New land/farm owner- need to upgrade my saw

[motzingg]

Howdy, new time poster but i've referenced info on the site for years.  I just bought a 10 acre property (moving up from owning 3 trees to owning about 200)  and my chainsaw needs have increased accordingly. We aren't heating with wood or anything but i spent the whole day Sunday running a saw and when my Uncle showed up with his 450 rancher, I thought, hmmm, it would be nice to be getting through this a lot faster. 

I have a newer Husky 235 that my dad bought new a couple years ago just for occasional cleanup around the house and was nice enough to leave at my house under the condition that i keep it tuned up and ready for him to use.  My 'big' saw is actually a 150 Homelite that is ported and tuned up and actually rips pretty hard for a 40+ year old saw, pulls a 20" bar just fine, but between the handles being close together and no anti-vibe it starts to wear you out pretty quick, not to mention i'm one of those modern guys that likes to have a chain brake, pretty much just use it for felling and bucking the bigger stuff. 

I'm looking at saws in the 50-ish CC range, the newer 450 of my uncle's still feels a wee bit gutless compared to my 150 homelite, especially for a brand new $500 saw vs. ancient garbage with a 10 minute port job. 

A guy on craigslist has a 2150T Jonsereds that looks to be a mid-late 90's vintage, not used too heavy- for only 125, seems like a pretty good price but i'm not sure if its something i can run all day long and not burn it up. Folks saying on here its a 'plastic' saw but every time i have a pro show up to take down a tree they have a couple MS250's that look like they just get the snot run outta them. 

 I'm also considering building one of those china MS380 or 360 kits, or maybe something else? I've built dozens of high performance two stroke engines over the years and had a few saws down to the crank so i don't have any doubt i could turn those into something every bit as good if not better than what the European factories turn out. For about 200 bucks to my door, its probably more saw than i really need but lots of folks in worse shape than me seem to be fine throwing those things around all day long. 

The used market, at least around here (and probably peak season) is pretty out of control.  Anything with orange paint and even remotely 'pro' is going for stupid money - $250+ for a worn out plastic MS250, and up from there. 

To make matters worse, if its not obvious, i'm a big motor head, mostly doing 2t motorcycles and stuff, and i just really like owning a quality tool.  The 235 and even the new 450 just don't fall into that category, especially for the price new out the door.  I'm just getting a hang of tuning the stratified charge carbs but i still don't feel like those saws run as hard as they should. 

TL/DR:  new farm (sic) owner looking for a pro-ish grade saw that is powerful and reliable enough to start every time and get through just about anything under 2' diameter (eventually) but isn't gonna wear me out for 90% of the cutting which is 6" and under, something i can keep around for a good long time and not have to think twice about whether or not i'll go out to do a 15 minute cleanup job and waste 3 hours having to rebuild the carb.

whadda 'yall think?   

[motzingg]

Oh yeah also, if i go the 'ikea' route and build a saw- which i might just do anyhow for a fun project, kinda like building a model airplane- what is the difference between the 360, 361 and 380 from a practical perspective?  

[DelawhereJoe]

I'd probably be looking at Echo for more budget friendly saws the cs 590 timberwolf is 60cc has a metal crank case and runs about $400 rated for up to a 24" bar their cs 490 50cc runs about $350 also has a metal crank case too. I would purchase one of these over the plastic crank case saws, one of the other guys on here has been previewing some Chinese Stihl ms 660 saw clone and the husqvarna 372 clone, they are very cheap but that can be good or bad.

[DelawhereJoe]

The 036/360/361/362 are all 60cc class saws while the 038/380/381/382 are in the 70cc class.

[samandothers]

I like Echo too.  Their website will show when dealers have a 'dealer day'.  They take an extra 20% off serial numbers items (saws, trimmers, blowers etc).   I looked recently and in a 1 month time. 4 dealers within 20 or so miles of me we're having their dealer day.  I have 3 Echo devises and all start reliably.  The saws have a 5 year warranty. 

