Nik's Poulan Thread

[StihlyinEly]

What you want is the Poulan 245A. 74cc's and light. Other than that maybe a newer 4200.

Agreed. Bigger than the firewood 3400 I used to cut with up in the mountains, but either would nicely fill the gap I've got. A 4400 or 4900 wouldn't hurt my feelings any either.

 

[OhioGregg]

The 3400 is too small for what I need. Among other saws, got a ported MS660 and an 034S, but instead of buying a 70cc Stihl to fill the gap and wear a 25-inch B&C, I'd like to go back in time a bit.

StihlyinEly, The 4200 will more than likely be the easiest Poulan to find in that size range. (69cc). The 245A is no slouch, and is light weight, but is an older horizontal cyl. no anti-vibe design. The 4200 or 4400 same saw just a newer model number, will Easily handle most any bar length you want to use. I use a 24" bar on mine, but I think there would be no difference with a 28" or 30", never tried it though.

I use Poulan 4000's quite a bit. They are 64cc version of the 3400. I love them, but, they don't have the raw power and torque of the 4200. Here is a video of my 4200 from a couple weeks ago.

[video=youtube;XzAh1Hrs5Ao]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzAh1Hrs5Ao&feature=player_detailpage[/video]


Gregg,

 

[Modifiedmark]

Agreed. Bigger than the firewood 3400 I used to cut with up in the mountains, but either would nicely fill the gap I've got. A 4400 or 4900 wouldn't hurt my feelings any either.

For pure Poulans those are excellent choices. The 4900 that I have would match up well and might even out do a modern Stihl or Husky. Next time I get that guys MS460 over here I intend to find out. Beware of every day use and parts supplies though.

 

[StihlyinEly]

StihlyinEly, The 4200 will more than likely be the easiest Poulan to find in that size range. (69cc). The 245A is no slouch, and is light weight, but is an older horizontal cyl. no anti-vibe design. The 4200 or 4400 same saw just a newer model number, will Easily handle most any bar length you want to use. I use a 24" bar on mine, but I think there would be no difference with a 28" or 30", never tried it though.

I use Poulan 4000's quite a bit. They are 64cc version of the 3400. I love them, but, they don't have the raw power and torque of the 4200. Here is a video of my 4200 from a couple weeks ago.

[video=youtube;XzAh1Hrs5Ao]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzAh1Hrs5Ao&feature=player_detailpage[/video]


Gregg,

Sale price, please. :hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

 

[OhioGregg]

Sale price, please. :hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

Ha! It took me far to long to acquire this one.:msp_ohmy: I would have trouble selling any of my saws, but there are a few that I would probably never sell. This being one, along with my 5200, and 245A.

I do worry about parts availability, like Mark stated. I like to USE my saws, and having multiple examples of some of these would surely ease some worries in that department. Just takes some luck & money I guess, to come up with some of these saws. I would dearly love a super clean 8500 version.


Gregg,

 

[rms61moparman]

For pure Poulans those are excellent choices. The 4900 that I have would match up well and might even out do a modern Stihl or Husky. Next time I get that guys MS460 over here I intend to find out. Beware of every day use and parts supplies though.

I'd sure like to be running the video camera when that 4900 shows his 460 who's "stihl the king"!!!
I've run 460's and I've put your 4900 through its paces.............................I know how this story ends already.

Mike

 

[Nardoo]

I like all this talk of the old Poulan Coutervibes. I wish I had a video but a pic is all I have. Not as pretty as yours Gregg, but it sounds just fine. :msp_wink:

Al.

 

[OhioGregg]

I like all this talk of the old Poulan Coutervibes. I wish I had a video but a pic is all I have. Not as pretty as yours Gregg, but it sounds just fine. :msp_wink:

Al.

