Ok so my buddy Samtip bought a brand new Redmax 3800 off Ebay. He wanted a simple muffler mod and carb tune to be done sounds simple right??? It came to me brand new and never fueled. So I fueled it and started it up to do some stock test cuts and heard what I thought was a clutch squeak. I MM'ed it and took it back to Samtips for some cutting time. The squeak got worse and the saw eventually didn't even want to start or run... Back to the shop! I tore down the entire clutch side of the saw to find absolutely no problems! So I reassembled hoping that the squeak would magically disappear. Didn't happen... So what's next??? Well I got the automotive stethoscope out to try and locate the side of the saw it was coming from. Low and behold it was the flywheel side. Pics says it all...
Notice 2 things: the aluminum being scraped from the outer rim of the flywheel and the screw (middle right side) that never got tightened down into the counter sunk hole at the factory (like screw in bottom left)! Solution was easy: it wasn't stripped so I put it back in with loctite. I was really glad it was an easy fix.
At this point you know I can't leave well enough alone right...?!?!?!?
So I measured the squish and it had entirely to much! Pulled the base gasket out and put the cylinder back down with yamabond for a perfect 0.019 squish! Below are pics of the beautiful casting work done by Zenoah motors. Some of the pics are a bit blury (phone camera) but trust me when I say some of the finest cast aluminum parts I have ever seen!
Pison is a single ring with small double arch for transfers (no windows).
Overall composition was very very nice. The entire saw AV system was sprins (seen in upper left). I would rather have a smooth log bump and a replaceable/removable dawg but the cast aluminum seems to work good.
With a simple base gasket delete this one was pushing 180psi no problem!
As for the handling and looks I like this little red saw! I unfortunately gave a 3800 to my neighbor before I knew what I had in my hands and now that he's used it... He wont trade it back! I even offered a completely rebuilt ms260pro in minty condition and he wouldn't take it! I think these saws would perform very well with a 14in bar and full chisel .325 but most come with what I would consider oversized 16-18in 3/8 lo-pro bars. It had supurb balance with the 16in 3/8 lo/pro oregon bars, and the Oregon 91vg chain cuts pretty good for saftey chain which is what I think Samtip plans to leave on it (for the wife to run?). I'd like the chance to run one with a shorter bar and 3/8 PS3 or 325 full chisel (square filed of course). Also I have yet to run the Strato 4000 & 4500 versions. I wouldn't mind putting the 3800 and 4500 side by side to compare them in weight and power. I've run TONS of 30-45cc saws and this 3800 definitely takes the cake! At 9.1-9.2 lbs nothing really comes close in power to weight in this class. Dolmar 420/421's might be close in power but aren't as light. I know Brad was playing with these a while back and thought I would bring them back to light...
Plus you guys always like looking at pics right???
Notice 2 things: the aluminum being scraped from the outer rim of the flywheel and the screw (middle right side) that never got tightened down into the counter sunk hole at the factory (like screw in bottom left)! Solution was easy: it wasn't stripped so I put it back in with loctite. I was really glad it was an easy fix.
At this point you know I can't leave well enough alone right...?!?!?!?
So I measured the squish and it had entirely to much! Pulled the base gasket out and put the cylinder back down with yamabond for a perfect 0.019 squish! Below are pics of the beautiful casting work done by Zenoah motors. Some of the pics are a bit blury (phone camera) but trust me when I say some of the finest cast aluminum parts I have ever seen!
Pison is a single ring with small double arch for transfers (no windows).
Overall composition was very very nice. The entire saw AV system was sprins (seen in upper left). I would rather have a smooth log bump and a replaceable/removable dawg but the cast aluminum seems to work good.
With a simple base gasket delete this one was pushing 180psi no problem!
As for the handling and looks I like this little red saw! I unfortunately gave a 3800 to my neighbor before I knew what I had in my hands and now that he's used it... He wont trade it back! I even offered a completely rebuilt ms260pro in minty condition and he wouldn't take it! I think these saws would perform very well with a 14in bar and full chisel .325 but most come with what I would consider oversized 16-18in 3/8 lo-pro bars. It had supurb balance with the 16in 3/8 lo/pro oregon bars, and the Oregon 91vg chain cuts pretty good for saftey chain which is what I think Samtip plans to leave on it (for the wife to run?). I'd like the chance to run one with a shorter bar and 3/8 PS3 or 325 full chisel (square filed of course). Also I have yet to run the Strato 4000 & 4500 versions. I wouldn't mind putting the 3800 and 4500 side by side to compare them in weight and power. I've run TONS of 30-45cc saws and this 3800 definitely takes the cake! At 9.1-9.2 lbs nothing really comes close in power to weight in this class. Dolmar 420/421's might be close in power but aren't as light. I know Brad was playing with these a while back and thought I would bring them back to light...
Plus you guys always like looking at pics right???
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