346XP needs replaced....it's at 90 PSI, what saw is comparable today?

[SAWMIKAZE]

And all the fanboyz went .
My favorite signature line "you'll have to pry my cold dead fingers off this (insert your favorite saw here)".
But lets also remember the mk2 is a tank in comparison, the mk1 is a way closer comparison and it also stomps the 346 in so many categories it's not funny, just be sure to buy a late model version.

My experience has shown that what you're saying is only true if you're in very hot climates or you don't keep your chains sharp. I've never had one loosen up on me.

It's definitely bigger than the first rendition ..

But I think the power it makes (especially for firewood cutters) makes up for the weight gain. I ran my buddies muffler modded mark 2 and couldn't believe the power it made for a 50cc saw.

 

[chipper1]

Steubenville, zip code 43952 and I work in Pittsburgh, 15017. I would love to get help in person, but don't anyone that would do that.

@PA Dan you know anyone out that way that could help the guy out .

 

[chipper1]

It's definitely bigger than the first rendition ..

But I think the power it makes (especially for firewood cutters) makes up for the weight gain. I ran my buddies muffler modded mark 2 and couldn't believe the power it made for a 50cc saw.

A lot.
It's a great firewood saw, but as a buddy of mine used to always say, there have been 50cc saws that weight the same and have the same power output on the market for a long time. I do like some of the modern features on them though. I just prefer the mk1 because I'm not a one saw sort of guy. I don't recommend AT/MT saws to guys for firewood.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

6 Pages and we are still on track fairly well- must be a new record.

I have some concerns around banging a new top end on this saw and calling it good.
This saw was re-ringed for a reason- was loosing power...... what was the cause of that? Was it running lean and smearing up the piston first time around? Was it just honest wear? Does it have an air leak somewhere that will cook up the new top end?
Was mentioned earlier by someone that knows more about saws than I do that might as well do the seals whilst at it, check the intake manifold over and all the fuel lines etc- be in and out for around $200.
Lets walk the OP through all of this?

 

[Brushwacker]

If you want a lightweight saw I can't see buying a 60cc echo.
The idea of using a small saw to save wear on a big saw is frankly ridiculous. Most guys on this site have never and will never wear out a saw.
I also would not be so sure that a 60cc echo will out cut a 346.

Ridiculous in your narrow thinking. It's like saying using a 1/2 ton pick up instead of a semi truck to haul a few trash cans of trash to the dump is ridiculous. You might not wear the semi out but it will cost you more to use it and it would be a bit more difficult to load and unload. Small truck for the small job, big truck for the big. Works for saws to.
As firewood goes for me and ditchbank clearing often I have to cut small trees and saplings close to the ground where I will be backing in to load. The shortest bar is easiest to keep out of the dirt. It's easiest and fastest to sharpen when it does often dull quickly from the abuse and a 12 or 14in 3/8 l.p. chain and bar is considerably cheaper to maintain then bigger b&c set ups.
Some situations are significantly more risky for the saw and operator also and when i see it is obvious I more likely may have to drop the saw to save my self i would rather risk a less expensive saw and use the more expensive saws for the normal risk conditions. Ditchbank slopes are quite risky. Can't manuever quick or many directions, tree trunks bounce high frequently , water below you and yourself, the saw, and sometimes a tree will slide down. Ditching the saw is a first when it gets bad. Usually i can give it a toss hopefully out of the way. I have had them end up in the water as well as myself. Once I had an large oak slide butt first down a frozen bank about 10ft with a newish 066mag under the bottom of the cut and it was severely smashed between the butt and thick ice. I likely would of been using an significantly smaller, cheaper saw if i knew then what I know now.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Ridiculous in your narrow thinking. It's like saying using a 1/2 ton pick up instead of a semi truck to haul a few trash cans of trash to the dump is ridiculous. You might not wear the semi out but it will cost you more to use it and it would be a bit more difficult to load and unload. Small truck for the small job, big truck for the big. Works for saws to.
As firewood goes for me and ditchbank clearing often I have to cut small trees and saplings close to the ground where I will be backing in to load. The shortest bar is easiest to keep out of the dirt. It's easiest and fastest to sharpen when it does often dull quickly from the abuse and a 12 or 14in 3/8 l.p. chain and bar is considerably cheaper to maintain then bigger b&c set ups.
Some situations are significantly more risky for the saw and operator also and when i see it is obvious I more likely may have to drop the saw to save my self i would rather risk a less expensive saw and use the more expensive saws for the normal risk conditions. Ditchbank slopes are quite risky. Can't manuever quick or many directions, tree trunks bounce high frequently , water below you and yourself, the saw, and sometimes a tree will slide down. Ditching the saw is a first when it gets bad. Usually i can give it a toss hopefully out of the way. I have had them end up in the water as well as myself. Once I had an large oak slide butt first down a frozen bank about 10ft with a newish 066mag under the bottom of the cut and it was severely smashed between the butt and thick ice. I likely would of been using an significantly smaller, cheaper saw if i knew then what I know now.