I have an MS250 that is a good saw but can be a pain to start when it gets hot.  Dealers have these I believe for 299 currently.

[samandothers]

BTW
On dealer day the CS490 would be under $300 if you want a 50 cc.  A CS590 would be just over $300 if you want a 60 cc.  I have read good stuff on both.

You can look these Dealer locations and names up on the echo site look for promotion or promotion day.  I think I searched for Echo promotion.

Good luck with your search.

[thecfarm]

motzingg,welcome to the forum.
 I have a 50cc saw and a bigger one. The big one is being fixed. :(
The 50cc is my go to saw. You did not post your age. I have had shoulder trouble all my life. That 50cc helps out the pain. It's a smaller saw and does not pull so much on my shoulder. Should of got a smaller saw 30 years ago.

[DelawhereJoe]

If you do want to drop the money on a pro saw the Stihl 261 c-m or Husqvarna 550xp will be the best hp for a 50cc saw. Both will pull chips from a 20" bar, both around 10lbs and of you want to see them in action HolemTree did a comparison review on this site.

[Weekend_Sawyer]

I can't say enough good things about my 261-C.
It outperforms my old 028 and Huskey 455. It runs circles around my old 029.
It was in the $500 range when I bought it earlier this year.

I'm really liking these M-tronic Stihl saws!

Jon

[Fishnuts2]

You mentioned that you've been in 2 strokes for a long time, so I'd recommend you find a decent 350, or 353 Husqvarna or Jonsered equivalent.
Give it new seals, steel intake boot clamp, and a muffler bracket from a 346.  Delete the base gasket on the rebuild, and a mild muffler mod.  You'll have more than enough saw and fun to last a long time for under $250.

[motzingg]

Ha yeah, thanks guys. I'm 32 and 175 lbs, 5'10. Its not so much that I cant handle a big saw, its just that I know that 95% of the stuff i cut is just fine with a 50 class saw.  Heck, if i was to be honest probably 85% of the stuff i cut is fine with the 35 cc. 

 I appreciate the suggestions of $400 new saws, but that is just not happening after a summer of selling one house, buying another house, and all the other stuff around the farm that I've got to spend money on.  If i was buying a new saw, I agree Echo would be getting my dollar as i've looked at them in person and they seem to have the best build quality for the money.  (and even with that super expensive orange paint to boot!) 

Fishnuts that is the kinda suggestion i was looking for, do you know anything about the 2150 Jonsereds? I have been trying to figure out what the Husky equivalent is, but i cant, looking at specs it seems pretty close to a 350 but to be honest, the nomenclature from Husky and Stihl is both confusing as heck. 

Jonsered Husqvarna equivalents... | Arboristsite.com - oh look there it is, thanks google!  OK my decision is made!!

 Its on craigs about an hour from me, i think thursday after work i'll take the drive.  Should get me through the fall and maybe i'll build a 360 or 361 kit over the winter just for fun.  Cool father/son project maybe.  It would be nice to be covered small-medium-large between the 235, a 50-class saw, and something with a little more punch for straight bucking.  

I've also got a Partner (i think its a P100) that my wife's grandpa left at the cabin when he died. Big bastard with a cartoon-sized bar.  My uncle-in-law finally gave up on fixing it and said its mine!  Just in case one of the two 4' diameter 200+ year old oak trees on the property decides to come down.  

[motzingg]

Oh yeah and since this thread is boring without pics-  here's a shot of the acreage when we moved in- looking out my backdoor as they say in the song. 

I apologize in advance to the arborists out there having to see these poor neglected oaks!  Previous owners haven't trimmed a tree in probably 20 years including the rotting corpse front and center... ugh. 



 

[Stoneyacrefarm]

Welcome to the forum Motzingg,
Nice looking place you have there. 
Good luck making it the way you want it. 

