Bought a new Poulan Pro 5020 to see what there about

[moresnow]

Nice to see a few 5020 users still posting. Mine has a ton of use on it now. All stock except for the tune. My big Stihl is happy resting while I use the 5020 to do most of my firewood work. Makes me laugh every time I grab the yellow saw! Talk about getting your money's worth.

 

[LegDeLimber]

The Vanguard chain can made to cut. This is the factory bar & chain on mine.
Tooth profile would have been pretty close to factory in this video.

With a bit of hook filed into the teeth, it loves those trash trees that developers leave standing in yards.
Under 10 inch diameter and green wood, in early spring before the leaves are fully out is fun.
Health issues got in the way and I never worked out why that bar & chain combo had such a tendency to chip clog in larger wood.
Didn't matter if I went through at full throttle of whatever.... sometimes would do it in mid cut.
(probably holding my mouth wrong!)
See the video and the end of my cut.
That was some white oak that had been cut a few months earlier.
The log is just laying loose in a notch of that larger trunk cut cookie, so you can see the chain is feeding and cutting pretty decently.
The saw started acting like that carb was fouled so lacking time to mess with it, I just put it aside.
I'm not needing to cut anything these days, plus a have a couple other runners, thus I haven't bothered with it.

 

[svk]

The Vanguard chain can made to cut. This is the factory bar & chain on mine.
Tooth profile would have been pretty close to factory in this video.

With a bit of hook filed into the teeth, it loves those trash trees that developers leave standing in yards.
Under 10 inch diameter and green wood, in early spring before the leaves are fully out is fun.
Health issues got in the way and I never worked out why that bar & chain combo had such a tendency to chip clog in larger wood.
Didn't matter if I went through at full throttle of whatever.... sometimes would do it in mid cut.
(probably holding my mouth wrong!)
See the video and the end of my cut.
That was some white oak that had been cut a few months earlier.
The log is just laying loose in a notch of that larger trunk cut cookie, so you can see the chain is feeding and cutting pretty decently.
The saw started acting like that carb was fouled so lacking time to mess with it, I just put it aside.
I'm not needing to cut anything these days, plus a have a couple other runners, thus I haven't bothered with it.

Did it pile with chips only in oak? Or other species too?

 

[LegDeLimber]

That oak was the only thing I had around to cut of that size.
Also, that oak was the about the only thing I cut that was dried out.
Yeah, I wondered if dry wood was connected to the issue.

Edit: Wish I'd had enough sense to remember and tap the wood, on camera, with a hammer and give an easy way to tell how hard the wood was.
The developer had bulldozed about half the roots off of the 75 year old healthy tree. The tree was dying, that's why the outer area is a different color.

Anything else was the smaller yard trees 10" diam or smaller.
The yard stuff was usually green, still standing. A mixture of mostly oaks (broad leaf & willow) and the usual sweet gums.
Seems like neighbors only get in the mood to cut the junk trees (crooked & bent , one sided) in the spring time.

 

[ColdNorCal]

Finally got to use the 5020 I bought used last year on CL with an LPX. Needless to say, I smiled through every cut. Unlike before when I regretted buying it.

It is a bit tricky to tune though. Replaced carb, lines and filter last year and tuned it. It started and ran good. Cut like crap though. Today, 6 months later, it started easy but ran terrible. Took several atttemps at L, and H... then finally I, to get it good. To my surprise, it used A LOT of bar oil just for tuning it.

I realize this is a 5020 thread but my light and numble, muffler modded and retuned cs352 is an impressive little saw.

 

[svk]

Finally got to use the 5020 I bought used last year on CL with an LPX. Needless to say, I smiled through every cut. Unlike before when I regretted buying it.

It is a bit tricky to tune though. Replaced carb, lines and filter last year and tuned it. It started and ran good. Cut like crap though. Today, 6 months later, it started easy but ran terrible. Took several atttemps at L, and H... then finally I, to get it good. To my surprise, it used A LOT of bar oil just for tuning it.

I realize this is a 5020 thread but my light and numble, muffler modded and retuned cs352 is an impressive little saw.

The CS352 as well as the 5020 are both saws that come tuned terribly from the factory and respond very well to muffler mods.

 

[svk]

The MM’d 5020 has had a workout over the past few weeks. It continues to grow on me. The only two minor complaints are that it is a gas hog for a 50 cc saw and secondly, the fuel pickup sometimes gets stuck in the corner of the tank and you don’t get all of the fuel out of the tank before the saw runs dry.

