dacbiet
New Member
Greetings,
This is my first post, but I've been lurking around this forum for a few weeks, learning a lot about chainsaws from people like you. So I'd like to say "thanks" for all your suggestions and sharing your experiences about your Stihl's, Husky's, Dolmar's, and Echo's.
I started getting interested in saws after buying a mountain cabin last year and needing to cut several cords of oak for firewood. I bought an Echo CS-450 from H-D and realized that while it would do most of what I needed, it left a bit to be desired in cutting through thick, seasoned hardwood. When I read about people doing muffler mods and the 2011 EPA rules requiring catalytic converters in 2-stroke engines, I knew I had found a new hobby... So a muffler mod and high altitude carb tuning helped the Echo, but I kept reading about Stihl and Husqvarna owners and their saws; wondering are those larger displacement saws really that much better than the bigger Echo's. I continued reading this website and learned about Makita, Dolmar, and people having luck with H-D used rental saw specials. I felt the 6401/6421 was a good next step up from my Echo's 45cc and started looking for a used saw from H-D. I couldn't find any for sale so I bought a new 6421 from Bailey's which I'm very happy with. From the minute I opened the 6421 box, I could see the difference from what I was used to using. I also ordered a 79cc Mahle kit, a new non-cat muffler and heavy duty air filter kit from Edge and Engine. The new non-cat muffler and air filter kit were easy mods on my new 6421, but I had some reluctance to tear it apart and replace the cylinder and piston on a new saw, just for the sake of having 79cc instead of 64cc. Earlier this week I stopped by the tool rental center at my nearby Home Depot and asked the rental manager if anything was available, luckily he had one used 6421 and wanted $205 for it. The chain bar was beat up but a new chain was included in the deal. I started it in the store before I bought it, it ran rough but I thought for the money it would be a good buy. The next day I decided this old saw would become my project saw, so I disassembled it, remembering how people on this site did it and looking at the pictures they posted of their upgrade. Before I left the Home Depot the previous evening, I remember the tool rental manager telling me he gets quite a few seized engines returned from customers who stupidly put unmixed gas in their 2-stroke rental equipment. When I pulled the cylinder off the piston of my used 6421, it looked like this saw also had its share of abuse. Fortunately, a new cylinder and piston kit was ready to be installed. The teardown and reassembly process was fairly straightforward. Piston ring clamp consisted of my fingers squeezing the ring, no purchased part was needed to assist inserting the piston into the cylinder. The new piston pin clips were easy to install with needle nose pliers. No special tools were needed, but a very high quality Torx wrench was needed since some of the bolts (especially the main two bolts holding the muffler to the cylinder were very tight). Once the new cylinder was attached, I covered all the holes and began to clean out all the accumulated gunk I could reach. Attached are a few pictures, I've ordered some replacement parts for normally worn items including gas/oil caps, guide plate, chain catch, etc. On the 3rd or 4th pull, the old rental started up and stopped a few moments later; I had to dry a wet spark plug. Some minor carburetor low speed mixture adjustment seemed to help, but I haven't revved it too high yet since I want to be a careful in the beginning. But this upgraded beast is not easy to pull-start; the stock 6421 is significantly easier to pull start. Maybe I need to look into using the compression release...
Looking ahead, instead of buying and cutting hardwood delivered in cords to my cabin, I want to look into getting a US Forest Dept. permit to harvest personal firewood near my cabin, and I think these saws will come in handy for that. But first, I gotta see a chiropractor, I think I screwed up my back trying to start the old 6421 (now 7900) saw this afternoon.
Cheers!
This is my first post, but I've been lurking around this forum for a few weeks, learning a lot about chainsaws from people like you. So I'd like to say "thanks" for all your suggestions and sharing your experiences about your Stihl's, Husky's, Dolmar's, and Echo's.
I started getting interested in saws after buying a mountain cabin last year and needing to cut several cords of oak for firewood. I bought an Echo CS-450 from H-D and realized that while it would do most of what I needed, it left a bit to be desired in cutting through thick, seasoned hardwood. When I read about people doing muffler mods and the 2011 EPA rules requiring catalytic converters in 2-stroke engines, I knew I had found a new hobby... So a muffler mod and high altitude carb tuning helped the Echo, but I kept reading about Stihl and Husqvarna owners and their saws; wondering are those larger displacement saws really that much better than the bigger Echo's. I continued reading this website and learned about Makita, Dolmar, and people having luck with H-D used rental saw specials. I felt the 6401/6421 was a good next step up from my Echo's 45cc and started looking for a used saw from H-D. I couldn't find any for sale so I bought a new 6421 from Bailey's which I'm very happy with. From the minute I opened the 6421 box, I could see the difference from what I was used to using. I also ordered a 79cc Mahle kit, a new non-cat muffler and heavy duty air filter kit from Edge and Engine. The new non-cat muffler and air filter kit were easy mods on my new 6421, but I had some reluctance to tear it apart and replace the cylinder and piston on a new saw, just for the sake of having 79cc instead of 64cc. Earlier this week I stopped by the tool rental center at my nearby Home Depot and asked the rental manager if anything was available, luckily he had one used 6421 and wanted $205 for it. The chain bar was beat up but a new chain was included in the deal. I started it in the store before I bought it, it ran rough but I thought for the money it would be a good buy. The next day I decided this old saw would become my project saw, so I disassembled it, remembering how people on this site did it and looking at the pictures they posted of their upgrade. Before I left the Home Depot the previous evening, I remember the tool rental manager telling me he gets quite a few seized engines returned from customers who stupidly put unmixed gas in their 2-stroke rental equipment. When I pulled the cylinder off the piston of my used 6421, it looked like this saw also had its share of abuse. Fortunately, a new cylinder and piston kit was ready to be installed. The teardown and reassembly process was fairly straightforward. Piston ring clamp consisted of my fingers squeezing the ring, no purchased part was needed to assist inserting the piston into the cylinder. The new piston pin clips were easy to install with needle nose pliers. No special tools were needed, but a very high quality Torx wrench was needed since some of the bolts (especially the main two bolts holding the muffler to the cylinder were very tight). Once the new cylinder was attached, I covered all the holes and began to clean out all the accumulated gunk I could reach. Attached are a few pictures, I've ordered some replacement parts for normally worn items including gas/oil caps, guide plate, chain catch, etc. On the 3rd or 4th pull, the old rental started up and stopped a few moments later; I had to dry a wet spark plug. Some minor carburetor low speed mixture adjustment seemed to help, but I haven't revved it too high yet since I want to be a careful in the beginning. But this upgraded beast is not easy to pull-start; the stock 6421 is significantly easier to pull start. Maybe I need to look into using the compression release...
Looking ahead, instead of buying and cutting hardwood delivered in cords to my cabin, I want to look into getting a US Forest Dept. permit to harvest personal firewood near my cabin, and I think these saws will come in handy for that. But first, I gotta see a chiropractor, I think I screwed up my back trying to start the old 6421 (now 7900) saw this afternoon.
Cheers!
