Any mods for a Poulan Pro 5020AV

[ManjiSann]

Are there any mods that would help make a Poulan Pro 5020AV a little better performer? I realize this isn't ever going to be a race saw and no amount of work will likely ever turn it into a pro level saw. With that being said, are there any muffler mods or other simple, inexpensive tweaks that can be done to squeeze a bit more out of this saw?

I have aspirations of some day jumping up to pro level equipment but need to try and learn and earn with the two Poulans I have now.

Thanks all for weighing in and for making this forum so awesome!

Brandon 

[lxskllr]

I took the spark arrestor out of my newest Poulan(That's pretty much SOP for all my saws). You probably don't want to do that in Utah though. Pretty dry out there. You might be able to open the muffler up. Not sure what's in them tbh. Might make a difference.

Newer Poulans are kind of 'use them up and get another' saws. I don't think many play around with them. They have their place, and I've been happy with mine, but for more than casual use, it makes sense to step up to a better saw. Echo is twice the price, but I think you get more than 2* the value over the saw's life. If you're handy, you can also get the big guys used, and rebuild them. That'll get you a first class saw on a budget. If it were me, I'd use the Poulan as-is, figure out what you like/don't like about it, then use that for deciding future purchases. Maybe you like Poulans, and if you keep your eyes open, you can find some deals. My last pr4218 I got brand new from a pawn shop for $75. I'm pleased at that price, and there's others like it to be had. Just gotta look.

[ManjiSann]

Lxskllr,

I have 0 experience with any other chainsaws with which to compare but I must say I love my Poulan Pro! I think for the price it'd be very hard to beat.

For the level of work I'm doing it works quite well. I'm in no way offended by what you have said nor am I trying to say this Poulan is anything other than what it is, a home owner saw with what I feel are some nice features. I know it will never be a pro level saw nor a race saw, mostly just wondering if there were some cheap mods I could do to safely squeeze a bit more out of it. Also, having only paid $45 for this saw, I'm more willing to tinker and learn about how they work and try mods as if I totally mess it up I'm not out hundreds of dollars. But from what you are saying and other searches I've done there really aren't many mods one can do on this saw.

As for opening up the muffler a bit, my searchfu on this forum isn't as strong as i'd like, do you know of any good threads with pics that show how this is done and explain a bit of the why behind it? I have a basic understanding that it's to allow the saw to breath a bit better and cool a bit faster ( I'm good with a wrench but don't completely understand engines as well as some.)

I've been watching the local ads for pro grade equipment within my budget but I need to make some money with my current equipment before I can justify getting better stuff. I live in a pretty mature sub division and have helped a couple neighbors remove trees and am hoping word of mouth will spread and some work will come my way I can do on the side. I've been bitten by the bug and love running the saw but I'm not insured so I have to be careful of what jobs I take. 

As always, thanks for taking the time to respond!

Brandon

[btulloh]

If a saw starts and runs, does the job you need done, and you like it, it's all good. Enjoy your saw and be safe. If you get the bug and want to acquire more saws and stuff— well - go with it. 

[old guy]

I have 4 5020's, the muffler is pretty open, nothing to gain there, not much you can do with this saw but keep a sharp chain, you're rite, they will not win many races, but they are a pretty good woodcutter.

[ManjiSann]

I suppose there's something to be said for a saw that's pretty much at it's full potential from the factory. 

Thanks all for responding!

Brandon

[NorCalKuma]

I'd at least tune it and check the factory tune. Good first step to play/learn. Not hard using the "tune in the wood method".  But if youre happy, then leave it.

My older Craftsman 46cc ran good.  Read about muffler mods and decided to try it. This muffler was stuffed with a cat. Removed the cat and opened up the exhaust and it runs even better.

My NEW Echo cs352 did not run good. Opened up the exhaust, pulled the  limiter caps and tuned it. Runs great now. Going to remove the cat next and retune again.

Poulon Pro 50cc:

https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/muffler-mod-on-poulan-5020-waste-of-time.302543/

[ManjiSann]

NorCalKuma,

I bought the little splined tool and richened the carbs a bit on my newer 5020 (not the AV), it was pretty lean and not as strong in the cut.  It runs and idles a lot better. Also increased the spark plug gap to .030 which seems to have cured a hot start problem I had been having. Switching to a 16" bar also helped a lot with not bogging it down when burying the bar. I admit I fell for the uneducated consumer trap of the 20" bar being the selling point without knowing anything about the bar size vs engine size. That being said, even with a 20" bar it will work, you just have to do a bit of see sawing.

I'm waiting for an oil vent tube to fix an oil leak I on the 5020AV. Before I found the leak I had it running and did some test cuts real quick before heading to work. All in all I'm pretty happy with how it ran before finding the leak, but a couple short cuts isn't really much for getting a feel. 

After running it for a bit to get a feel for how it runs I think I'll try the muffler mod described in the link you provided just so I can get a feel for what it does. If I don't like it the mufflers don't seem to be very expensive.

Brandon

[TLahti]

I bought a 5020AV about  5 years ago, and I had the same idea to open up the muffler for better performance.  I have lots of experience with older saws, but this was my first "X-Torq" type saw that has the two barrel intake.

Luckily I ordered a new muffler before I cut up the original one (the muffler was $12) just in case the mods failed.

I would have liked to just remove the spark screen, but I cut on state land, so I had to leave it in. I removed the screen and opened up the hole that the screen covered by about 50 percent, and put the screen back in place. The original hole is about ½ inch at most, and when you cover it with screen, the actual hole is less than 3/8 inch diameter, which I thought was way too restrictive.

The saw ran good with the modified muffler, but no matter how I adjusted the mixture screws, it just would not idle dependably.  Also, it seemed like every time I used it, I had to re-adjust the mixture to get it to run right at higher throttle settings, and it would still stall sometimes when brought down to idle. The maddening thing was sometimes it would idle correct for 3 or 4 cuts, and I thought I had it set right, and then the next cut it would stall.

I used it like this for three years for occasional jobs, and it *pithed me off every time it stalled.

It finally dawned on me that the "X Torq" system is so complicated, that it requires an extremely restrictive exhaust to keep the fresh gas charge from flowing out the exhaust port at idle.

I put the spare stock muffler on, and now it idles and runs great all the time, and it is not nearly as fussy.

If you want a saw that idles correctly, don't mess with the muffler.

TL

[ManjiSann]

TLahti,

I was thinking of doing the EXACT same thing you just described as I need the spark arrest to work due to living in a tinderbox dry area.

How much did you open the exhaust? I don't know a lot about how this works so please forgive me as I mean no disrespect with my next question but is it possible you opened the exhaust up too much?

I haven't done anything yet as I wanted to get some time with it in stock configuration so I had a mental baseline to compare any mods to, so haven't opened up the exhaust yet.

Thanks,

Brandon