MS 290 update

[graybear13]

Well, I bought a MS 290 last year and it has been an experience. A lot of what I have experienced has been the result of buying something without doing some research on the subject, and as you have heard, the best lessons are the ones that you pay for! The saw came with a 20 inch bar with that @*## €£# low kickback, .325 green chain. That said, I will never , ever, own another .325 chain! There might be some out there that think it is the best thing since sliced bread, but I'm not one of them! Anyway, I have been pretty much satisfied with the saw, with reservations about the .325 chain. It cranks good, runs strong and is reliable. However, I was not satisfied with the cutting ability, so I pulled the trigger on a 18 inch bar, 3/8 chain and sprocket today and it was a marked improvement over what was on the saw. Now it cuts about on par with my old 3400 Poulan and I can live with that. I do like the "flippy" caps and wish there was a way to retrofit them to my other saws. Would I recommend this saw to someone else? No way in hell!!! However, it is mine now, so I will use the piss out of it until it comes apart. I fall in there somewhere between homeowner and someone that makes a living with a saw, so you can figure from there. I hope this will be of some use to someone that is thinking of buying one of these saws and I wish I had had the benefit of the same point of view. Thanks for reading and may the force be with you!!!

 

[50blues]

Well since its good and broke in now, make sure it has a high side adjustable carb. and do some reading on muffler mods on the 029. There seems to be one every week so it wont be hard to find. It will make you a little happier.

 

[roostersgt]

It aint the .325 chain that sucked, it was the "green" type chain. That saw pulls .325 better than it'll pull 3/8. A muff mod makes it negligible, but I wouldn't waste the money switching over, unless I already had several loops of 3/8 laying around. They do make .325 "pro" chain.

 

[Stihlofadeal64]

It aint the .325 chain that sucked, it was the "green" type chain. That saw pulls .325 better than it'll pull 3/8. A muff mod makes it negligible, but I wouldn't waste the money switching over, unless I already had several loops of 3/8 laying around. They do make .325 "pro" chain.

+1 for me here. The safety chain they sold you should be "chucked in the nearest dumpster." Unfortunately most dealers bundle it with a new saw (I think maybe it is a OSHA thing or safety requirement). The .063 x .325 pitch chain is also sold in yellow label (full chisel) and will work fine with your existing set up. I personally like an 18" bar on these saws with the aforementioned pitch. Another thought to remember is that your saw is going to grunt and strain if you try to run a .375 (3/8" pitch) chain with a 20" long bar. Unless you do a muffler modification you're going to loose your efficiency in hardwood with that bar/chain combination. On the other hand there are plenty of muffler mod threads posted here, you may want to use the search feature and search "MS290 muffler mod". There should be some detailed information that will aid you in that direction. Happy Sawing!

 

[blsnelling]

As the other guys mentioned, there's not one thing wrong with .325 chain. Bad .325 chain is no worse than bad 3/8 chain. Get yourself a loop of RS chain and you'll be impressed.

 

[graybear13]

It aint the .325 chain that sucked, it was the "green" type chain. That saw pulls .325 better than it'll pull 3/8. A muff mod makes it negligible, but I wouldn't waste the money switching over, unless I already had several loops of 3/8 laying around. They do make .325 "pro" chain.

It pulls 3/8 chain real well with the 18 in bar. I just do not like that 325 chain. Some do , I don't!!

 

[blsnelling]

It pulls 3/8 chain real well with the 18 in bar. I just do not like that 325 chain. Some do , I don't!!

Go buy a loop of 3/8 safety chain and report back. Again, it's not the pitch of the chain that is the problem.

 

[graybear13]

I need to clarify some issues. I took the green chain and ground off the bumpers, in effect making it non low kickback, and it still sucked. By shortening the bar and going with the 3/8 chain, it now cuts about like it should. Still like the flippy caps!!!

 

[bigbluram]

Floppy caps suck. At least my 660 still has normal caps. As to the chain I have .325 rs chain on my 260 and it will walk on .375 chain on the same saw
. Bar length doesn't matter either as I run a 25 inch bar on a muff modded 290 big bore no prob , just as fast as 16 inch bar in small wood...

 

[Saw Dr.]

I need to clarify some issues. I took the green chain and ground off the bumpers, in effect making it non low kickback, and it still sucked. By shortening the bar and going with the 3/8 chain, it now cuts about like it should. Still like the flippy caps!!!

