I googled 3/8 vs 404. Came up with a 3 p thread on here from 2010 and one from 2011 on another site. One thing for sure, there was seasoned vets saying
the same things that "404 stays sharper longer"..."save more money in the long run"
Less jamming/pinching/plugging/stretching
/sagging/breaking/derailing.
I guy said we would probably not believe it but the 404 cut faster than 3/8 on the big old antiques he has.
Both were relatively similar to this thread scenario as only 2 out of ten are for the swap.
That didn't seem to change either..lol
Lots of talk about the O8 & the O8S on the one thread as you guys were talking about
Guy said he had the 3/8 OEM 3/8 O8S & wanted to try the 404 option. Said he took it off and never to try it again.
Other guy said it was a 56cc saw and it was fine. Said it's not fast but a tough, steady, 'one gear' work horse.
Another guy said the early O8 was only 48cc up to 1969 but don't let the size fool you. Said he bought a new one in '64 with 404 for $175. (Seems like alot?) He said the 48cc chugged along just fine.
Think it was another that said It wasn't the best balanced saw but lots of torque.
He closed with saying it was a good match... A tough saw with a tough chain.
It definitely has a following.
Wow..can't believe I retained all that.
*why couldn't I remember two word I read in school..Oh yeah that's right,, you didn't read two words in school*
Very true! Don't think anyone on his thread was/would disagree with that.
A "shock" from clattering into dry hard wood trying to penetrate a wider tooth.
Sounds like the extreme but maybe the extreme is quite common in his area?
"punching out bearing" on some saws? I'm not sure. It may feel 20 times worse on him.
It absolutely left him with that impression that it couldn't be good.
I would have to talk to him more.
You would definitely want the best set up for that if you had to do lots of it.
I don't like my eyeballs
bouncing.
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My buddy had a saw shop in Vancouver's lower mainland. He had a bundle cutting gig under the patella bridge that he would do maybe thee night after work.
It was a 72" bar with a tail handle full comp was needed. If I was visiting for a few weeks I would take his Mechanic about 3:00pm and run the power head and get it done by the time he closed. They would lay out about 52 bundles of 4'x4'x8' of dry 1"x2". It would come off the train and layed out with chalk lines through the centre. We would cut it and then they load it back on the train for the US market
We would get a fair bit of Cedar post too.
These guys were alway in a hurry to lay it out and we were always in a hurry to get out of there so if they didn't set the dunnage in the right spot then the
half (s) fold in or dont open up. He would send me with a couple ported 3120. You had to just keep the trigger on and try not to get it caught and plugged. Sometimes it could go bad wedging the halfs back up to get saw out. It's hard when it gets stuck still in the wood and the grove is plugged tight.
Sometimes powerhead had to come off.
I seemed to get them done pretty quick.
Hard on the saws. He wouldn't get so many chains before each rebuild,, It would be so many rebuilds to the chain. It would be the pack weigh that was punching out the bearing. He got sick of rebuilding them. He had an 088 & 090 but used the 090 and never had an issue. I tried saw once. Never again. Saws definitely have there limits.
That's why they came out with skip when saws became less powerful.