Al, I like to talk about old Poulan Countervibes too!!! :msp_biggrin: And, I like running them also. I decided that I would try and get video of most of mine, and do it more often. Including taking pics when out cutting wood.
They will make good things to look back on, when I'm no longer able to get out and run saws.:msp_scared:
Plus, it can be a way to show young folks that don't know diddly about the old Poulans, that they made some great saws back in their day. And that they can still "Get er Done" and not just museum pieces. LOL

Been many times out cutting that I forgot to take the camera, and wish I had. Or sometimes is just a pain to set up a video camera, when your by yourself out in the woods cutting. Which I am most of the time. So I will probably post more videos & pics of an old fat man running Poulans in the future.


Gregg,

 

[StihlyinEly]

Love to see the vid and pics. My 3400 got heavy use in the late '80s when I worked in a gold mine at 10,000 feet in Colorado and we heated and cooked with wood.

So, I haven't read all 175 pages of this thread, but if I should be able to find a good strong used 4200, 4400 or 4900, what's the likelihood of significant gains through porting? My 660 is ported, as have been several saws I've owned in the past. Sure do like those gains.

 

[Modifiedmark]

Love to see the vid and pics. My 3400 got heavy use in the late '80s when I worked in a gold mine at 10,000 feet in Colorado and we heated and cooked with wood.

So, I haven't read all 175 pages of this thread, but if I should be able to find a good strong used 4200, 4400 or 4900, what's the likelihood of significant gains through porting? My 660 is ported, as have been several saws I've owned in the past. Sure do like those gains.

Just speaking for myself here, I hope you dont find one of the forementioned Poulan models, if your just going to port it and use it everyday till its wore out.

They dont make these models anymore. I myself appreciate them for what they are and just keep em to enjoy them. Nothing wrong with taking them out for work time and again though, just not every day as a saw to be counted on as the only one.

No offence, just how I feel about them. :msp_smile:

 

[zogger]

Just speaking for myself here, I hope you dont find one of the forementioned Poulan models, if your just going to port it and use it everyday till its wore out.

They dont make these models anymore. I myself appreciate them for what they are and just keep em to enjoy them. Nothing wrong with taking them out for work time and again though, just not every day as a saw to be counted on as the only one.

No offence, just how I feel about them. :msp_smile:

I have to rely on mine because it is what I have, and cutting is a necessity here, not a hobby. Cutting with old poulans or cutting with newer smaller poulans. Inexpensive (still) to scrounge and get working. Can't afford modern big plastic saws. I still would like a 5-6 cube saw but egads they cost like used trucks. I ain't kidding, 450 for one truck, 550 plus an old junker van for my other truck.

Guys who can afford three dozen expensive big saws and 40 grand (whatever) new trucks it doesn't matter much, but we all can't do that.

Looking at the classifieds here, those size saws in good used shape would run me 1-1.5 months pay. New, 2-4 months. So in some sort of real random perspective, guys who make just around an average median middle class wage, would they be able to drop 6 grand on a new big saw? Doubtful unless it was for professional work, they were in the wood cutting business. So, used and old and cheaper is where it is at, antique or not, the criteria is "does it run and cut wood"? yes/no.

The old poulans are still plentiful enough and functional enough to fit the bill. I am sure that will change eventually, but for today, they offer the best cut and best quality for the buck on the used market. Heck, even new, your pp5020 you had is a prime example, compared to any other brand out there now. Poulans just rock, old or new, and I will continue to take advantage of joe q. public's ignorance of them in order to score cheap functional units.

 

[BroncoRN]

If its all you got its all you got. Use them and take care of them as best you can. When they break you give them a last clean up and put them on the shelf. At that point its same as guys with 100 saws. Work with what ya got!

 

[zogger]

None of my Poulans are museum quality but if I needed to "work" with a saw they would be the last ones I would grab. They are kind of hard to find around here and they are just going to get harder to find as the supply gets used up.

A used Dolmar 7900 or large Makita can be found for around the same price as a good condition large counter vibe Poulan. The advantage of the Dolmar/Makita are two fold. Replacement parts are available and reasonable and more important, to a guy who going to be using a saw a lot, they weigh much less.