Well, I did say "fairly well on track"

 

[a. palmer jr.]

I wonder what a decent 346xp is selling for now?

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Also, upgrade your intake clamp to this style. Will seal better to prevent an air leak that will make the saw run lean and burn up that new piston and cylinder. Husqvarna part number 505283309.

View attachment 1039201 View attachment 1039202

I think a Stihl 029 clamp will work also..

 

[Chevboy0167]

I looked at all the provided pics on his Google Drive post and see it does have spring style metal clamp installed. Better than stock plastic but I prefer the 372 version.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Mine still has the plastic clamp. Not likely to loosen up sitting in the garage. I can't remember when/if I ever used the saw.

 

[bwalker]

Ridiculous in your narrow thinking. It's like saying using a 1/2 ton pick up instead of a semi truck to haul a few trash cans of trash to the dump is ridiculous. You might not wear the semi out but it will cost you more to use it and it would be a bit more difficult to load and unload. Small truck for the small job, big truck for the big. Works for saws to.

As firewood goes for me and ditchbank clearing often I have to cut small trees and saplings close to the ground where I will be backing in to load. The shortest bar is easiest to keep out of the dirt. It's easiest and fastest to sharpen when it does often dull quickly from the abuse and a 12 or 14in 3/8 l.p. chain and bar is considerably cheaper to maintain then bigger b&c set ups.

Some situations are significantly more risky for the saw and operator also and when i see it is obvious I more likely may have to drop the saw to save my self i would rather risk a less expensive saw and use the more expensive saws for the normal risk conditions. Ditchbank slopes are quite risky. Can't manuever quick or many directions, tree trunks bounce high frequently , water below you and yourself, the saw, and sometimes a tree will slide down. Ditching the saw is a first when it gets bad. Usually i can give it a toss hopefully out of the way. I have had them end up in the water as well as myself. Once I had an large oak slide butt first down a frozen bank about 10ft with a newish 066mag under the bottom of the cut and it was severely smashed between the butt and thick ice. I likely would of been using an significantly smaller, cheaper saw if i knew then what I know now.

Ridiculous in your narrow thinking. It's like saying using a 1/2 ton pick up instead of a semi truck to haul a few trash cans of trash to the dump is ridiculous. You might not wear the semi out but it will cost you more to use it and it would be a bit more difficult to load and unload. Small truck for the small job, big truck for the big. Works for saws to.
As firewood goes for me and ditchbank clearing often I have to cut small trees and saplings close to the ground where I will be backing in to load. The shortest bar is easiest to keep out of the dirt. It's easiest and fastest to sharpen when it does often dull quickly from the abuse and a 12 or 14in 3/8 l.p. chain and bar is considerably cheaper to maintain then bigger b&c set ups.
Some situations are significantly more risky for the saw and operator also and when i see it is obvious I more likely may have to drop the saw to save my self i would rather risk a less expensive saw and use the more expensive saws for the normal risk conditions. Ditchbank slopes are quite risky. Can't manuever quick or many directions, tree trunks bounce high frequently , water below you and yourself, the saw, and sometimes a tree will slide down. Ditching the saw is a first when it gets bad. Usually i can give it a toss hopefully out of the way. I have had them end up in the water as well as myself. Once I had an large oak slide butt first down a frozen bank about 10ft with a newish 066mag under the bottom of the cut and it was severely smashed between the butt and thick ice. I likely would of been using an significantly smaller, cheaper saw if i knew then what I know now.

It's narrow thinking to state that using a small saw to save wear and tear on a big saw is a fools errand when most of you won't wear a a saw out in two lifetimes?
Let's be honest. Guys buy too big a saw and can't handle it because they are out of shape.

 

[sean donato]

6 Pages and we are still on track fairly well- must be a new record.

I have some concerns around banging a new top end on this saw and calling it good.
This saw was re-ringed for a reason- was loosing power...... what was the cause of that? Was it running lean and smearing up the piston first time around? Was it just honest wear? Does it have an air leak somewhere that will cook up the new top end?
Was mentioned earlier by someone that knows more about saws than I do that might as well do the seals whilst at it, check the intake manifold over and all the fuel lines etc- be in and out for around $200.
Lets walk the OP through all of this?

Yeah I mentioned that a bit back. Cheap insurance on such an old saw. Check it out make sure everything is right with it.

 

[GusGus2020]

I took some pics and flipped the ring and there are pics...but that little pin, yeah I must have dropped it. Here are the pics.