[motzingg]

Going to pick up the Jonsered after work today, perfect deal, dude bought it for his dad 14 years ago, Dad downsized and moved to the city, sat in a garage ever since!  Love buying high quality equipment that has been sitting on a shelf in some old guys garage for the last 10 years.  Just got a FS75 brushcutter a couple months ago on the same kinda deal.  25 year old machine hanging in an elderly man's garage since the mid 90's getting used once or twice a summer, hands down the most reliable piece of equpiment i own, always starts first kick. 

Tried to do a little research into the mods you suggested, Fishnuts, not finding anything.  Could you provide some more details?  

I'll probably leave the saw alone for this fall and just run it, but depending on how it runs and if i need more power....  Does the 353 cylinder fit on there for a bigger bore?  Is there a bigger bore cylinder i could fit? I'd be into buying a china cylinder, blueprinting the squish and porting it a lil' bit to throw on there.  

The muffler mod stuff, i'll have to do some research into that.  I put a few extra holes in the muffler of my 150 Homelite but didn't really use much science, would love to see what some other folks have done.  

[mike_belben]

A 2150 if i recall is a metal split crankcase saw.  346 350 351 353 are all real close but some are clamshell and some are crankcase.  You can swap just about everything around on them thanks to that jug adapter piece. Some are open transfer and some are closed.  Ive fooled with all of them and lost track of which is which over the years.  Have a crate of that junk.  The Jred 50cc stuff is really interchangeable with all of them too.  When you look at it all apart, its clear they were just trying to produce a cheaper, faster assembling 346 clone. 

346xp is the mac daddy pro class 50cc design imo.. All metal, split case, closed transfers, good intake boot.  The clamshells tend to melt the oil tank when exhaust loosens and the intakes have no clamp so they leak.

Stihl 026/260 pro has always kinda been the 346xp's competitor.  A fast limber basically. 

[mike_belben]

If you wanted to jump up a class size.. husky 61, 262, 266, 268, 272 is another bucket of pretty interchangeable parts and they were pretty good.  All metal, easy to work on, every piece available aftermarket.  I buy them for 10 or 20 bucks here and there and just throw em all in that family crate.  When the crate is too full i build another whole saw from it.  

[HolmenTree]

Picture from last year of my Husqvarna 550XP sporting a 14" bar with a Stihl 3/8 chisel 33 Topic Super chain.
A real light sabre in spruce and pine.

[Vender]

Stihl. I have used them all. Echo is garbage. Get a little MS 180. It will rip as good as a 60cc husky. I have a MS362 for felling. But the MS180 (I got for the wife) is my "goto" saw. When sawing all day the light 180 makes a huge difference. Bigger isn't always better. "Less is more". Keeping a sharp blade is everything. CHAPS!!!  Small saw, chaps and sharp blades. Done. If you buy a chainsaw from home depot you stihl haven't bought a saw. 

[mike_belben]

. Get a little MS 180. It will rip as good as a 60cc husky.

Yeah if you get two of em. 
;D

[motzingg]

Ha ha good stuff guys!

Well i went ahead and grabbed the 2150, called the guy and he said 'i bought it for my dad 15 years ago, dad cut firewood with it for a couple years, then moved to the city and its sat since.'

Drove an hour to pick it up.... lets just say that was a bit of a stretch.  Chain brake was inop, the kill switch didn't work, the bar was literally blue from having been run out of oil, chain was loose and far and away the dullest chain i've ever seen. I don't even know how you can get a chain this dull, running it way way past the point it wont cut anymore.  It pulled over with great compression, felt pretty tight, and true to his word fired up on the second pull and ran solid.

I was probably too generous giving him $100, but what can i say, i got a lotta wood to cut this weekend and this time of year in Northern WI, its definitely a sellers market! Any other halfway decent saws for sale are getting snapped up before i can even call, or priced at 90% of what a new saw costs.

