to the original.

Also, what size wood are you cutting so far? You may not notice its power in wood 12" and under.
 
I put an 0.058 chain on it because I put that size bar on. I have never had an 0.058. The cutting teeth look larger on this chain than others, even another 3/8 chain I have with 0.050 guage. Illusion?


Illusion, if the same brand/model. Cutter size doesn't vary, as far as I know, within gauges. .050/.058/.063 of the same style chain should all have the same cutter size.
 
Also, what size wood are you cutting so far? You may not notice its power in wood 12" and under.

I was cutting dead ash from 12" to 24". I was going for the "warm up and cut like hell" break-in.

I advanced ignition timing a hair, not even measured. As far as I know, I didn't change port timing. The one thing I did was grind the lower transfers further down to smooth the flow into them, or so I thought, so yes, they are a bit altered from stock.
No timing wheel stuff here, so guesswork on that. Let me think, opens sooner as piston moves up, pulls in fuel/air into transfer. On the way down, closes later. Picture below is upside down, looking down into the cylinder. Up is down, down is up.

KIMG0836.JPG
 
She is back together and runs after the carb re-build, new fuel line, boot for throttle link. After dorking around with getting everything back together, I took the cylinder off again and put things back together as a unit, then slid it all back down onto the case. I had to clean up an refresh the base gasket with a light skim of Motoseal.

Set L and H needles at 1.25 turns out to start. Saw started fine on choke after a few pulls to prime the lines and carb. Set H a turn or so mor richer, blipped throttle a few times, warmed up, then hit full throttle. Saw smoked an choked due to too much H. Backed off H until she 4-stroked and smoked a bit when wide open. Only ran saw about 5 minutes.

Sounds pretty mean. Runs quite well. Loud with that gutted muffler.

Ordered 20" Tsumar bar from a site member, chain and bar here in next few days hopefully, maybe both today.

Next trip will be out to do some cuttin'...wide open.

Hate the pull handle. Too short and square. Doesn't look OEM...not very ergonomic, anyway. May have to sculp that a bit.

View attachment 1042852View attachment 1042854View attachment 1042853View attachment 1042855
Nice!
 
Tank 2 Update:

I suspect I got another 1000 rpm from less H screw, while still 4-stroking at top rpm.

Took her out for another cutting. 60 degrees outside. Muffler as shown below. Muffler mod is a work in progress.

Oiler's workin' good...ha ha.

KIMG0921.JPG


Turned the H screw a bit, listened, turned more, kept warbling.

Cut. Wow, what a difference! I had it so rich on tank 1 it was strangling.

The saw still 4-stroked in the cut when I lifted up on the bar but with less H now we are getting somewhere! I thought the saw was puny. Not so!

I ran it out of gas. I turned it off when I realized it was getting really low, but the saw was hot. I pulled gently a couple of tugs on the cord to keep her movin, then added gas. Started up again and she seemed strange. Thought I had a problem till she primed fully.

Purrs well now, and more power.

That muffler is quite uncomfortable cutting with the full wrap bar left handed...exhaust right at my face.
 
266xp and Husqvarna decals came from Sugar Creek Supply. I left the other decals alone.

Saw is dirty...user her 2 hours yesterday!

She has good torque at full throttle. I can press the dogs a little in seasoned ash and she blows on through. I have leaned her out enough now to stop the excessive smoking, yet keep the 4-stroke when I lift up in the cut.

KIMG0940.JPG

KIMG0939.JPG



KIMG0938.JPG
 
Sounds like you got everything you need. One thing about pistons and cylinders though. You’ll notice on the piston there’s a “A” stamped on top. The cylinder that came off the saw should also have a “A” stamped on the raised portion (top of cylinder) near the spark plug. Those are grade markings. The piston and cylinder must match. In other words, you don’t want to run a “A” piston in a “B” cylinder. This is how they set the clearance (piston to cylinder) from the factory. Reason I bring this up is your gonna want to check that spare cylinder for grade. If it’s A your good. If it’s B or C I’d be looking for a B or C piston to go with it.
This doesn't fly once it was used some. I personally stuck B pistons in A cylinders. You need to check clearances on the cylinder to make sure it not too loose regardless of the factory stamp. Finding A jugs over the counter is rare. Finding A jugs in NOS on the open market happens even less. B pistons are the norm to find most times. A simple feeler gauge sorts all this out or a bore gauge, snap gauges and a mic also work well.
 