 

[moresnow]

@svk Significance of "MM'd"? What bar/chain are you running?

 

[svk]

@svk Significance of "MM'd"? What bar/chain are you running?

In my opinion, the muffler mod makes a HUGE difference in performance over a stock saw. At some point I will do a timing advance as well.

When the saw was stock, performance with the 20" 3/8 pitch 70DL bar and chain was lackluster. I sent the 70DL B+C out the door on a different saw and ran the saw with a 16" 3/8 B+C which it is much better suited for in stock form. Now I am running a 72DL 20" 3/8 bar with full chisel chain (I switched to a 72DL bar so I can swap chains with my other large saws) The MM'd saw pulls it well even in hardwood. That Raisman bar was very inexpensive through HLS and so far I have no complaints with it.

I am saving the butt section of that birch log to do a cutting test between the same brand of full comp and skip chain. I will try to get that completed this weekend.

 

[dougand3]

I was given this non-runner Craftsman 358350981 / 5020AV. 20" .325 78DL. I got it running and tested it today - bucking and noodling some maple. I was impressed even with the crappy shark fin chain. It's missing brake guts in the clutch cover and AF cover. I look to find the brake parts and they don't part that low....buy the whole Chainsaw Clutch Cover Assembly 577234602 for $50. That's ridiculous. The knee joint, spring, etc look like a Husky 450. AF cover is ~$15 used. Anybody have brake parts or clutch cover or AF cover they want to sell or trade?

 

[mexicanyella]

I have now managed to tune my 5020 a bit too lean on the high side twice, resulting in a second “soft seize.” It still starts and cuts after richening it again, but there is scoring on the piston now and looks like it will be coming apart for a new piston and ring sooner than later.

Be careful setting that mixture, folks! This one seems to have a narrower margin of error than other saws I’ve had in the past.

On a more positive note, I really like how it cuts with a new loop of Stihl RM semi-chisel chain on the stock bar.

 

[old guy]

Those need at least 2 turns out on the high screw.

 

[Imago]

My first post on this site...

My wife ran over my OLD Craftsman 14" the other day so I've been looking for a replacement. In Princess Auto today, they had reconditioned Poulan Pro 5020's for $129.99 CDN, which Is about $3.00 US. Mine is orange... is it a new or old model?

I had bought a smaller reconditioned 14" Poulan on their website for only $74.99 but I'll likely return it. I think it is under 40cc's.

Tomorrow I'll give it a workout. Anything I should know about it or do to it before bucking up some poplar and maple dead-fall?

P.S. Anyone know if old Craftsman parts are still available? I need a right case piece to repair the Craftsman. It would be nice to have a spare saw. I can post a pic or two if anyone has some parts kicking around.

 

[svk]

My first post on this site...

My wife ran over my OLD Craftsman 14" the other day so I've been looking for a replacement. In Princess Auto today, they had reconditioned Poulan Pro 5020's for $129.99 CDN, which Is about $3.00 US. Mine is orange... is it a new or old model?

I had bought a smaller reconditioned 14" Poulan on their website for only $74.99 but I'll likely return it. I think it is under 40cc's.

Tomorrow I'll give it a workout. Anything I should know about it or do to it before bucking up some poplar and maple dead-fall?

P.S. Anyone know if old Craftsman parts are still available? I need a right case piece to repair the Craftsman. It would be nice to have a spare saw. I can post a pic or two if anyone has some parts kicking around.

An orange 5020? Please post pics.

What model craftsman are you looking for parts for?

 

[Imago]

 

[Imago]

Looks like it's a PR5020. How does this compare to the PP5020AV?

 

[Imago]

 

[Imago]

View attachment 848333

View attachment 848333

...and this is the reconditioned PL3314 I got for $75.00 CDN from Princess Auto as well. The reconditioned orange PR5020 was $130.00 CDN. I need to decide which one to keep. I cut less than a cord a year for my garage. Thoughts?

 

[svk]

View attachment 848329

Ah yes that’s the PR5020, the successor of the PP5020. We really should have a thread on that saw, it’s only been mentioned in this one a couple times.

 

[Imago]

What model craftsman are you looking for parts for?

Here's the case part I need for my old Craftsman. I can salvage everything else but this case part is what got smashed.