I did a bit more research and same as the 350 husky, this saw uses the 3-piece crank/cylinder with the plastic bottom built into the oil tank. IMO not even built as well as an MS250.  It is really really light, which is nice, barely any heavier than my dad's '235'.  Especially after i removed 2 lbs of sawdust!

I had to resist the temptation to do a full rebuild last night, took the bar off, cleaned the chain brake and got that working- it was just jammed full of sawdust. The kill switch wire had been pinched and cut so i soldered a new wire in there and got that fixed.  The throttle linkage was totally jacked, probably due to the A/V mounts wearing out, the throttle was only opening 1/2 way- probably why he was getting rid of it in the first place.  I put a little bend in the throttle rod and now that thing is working perfect.

Cleaned air filter, fixed both leaking gas and oil caps that had the wrong o-rings on them for some EDITED BY ADMIN. FAMILY SITE-ADJECTIVE UNNECESSARY reason and were straight up dripping when i bought it.

Man, this is worse than working on dirtbikes, hard to believe someone can f-up something so bad with only 30 or so parts.  Its a true testament to how tough this little guy is that it was running so good. I had a poulan pro from the same generation with similar design and that little guy was the same way, always started and ran to a fault.

I'm gonna grab a 20" bar for it today.  I was running a 20" on my uncle's 450 rancher last weekend and it felt about right for the power, maybe a little too big but it sounds like i can make more power if i find myself needing it.

From arboristsite on porting the 350
Husky 350 Port Job | Arboristsite.com

and from here on the muffler mods
Modify Saw Muffler .... is It Worth It or Not and How To Do It ? ? ? in Chainsaws

I'm gonna grab this guy for a cheap sacrificial muffler, cut it up and see what i can gut and move around, try to keep it from getting too loud. Is this the '346 bracket' you're talking about?


I found a really nice lookin '353' cylinder with cast-in cup handle transfers,  if this fits it looks like it would be a better P&C to start with playing with porting.  Mine is the older model with the open transfers, the Hy-way cylinder actually looks better than the OEM with the bolted on side covers- we'll see how it goes... not sure what fails next when you make too much power with a plastic toy... we'll see.

http://www.hlsproparts.com/Hyway-Husqvarna-350-351-353-cylinder-kit-p/h30353.htm?Click=2139&utm_source=GooglePLA&utm_Medium=CSE&utm_term=H30353&dfw_tracker=10332-H30353&gclid=CjwKCAjwyOreBRAYEiwAR2mSkpzj2OSgBPWfdTZ6lclt4QjvAmEOjRpYGD04OW68qlGiFGd79PtVORoCX38QAvD_BwE


I'll get some pics on saturday once i get it all back together and give it a hard day's work in a dead 25" Red Oak that has been standing for 5 or more years  ;D ;D   Welcome home lil' red, we'll take care of you here but don't expect an easy second life...

[John Mc]

Get a little MS 180. It will rip as good as a 60cc husky.

Right. A low-end of Stihl's saw range, 32cc, 2 HP saw which Stihl describes as a "a reliable, light-duty chainsaw for occasional use" is going to run with at Husky 562XP (60cc, 4.7 HP) or even a Husky 460 (60cc, 3.6 HP). That's just not happening. Nothing against the MS180. It's a nice saw for its intended use, but it's not in the same league as any number of 60cc saws out there by Stihl, Husqvarna, Jonsered, Dolmar, Echo (and probably some others I'm, forgetting)

[motzingg]

If you wanted to jump up a class size.. husky 61, 262, 266, 268, 272 is another bucket of pretty interchangeable parts and they were pretty good.  All metal, easy to work on, every piece available aftermarket.  I buy them for 10 or 20 bucks here and there and just throw em all in that family crate.  When the crate is too full i build another whole saw from it.  

