Does porting shorten the life of a chainsaw?

[Andyshine77]

Have you contacted a builder? The guy who worked on my saw laid out more information in 45 minutes than I've been able to read on this site in the last 6 months. Some of these guys really, and I mean really know their $#@! but they get tired of being crucified when they give an honest answer on a public forum. This isn't really a dig against AS, it holds true with any public forum.

A lot of builders don't even post anymore at all, some have moved on altogether. Yes the BS on forums is deep.[emoji6]

 

[Huskybill]

What shortens the life of a chain saw is when you run/cut half throttle. You not only over heat the saw but carbon it up too. There designed to run wot.

 

[Huskybill]

"Does porting shorten the life of a chainsaw"

Are you nuts? it just slows down your life.

A ported saw cuts faster so we work harder and faster to keep up with the speed of the saw. It raises your heart rate.

 

[Jeffkrib]

ported properly a ported work saw will run cooler and last longer than a stock equivalent saw

If that’s true a ported saw can handle milling better that a stock saw?

 

[Andyshine77]

If that’s true a ported saw can handle milling better that a stock saw?

If you keep compression reasonable and don't go crazy with port widths, and give her plenty of fuel/oil. Yes. Now when it comes to AT and Mtronic saws I really don't know, I could be wrong, but I'm not sure of they will hold up to milling.

 

[Definitive Dave]

If that’s true a ported saw can handle milling better that a stock saw?

Yes, let your builder know you are building a milling saw and his porting will tailor the saw specifically to that job as well

 

[Bwildered]

Maybe this has been beaten to death, but I’m curious to hear from those who have a lot of time on ported saws.
The question is does porting a saw shorten it’s life? I understand this is a broad question with many variables.

So theoretically: if you purchase 2 identical brand new saws and you leave one stock and port the other one. Say you put 100 hours on each one, will components wear out quicker on the ported saw?
Thanks for your input everyone

From all the discussions on here about ported & modded saws that get fried, wearing out is the least of the problems with them, comonsense would tell you that getting more power out of the same components would shorten the life of the rings, bore & bearings.

 

[ML12]

If that’s true a ported saw can handle milling better that a stock saw?

I just spent an entire day milling with a ported (basic woods port, slight timing advance, nothing crazy) saw and it seemed to handle it fine. I agree, if you tell the builder what you intend to do with the saw, they'll build it to suit.

 

[Huskybill]

I think of it this way with porting your allowing more fuel into the saw. More fuel is part of the cooling process too.

 

[wyk]

So, uh, has anyone tested this theory scientifically yet?

 

[foeke]

Yess. That has been tested.
Also emptying the exhaust lets more heat escape.

 

[Andyshine77]

I think of it this way with porting your allowing more fuel into the saw. More fuel is part of the cooling process too.

True, however power is energy, more energy = more heat... Push a saw too far and it will overheat. A 372 making 10hp is doing so with a cooling system designed for a half that. This is one reason we open up the exhausts so much, especially on saws really pushed. A regular Ford Mustang has one engine radiator, I believe the new GT500 with 770hp has eight. More power/energy = more heat, this has to be handled somehow.

As said before the builder must take into consideration how the saw will be used.

 

[Benwa]

I know there is a lot more to "wear" on a saw than just the piston/cylinder. However, this is a ported 359 that has seen countless hours of hard use over 10+ years and shows no signs of stopping or slowing down.
Motul 800 2T 40:1
So, in my opinion......... there's always a trade off for everything. Will it shorten the life of some components? Sure, to some extent. Will it produce more than a stock saw in a given time frame? Yup. Will it do it while putting a big smile on your face from the added power and pull of a larger displacement saw in a lighter package with lightning quick throttle response? Absolutely!

 

[regulate34]

I belive every engine has its max life span in revolutions.

If your are tuning to 1000rpm faster then a stock saw. All things equal. You should have 1000rpm more ware on the ported saw.

Ie. double the power = half the life?

But I bet you guys that shelled out the coin to have his saws ported. Probably takes better care of them then a guy that runs stockers into the ground