PM800 or 056

[rwoods]

What you don't want to do is run one side by side with a modified 460 - it can be painful. Not the performance - the noise. Two years I was cutting a log pile next to a well used TL WWS 460. Even with ear muffs the two set up a weird harmonic that was actually painful - let off the throttle of either and it would disappear. The 800 was actually throwing noddles much further but knowing that TL ports some mean saws, I would say most likely it was due to a better chain on the 800. Ron

 

[sawfun]

I ran my stock dual port 460 side by side with my 800 and didn't notice the noise issue, but mine wasn't ported. 800's are a lot quieter than 850's, and much more so than a 700. Likley this is due to the large 800 muffler and the q port creating less pop than the decomp saws.

 

[rwoods]

Don't remember which of my 800s I was running - some have damaged mufflers and one has an older 850 duct with a homemade baffle. But, yes, stock for stock the large muffler is much quieter than the small muffler. Ron

 

[heimannm]

McCulloch recommended 32:1 in some later service bulletins, seems the 82 cc saws were a bit too high performance for 40:1 or leaner mixes. I run 40:1 in all of mine but keep them tuned on the slightly rich side of things.

Mark

 

[Diesel Freak]

Wow! I have to say, I'm big into my diesel truck, jeeps, offroading, firearms, bow hunting, gun hunting, and now chainsaws. Like any modern day man with hobbies I'm also a forum nerd. With that, I'm a member of probably 8 or 9 forums in support of my passions. Never have I been a part of one that is this supportive. I've went to other sites about saws and usually, in just about any thread I've searched looking for info about a saw, there is reference to AS. Almost like clockwork somebody will state their opinion, regarding it as a cloudy memory and follow up by saying.... "do a search over on arboristsite.com, I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for over there". Now granted, it's probably half of you on those sites referring to this one but still. It's pretty cool!

What I'm trying to say is thank you all!

 

[Diesel Freak]

Almost forgot, I did a compression test on ol' girl today because I was a little stir crazy and won't be cutting until next weekend. Anyway, it came out to be 180 psi. I feel like this saw has a lot of life left?

Joseph

 

[Diesel Freak]

McCulloch recommended 32:1 in some later service bulletins, seems the 82 cc saws were a bit too high performance for 40:1 or leaner mixes. I run 40:1 in all of mine but keep them tuned on the slightly rich side of things.

Mark

This one seems to run plenty rich. The plug was really wet after I started ur the second time. Which btw, it popped in the first tug at full choke. I bumped the choke in a little and she took off on the second tug. Of course, I squeezed the throttle before pushing the choke in and she died. Third tug, no choke, it was love!

Joseph

 

[rwoods]

Almost forgot, I did a compression test on ol' girl today because I was a little stir crazy and won't be cutting until next weekend. Anyway, it came out to be 180 psi. I feel like this saw has a lot of life left?

Joseph

That is real good. I haven't tested all of mine but most are 160 to 165 which I blame on the q-port but may be due in part to me tiring. The few older 82 cc MACs I have tested without the q-port have been 175+.

Ron

 

[Diesel Freak]

 

[Diesel Freak]

I love this thing! My back and arms do not! Seriously though it was the best $100 I've ever spent on a chainsaw. Now I'm looking at a non-running (has spark and compression) Mcculloch 250 fur $75. Stupid CAD!

Joseph

 

[Eccentric]

Tune that PM800 so it burbles ('4-strokes') when running at full throttle unloaded. When tuned right it'll 'run clean' when under cutting load, and drop right back to '4-stroking' when cutting load is lifted. DO NOT tune it so that it runs 'clean' at WOT unloaded.

Also keep an ear out for the tune when running that PM800. If when cutting it suddenly seems to be running leaner, be sure to shut down and check things out (if it's not just running out of fuel...LOL).

The crank seals, impulse hose, and intake boot on that saw are 30+ years old, and may well give up with renewed use after sitting for years/decades. Seen it happen many times. Rubber parts have a finite life.

Make sure the AV mounts are still in good shape. If they're loose/torn/sloppy, then that puts a lot of stress on the intake boot...

 

[Diesel Freak]

Thanks for the advice Aaron. I think the build up was from idling. The guy I bought it from said he wrote stay it every so often but handy cut with it in a few years. I didn't mess with the carb and just ran it hard for a couple hours. Plug looked real good and the cylinder looked like it got rid of most of that carbon.

Joseph

 

[rwoods]

You can cook one quick - unlike those straight gas videos shown on AS. Took me less than 2 minutes of intermittent cutting of 3" limbs to toast my favorite and strongest 800. I knew it was lean (I accidentally leaned it instead of richening it after tuning) but thought it wouldn't hurt to do some quick cuts. Wrong. I later discovered a tear in the boot that would open up in certain positions. Ron

 

[Diesel Freak]

.... so maybe I will tear it down and look things over a little bit. I haven't looked into parts on this thing yet but maybe anything rubber our plastic is worth replacing as preventative maintenance? I will say this, I put a new chain on it and it cut like butter through the first few pieces. After that, I think it continued to cut well but my arms weren't used to the heavy ***** that she is.

Joseph

 

[Diesel Freak]

I am looking at a mcculloch 250 because big trunks like in my previous photo are easy to come by and big cc's and long bars make short work of them. I also cut up some red oak for my dad last weekend. They were quarters out of a 38" trunk. My ol' man was grinning ear to ear. I'm not sure if it was because my PM800 did in 30 minutes what would have taken his ms250 2 hours to do or if it was that I was doing the cutting so he didn't have to. Lol!

Joseph

 

[Eccentric]

I am looking at a mcculloch 250 because big trunks like in my previous photo are easy to come by and big cc's and long bars make short work of them. I also cut up some red oak for my dad last weekend. They were quarters out of a 38" trunk. My ol' man was grinning ear to ear. I'm not sure if it was because my PM800 did in 30 minutes what would have taken his ms250 2 hours to do or if it was that I was doing the cutting so he didn't have to. Lol!

Joseph

Probably a bit of both.

 

[Eccentric]

Looks like you're using that saw enough that a good going through is in order. Would be a shame to roach a saw that's bringing you so much enjoyment (and doing work for you).

At minimum, I'd suggest replacing the intake boot and impulse tube, rebuilding the carb, and giving the AV mounts a good close inspection. Crank seals are easy to do on these saws, so I suggest you replace those as well. You can replace them without spitting the cylinder from the oil tank.

A 'regular' 80cc 250 won't give you much that the PM800 won't give. I'm not trying to talk you out of getting one for fun however.


If it's a Super 250, then that's a different animal. Those will run 32-36" bars better than the PM800.

 

[Diesel Freak]

It's not a super but it would be for my dad. Then he can cut the occasional big stuff that he gets without having to borrow my saw. I've found that my CAD I'd leading me to be a size wh0re. I'm currently bidding on a 066 in a local auction. 3 days left and I'm all the way up to $52.

Joseph

 

[rwoods]

IIRC, McCulloch recommended replacing the seals annually. I wish I had a source for fresh seals. NOS seals at best are close to 20 years old. Ron

 

[Eccentric]

Ron you can get fresh seals through a bearing house or auto/truck parts outlet.

SKF/Chicago Rawhide 6119 (or 6120) or National/Timken 253747 for the PTO side.

Timken/National 471551 for the FW side.


Those numbers are for the seals that work with most 10-series, including these 82cc versions. The PM10-10S and a few others take a different FW side seal.