Porting a Chinese G621 Clone

[Chris-PA]

I had to take today off for other reasons and it turned out to be pretty warm, so I decided to drop this ash that has been leaning into a yard area for a couple of years now. That's a strap fence to the left and I undid the top brackets as I figured the upper branches would just get it.



It hardly required a 24" bar it was an excuse to run the saw. I thought the saw seemed a little sluggish, and I noticed it was cutting some rather interesting curves. So back to the barn.

I decided to give it a bit of spark advance which I had not touched before. I ended up being conservative and just added 3deg. The flywheel is a nice casting with a steel center insert and a real key. There is a magnet in the middle on each side, but one side has two additional. I really must figure out how this ignition works someday:


That definitely made it feel snappier -throttle response is improved. I may try going a bit further and see what 6deg will do. I have a bag of keys I got from McMaster-Carr.

Now for the curving cuts - the chain is actually not that bad in spite of how it looks, and it was advertised as 0.058" which it appears to be. But the bar groove is consistently 0.075", which seems way too wide. The chain is just flopping over in there. It might be acceptable for 0.063" chain but not for this loop. I tried a couple of things out but then put on the Power Match bar and a loop of square ground. What a difference! It's lighter too, and cuts nice and straight. Some of the sluggish feeling was the bar binding in the curving cuts. With a bit of spark advance and good chain it feels quite nice, and even bucking and limbing that little thing with a 24" bar did not feel clunky.

I'm not about to buy a bar to fit that chain, but I might get a loop of 0.063" to fit the bar someday, unless that's too wide even for 0.063"? Anyway, it doesn't matter as I have the 24" and an Oregon 20" to fit it.

 

[Chris-PA]

My apologies If I got a little testy on this thread. I really, truly enjoyed it. Great job and thanks for sharing. Please make a few videos and give your opinion as to whether or not the saw performs as well as a 62cc saw should. I'm curious to find out if it makes the power. I've read the 090/070 Chicom clones run fine, but don't produce nearly the power of the real ones.

It's cool - sorry if I got too indignant. It's all for fun, and I can laugh at the thing too. I really must post a close up of the "file" that came with it - you couldn't file your nails with it.

 

[Terry Syd]

A flywheel with a replaceable Woodruff key, I wish my Huskys and Stihl had that, it would make changing the ignition timing a bit easier. - Weird they cut costs on the plastic, but increased costs on the casting and extra machining for the flywheel insert and the addition of the key. I suppose they were following the original design.

 

[griffonks]

I don't have any Chinese saws, but I was interested by this youtube video comparing Joe Average's experience with a Poulan Pro and a Chinese saw after Hurricane Sandy.

 

[clemsonfor]

Post so I can find this later.

Sent from my N9810 using Tapatalk

 

[Chris-PA]

I don't have any Chinese saws, but I was interested by this youtube video comparing Joe Average's experience with a Poulan Pro and a Chinese saw after Hurricane Sandy.

Average? That guy isn't remotely bright enough to be average, but at least he's an ass. While the saw worked for him I still don't believe that the Chinese saws you can buy on eBay and the like are appropriate for the novice homeowner. Maybe something like the Earthquakes where there are large retailers and the possibility of returns and/or replacement. The saw he got is a clone of a Zenoah/RedMax G5000 saw bored and stroked to 60cc. Same basic saw as the 45cc Earthquakes. A perfectly good design, quite possibly made by the same outfit that made this one. If the end of the oiler hose had split on his saw, would he have been able to fix it?

I've been running plastic Poulans for years. I'm never sure if the US made Poulans are hated more here on AS than the Chinese made saws - it's close. It's what cut most of my wood until I started using RedMax GZ4000 saws. I think they're great saws, and I believe that the quality and price combination of the Poulans, combined with the emissions rules, is what keeps Chinese saws out. I still have several and they still get a lot of use. A PP5020 was the other saw I was considering for a project - a fine saw and I like the design, but I wanted something bigger for a change of pace.

 

[Chris-PA]

that is just so funny, you must type a lot faster than me....I resisted the 5020 but when it dropped to $109 I caved.

How do you melt a recoil? Maybe he thought it was a wind up saw?

