Maintaining a Poulan Pro 295

[GammaDriver]

Hi all!

Yep, Stihls are better (just got to use a hopped-up 046 a few days ago, WOW!), but I have a Poulan Pro 295 to use and take care of.

I've read (in posts) where people oil their Poulans despite there being no recommendation to.  Does anyone have any specific tips for maintaining the saw?

Another question I have, and really the reason I posted here: Wow, this thing has an air filter.  Ok, Ok, I should have known this... in fact I think I did know it had one.  But after some close-to-the-ground sawing yesterday, and some Palm tree sawing (this ain't Idaho), the saw was losing power.

Upon getting home and disassembling it, I found the screen filter was clogged.  I pulled it off and sprayed it with air-intake cleaner, but there was wood dust at the base of the plastic intake (inside the filter!) and also on the butterfly.  This means my filter was so clogged that some stuff got through the filter, or that the base of the filter wasn't sealed properly against the intake.

Anyway - what does this mean for the carburator and the cylinder?  I am willing to bet a good many saws get a small amount of wood material sucked into the intake on occasion.  is this normal?

Lastly, are there 'better' and worse 2-stroke oils, is the typical 50-1 mix as good as it gets, and do you guys use anything other than 87 Octane gas for any reason?

Thanks for any help!

Best,

Dave

[Bill]

Couple quick comments - I believe that I've seen some manuals call for premium ( 92 ) fuel.

Probably the same manual said to make sure to use 2 stroke for air cooled engines ( ie not boat engines ) .

[scottr]

Dave , the owners manual has a maintenance section . You can get it on Poulans website .                   I don't understand your question about oiling a Poulan .    Scott

[Minnesota_boy]

Filters are meant to keep out the crud down to a certain size.  Can't keep everything out as the engine needs air, but the really fine sawdust gets through, at least a little.  It usually does no harm as the particle size is small and it isn't abrasive like sand would be.

Yes there are differences in 2-stroke oils too.  The poulan is not as high compression or high speed as some of the brands and can get by on a bit lesser quality oil, but don't go too far down in quality.  Make sure it is formulated for 2-stroke air cooled engines.  Won't hurt a bit to use Stihl or Husqvarna oil, just a few cents a day difference in price.

Normal maintenance for a saw is cleaning the air filter regularly, usually daily unless you are in real dusty conditions, replacing the fuel filter ocassionally, and keeping the cooling fins of the engine free of sawdust buildup.

[GammaDriver]

Thanks guys!

Minn-boy, I will definitely search for the higher-quality oils now.  The air filter is cleaned, and the saw obviously has more power when I'm using it - it sounds great!  Only problem now is that it's getting ornery to start once luke-warm.  Thanks for your in-depth reply - much appreciated!

The hurricane clean-up jobs are nearly done (for me and my saw ... as far as I know), and the 295 has done really well. 

I did print up the manual, and will take a closer lok at it for fuel requirements tomorrow - thanks Bill & scott!

A few more questions:  It came with a Champion spark plug, which is currently quite clean - which brand of plug would you guys switch to, if any?

and... darn, I know I had some other question I came up with while out on the job... oh well.  Any tips would be appreciated.

Best,

Dave

[scottr]

Dave , if your saw doesn't start with 1 pull when warm or hot then set the fast idle and 1 more pull will crank it up .    Scott

[GammaDriver]

that's just what isn't working in as far as getting it started - fast idle or not.  All of a sudden it's become a bear to start sometimes - but not when it's cold.  The fast idle does work if the saw starts and runs for over two seconds, but the saw is dying before that point.

My neighbor is pretty experienced with two-strokes of all sizes, and he maintains that the carburators need adjusted after a number of hours from being new.  I may try that route.

I should try high-octane gas though, too - I've noticed that while most of my vehicles did not need high octane, they started faster with it (which shouldn't be the case, but I've owned 43 vehicles and that's what I've noticed).


Best,

Dave