Yeah, there is a guy on CL here with a really really old '61' that needs rebuilt, case seam is leaking B/C oil.... he still wants 150  :  i think he'll be keeping it. 
maybe i'm just not looking in the right place, i don't get how people can thing some wore out old junk they paid 300 bucks for 30 years ago is still worth half that when it needs $400 worth of work!  Even this *DanG 2150 probably only cost 200 something brand new 18 years ago. 
Buncha crazy old timers just hoarding this crap it seems... present company excluded!  Guess you gotta know where to look, any local shop that would have 'too broke to be worth fixing' saws coming in, probably isn't interested in letting me raid their dumpster.  

[lxskllr]

any local shop that would have 'too broke to be worth fixing' saws coming in, probably isn't interested in letting me raid their dumpster.  

I wonder... A small personable shop might be willing to sell you a box of junk to play with. They get more money than the dumpster provides, and you get some toys.

[motzingg]

Yeah, I guess it never hurts to ask.  

Ok last question for awhile, sorry for being so needy!  I gotta go grab a bar and chain over lunch break,  Menards (local home depot franchise) has the 'Oregon Advance Cut' .325 for $40 with chain 

is that gonna be total junk or good enough for this beater saw?  I can go to the dealer and probably pay a good bit more for a Husky branded B/C or i can get a 'forester' bar for $55 and another, hm 10 bucks for a chain? 

I figure i want the .325 rather than 3/8, right? should be easier for the lil guy to get through a narrower kerf? 

[lxskllr]

I believe you'd need a new sprocket for .325 assuming it's setup for 3/8. Dunno about the performance differences, but you're more likely to find 3/8 parts/supplies around, especially in the used market. If it were me, I'd use the bar it came with assuming it's serviceable, pickup a chain for it, and get to work. That's cheaper at the start, and it'll give you time to key into what you're looking for. You'll have saw time to see what you (dis)like about your setup.

[motzingg]

ok i'll take the bar to compare.  I've always just replaced chains, never replaced a bar before, still trying to figure out what all the dimensions mean. 


my big problem is i have a 25+" dead red oak that has to come down this weekend, a buddy of mine is going to fell it and i told him i'd get it cut up once its on the ground.  tree has been dead for 5 years or more and its real dangerous.   the 16 inch bar it came with is basically shot, all burr'd and blued up on both sides, to the point the chain doesn't move nice in it.  Gotta get a new bar, gotta get a 20", hate doing this in a hurry, thanks in advance for the help!! 

[motzingg]

Eh ok, the internet is pretty against putting the 20" on there, i guess i don't get why it makes that big of a difference- a 20 inch bar going through a 10 inch log is just as engaged as a 16" bar going through a 10" log, but i've got a lot to learn on the practical side of this. 

I'll go grab the narrow kerf 18 for today and see how it runs, I guess if i need more bar i'm gonna need a bigger saw, time to start dumpster diving. 

[lxskllr]

Careful with the bar you get. Looking at the Oregon site, it looks like .325 is the narrow kerf bar, and if I had to put money on it without looking, I'd say your saw is setup for 3/8. You'd need a new spur to switch it over. Make sure you know what you need before dropping money on it.

[samandothers]

An internet search for the saw specs should help with bar/chain.  I looked and thought it indicated .325 x .050 and up to 18" bar.

[motzingg]

Yeah it took trips to 3 different stores but I got the husky brand bar and chain all-in for 50 bucks (on sale to boot)

Its a .325 x .050, 77 links, 18" bar.  It looks much higher quality than the oregon stuff, made in finland instead of china. 

She'll be darn near a brand new saw by the time i'm done with her.

[mike_belben]

its a high speed saw and does not like to fall off its powerband.. you dont really get torque until youre into the 60cc and up class.  i guess thats subjective  but the 50cc saws dont want to lug.  if you are a dog in cutter then youd want 16" on it with a 7pin sprocket.  a 20" bar on that will make it a pine limber that you dont have to bend down quite as far with but not much more.  its too much bar and will stall the clutch too easy when the RPMs nose over. you must have a light touch to keep that chain pulling with a 20 on it.  soon as rpm dives ease off. 