A man walks into a hardware store and asks for a chain saw that will cut 6 trees in one hour.
The salesman recommends the top of the line model.
The man is suitably impressed, and buys it.
The next day he brings it back and says, "This chainsaw is defective. It would only cut down one tree and it took ALL DAY!"
The salesman takes the chain saw, starts it up to see what's wrong, and the man asks, "What's that noise?

 

[Big_Wood]

man, what a PITA. some people just have some hardcore issues. it's one thing to argue about fuel mix and cylinder clean up methods etc............ but chris is doing what he likes to do. it's entirely up to him and does not affect anyone else. if a guy doesn't like it then stay the **** out of the thread. i thought the thread was enjoyable even though i didn't post in it. the last few pages were pathetic. even though this is the internet and you can hide behind your computer. the usernames of certain individuals are already known to have trolls posting with them. good thread chris. it was enjoyable to most i'd say.

 

[Terry Syd]

Yeah, a lot of the old guys left the forum because of this type of crap. I don't remember guys like Timberwolf ever working on a Chinese saw, but he still took the same kind of ignorant BS whether he was working on a Stihl or Husky. I can understand why he and others left. - A bloke takes the time and effort to try to expand the information base, and then you get morons with 'adequacy issues' that try and down grade it with pathetic snipes from their keyboard.

Thanks Chris for your contribution to the forum, it makes up for some of the others that are incapable of contributing.

 

[naturelover]

You know, from a reliability standpoint, I doubt my 38cc Quake is that far behind a comparable Stihl or Husky homeowner saw. It'd probably put the same amount of wood in the stove over its lifetime as those name brand saws.

Apparently that bothers some on here, cause their $200 chainsaw ain't much better than my $35 chainsaw.

I've done nothing to it except sharpen the chain, and it gets way less special treatment than my other saws, it's even drinking year old stale outboard mix now, all without a hiccup. It'll soon get a new test of how well canola oil is at lubing a b/c.

Think of that too, how much care does a cheap Chinese saw receive compared to a more expensive name brand from the average homeowner?

One could argue that the cheap saws are even more reliable considering the abuse they receive.

Chris's flywheel picture reminded me of something too.

Take the starter cover off a $1000 441C and compare the starter paws to a $35 Quake.

I say all this coming in with the same disposition as others, that a Chinese chainsaw ain't worth it.

My Quake is putting up a strong argument however...


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[o8f150]

I am putting my 2 cents in on this and believe me I am not happy at all,,,,1st) hats off to the OP on making this thread,, I almost bought one of these saws just to dissect just like the thread I did on the earth quakes,, hope this thread goes that far,,,,, 2nd) there is several of you that need to be kick in the azz,,, the man wanted to share the dissection of this saw and there are several of you started bashing saying its stupid,, waste of money,, why buy a POS like that,, ect,,ect,,ect,,,, knock it off people,,, since I did the earthquake thread look how many people bought one,,, did the mods,, ran them and really liked them and I believe most all of them are still running to this day after being beat to death,, mine would still be running but due to needing a few bucks I sold the ones I had months ago,,,, what I am saying,,,,,, stop the BS bullying and yes I used the word bullying because I feel this is what it is,,,, ok,, I am vented,,, again,,,HATS OFF TO THE OP!!!!!!!!!

 

[BDM53ENT]

Chris, thank you sharing the info. If you enjoy buying a cheep saw and modifying it then you are doing what you enjoy. For the members giving you grief maybe they should find a thread that interest them instead of harping on yours. They will keep showing their rear ends, as they are like roaches and will never go away, but keep on doing what YOU enjoy! Thats all that matters.

 

[redfin]

Now for the curving cuts - the chain is actually not that bad in spite of how it looks, and it was advertised as 0.058" which it appears to be. But the bar groove is consistently 0.075", which seems way too wide. The chain is just flopping over in there. It might be acceptable for 0.063" chain but not for this loop. I tried a couple of things out but then put on the Power Match bar and a loop of square ground. What a difference! It's lighter too, and cuts nice and straight. Some of the sluggish feeling was the bar binding in the curving cuts. With a bit of spark advance and good chain it feels quite nice, and even bucking and limbing that little thing with a 24" bar did not feel clunky.

