You all need to recycle your carburetor based chainsaws and get the 500i

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If you really know how to tune a carb throttle response isn't an issue with a carb. The problem is few people do, including every day users.

If I didn’t know how to tune a carb I don’t think I would of gotten 15 years out of a 385xp running in Doug fir. The 500 runs a lot like the 385/390’s but it’s lighter to pack with faster throttle response. Is it made as well time will tell and I doubt I keep it long enough to see how long it survives, it’s easier to sell a saw that has a season or two of falling to a firewood guy and get a new one when you make a living with them. I remember not that many years ago the local rigging shops would take trade in of our old falling saws for that exact reason.


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If I didn’t know how to tune a carb I don’t think I would of gotten 15 years out of a 385xp running in Doug fir. The 500 runs a lot like the 385/390’s but it’s lighter to pack with faster throttle response. Is it made as well time will tell and I doubt I keep it long enough to see how long it survives, it’s easier to sell a saw that has a season or two of falling to a firewood guy and get a new one when you make a living with them. I remember not that many years ago the local rigging shops would take trade in of our old falling saws for that exact reason.


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Just curious, how many ft per day do you average cutting out there? Around here I average cutting 10 to 12K ft a day. Depending on the size timber Im in, that can be as few as 10 trees to as many as 40.
 
If I didn’t know how to tune a carb I don’t think I would of gotten 15 years out of a 385xp running in Doug fir. The 500 runs a lot like the 385/390’s but it’s lighter to pack with faster throttle response. Is it made as well time will tell and I doubt I keep it long enough to see how long it survives, it’s easier to sell a saw that has a season or two of falling to a firewood guy and get a new one when you make a living with them. I remember not that many years ago the local rigging shops would take trade in of our old falling saws for that exact reason.


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A saw tuned rich will last a long time.
If the saw has poor throttle response it's tuned improperly.
When I first started logging I did really know squat about saws or logging but did know a thing or two about tuning carbs. The guy that I mentored with was using 288's and 272's and they were always sluggish and pig rich most of the year.
 
A saw tuned rich will last a long time.
If the saw has poor throttle response it's tuned improperly.
When I first started logging I did really know squat about saws or logging but did know a thing or two about tuning carbs. The guy that I mentored with was using 288's and 272's and they were always sluggish and pig rich most of the year.

I didn’t say it was slow what I said was it’s still not as fast of response as the 500 is nor will it ever will be.


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Just curious, how many ft per day do you average cutting out there? Around here I average cutting 10 to 12K ft a day. Depending on the size timber Im in, that can be as few as 10 trees to as many as 40.

Depends on the size of timber but around 20k ft sometimes sometimes less it depends on what I’m doing and if I’m jacking stuff like that.


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Depends on the size of timber but around 20k ft sometimes sometimes less it depends on what I’m doing and if I’m jacking stuff like that.


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That's a pretty good days work! I could do that fairly easy in good timber, but my problem is keeping help. I do ALL of the cutting and at least half the pulling in a days time. If I could just get ONE good operator that was dependable my life would be a lot easier!
 
Throttle response can be effected by a lot of things, including porting, case volume and ignition timing. Regardless of injection or carb the fuel is still going into the case, which is a relatively large volume - it's not like port injection. Some of my carbed saws have very quick throttle response and some are more sluggish but get going eventually.
 
Throttle response can be effected by a lot of things, including porting, case volume and ignition timing. Regardless of injection or carb the fuel is still going into the case, which is a relatively large volume - it's not like port injection. Some of my carbed saws have very quick throttle response and some are more sluggish but get going eventually.
For the trouble Stihl went through on this saw I am very suprised they didn't out two injectors in the transfer ports and make it a SDI engine. In the future for emmissions they will be doing this anyway.
 
The 500i has hugely better throttle response than any other saw I have used. Every pro I know that uses one agrees. This with the weight and power makes the 500i the best one saw plan machine out there. If I had to run an arb business with just one saw it would be the 500i. This from a Dolmar fanboi btw. You can ponce about umming and ahhing as much as u want, doesn’t change the fact that negative reviews are relatively few and far between.
It’s hard to explain to someone that doesn’t use saws but if I can be arsed to, I say it’s like cars…if you are a keen driver it feels like a good car has a soul…it’s more than the sum of its parts, more than can be understood by knowing the ins and outs of how it’s built, there’s something intangible that some are open to and appreciate…whilst others just miss the whole thing entirely.
 
The 500i has hugely better throttle response than any other saw I have used. Every pro I know that uses one agrees. This with the weight and power makes the 500i the best one saw plan machine out there. If I had to run an arb business with just one saw it would be the 500i. This from a Dolmar fanboi btw. You can ponce about umming and ahhing as much as u want, doesn’t change the fact that negative reviews are relatively few and far between.
It’s hard to explain to someone that doesn’t use saws but if I can be arsed to, I say it’s like cars…if you are a keen driver it feels like a good car has a soul…it’s more than the sum of its parts, more than can be understood by knowing the ins and outs of how it’s built, there’s something intangible that some are open to and appreciate…whilst others just miss the whole thing entirely.
Well i'm going to find out if they are better . I bought one , hasnt arrived yet. I will report back after I run it.
 
Throttle response can be effected by a lot of things, including porting, case volume and ignition timing. Regardless of injection or carb the fuel is still going into the case, which is a relatively large volume - it's not like port injection. Some of my carbed saws have very quick throttle response and some are more sluggish but get going eventually.

My ms290 had developed a sluggish throttle. Became snappy again after a complete carb rebuild. I say complete, cause it took me two attempts. It was after the first, and I was not completely satisfied, that I removed the H/L adjustments and gave them a good cleaning. After that the throttle response was again like new. Very quick.
 
Well i'm going to find out if they are better . I bought one , hasnt arrived yet. I will report back after I run it.
It'll be interesting to hear what you think. For me as a home firewood cutter the throttle response wouldn't matter - I have some with excellent response, and if the injection system made that a little faster it would be irrelevant. I know that it matters for pros in some circumstances though.
 
It'll be interesting to hear what you think. For me as a home firewood cutter the throttle response wouldn't matter - I have some with excellent response, and if the injection system made that a little faster it would be irrelevant. I know that it matters for pros in some circumstances though.
I'm thinking the power to weight and agility may be on the plus side ,we will see.
 
It'll be interesting to hear what you think. For me as a home firewood cutter the throttle response wouldn't matter - I have some with excellent response, and if the injection system made that a little faster it would be irrelevant. I know that it matters for pros in some circumstances though.

In the cut, a little ramp-up time before entering the cut doesn't matter much. It is when you are bucking branches that a sluggish throttle becomes a bit tiring.
 
In the world of Bare Shelves Biden where no service is available ANYWHERE. No one shows up to work and people are being fired for a Vax status. I think I'll stick to my carb and non computer stuff. At least I can get the firewood I depend on to heat my home and can work on myself instead of a potential boat anchor.
I have a 500I and in your bare shelves world and the 500 failed I guess since I keep more than 1 saw in my inventory if it failed I could use my 260 pro , 032 , 056 , 066 , 661or even my Mac 250.
Why do so many people think if you buy a 500 I its the only saw you would keep. I've always made sure to have a backup to be able to cut out my biggest saw.
If you could only keep one car would it be a prius or a yugo
 

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