Me too. If you don't hear back from me by Monday, you can assume it didn't melt down in 60 seconds. After that, it may be a week, a year, or a decade before we know just how much life we can expect out of these particular AM pistons...I'm curious to see how it goes
My 3400's bore is not chromed but the OEM piston was. Unfortunately, the new LRB pistons aren't. I really don't see that as an IMMEDIATE problem as I've got plenty of 2-stroke engine powered equipment that uses bare alloy cylinders and pistons. With proper oil and mixture settings, the unchromed pistons may not last 40 years like my first 3400 did but if I can install an alloy piston and add 10 or 20 years of life to a saw I thought was going to be scrapped, I'm OK with that. However, I did see that Jacks's has Husky versions of both the cylinders and pistons. Do you know if the Poulan part numbers cross directly to the Husky numbers, or if the Husky parts are the same quality as the OEM Poulan parts were? I suppose maybe I should order a set to find out????
Well, I ran the saw for two hours today it the piston still looks fine. Compression is good and I'm seeing no evidence of impending seizure or failure. However, I do keep my mixture slightly rich and my oil ratio is 40:1 so it's not a rocket saw but it never was. I plan to keep an eye on it and if something bad happens anytime soon, I'll be here to report it. As of now though, I see no reason why the LRB pistons would be a problem in a saw that isn't being pushed outside its typical design limits.I'm curious to see how it goes
Great to see the videos of it cutting two hours of firewood, LRB must have finally realized the need to chrome plate their knock-off Poulan 3400 & 3800 model pistons.
So I guess I'm a liar then ... look, I know the difference between a chromed and unchromed piston and the one I received was not chromed. It did, however, appear to be of a different alloy than the cylinder. I don't have the tools to do a hardness test but all I can tell you is that it seems to be working. You can roll your eyes and cast doubt on the LRB piston if you want but I'm inclined to give it a fair chance before I condemn it based on the word of other people who may or may not be evaluating it fairly or installing it properly.
You canāt run the same materials of construction (same hardness) very long in a piston and cylinder combination, or youāll have another GM Vega debacle.
Iāve used an aftermarket white boxed āSunbelt Poulan 3400ā kit before, but they bored the cylinder to a 3800 modelās diameter and then chrome plated the bore. Uses the standard 1/16ā thick rings.
I just ordered a piston and cylinder so I'm going to find out. I'll report back... neither appear to be in stock though, so it may be a while. Or, maybe it's just a listing error and they'll cancel the order.
As feared, they cancelled the order. Why these companies can't keep their sites up to date and take the parts they can no longer get off their inventory is beyond me.