I'm not about to buy a bar to fit that chain, but I might get a loop of 0.063" to fit the bar someday, unless that's too wide even for 0.063"? Anyway, it doesn't matter as I have the 24" and an Oregon 20" to fit it.

Just for reference. I have a bunch of 91 Oregon chains that measured .043" driver width. I have a few bars that were worn. The bars came in at .060" in the groove. They all cut crooked and bound up in the cut.

I used a .050" sawsal blade and closed the groove on one of the bars. This one cuts as it should now.

 

[Chris-PA]

Just for reference. I have a bunch of 91 Oregon chains that measured .043" driver width. I have a few bars that were worn. The bars came in at .060" in the groove. They all cut crooked and bound up in the cut.

I used a .050" sawsal blade and closed the groove on one of the bars. This one cuts as it should now.

This thing has a 0.017" gap too with a 0.058" chain. The gap would go down to 0.012" with an 0.063", which is still a bit sloppy. I've considered closing the rails a bit, but on first glance they do not appear flanged or tapered internally, although I'll have to take the time to measure more carefully. I think if I had an 0.063" loop it might be worth closing them a bit, but I'm not sure I want to close them all the way down to fit this chain.

On the other hand, they'll probably just hang there if I don't, so what the heck?!

 

[Thommo]

It must be pretty common for the chinese to mis match bars and chains. i bought a 45cc saw that had a 50 gauge chain and 63 gauge bar. I sent the seller an email to explain what was wrong and they sent me another 50 gauge chain. i ended up buying a 63 gauge oregon chain and straightened the bar and it cuts good now. I have had the saw for three years and it is still going strong apart from two broken starter assemblies and broken plastic starter pawls. i made some new starter pawls out of steel and keep a spare starter assembly with it now. Its the main saw i use for firewood cutting.

 

[Chris-PA]

It must be pretty common for the chinese to mis match bars and chains. i bought a 45cc saw that had a 50 gauge chain and 63 gauge bar. I sent the seller an email to explain what was wrong and they sent me another 50 gauge chain. i ended up buying a 63 gauge oregon chain and straightened the bar and it cuts good now. I have had the saw for three years and it is still going strong apart from two broken starter assemblies and broken plastic starter pawls. i made some new starter pawls out of steel and keep a spare starter assembly with it now. Its the main saw i use for firewood cutting.

I've decided that is what I will do with mine too; just get an 0.063" chain for it. I'll see what the local hardware store/Stihl dealer has on the shelf but I'm in no rush. T

his chain seemed to fit in there OK until all the paint wore out of the bar groove and the burrs wore off of the drive links. I suspect they cannot get the 0.063" chain in the groove originally.

 

[angelo c]

Someday I must pan back a bit so you can see the absolute crap hole that I work in! There is probably a pile of junk from every project I've ever worked on, with half a dozen more on top of it. When I need to get to the table saw it's like an archaeological dig. My desk at work is just the same - they gave up trying to get me to clean it up years ago.

BUT...

I am a little picky about how things fit together. This one is not too bad now. If it holds up I may order some small bits - A/V covers and air filter cover screw, etc. - from RedMax just so it looks a little nicer. But the air filter is like $37 ( ) so I'll be making this one work!

Chris, its common knowledge to keep the value high on these saws you need to keep all the parts original. The Asian knockoff market is very fickle...i wouldnt be replacing those OEM asian knockoff parts with any valuable real parts...
Nice thread though. Sorry im so late to it.

 

[Chris-PA]

Dont get me wrong Chris-PA like many I like your threads but in all in all honesty you need to get a pro Husky or Stihl in your hands, myself care less bout this Chinese saw im not bagging it and Im not here to bag you about it I say good on ya for putting it out there the good the bad and the chinese! haha .. ..Yes I like my little poulan 42cc but only as a play and cut a (little) firewood on the weekend thing here and there...If I was to take it to work and put it to work Id get maybe 3days out of it and be behind 13 days work and no Im not saying that to be an ass...The old mag pro poulan saws are a thing of the past back then they where a pro saw something a man could make a living with ,the toys they have now days well if ya dont get it ya dont get it.....Your an engineer is it not about a well engineered tool?.....Like I said dont get me wrong I am all for this thread its a great read but tell the day you get a pro saw in your hands? only then would you see Stihl/husky steal nothing from throwaway cheap saw's....Man if ya was over here Id send you a 660 for fee to tinker with just so you could see the other side what is well engineered....Like I said im not trying to be an ass just pointing out there is way more to this chainsaw thing than meets the eye in some cases they are a tool a man hang's off day in day out to feed their family and try to get ahead in life with pure gut busting hard work!......Just saying and all and only IMHO.....

