twistedtree
ArboristSite Member
What's the down-side to a modified saw? If modifications are so great, why don't saws engineered by the manufacturers ship that way? They aren't dummies, in fact I'll bet they know more about extracting engine performance than all of our saw builders put together.
I guess the obvious reasons would be emissions, and longevity, but it doesn't all add up for me. Here's why.
Emissions: If opening up a muffler, or porting, etc. makes a saw run stronger and cooler (that's what I've learned here), then why not manufacture them that way? If it's an emissions thing, then I'd expect older saws (pre-EPA) to come with opened mufflers, big-ass ports, etc.. Power to weight really matters in a saw, so why not extract every bit of power possible? The EPA wasn't stopping anyone. To the contrary, my pre-EPA 262 packs a good punch for a 62cc saw, but (proportional to CCs) no better than my brand new 346 or 385. So there must be another reason why. Anyone know?
Longevity: This I can see. If you are doing competition, the saw only needs to last a minute or so. It's like dragsters. But what about those of you who modify work saws? More power in the same package has to mean more stress, and shorter life. If it didn't, then wouldn't all saws come out of the box with double the power to weight ratio? We'd all want that, wouldn't we?
So what's the down-side to a modified saw?
I guess the obvious reasons would be emissions, and longevity, but it doesn't all add up for me. Here's why.
Emissions: If opening up a muffler, or porting, etc. makes a saw run stronger and cooler (that's what I've learned here), then why not manufacture them that way? If it's an emissions thing, then I'd expect older saws (pre-EPA) to come with opened mufflers, big-ass ports, etc.. Power to weight really matters in a saw, so why not extract every bit of power possible? The EPA wasn't stopping anyone. To the contrary, my pre-EPA 262 packs a good punch for a 62cc saw, but (proportional to CCs) no better than my brand new 346 or 385. So there must be another reason why. Anyone know?
Longevity: This I can see. If you are doing competition, the saw only needs to last a minute or so. It's like dragsters. But what about those of you who modify work saws? More power in the same package has to mean more stress, and shorter life. If it didn't, then wouldn't all saws come out of the box with double the power to weight ratio? We'd all want that, wouldn't we?
So what's the down-side to a modified saw?