Largest countervibe I have is a 3400, and the most I have paid for one is 40 bucks. I just haven't found a larger one yet for sale cheap used around here. The 3400s seem to be more common. My 245a was under one hundred, new lines and stuff included (weight on that one is comparable to a new plastic saw of similar engine size). So they aren't antiques or collector items for me, they are "cheap used saws". Show me a running or dang close to running dolkita 7900 for around one hundred and I'll buy it, or like any other modern, still cheap and easy to get parts 70 cc + saw. I would like to find a used larger bar than a 20 to put on what I have for the much bigger stuff, hasn't happened yet, it will sometime though I am patient.

You just got to use what you have, as said above. In the early 90s I could have afforded to go pay cash for any of the largest saws made, but then an accident happened, went broke and homeless. I am supposed to be in a wheelchair or a walker now, but beat that., real freeking painful but I beat it, at least to the extent I can most of time work and function and walk around. But it is just too hard for me to work real full time and be dependable for anyone, which means "cheap rules' around here.. Have to work cheap part time and do what I can. The job I have, when I have my totally random out of the blue relapses, it is OK if I lay out for a week. I can't do that very many places, you'd get canned quick after around the second time it happened. That's just my reality now. It doesn't pay much, but "some" and is better than trying to go on disability/welfare whatever, IMO.

So for now it is cheap used saws, however someone wants to classify them. I am down to only a couple more "things" I can afford to sell off or swap with, already before sold off everything decent I had, guns, tools, furniture, appliances, you name it, they all got sold to cover bills until I had to just give up, walk away from my house, rent a cheap storage unit and live in my van for a long time. Worked my way back up to this gig now, best I can do, got a roof over the head and grub in the box and some saws and got some more tools. Run real old rides that I have to work on a lot to make decent enough to use.

Heck, I am real happy I can run saws and still split wood most of the time! For real, it's great! Dealing with wood is also part of my home therapy action, it is good exercise and helps keep the muscles toned and some weight on, while also accomplishing a needed task, keeping my fields and fencelines I am in charge of cleaned and for heat for us.

 

[homelitejim]

I was beating my head against the wall trying to get the 3400 running, ended up being a air leak on the clutch side seal. So I am standing there looking for a place to put the 2 saws until I get the parts and I see this Poulan 4000 that was hiding in the corner and wa la I have enough parts to get it running. I still need a chain tensioner and a air filter but I have one in the running category.
[video=youtube;0x0PR0TS4wU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x0PR0TS4wU&feature=youtu.be[/video]

At the end of the video it dies and I couldn't get it started, opened up the fuel tank and it was bone dry, talk about using every drop.

 

[OhioGregg]

On the subject of using your old Poulans for work... I'm kind of a fence sitter. And its not a comfortable place to be. :msp_ohmy: For more than 20 years, I had one saw, a 3400. Have used it a LOT in that time. Have since added many other "old" Poulans to the mix. Some of which I have multiples of. So it doesn't bother me to work them. Some just pretty much sit and collect dust.

Then there are a few like my 245A, 4200, 5200. I got one of each, and it just bugs me to no end to see them sitting there, and not use them. My hope is that sometime I can find duplicates, so I can keep one back on the shelf. But, until that day comes, I have decided to use & work mine. Besides, they do the job so darn well. I only own one saw, that isn't a Poulan. 385xp Husky. When I'm workin on a large tree that requires it, I use it. But sometimes I just can't resist using the 5200.:msp_thumbsup: Just because I can.

So I can see both sides of the argument. A lot of my old Poulans were not in the greatest of shape when I got them. Most didn't even run. So they are in far better shape now and running, than they were just sitting and rotting away.
No saw that I own will ever be a valuable rare million dollar gem. So I will run them all. Some will see work duty, some will just see fun cutting duty.


