Chainsaw hours ?

[twiztedsix]

here is what I found on Echo's website

There is no compromise to the design and building of an ECHO engine. Its value minimizes somewhat higher price since it lasts longer and performs better. If all the proper preventative maintenance is done and the proper lubrication is used, ECHO engines are designed to last 1,200 - 1,500 hours or more. Proper preventative maintenance and lubrication as outlined in the operator's manual is critical to the life of your any HI-RPM 2 stroke engine.

 

[huskystihl]

I read somewhere on here (searched and couldn't find it) that Stihl products should last around 2500 hours, given you do the correct maintenance and all that good stuff.

I would assume are well used saws that we turn over every few years have that many hours and still run strong at that point.

 

[Nitro-Fish]

If it runs slower than rated speed it will take more than an hour to put a hour of engine time on.

An hour of running is an hour of running; you can't manipulate time. The idling hours may not put as much strain on an engine as running them wide open, then again, sometimes idling is worse.

 

[Gypo Logger]

Since it takes no more that an hr. to cut a cord of stove wood and the average household burns 5 cords up here. 500 hrs would yield 500 cords or enough wood for 100 years.

So a saw should really last 100 years if you set it to factory specs and use mix least 40:1 and clean the filtre once in awhile.

Now if the saw was properly modded it could quite feasibly last 150 years if they still make gas by then. Lol
John

 

[outdoortype]

Since it takes no more that an hr. to cut a cord of stove wood and the average household burns 5 cords up here. 500 hrs would yield 500 cords or enough wood for 100 years.

So a saw should really last 100 years if you set it to factory specs and use mix least 40:1 and clean the filtre once in awhile.

Now if the saw was properly modded it could quite feasibly last 150 years if they still make gas by then. Lol
John

That last bit has me thinking.....I always reasoned that a modded saw would have a drastically reduced lifespan due to the higher rpms placing more friction and strain on the bearings & cylinder walls. But here lately I've read in several separate instances the modded saws aren't compromising. It seems you almost never read of a modded saw burning up-I wonder if this is due to the higher ratio of stock saws.

 

[catbuster]

I say 3000 hours for a pro saw that has been well maintained. There are a lot of 044s pushing that still running well.

Not to get an argument started, but 2000 hours is alot of time. Thats alot of strokes and alot of revolutions. I just dont see it, Buts thats just me.

Yet you've prob aly ran Cat 235s with 10,000 hours and they still run well. It's all about maintence. If you don't replace oil, pins, seals, bushing etcon a trackhoe, it will wear out before 5000 hours in my application.

It's all about maintenence.


Just my $.02.

 

[eyolf]

back in the early days, many two strokes had iron bores, and it was really uncommon to get more than maybe 100 hrs of use. Iron rings in an iron bore, using iffy oil. Filled rings helped a little, but not much. Eventually the rings got glued into the grooves, blow-by cleaned a lot of the oil off the cylinder walls and things went south in a hurry.

Then came along chrome bores. Some lasted well, some were flaky. Really...as in chrome flaking away. And we still had problems from iffy oil and carbon build-up.

Nickasyl and clean-running synthetics have changed all that. BUt all the same, I'd suggest that its rare for saws to exceed 2000 hrs...besides the humorous post I made earlier! A 50cc saw should have no trouble delivering 3 hp...thats roughly 100bhp/liter. But it IS delivering near its peak capacity most of the time. That's a little like expecting a high-performance car to last 2000 hrs times 60mph (120k) while pulling a trailer heavy enough to require the pedal on the floor most of the time.

 

[Cantdog]

If it runs slower than rated speed it will take more than an hour to put a hour of engine time on.

An hour of running is an hour of running; you can't manipulate time. The idling hours may not put as much strain on an engine as running them wide open, then again, sometimes idling is worse.

Perhaps I can help clarify what I believe MM to have been addressing. There are two very different measurements of engine time and I am not sure which one we are talking about when speaking about saws. What MM was saying is that on most older heavy equipment engine HRS were calculated by the tachometer and were not necessarily actual 60 minutes segments of time. The cable driven tachometers were counters of RPM not minutes until the motor was at it's WOT RPM. If run at WOT for 60 minutes the tach would show 1 HR in the HR meter. If the motor was run a one half the rated WOT RPM for 60 minutes the tach would only count .5 HRS.
On the other hand most (if not all) of more modern electric HR counters on equipment are just that. Electric clocks. When supplied with power they will count 60 minute sections of time with no regards to engine RPM. If the power is on for 60 minutes they will count it as 1 HR whether at idle or WOT.

So MM was not attempting to manipulate time so much as trying to explain another way that is used to measure it.
Again for the sake of conversation I am unclear as to which method of measurement we are using when speculating on accumulated HRS on a chainsaw. Perhaps someone can clarify it for us.

 

[komatsuvarna]

I say 3000 hours for a pro saw that has been well maintained. There are a lot of 044s pushing that still running well.




Yet you've prob aly ran Cat 235s with 10,000 hours and they still run well. It's all about maintence. If you don't replace oil, pins, seals, bushing etcon a trackhoe, it will wear out before 5000 hours in my application.

It's all about maintenence.


Just my $.02.

yes, ive been on excavators with 10000+ hours. The highest hour machine ive ran was a pc400 that showd 17,000 hours. It was old, but still very useable.

My point was, chainsaws spin what, 10-13+ thousand rpm? Diesels thats in the trackhoes you mentioned probably turn close to 2000 rpm and all its turning is a couple pumps.

As I said before, real world situations, probably wont ever see 2000hrs on a saw, just my opinion though.

