346/353

daveb · Mar 7, 2003

You pretty much said it in a nut shell. I think the 353 would be a better all around one saw. The 346 is an excellent saw more suited to limbing and lighter work as a backup to a larger saw, not bucking up firewood. I'm sure some will disagree, but JMHO.

jokers · Mar 7, 2003

Hi Dave, was this post in response to someone else`s comment? I would tend to agree with your synopsis of the varying abilities of the two models, that`s why I have both, well not really why, but it sounded good didn`t it?

Russ

brncreeper · Mar 7, 2003

346 or the new 353, that is a toss up.

346 is lighter, about a half a pound lighter. 346 has higher rpm capability (15,500 rpm) as opposed to the 353’s 13,000 maximum rpm. 346 has slightly more hp: 3.4 as opposed to 3.3 for the new 353.

With equally sharp chains one would think the faster turning 346 would cut circles around the slower 353. As the chains got duller, the larger displacement and more torque of the 353 would beat out the 346 IMO.

My personal choice would be the 346 as a companion to a larger saw. And the 353 for a persons one and only saw

Newfie · Mar 7, 2003

Agreed w/ Dave. I love my unmodded 346 for limbing and small saplings. Kind of a dog as a firewood saw. I was looking at those 353's the other day, although my dealer still has 55's.

tundraotto · Mar 7, 2003

Has anyone here actually used the 353 or are we just speculating again?

daveb · Mar 8, 2003

whoops

whoops, I don't know how this happened, it was supposed to be a repsonse to Brads queries

jokers · Mar 8, 2003

Hey Otto, where ya been man? Good to see you back! I`ve got the 353 and haven`t even used it, want it to be clean when Dennis goes inside. I like my 346 alot, I think it makes a great firewood saw if you are mostly doing tops or stuff smaller than about 14", same ballpark as an MS260 would be in for the most part. The 353 should have more grunt with the extra 5ccs of displacement, and guys who have run the 351(which includes myself) can attest to the fact that the increased displacement does indeed seem to give it a little more stump power for longer cuts in bigger material. In smaller stuff however it`s no contest, the 346 is significantly faster. Peak power at 700 rpm above what the 351 and 353 offer is huge when the wood isn`t large enough to suck the saw down out of it`s powerband. Russ