Gregg,

 

[StihlyinEly]

The cost between a strong used MS460 or Countervibe 4200+ in strong running condition probably would only be $100-$200. I've preferred Stihl for a long time, and would be just as happy adding a 460 to the stable to fill the 70cc gap. But the old green Poulan Countervibes take me back to some very good times. I don't use a 70cc saw every day, or even every week. But when I need to put one on the truck I'd like it to be green for sentimental reasons.

Eventually, could be I'll just get a ported 460, leave that greenie on the shelf and bring her down once in awhile to remind me.

Gotta find one first, of course.

 

[Eccentric]

I just received a very nice, late production 306A. Nice runnner, needing only a cap duckbill and straightening of the tensioner screw to be back in business. Will post pics once my home internet service (and landline and TV.....damn AT&T U-Verse...) is back up next week. Using my celphone for now.....and signal is lousey at the homestead. This is the THIRD time I have tried to make this post...:bang:

Anywho, I'd like to have an IPL for this saw. I already have the IPL (and SM) for the earlier points ign saws. This saw has electronic ignition and the un-governed HS carb. Anybody here have this IPL? Thanks in advance...

 

[homelitejim]

The cost between a strong used MS460 or Countervibe 4200+ in strong running condition probably would only be $100-$200. I've preferred Stihl for a long time, and would be just as happy adding a 460 to the stable to fill the 70cc gap. But the old green Poulan Countervibes take me back to some very good times. I don't use a 70cc saw every day, or even every week. But when I need to put one on the truck I'd like it to be green for sentimental reasons.

Eventually, could be I'll just get a ported 460, leave that greenie on the shelf and bring her down once in awhile to remind me.

Gotta find one first, of course.

[video=youtube;3sUoocl1AAU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sUoocl1AAU[/video]

Amen.

 

[Modifiedmark]

I have to rely on mine because it is what I have, and cutting is a necessity here, not a hobby. Cutting with old poulans or cutting with newer smaller poulans. Inexpensive (still) to scrounge and get working. Can't afford modern big plastic saws. I still would like a 5-6 cube saw but egads they cost like used trucks. I ain't kidding, 450 for one truck, 550 plus an old junker van for my other truck.

Guys who can afford three dozen expensive big saws and 40 grand (whatever) new trucks it doesn't matter much, but we all can't do that.

Looking at the classifieds here, those size saws in good used shape would run me 1-1.5 months pay. New, 2-4 months. So in some sort of real random perspective, guys who make just around an average median middle class wage, would they be able to drop 6 grand on a new big saw? Doubtful unless it was for professional work, they were in the wood cutting business. So, used and old and cheaper is where it is at, antique or not, the criteria is "does it run and cut wood"? yes/no.

The old poulans are still plentiful enough and functional enough to fit the bill. I am sure that will change eventually, but for today, they offer the best cut and best quality for the buck on the used market. Heck, even new, your pp5020 you had is a prime example, compared to any other brand out there now. Poulans just rock, old or new, and I will continue to take advantage of joe q. public's ignorance of them in order to score cheap functional units.

It dont seem that my post would apply to you and your situation.

With all the time you spend posting here telling us how tight things are for you, you would never have enough time to wear a already half wore out vintage Poulan chainsaw.

 

[Modifiedmark]

I just received a very nice, late production 306A. Nice runnner, needing only a cap duckbill and straightening of the tensioner screw to be back in business. Will post pics once my home internet service (and landline and TV.....damn AT&T U-Verse...) is back up next week. Using my celphone for now.....and signal is lousey at the homestead. This is the THIRD time I have tried to make this post...:bang:

Anywho, I'd like to have an IPL for this saw. I already have the IPL (and SM) for the earlier points ign saws. This saw has electronic ignition and the un-governed HS carb. Anybody here have this IPL? Thanks in advance...

Aaron, if you find that late version 306A IPL let me know will you please? That is one I do not have but I do have a 78 version 245A IPL that shows the later Electronic ign and one screw muffler on it. I'm thinking the later 306A IPL will be dated 78 or later as well.