New to the forum, but will speak plainly in hopes of getting some honest feedback.
After spending about a week of evenings browsing the forums, I decided to cut some holes in my 7 year old ms290.
The saw has been good, and the only problem has been a cracked fuel hose, that I replaced recently.
I have always run an 18" .325 yellow stihl chain, and cut firewood for myself. Usually 8-10 cords a year, work shared now with my little 170 that I tend to run till I need the bigger saw.
Stihl oil in the black containers at recommended 50:1, Hi-test.
'Nuff background, here's what I did. I basically connected the two exhaust openings behind the screen to create a slot, and widened the slot a bit. I also chewed a bit off the deflector to open it some. I did not take the muffler apart, and did not change the openings of the internal baffles at all.
After putting it back on, I removed the limit stops on the carb adjusting screws, and followed Madsen's guide to retune it.
I do not have a tach, and do not claim to be any kind of small engine guru, but if it means much, the saw runs as it did before. Nice idle with no chain movement, good acceleration, and sounds the same as before. A little smoother when you are into a big cut and work it hard.
Bottom line is this: The saw ran great before, and it runs great now but I don't see the improvement that everyone talks about here.
Did I not go far enough with the openings? I wanted to stay fairly conservative, as it is a work saw, and read that most gains are had right away.
Do I need to have it tuned with a tach?
Are you guys all nuts?:monkey:
I really enjoy this place, and hope someone has some advice.
Pics included, and thanks in advance.
After spending about a week of evenings browsing the forums, I decided to cut some holes in my 7 year old ms290.
The saw has been good, and the only problem has been a cracked fuel hose, that I replaced recently.
I have always run an 18" .325 yellow stihl chain, and cut firewood for myself. Usually 8-10 cords a year, work shared now with my little 170 that I tend to run till I need the bigger saw.
Stihl oil in the black containers at recommended 50:1, Hi-test.
'Nuff background, here's what I did. I basically connected the two exhaust openings behind the screen to create a slot, and widened the slot a bit. I also chewed a bit off the deflector to open it some. I did not take the muffler apart, and did not change the openings of the internal baffles at all.
After putting it back on, I removed the limit stops on the carb adjusting screws, and followed Madsen's guide to retune it.
I do not have a tach, and do not claim to be any kind of small engine guru, but if it means much, the saw runs as it did before. Nice idle with no chain movement, good acceleration, and sounds the same as before. A little smoother when you are into a big cut and work it hard.
Bottom line is this: The saw ran great before, and it runs great now but I don't see the improvement that everyone talks about here.
Did I not go far enough with the openings? I wanted to stay fairly conservative, as it is a work saw, and read that most gains are had right away.
Do I need to have it tuned with a tach?
Are you guys all nuts?:monkey:
I really enjoy this place, and hope someone has some advice.
Pics included, and thanks in advance.