A couple of points:

First, I'm not a pro, I'm a firewood hack. I'm not sure why the issue of using this thing all day as a pro keeps coming up - that would seem to be foolish thing to do, but then it cost $210 delivered. I personally cannot rationalize spending any more for a saw as it would not provide me one single additional capability that I need. In truth I didn't really need this one, but it did reduce the weight I'll have to carry when I need a 24" bar. I have tools I work with every day that blow away the stuff a guy might use at home - but it would be pointless for someone to spend that much since they would get no benefit out of it.

Second, there is no Chinese engineering in this saw. The design is pure Zenoah G621AV, and faithfully reproduced even when they clearly could have reduced the cost. As I said, I like the design of the saw, even recognizing that it is getting old. Is it a pro design? That's a marketing term, but what does this design lack compared to other older pro 60cc designs? Compared to newer designs it lacks strato and AT, which would be absolute minimum requirements to me if I were to buy a newer pro saw, but then there are still new pro saws out there that lack both. Looking at the weight thread, I'm not seeing much that comes in as light as this one - it's less than a pound heavier than my 42cc Poulan!

Last, the issue of a well engineered tool: It takes as much good engineering, sometimes more, to design a low end tool as it does to design a high end tool. It's just a different set of requirements and compromises. It's not easy to come up with solutions with the added burden of reduced costs and specific manufacturing constraints. When I look at the design of something like a PP5020, I am quite impressed with the design. For example they took a simple and inexpensive open transfer casting and added some plastic spacers, producing what is effectively a closed transfer cylinder at much lower cost. Some guys pull those apart and think "what cheap junk", but to me that was a clever and effective design. Conversely, I see guys spend a lot of money on saws that have not got any better engineering, technology or features than they could have bought 20 years ago. I think what you're really after is a well made saw, which something like the 660 is - and it should be at that price.

 

[Chris-PA]

beats me. I should have preceeded it with "in my


Your post reminds me of the first time I used a professional grade circular saw. I had gone through many years thinking I just didn't have the hand eye coordination to use a hand held circular saw. I could never keep the blade on the line. One day I needed to cut a counter top in half and I was far from home so a friend let me use his old pro grade Porter Cable. That thing cut like it had eyes, zero vibration and I could split a pencil line and cut laser straight. I had only used super cheap homeowner saws in the past. The next thing I knew, I had a collection of pro grade circular saws. I had Makita, Black & Decker, DeWalt, Hitachi, Skil HD's, Milwaukee's and a pile of Craftsman worm drives and probably some others I have forgot. A pro quality tool is certainly a joy to use. My favorite is my Skil Mag 77. Porter cable no longer markets those pro grade saws here in the U.S.

I suspect Chris has used pro grade saws but he just likes to play with and experiment on less expensive ones. From the perspective of someone who doesn't make a living with a chainsaw I can understand it.

Your post helps me understand the absolute disdain that some people have for these cheap "toy" tools. Their emotions are jenuine
View attachment 337976

The whole issue of pro grade tools seems irrelevant to me in this thread. Is an actual Zenoah G621AV a pro 60cc saw? It's another topic, and not at all what this was about.

 

[Chris-PA]

LOL dont be getting down on me was just saying what came to my mind after reading this and its nothing to do with the saw , more the ya mad to pay good money for a chainsaw ya only paying for the name lol....Sadly it's not that black and white me thinks but thats just my 2c....And Stephen C man ya not telling fibs about the circular saw's how many do you own! I count over 20!....

Hey, I'm not down on you at all. This thing is just something I'm playing with for my own interest and entertainment. I do expect that I will be able to turn it into a decent tool for my uses, in fact I believe I already have - but I'm implying nothing about it's suitability for anyone else or for pro use, nor comparing it to high end Huskies or Stihls.

We each have to make our own decisions about what is worth spending our money on.