 

[rupedoggy]

To put one hour on any piece of equipment it has to run at rated speed or RPM for one hour. If it runs slower than rated speed it will take more than an hour to put a hour of engine time on. This is how it works on cable driven tachometers on tractors. So to put 2000 hours on a chainsaw it would have to run at its rated RPM for 2000 hours. I figure a chainsaws rated RPM is full throttle. Since chainsaws are not run wide open all the time it take more than 2000 hours to put 2000 hours of engine time on. Also 2000 hours is like running your chainsaw at rated RPM for 83 days straight.

Eh, aren't you getting Tachometers and Hobbs meters mixed up? An hour run time is an hour regardless of RPM.

 

[Cantdog]

Eh, aren't you getting Tachometers and Hobbs meters mixed up? An hour run time is an hour regardless of RPM.

No a Hobbs Meter is an electric clock as I described earlier. It only counts hrs that the power is applied to it. Some will count even if the engine is off but the key on. All they need is power.

What MM was describing is a cable driven Tachometer/Hour meter that actually counts engine revolutions and is calibrated to the WOT of the engine it comes on. This will only count an hour of run time after it has logged the proper number of revolutions. These are usually found on diesels. Example if the WOT or PTO speed of the engine is 2400 RPM then 2400 X 60 minutes=144,000 revolutions which in turn will equal 1.0 HR recorded run time. If the engine is run at 1200 RPM then 1200 X 60 minutes=72,000 revolutions and time on the hour meter will record 0.5 HR run time. This is the way most industrial engine hrs are counted. Maintenance schedules are set by these figures by the manufacturers.

 

[komatsuvarna]

No a Hobbs Meter is an electric clock as I described earlier. It only counts hrs that the power is applied to it. Some will count even if the engine is off but the key on. All they need is power.

What MM was describing is a cable driven Tachometer/Hour meter that actually counts engine revolutions and is calibrated to the WOT of the engine it comes on. This will only count an hour of run time after it has logged the proper number of revolutions. These are usually found on diesels. Example if the WOT or PTO speed of the engine is 2400 RPM then 2400 X 60 minutes=144,000 revolutions which in turn will equal 1.0 HR recorded run time. If the engine is run at 1200 RPM then 1200 X 60 minutes=72,000 revolutions and time on the hour meter will record 0.5 HR run time. This is the way most industrial engine hrs are counted. Maintenance schedules are set by these figures by the manufacturers.

Ive never herd of this type hour meter before. A hour is a hour if its idleing or WFO.

 

[Cantdog]

Ive never herd of this type hour meter before. A hour is a hour if its idleing or WFO.

No.................This the way ALL non electric cable driven Tach/Hour meters work. If you don't believe me go find any ag tractor with a cable driven tach/hr meter and idle it for 60 min. Then tell me what the HR meter tells you....It will not read one hr, more like 0.3 or 0.4....by mechanical measurement an hr is not necessarily an hr. only at WOT/PTO speed is an HR an HR

 

[Stihl here]

Stupid question really? Saws,machines last as long as one wants with care or abuse? Where do you fit in?

 

[komatsuvarna]

No.................This the way ALL non electric cable driven Tach/Hour meters work. If you don't believe me go find any ag tractor with a cable driven tach/hr meter and idle it for 60 min. Then tell me what the HR meter tells you....It will not read one hr, more like 0.3 or 0.4....by mechanical measurement an hr is not necessarily an hr. only at WOT/PTO speed is an HR an HR

Well ok, im wrong as usuall.lol I talking about a modern day hour meter, not antiques. Everthing made in my time has electric hour meters, like you said, if the switch is on, motor running or not, its ticking away.

Shouldve read your earlier post and id know what you were talking about.Ill :taped: . lol

 

[Cantdog]

Well ok, im wrong as usuall.lol I talking about a modern day hour meter, not antiques. Everthing made in my time has electric hour meters, like you said, if the switch is on, motor running or not, its ticking away.

Shouldve read your earlier post and id know what you were talking about.Ill :taped: . lol

Well I'm not sure when they went to full electric but I have a 1981 Long 5n1 backhoe loader with an electric only tach and hr meter but then I have a 1992 4WD Japanese tractor with the mechanical counter not sure this would be considered an antique however.

I don't know which is the more accurate method of measurement Both have their own drawbacks If the motor is not running but the clock is counting it's not doing you any favors. On the other hand I have a 4-53 Detroit diesel that runs my sawmill. This engine is run at 1775 rpm all the time it is in use. The manual calls the oil change at 100HRS but because the hr meter is calibrated at 2410 RPM and it is run at 1775 I change the oil at 75 HRS on the clock.

I was not cheerleading for this type of meter but just stating that this is the way industrial/ AG/Marine engine hrs were calculated and recorded for the last 60-70 yrs. and not sure if this was the way saw hrs are calculated or if as you say no matter what it is doing rpm wise if runs an hr it has an hr of run time on it. This method does seem more suitable to the saw discussion as they don't have hr meters anyway.

 

[BarkBuster20]

my uncle regularly gets 3500+ hours out of ms 170s in his xmas tree farm, they see hard use. not even a pro saw...

 

[MathuisMaximus]

Cantdog you are right on what I was trying to explain, I'd rep you if I knew how.

 

[sawkiller]

I am just trying to figure out how anyone could actually say how many hours their saw has. With a saw it is usually on and off so much how could you keep track without a whole lot of documentation.

 

[JustinM]

Depends on how you take care of it and how often you run it.

The bold part is key. Obviously many of us have saws that are way beyond their rated "hours" Heck, i even have a little crappy poulan 3416 that has about double the listed hours, but still runs like it did when new (unfortunately thats not particularly good )

Care, maintenance - and probably more importantly: Pre-maintenance (ie fixing things before they're completely broken) is the key. If you have low compression, find out why & fix it (ie. rings) vs. running & waiting for a bigger problem etc.