372xp or 562xp

[ehp]

up north our limit was 40 below , colder than that we stayed home , found around 20 below you had to be very carefull on spinning the main bearings on the crank in a duetz, Use OEM all the time on cylinders and pistons

[AdkStihl]

I was thinking either the nwp big bore or the meteor 372

Leave the NWP kit on the shelf

[ZeroJunk]

I was thinking either the nwp big bore or the meteor 372

Leave the NWP kit on the shelf

I have built a couple of big bores and they ran fine. Guys who have tested them side by side with stock saws show that you really don't gain much if anything. But, I don't know that they hurt anything either. The bugs in the early ones have been worked out.

[MEloggah]

40 below zero Ferenhight??!!!! your flippin insane!! you also just made me feel like a giant pus smiley_applause nic job lol

[Caloren]

Back in 1972 visited a friend in Quesnel BC who worked in the woods. He said the union wouldn't allow them to work if it was colder than -40°f, but many times it would be colder than that in the morning, but they knew it would "warm up" when the sun got up so they went to work!  : Too cold for me! 

[Maine logger88]

So if you don't gain any power with the bb may as well just use the 372 top end and try porting that. U and me both MEloggah I thought I was doing good when I went out at 12 below now I'm not so sure lol. ehp how do you get the machines to fire at 30 to 40 below its hard enough at ten below

[ehp]

if its real cold outside  it depended on the type of engine , the Johndeere motors will start with ether and pull the pin so the hdy. pump is not turning , once the engine warms up abit put the pump back in gear , the cummins normally start no trouble with a touch of ether , If you had a fair weather engine then heat the motor up before starting , propane heater , but most guys put quick couplers on the skidder engine and on their pickup, just hook the pickup up to the skidder motor and just let the pickup idle and transfer the warm water/antifreeze from the pickup motor to the skidder motor but just on ldle so not to crack the head on the pickup when the cold fluid gets to it , The John deere motors once they got around 5,000 hours on them you had to be carefull not to twist the oil pump gear in half

[ehp]

as far as which cylinder to use , always use OEM period , if your not using the saw for you to make your living then maybe use aftermarket but I will stay with OEM, believe me I have ported more than my fair share of motors and after about 20 years of playing with motors I have seen just about everything and know what to stay away from

[HolmenTree]

I did cut and skid logging here in northern Manitoba thru the '70s, '80s and got out of it in the early '90s when the processors moved in.
We kept our Clarkes and TJs warm down to 40 below F with propane hockey stick heaters. Covered the whole machine and propane tank with a nylon parachute.
When cutting for 2 skidders in 40 below in my younger days I most times wore rubber Nokia [like Viking] high tops with a thin felt liner, feet were toasty warm as long as there's a foot of snow or more on the ground and only stop long enough to touch up the sawchain. :D
I was born raised in north central Saskatchewan  and our winters were more brutal, I think of my dad and grandpa homesteading our farms with no electricity let alone no running water with hot summer days up to 110 and a few months later down to 40-50 below.

[Maine logger88]

Yeh my deere started that day I was talking about that was 12 below with no either just pulled up the lever to disengage the tranny and winch turned over 3 or four times and fired right up the driptriot in my tj on the other hand needs either by 20 degrees. One thing about cold weather I like is not having to limb hemlock for and spruce

[AdkStihl]

always use OEM period

I agree with you Ed, 150%!!! But if someone is going to cut their teeth porting a cylinder, I suggest finding a few junk practice cylinders 1st. Walking a burr around the inside of an OEM cylinder can be an expensive learning experience.

[Maine logger88]

What kind of life do you guys get out of your saws I'd figure my 2171 has cut roughly 2500 crd either chopping in the woods or when I have a chopper I'll use it in the yard that number is of course a guess it has also cut up a couple hundred crd of firewood and the top end has never been off but it now has a lot less power than my fathers of course his hasn't cut much wood cause he only logs now when he has to and probably doesn't cut more than 5 to ten loads a year

[ehp]

I use to run my saws 18 months then get rid of them and I bought 3 at a time , I always had people waiting to buy my run saws at half price of a new one so in my mind thats pretty cheap to be in new saws all the time , Now I have so many people that want my run saws I'm lucky to keep any saw more than 6 months , They will pay what it cost me to get a new saw from a dealer in NH I deal with , I do have 1 -365 xt that I have ran now for about a year and a 390 that is a year old but I donot run it much unless I get into big timber , stuff like 5 foot across or bigger

[Maine logger88]

Yeh nothing like a new saw it seems like with my old junk I'm either working on or going to get parts way more than I'd like trouble is around here all the pros naturally run new stuff and the homeowners don't want anything bugger than a 50 to 55 cc so I just keep running them till there's nothing left

[Oliver1655]

MaineLogger, Mastermind recently posted a fairly detailed description of the porting on a Stihl MS-461 on the "Arborist" site.  The saw was done to raise money to help a forum member there with medical bills related to severe cardiac problems.

Wish you the best with your endeavor. 

[MEloggah]

who do u deal with in nh? my dealer is also in nh bout a half hr from me. windy ridge corp.

[Maine logger88]

OK I'll check that out before I try porting thank you

[John Mc]

40 below zero Ferenhight??!!!! your flippin insane!!

The nice thing about 40 below... it's the same thing whether you're talking Fahrenheit or Celsius. (But that's the only nice thing about it, IMO.)

[ehp]

not sure I can post his name on here , , well I put the 562 threw hell today , I'm at the very back of my cut so that 5/8's of a mile skid and I got 22 trees out today , 16 of them a 9 foot choker would not go around so had to use the mainline , all hardwood with most being red oak or white oak

[Maine logger88]

Nice do you bring one too a time or can you bring two? Have you ever tried the choker extent ions I have been meaning to buy one my second choker back looks like a u now from doubling them. I cut hemlock today first thing this morning it was cold enough to back them through the stand and get most of the limbs I like when that works out

[ehp]

I try and bring 2 at a time but sometimes that does not work , I set my mainline up so I just hook the choker back into another slide , most of the times around here if I cannot get a choker around the tree and its real long like lots of the stuff is around here I end up taking 1 , its real flat where I am right now so I try and hook 2 up and off I got in 2nd gear

[Maine logger88]

Must make a pretty good twitch with two I like taking all that I can also when its a long pull like that trouble is my little 225 struggles with much over 1.5 to 2 crd. That sounds like a good setup sure beats staving another choker up

[MEloggah]

40 below zero Ferenhight??!!!! your flippin insane!!

The nice thing about 40 below... it's the same thing whether you're talking Fahrenheit or Celsius. (But that's the only nice thing about it, IMO.)

lol thats right good catch

[ehp]

most of the hardwood I'm cutting right now should average about 500 feet a tree in scale plus the pallet junk so 2 of them is a pretty good hitch , about 30 inch on the stump is pretty well as small as I'm cutting on this cut , lots in the 35 inch to 40 inch thou

[Maine logger88]

That's some good sized hardwood kinda fun to cut big wood most of the big trees I get to cut are pine and lately been into good sized hemlock here's a nice pine I cut a few weeks ago excuse the bad stump it had been a few weeks so I was a little rusty