New favorite 346NE

[harrybeaver]

After all the rave reviews of the 346 NE I went out and bought one. Mine came with the cat muffler but I ordered the non cat with the saw and never ran the saw with the cat muffler. Initial impressions were the AV was excellent as is the balance/feel. I was not impressed with the saws acceleration or speed in the cut, revved up slow and bogged down quick. In my mind I was thinking maybe I have been running a 7900 too long and expected too much of the little 346.
I then read Brads post of 346 Muffler mod and figured I would give that a try. I ordered the deflector and screen he recommended, which was back ordered from Baileys no doubt because of Brads post. Well they showed up yesterday and I installed them today per Brads instructions except I silver soldered them to the muffler. Anyway what difference! I ran a couple cuts before the mod and was getting 7 1/2 second cuts, on the same wood after the mod I was seeing little over 5. In the cut it doesn't bog down nearly as easy and absolutely screams when revved from idle. I can't say enough about how worth while the modification is to this saw. If I could only have one it would be the 346NE.
Anyway thanks Brad for putting up that post it has made me really appreciate that little 346.

 

[lone wolf]

After all the rave reviews of the 346 NE I went out and bought one. Mine came with the cat muffler but I ordered the non cat with the saw and never ran the saw with the cat muffler. Initial impressions were the AV was excellent as is the balance/feel. I was not impressed with the saws acceleration or speed in the cut, revved up slow and bogged down quick. In my mind I was thinking maybe I have been running a 7900 too long and expected too much of the little 346.
I then read Brads post of 346 Muffler mod and figured I would give that a try. I ordered the deflector and screen he recommended, which was back ordered from Baileys no doubt because of Brads post. Well they showed up yesterday and I installed them today per Brads instructions except I silver soldered them to the muffler. Anyway what difference! I ran a couple cuts before the mod and was getting 7 1/2 second cuts, on the same wood after the mod I was seeing little over 5. In the cut it doesn't bog down nearly as easy and absolutely screams when revved from idle. I can't say enough about how worth while the modification is to this saw. If I could only have one it would be the 346NE.
Anyway thanks Brad for putting up that post it has made me really appreciate that little 346.

post pics if you can of the muffler mod.

 

[chugbug]

Does the new deflector hurt any of the plastic with the hot exhaust or is it far enough away that it can't hurt anything. If you have the thread handy could you post it or just the part numbers you used , I've been thinking about it for awhile now . How about the noise did it increase it much??

 

[WoodChuck'r]

After all the rave reviews of the 346 NE I went out and bought one. Mine came with the cat muffler but I ordered the non cat with the saw and never ran the saw with the cat muffler. Initial impressions were the AV was excellent as is the balance/feel. I was not impressed with the saws acceleration or speed in the cut, revved up slow and bogged down quick. In my mind I was thinking maybe I have been running a 7900 too long and expected too much of the little 346.
I then read Brads post of 346 Muffler mod and figured I would give that a try. I ordered the deflector and screen he recommended, which was back ordered from Baileys no doubt because of Brads post. Well they showed up yesterday and I installed them today per Brads instructions except I silver soldered them to the muffler. Anyway what difference! I ran a couple cuts before the mod and was getting 7 1/2 second cuts, on the same wood after the mod I was seeing little over 5. In the cut it doesn't bog down nearly as easy and absolutely screams when revved from idle. I can't say enough about how worth while the modification is to this saw. If I could only have one it would be the 346NE.
Anyway thanks Brad for putting up that post it has made me really appreciate that little 346.

Yeah those 346'z really wake up once you open the muffler. Just wait til ya get it ported. :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[harrybeaver]

Does the new deflector hurt any of the plastic with the hot exhaust or is it far enough away that it can't hurt anything. If you have the thread handy could you post it or just the part numbers you used , I've been thinking about it for awhile now . How about the noise did it increase it much??

I will try and get a picture up tomorow but no the plastic is not bothered by the exhaust. It all blows out in front of the saw which blows away/melts the snow where the saw bar is. here is the original thread and it has the part numbers in it.
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?p=1926568#post1926568
It is louder but not too loud and the noise it does make sounds better. I find myself revving up between cuts just to hear it.

 

[Griner Bros.]

Wait till 10 tanks or so are run thru it .........
BIG DIFFERENCE .......

 

[msjanket]

Noise factor in modded mufflers

I modded my Olympyk 264 muffler. Calculated surface areas, soldered in the extra tube. Acceleration was considerably increased, power also. Noise was unbelievable. It cut like a Banshee.
Still, putting more stress into your engine by increasing rpm's has to be felt by getting fewer hours on the engine. The power trip is amazing, though. Seems to me to be a worthwhile treatment, but since noise is deadening and power out of character, you need the ppe to keep things on the up and up. I dare say there are more successful ideas that can be applied to modding, however. I'd wager some sharp mechanical engineer could tailor something that would be optimally improved, and would answer to good science. Jet engine jockeys tinker and play with their calculations and a small percentage increment in efficiency is money in the bank, especially when you are burning 8k pounds of fuel per hour....

 

[blsnelling]

In the cut it doesn't bog down nearly as easy and absolutely screams when revved from idle. I can't say enough about how worth while the modification is to this saw. If I could only have one it would be the 346NE.
Anyway thanks Brad for putting up that post it has made me really appreciate that little 346.

Cut on, dude!

 

[B_Turner]

Wait till 10 tanks or so are run thru it .........
BIG DIFFERENCE .......

+1

Both of mine were pretty doggy the first tank and woke up alot over the next 10 tanks.