Makita 6401 questions?

[DanManofStihl]

Been a while since I have been on here I got a makita 6401 which runs good but I am in need oof some more power to run a 24" bar I am considering the big bore kit? I am wondering if there is any company on the east coast that is doing the mod I have always delt with Washington hot saws or walkers saw shop in the past but Washington saws has gone belly up and wont return the customers saws from what I read. I havent talked to walkers yet any one else out there? I am also considering just buying a new husky 372 and selling the 6401 what are they selling for used in good condition not new but good. I looked on ebay and didn't see any used ones on there.

 

[WKEND LUMBERJAK]

Unless U are going to be cutting 24" all the time it should handle it fine the 6401 will surprise you.

 

[Roanoker494]

There are several site sponsors on the east coast that build performance saws and I would say to forget about the BB kit and get yourself a OEM 7900 top end, I don't think many builders would mess with BB kits.

 

[DanManofStihl]

I have been using the 20in bar on it and it works great but when I have the 24" bar on there it just seems to lack alittle bit I hate using my 395 all the time just because of the weight of it and the cost of it. I would rather use a cheaper saw and save the big boy for the real work. The 24" oak logs are a bit much for it it will do it but it just seems to take a while .

 

[IthacaMan]

Its only changing the piston and cylinder to one with more CC's.Do you mean you also want porting work done to it? Otherwise its just a matter of bolting on the new parts. OEM all the way!

 

[ckelp]

1) what are you cutting?

2)how dull is you chain?

i run a 28" bar woodsman pro skip and it smiles at red oak..

 

[nmurph]

Do you want to swap cylinder for the 79cc or do you want it ported? A 7900 will handle a 24" bar like a man. If you just want the cylinder swapped, PM me.

 

[DanManofStihl]

Na I don't think I need port work done I am just looking for more power something to compare to the 440 or 372 basically. Mostly cutting oak and gun alot of dirty wood so the chain doesnt stay sharp for to awful long. I try to keep it sharp but alot of the wood I am cutting now is our of residental neighborhoods where it has had bird houses lost dog signs and tons of metal in it. I hit a pieces of l and inside a 30 inch log last week and a old shot gun barrel 3 weeks ago in a 28 inch oak log. Need less to say my chains have taken a beating.

 

[IthacaMan]

The oem 79cc put a smile on my face.

 

[DanManofStihl]

I have looked on baileys and all I saw was the NWP 84 cc kit which sounds pretty good but I am looking for longievity to and don't know alot about NWp and there quailty from tiawan. lol

 

[benp]

I have looked on baileys and all I saw was the NWP 84 cc kit which sounds pretty good but I am looking for longievity to and don't know alot about NWp and there quailty from tiawan. lol

If you have a local dealer I would check with them for the OEM.

I had it the next day and it was only $10 more than buying online.

 

[SawTroll]

The oem 79cc put a smile on my face.

Likely, but my brother just bought a 7900, and told me that the porting is nowhere close to as good as on a 372xp, and obviously have less potential for improvement when porting it (wrong basic design according to him, and nowhere as good as on the 372xp, 346xp and 390xp), despite it has 4 transfer ports, as they have. That fits very well with with the porting results I have read on here, so it wasn't really a surprice to me.
He also bought a Chinese made aftermarket 84cc kit from the US, and reported that next stop is the scrap metal container, after inspecting it - total waste to spend time on porting (I told him that I suspected that before he actually got it).
Next step was to order an 84cc kit (Taiwan made I believe, with ductile ring) from Baileys, to see if that one is worth the trouble......

He knows a lot more than I do about these things, and his "guru" happens to be a Northern Irishman, that he just discovered has a lot of influence on 1995 and later Husqvarna xp porting (actual cooperation, not just a rumor).

 

[SawTroll]

Btw, my brother has earlier told me that the lower piston ring is best removed, if a piston has two of them....

 

[Logger4Life]

First of all don't listen to 372 promo troll above . I mean don't get me wrong thereis nothing wrong with a 372. But I own 2 7900 and love them one of them started out life as a 6401 and now it is a 79cc OEM top end, easy swap. and in the end a stock 7900 will out torque a stock 75cc 372xpw everytime .
Also the BB kits aren't all that bad if you use a Caber ring when assembling and the stock C-clips. I built a 6401 HD rental rescue into a 84cc BB kit and was really impressed with the torque that the saw had now realize that I ported this BB cylinder and set the squish at .021 . When I was done it had 185psi
and ran very strong stronger than a stock 79cc top-end but that was a ported BB kit. I am a logger and all my saws are work saws and get worked hard 5 to 6 days a week in PA hard wood so there is nothing wrong with the Dolmars.

 

[barneyrb]

Contact EC Saws, he is the man on Dolmars.........

 

[Lignator]

i have a 6401 with the BB newly installed. without it being properly tuned (running rich) that thing screams through 24" red oak using a 28" bar. i expect it will only get better with more fuel through it.

as everyone is saying the OEM cylinder is much better quality. I removed a bunch of casting flash and irregularities from the BB. the original mahle cylinder was a much better looking part.

 

[woodcutter385xp]

I had a 6401 and did not care for it at all.It felt clumsy or cumbersome to me. I have run Ithacaman's 6401 with the OEM 7900 top end and it runs good, it's just the ergonomics of the saw that I didn't care for. I sold mine. Just my .02

 

[DanManofStihl]

Yeah I understand that I got the saw with a bad clutch and have replaced that and it has been a good saw over the last year but my mid range saw needs to be a bit more powerful. I was running a ms 440 then I got a 361 which was ok but had a issue with not wanting to fire up when it was warm sometimes. Now with selling more firewood and stuff I would like a mid 70cc saw just trying to do it on a budget right now till next firewood season lol.

 

[IthacaMan]

I had a 6401 and did not care for it at all.It felt clumsy or cumbersome to me. I have run Ithacaman's 6401 with the OEM 7900 top end and it runs good, it's just the ergonomics of the saw that I didn't care for. I sold mine. Just my .02

Oh come on,admit it you just dont like the smurf blue paint.

 

[DanManofStihl]

Def know which saw is yours because non of the other crews I have ever worked with have had one lol.