This doesn't fly once it was used some. I personally stuck B pistons in A cylinders. You need to check clearances on the cylinder to make sure it not too loose regardless of the factory stamp. Finding A jugs over the counter is rare. Finding A jugs in NOS on the open market happens even less. B pistons are the norm to find nost times. A simple feller gauge sorts all this out or a bore gauge, snap gauges and a mic also work well.
Yes I’m aware you can run the next grade up piston in a used cylinder. I measure clearance regardless of grade. I have a early thin ring 266SE, running a C piston in a B cylinder on that particular saw. I’ve done the same with several others in my collection. Kinda funny, I don’t see any of the more popular YouTube saw builders checking anything. Just assemble and off it goes.
 
Yes I’m aware you can run the next grade up piston in a used cylinder. I measure clearance regardless of grade. I have a early thin ring 266SE, running a C piston in a B cylinder on that particular saw. I’ve done the same with several others in my collection. Kinda funny, I don’t see any of the more popular YouTube saw builders checking anything. Just assemble and off it goes.
My typing is getting pretty bad. Had two missed edits in the last post.

Note to self. Just because others don't check things doesn't make it right or wrong just unknown.

If your okay with that you should stick to other less critical processes in life like home cooking and BBQ not engine building. I know the chef intended to server me quality taste not crap. Would they want the same thing in a toy or tool they just purchased?

Many could care less about quality just so it works for the next three times is good enough. I don't subscribe to that train of thought so my days of doing general repair are over. Moving on to better high quality tools and toys like HD. Acually considering going back into racing. With my youngest an adult now my days are definitely numbers on things to do while I still can. Not much for the Baha 1000 beating anymore but the smaller toys keep popping up on my radar from one to four cylinders. Even considering a run at Bonneville this time and some other mile events. If not I can always race belt sanders in someone's basement 😉
 
My 266 is running absolutely great. I have cut firewood and downed trees with it lately. I only break out the 288 now ever so often. It is my new favorite.
I don't lean on the saw much, but the saw is so powerful when I dig in the dogs if I need to. It doesn't bog! It sounds like a beast...different than stock with my mild porting and timing advance and muffler, or lack of muffler. Saw got more powerful as I used it more and leaned it out a bit more over time.

I have brazing work to do on the exhaust. I'll update when I get that done, but will be a while. Fixing a home project first...frozen pipes back in December!
 
Late update on the 266xp refresh:

I have been using this saw often and really like how she feels. This saw at 66cc is a good size to cut what I need, powerful enough, but not overly heavy. Powerful for the size.

I put some new felling dawgs on her! I painted the muffler. I still need to braze an exit scoop for the muffler but haven't spent the money on a torch.

Felling dogs are 0.125" thick Titanium ... class 5, Ti-6Al-4V. They cost a bit more but are plenty strong, won't rust, and both work and look great. Some people buy Yeti coolers - consider these the Yeti of felling spikes.

Overall.JPG


Overall.JPG

1.JPG

2.JPG

3.JPG


4.JPG


5.jpg

Titanium Dawgs:
P8186172.JPG
 
I made the felling dawgs.

The spikes are laser marked with the "Schwaniger Enterprises" logo ...yes it is hard to read.

I was considering making more if a few become interested.

From online sources it seems if they fit my 266 they will fit any of:

Husqvarna 61, 266, 268, 272
Jonsered 625, 630, 670
 
Gotta really thank y'all.

I ran the 266 the other day. Ran a full tank through her in one shot, the most she has been run since I put her back together. Anyway, this saw runs better each time I run it. The saw is a great size for general firework and cutting. I used her the other day for slashing saplings and fallen trees to clear a section of woods. It is a pleasure to drive this saw. Throttle response is nice. I finally got the muffler put back with a little homemade scoop on the outside. Saw is of course loud, but I like that. Great power for it's size.

@ballisticdoughnut
@Woodslasher
@Squareground3691
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@Lightning Performance

Saw is now also a movie star...featured on my website.
 

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