I'm thinking about porting the muffler on my chainsaw but I'm worried that this may decrease the life of the saw by putting excess wear on it. Is this true? Is it worth doing, especially since I'm an amateur user and the extra power is not something I absolutely need?
Muffler modifications result in a little more power, better throttle response and a cooler running chainsaw. These advantages come at the cost of increased fuel consumption, and noise and possible violation of your saws warranty, if still applicable. The fuel consumption is minor IMO, but the noise is something some people just don't like. Once you start making holes in the muffler, you can't put them back. If you don't like it you'll be buying a new muffler. I'm young, I don't mind loud ;D But I still always wear ear protection. If where you live requires spark arrestors, that is something to take into consideration as well.
With any modification to the muffler, the carburetor will need to be re-tuned. The H jet will likely need to be adjusted beyond factory limiters, so you will need to defeat the limiters on the carb as well (unless this is an autotune or Mtronic saw) This is critical as your saw could potentially be running to lean and burn itself up. So yes, I suppose if you did not retune your carburetor, a muffler mod definitely would put excess wear on the saw. Otherwise, I would say not.
What saw is in question?
Welcome to the forum :)
Thanks for your response. Where I live, a spark arrestor is not required so it's not going to be a problem. I do have an M-tronic saw (Stihl MS 261 C-M). However I'm not sure If I want to mess around with my new saw (my first saw as well). My neighbours may get upset with the noise increase. My father won't like it either. Maybe I'll do it in two years, when the warrantee no longer applies.
The Mtronic will adjust as necessary for a modified muffler, so that isn't a concern. The warranty is however. If I had a near new Stihl with warranty left on it, I'd leave it alone until it's up.
Maybe find an older used saw on the cheap for a "backup" and you can experiment\play around with something not under warranty and not quite as valuable.
I agree with you. My saw is less than one month old. I'll look around for the cheapest used saw I can find. However I will be surprised if one shows up since I live in an island and cheap used equipment is pretty rare.
Hey George, I see your from Greece.
I spent a month there a couple years ago SCUBA diving in the Ageon.
Having been all over the world I have to say Greece was the friendliest place to visit.
I love your country. scuba-smiley
George, I would leave your new saw stock as you would really not gain from the modifications as a part time wood cutter. A professional out felling all day would see an advantage. I'am a old man and I can't keep up with the saw it outworks me. Enjoy your saw the way it is and use protective gear especially eye and ear. Remember foolish things you do in your youth will come back to haunt you when you get old. Frank C.
Thank you bandmiller2 for your advise. I will leave my saw stock. As far as protection goes I always wear eye and ear protetion and I'm saving up to buy a pair of chainsaw chaps.
Like Lorenzo said, Greece is indeed a very beautiful country and I love it too. I do skuba diving as well and I can say it's my favorite sport.
George, buy the chaps first!
more important than any aftermarket mods.