1. We haven’t seen a picture of the exhaust port, from what I remember - was there a lot of carbon buildup that was contributing to the streaking/scoring and exacerbated by the ring being on incorrectly and catching it more.
2. Leak test prior to running if OP puts a new top end on. I was unpleasantly surprised to see what the kits are costing now - I had picked up a few last year for less than $100… glad I stocked up.
3. If the OP has a set of accurate calipers, measure the piston to see if there was significant wear. Could also do the same with the cylinder - might that indicate why compression was low in the first place? Not sure if there are enough places that are still un-scored to get a good measurement. Regardless, I don’t see many/any machine marks left on the piston…
4. Regarding the pin issue - probably the result of incorrect ring installation as others have mentioned- the ring ends look pretty beat up as well in at least one of the pictures…
5. Many of the cylinder/piston kits that I’ve purchased have the ring(s) installed on the piston, and everything shoved into the cylinder. I’ve had rings destroyed, cylinder linings scratched, and pistons damaged from insufficient packing by the retailers a number of times. Just had a 562xp kit come in today, actually…


Well worth rebuilding, in my opinion, and one of the easiest platforms to work on.

 

[zeek]

Get some better pics of the inside of the cylinder. Use a penlight or flashlight.

BTW, what kind of spark plug is that?

Did the saw run at all with the ring upside down?

Yes it did run with the ring upside down. Will get back to you on the plug.

 

[zeek]

Like the others said find the pin, throw it in the trash with that piston. The pin isn't supposed to come out of the piston. Pics with better lighting of the cylinder would help, but I'd swear from your earlier pictures the plating was worn through in a few areas. Really I'd just toss it on the bench and go with the new piston and cylinder.

My plan is OEM P/C and new fuel lines.

 

[zeek]

1. We haven’t seen a picture of the exhaust port, from what I remember - was there a lot of carbon buildup that was contributing to the streaking/scoring and exacerbated by the ring being on incorrectly and catching it more.
2. Leak test prior to running if OP puts a new top end on. I was unpleasantly surprised to see what the kits are costing now - I had picked up a few last year for less than $100… glad I stocked up.
3. If the OP has a set of accurate calipers, measure the piston to see if there was significant wear. Could also do the same with the cylinder - might that indicate why compression was low in the first place? Not sure if there are enough places that are still in-scored to get a good measurement. Regardless, I don’t see many/any machine marks left on the piston…
4. Regarding the pin issue - probably the result of incorrect ring installation as others have mentioned- the ring ends look pretty beat up as well in at least one of the pictures…
5. Many of the cylinder/piston kits that I’ve purchased have the ring(s) installed on the piston, and everything shoved into the cylinder. I’ve had rings destroyed, cylinder linings scratched, and pistons damaged from insufficient packing by the retailers a number of times. Just had a 562xp kit come in today, actually…

View attachment 1039657
Well worth rebuilding, in my opinion, and one of the easiest platforms to work on.

I'm with you and can definitely measure as I have calipers. You have me a bit nervous with your comment about retailers not packing right and things getting destroyed. Do you mean that in while shipping things move and get scratched or that I need to look for something in particular.

 

[zeek]

All of you have been helpful and patient with me as I learn. I am not the kind of guy to pay someone to fix stuff unless I know I can't do it, like HVAC stuff for example. In this case I know I can, but nervous about it since I can't go buy a new saw for $600-$700 if I render it inoperable. But, here I am with the best saw that I ever owned in surgery and in parts.

I have more pics of the cylinder in a new folder.

I found the pin!

I want to know why the compression dropped to 90 so I can prevent it in the future, but don't have the tools to do a leak down.

You all keep mentioning the boot and clamp, my clamp is metal and I will inspect the boot, but that doesn't mean I will find anything as a tiny tear or hole could be the problem.

Someone mentioned crank seals, but that seems like more tear down that I may not need to do. However, I do not know how to do those so I'll YouTube it and go from there.

Finally, when I install the new P/C should I just bolt it on or is there something I should lubricate first, inspect or is there a special break in procedure like high performance brake pads?

I will definitely keep you all posted and your posts have given me the encouragement to go for it. That, and I simply do not know anyone in my area that I would trust to do this right. If I knew of a shop that I could trust I may have dropped it off, but no can do.

 

[Lawless]

Following along @zeek

Glad you decided to save the saw.

 

[zeek]

Following along @zeek

Glad you decided to save the saw.

Glad you think I can....lol, and my son is doing this with me and although he knows a ton more than me from votech school, he lacks experience. He put the ring in before I got home from work and when I told him it was in wrong he said he didn't know that was a thing. I said me too, not a big deal and we both learned something we will not do again.

 

[zeek]

I can make this, what are your thoughts?