-.325 050 gauge is what you want.  small frame husky bar mount. 

-the removable sidecovers on jred transfers are a godsend if you want to fool around with porting.  dont go too high with your exhaust and transfer ports or what little torque it has will evaporate.  the arboristsite hotsaw forum is decades of these sorts of discussion that arent common on FF.

-a muffler mod, carb limiter delete and retune will wake it up,  study madsens saw shop tech articles. 

-the muffler loosening, leaking hot exh gas onto the oil tank will be its death if it happens so loctite them and be sure they arent stripped.  those shoulda had 3 screws but think only had 2.  

-hsl saw supply is a good vendor for parts.

-you can buy an entire chinese overhaul kit for a husky 61 in the $70 range or so.  i dont think anyone is spending $400 on rebuilding saws anymore.  new throwaways are priced right in there for such a reason.  i think that 2150 was in the mid 300s new.  i put the jonsered above the open transfer lowes husky 350

-the MS250 you quoted is a comparable saw to the 2150 but IMO is much more aggravating to reassemble,  the clamshell husky products are very assembly line fisher price sort of components that pop right together. im knocking both of them equally.. compared to a pro husky or stihl they are both toys that will wear out and are really only worth a chinese rebuild IMO.  pro saws are a better investment long term.  the only leg up i give to the jred is an easier reassembly. when running theyre both fine.  die hard stihl guys will say im just doing it wrong but whatever.  im a normal mechanic and dont have 4 tiny hands which is what youd want for working on homeowner stihls.  (im teasing the stihl fanboys.  all in good fun)   

[motzingg]

Ha ha mike, sweet dude thanks for the knowledge dump, I've spent a little time in between things at work the last two days looking some of that stuff up.

I ordered the 'tube port' EU-spec muffler from chinabay, probably start by modding that out, see where it goes.  Just getting the exhaust spooge to not blow right on the chain brake will be a huge win.  I'll pull it all apart over the winter and give everything a good cleaning and reseal, crank bearings, and play around with the porting.  Mine is the early one with the 44mm open transfer so i'll probably buy that flyway jug to play with.  

I'll have to look up the carb restriction you speak of... when i bought the saw the carb only opened half way due to the linkage being all waller'd out, but i got that fixed by just bending the pushrod up.  

Yeah the muffler bolt thing... scary stuff... some of the pics on line are brutal.  Worst case a couple locking heli-coils in there, but I'm used to putting stuff together with a torque wrench. It was the first thing i checked when i bought it, still tight from the factory, fingers crossed it stays that way.  

Still freaks me out seeing the bottom half of the crankcase being plastic, but i guess the engineers knew what they were doing.  Lots of brass inserts in the plastic- whereas my old poulan pro was the same design but using Plastite screws.  I haven't worked on an MS250 but just looking at the exploded view i like the idea of the all metal jug/crankcase clamshell split, definitely can see where its a lot of screwing around to get that apart. 

I'm hooked, next up i'll be keeping an eye out for a full frame saw, maybe that guy with the '61' will come to his senses and i can scoop it cheap in a few weeks. 

[mike_belben]

Stihl 026/260 pro, 036/360 and 038 are good too, worth buying basket cases to fix.  They arent clamshells and arent hard to work on comparatively.   

The limiters are plastic caps over the H and L carb screws.  If you have them use a sheetrock screw to pull them off and either leave off or clip the limit wings then reinstall. 

For mufflers i slit a gill open on the side and then pry that so its blowing back toward the clutch.  Then i form and weld a little tin deflector shroud over the gill aiming the gas the other way.  This uses the reflective wave principle to cancel out sound.  They flow good without being louder really.  The big benefit is lower temps on the jug. 

Regarding plastic clamshells.. Id say the engineers knew what they were doing.  Slipping the world a lesser product and keeping a higher margin for the board of directors bonus package.  Isnt that always the case?