Did you grind the rakers of too?

 

[graybear13]

Did you grind the rakers of too?

No, I did not grind the rakers off, dipstick.

 

[1dragon]

opcorn: this should be good!!

 

[Arrowhead]

Muff mod the 290... you'll see major gains.
On a saw your size, Oregon LP .325 chain is actually faster in some wood and certain saws.
Not by much, but I did countless tests with a stopwatch.

 

[TreePointer]

I need to clarify some issues. I took the green chain and ground off the bumpers, in effect making it non low kickback, and it still sucked. By shortening the bar and going with the 3/8 chain, it now cuts about like it should. Still like the flippy caps!!!

You still haven't addressed the issue of cutter shape. Was your green chain a sem-chisel (RM3) or full chisel (RS) chain? Around here 290's come with .325 RM3 chain, which stinks no matter what you do to it. As others have stated, .325 full chisel chain can be very good if you get the right model.

 

[RED WOOD]

Well, I bought a MS 290 last year and it has been an experience. A lot of what I have experienced has been the result of buying something without doing some research on the subject, and as you have heard, the best lessons are the ones that you pay for! The saw came with a 20 inch bar with that @*## €£# low kickback, .325 green chain. That said, I will never , ever, own another .325 chain! There might be some out there that think it is the best thing since sliced bread, but I'm not one of them! Anyway, I have been pretty much satisfied with the saw, with reservations about the .325 chain. It cranks good, runs strong and is reliable. However, I was not satisfied with the cutting ability, so I pulled the trigger on a 18 inch bar, 3/8 chain and sprocket today and it was a marked improvement over what was on the saw. Now it cuts about on par with my old 3400 Poulan and I can live with that. I do like the "flippy" caps and wish there was a way to retrofit them to my other saws. Would I recommend this saw to someone else? No way in hell!!! However, it is mine now, so I will use the piss out of it until it comes apart. I fall in there somewhere between homeowner and someone that makes a living with a saw, so you can figure from there. I hope this will be of some use to someone that is thinking of buying one of these saws and I wish I had had the benefit of the same point of view. Thanks for reading and may the force be with you!!!

I own a muffler modded 290 with an 18" bar and stayed with the .325 pitch chain. Converted the spur drum to a 7T rim drum and run both Oregon LP and Stihl RS (yellow) chain. Both cut well.

 

[Saw Dr.]

Since you called me a dipstick, I'll go ahead and respond.

I am glad the 3/8 chain works for you. Also glad you chose a Stihl product. ANSI and the lawyers make us put reduced kickback chains on most of the smaller saws for several reasons. As was already stated, the cutter type has ALOT more to do with the supposed poor cutting performance than anything else. I do not buy into the "green chain sux" philosophy around here. Properly sharpened green chain can cut quite well in every situation other than a bore-cut. Since you seem to be an expert on the topic already, I won't ruin your thread with any factual information. If you like the 3/8, by all means use it. I have run 3/8 on plenty of 53cc and 56cc versions of that saw. It has worked out fine for me every time. That said, I still prefer .325 on the smaller 1127 saws. Seems those crazy engineers do too. Could you imagine if those fools sent several hundred thousand of their best selling saws out with the wrong chain?

If you think 3/8 is good, you should try some .404 harvester chain :jester:

 

[mountainlake]

No, I did not grind the rakers off, dipstick.

What's with the dipstick?? You should have bought a good .325 chain as a 290 might cut with a 3/8 chain but will cut faster with a good .325. If you don't keep the rakers at the proper hieght no chain will cut. Steve

 

[kr5258]

I'm interested in your old 20" bar if you have no use for it.
PM me if you're willing to send it out.

 

[HittinSteel]

Saw Doc just happens to be one of the most knowledgeable dipsticks around here you dipstick. Don't call people names and you might actually learn something.

Stihl yellow RSC .325 is the best there is in my opinion for 50/55cc saws.

btw, flippy caps suck.

 

[graybear13]

Saw Dr asked if I had ground off the rakers and I took that to imply that I would do such a stupid thing. I may not know much about .325 chain, but I do know how to run a saw and I know what works for me and what works me harder. You guys that prefer .325, just keep on using it. I'm just posting my experience with this particular saw and thought I would share it to keep someone else from making the same mistake. Now as for the folks that say the smaller chain is quicker by their stopwatch, I wouldn't be able to argue that as I generally do not carry one with me when I'm sawing.