Simple hot saw mods for husqvarna 395's and stihl 880's

[TravisMVL]

anybody know any basic hot saw modifications that I can do to my husqvarna 395's or my stihl 880 to make them cut faster? My husqvarna saws are my bread and butter but I wouldn't mind tampering with the 880 as it's one of my least favorite saws, but it's got a lot of power. the air filter system is horrible and clogs up within seconds when pulling  a 59" bar while free hand milling in my sawmill shop.

[Rocky_J]

This thread title caught my eye as I own both a 395 and an 880. I don't do any milling though, just urban tree work. Both of these saws have been ported by Timberwolf in Ontario, he's a member here and on most of the chainsaw sites. Both saws are absolute rippers but I rarely need the 880. In fact I've only used it twice since buying it early last summer. The 395 is fine for stumps up to about 6', then I run out of bar.

There's an awful lot of power plugged up inside those saws. The EPA rules vary based on displacement so the mufflers aren't quite as restrictive on these saws as on the smaller ones, so just a muffler mod won't gain much. Brian does some fantastic work and he's a pleasure to deal with. If you're serious about getting a 20% (or more) increase in power without reducing reliability then having an expert like Brian go through it is your best option.

I can't help with the Stihl air filter. Like I said, I've only run mine on two jobs so far for a total of about 4 tanks of fuel. Stihl has finally begun copying Husky's air intake design on their new models (the patent ran out) but it will probably be a while before they get around to redesigning/replacing the MS880 with a new model.

[Cut4fun]

On your Stihl HD filter, try a Outwears pre-screen over it. Use one from  auto section used for the breathers sticking out on the valve covers etc. It will be a trial and error to find the correct fit for the HD oval filters.
A friend showed me he runs them on his HD 372 set ups also.

[Al_Smith]

 :D Although it's not really funny everytime I hear  the conversation about tweeking an 880 I remember an unnamed tree service owner in Cincinnati Ohio .

At the advice of an unnamed Canadian builder (not TW )the old boy hogged out a giant hole in the muffler and ran that danged saw like he stole it .Oh yeh fast but not long . It seems he had followed the advice to a tee but neglected to adhere to the vary last step in the tutorial being to fatten up the high speed . I actually found out about it on flea bay because he used the same user name he had on the web forums .Never said much about it on the net though for some reason or another . Hmm !???

[TravisMVL]

The 880 came with a pre filter, but when running it in my shop I choose to take off the plastic cover and pre filter and run a bare filter, and occasionaly blast it with the shop compressor while running.
I take care of my equipment because it's not cheap, I'm not trying to make a half fast turbo, but it does keep it clean and give it some more power!

[Cut4fun]

The outwears pre-flter will not restrict like the one stihl uses and doesn't clog up like the stihl one, it just sheds the chips and dust. 

[TravisMVL]

I checked out the outwears website, but they only list a pre filter for a ms441? will that fit the filter on a ms880?

[Cut4fun]

I checked out the outwears website, but they only list a pre filter for a ms441? will that fit the filter on a ms880?

I dont own a 441, but it sure looks like the same HD filter I use in the 066 084 saws too. Here is a link of a 441 filter forsale  http://compare.ebay.com/like/130463948580?ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&_dmd=Gallery&var=sbar&rvr_id=192470531752&crlp=1_263602_304692&UA=WXF%3F&GUID=d87bdbb612c0a026530627d6ffa98af5&itemid=130463948580&ff4=263602_304692

[Rocky_J]

The Stihl 441-880 all appear to use the same filter. I just looked at mine and it's filthy after the last use, which was only about a tankful of fuel. I can live with it since my saw never gets run for more than an hour at a time.