[HolmenTree]

The new MS261 CM are amazing for making torque for a 50 cc saw.

On mine I run .325 23RSC, when I'm in smaller wood I run a 8 tooth rim sprocket and in bigger wood I gear down to a 7.
Beauty of inboard(sprockets ???) ;)

I see the new series 261 362 and 462 as triplets in design and character, will be interesting to run a 462 when their finally available.

[mike_belben]

Didja mean outboard sprockets?  


Ive always wondered why the 395 is inboard.  And wish it had a right angle chain adjuster. 

[John Mc]

Didja mean outboard sprockets? 

Probably thinking inboard clutches, but was just talking about sprockets, so that's what was on his mind?

[HolmenTree]

Yep sorry fellas for letting you down.... seeing I had sprockets on my mind

But I guess I don't have go on proving that right? :D

[Fishnuts2]

That Hyway jug you found is the best of the clones as it is closer to a 346 than the 350's and 353's with the transfer covers.  Once you see them from the bottom of the jug, you'll see what I'm talking about.  I have one on a 350 that I built and it runs real close to my real 346.

The loose muffler thing can be cured by buying a cheap 346 clone muffler and Brace, and cutting off the leg of the brace on the flywheel side as a 350 can't accommodate it.  Retorque the muffler screws after the saw is warmed up and they will stay tight from there on out.  Plus, you can cut and modify the muffler and not be out a lot of money if it's too loud.

While I also have a nice ms250 and ms260 to run as well, I'd have to say that the 250 isn't even in the same game as the 350's and it's red headed cousins. The 260 with base gasket delete and muffler mod is just about as fast as the Husky, but not as smooth and fun to play with.

Oh, most all 350's come with .325 chain and are best with a 16" or 18" bar.

Looks like you're on the right track and are showing the first signs of CAD, but don't worry though, because there is no cure!

[Fishnuts2]

Here is a picture of the modified muffler brace on a 350, and a neat little idea I found on some thread for the decompression
button on my 353.

 

 

[mike_belben]

I built an ms250 for a friend and didnt think it performed as well as my jred 2152.  It cut wood, dont get me wrong. 

Im pretty eager to put my 346 together but itll probably be quite a while before that hits the front burner. 

[motzingg]

Wow  ;D  didn't have any time to turn on a computer this weekend! 

All I can say is wow, once I got this saw dialed in with the 18" B&C and everything cleaned, torqued, tuned up, (fixed the throttle only opening 3/4 of the way) I am just blown away at how hard this thing runs.  A brand new chain never hurts, but I just couldn't believe how hard this little 'plastic homeowner saw' runs at high rpm.  This thing straight blows the doors off my uncles' brand new husky 450, like they aren't even in the same realm.  This thing probably runs a good 2000-3000 rpms faster just out of the box. To be honest, until I get used to the power, I'm much more comfortable running the little 235 for anything under 3-4 inches and trimming off little limbs, this is just plain scary any time you get near the kickback zone on the tip. 

We got 2 trees all the way down and major haircut on 2 other big oaks.  Even the 30" dead old red oak was totally workable with the 18" bar, just like ya said, had to keep the pressure light and the rev's up and like my grandpa always said 'let the saw do the work'.  

I have the 'tube style' non epa muffler coming sometime this week, thanks for showing a photo of the bracket, that picture is worth 1000 words.  If it stops snow/raining long enough i've got a 9" oak limb that i can set up for an impromptu 'hot saw' test.  I'll run it right now as it is with the EPA muffler, i can run the tube style stock, then i'll probably take it back off to play with it some.   For 10 bucks or whatever, i can afford to hack up a bunch of them and try different techniques. 

I'll also get some photos and video of the 235 and my old 150 homelite, just for fun.

Thanks again, couldn't be happier with how this is working out, its always a good feeling knowing that you have the tools and capability to get work done that needs done.