Dolmar PS33

[weedkilla]

Also get some .325NK (narrow Kerf). You'll have less drag in the cut and be chipping quicker than 3/8LP.

Lastly, I think somewhere on here I mentioned my clutch drum conversion to a Stihl 026 clutch drum. This allows the use of Stihl "mini" rims so you can put a taller rim on to spin the chain faster. Also allows you to switch back and fourth between .325 and 3/8lp with different rims. Don't be fooled... The OEM clutch drum looks like a rim drive but it isn't! You'll need the shallow 026 clutch drum that went on 024/026's without an adjustable oiler. The rims that went with the adjustable oiler are too deep to fit inside the clutch cover of this series.

Thanks, your comments about the clutch drum have been helpful - I had seen them before the saw arrived. I'll definitely try that. 6t 325 isn't a very high chain speed, and I'm keen to run it with 3/8lp, which I prefer to 325nk.
I have a feeling it will turn 7t with 3/8lp and gain a lot of speed in the cut, at the cost of chain life. Short bars for it in 3/8 are more plentiful in these parts aswell.

I agree that this saw isn't ever going to make power at high revs, there is no way that inlet can flow enough. It won't surprise me to see the max revs come up a little bit higher - but I think 9000 in the cut is going to stay about the limit, so all I will be doing is trying to optimise things with that in mind.

 

[nstueve]

Exactly... Mine is optimized for torque and then put a 7pin 3/8 rim on for my 12" bar. Honestly, if its bigger than 12" I'll go to a 60cc saw for speed and ease.

 

[weedkilla]

This saw will be my backpack saw for trail clearing, or stupid steep country/small wood saw. It really owes me very little, when the next significant step up in performance in this weight range/physical size is the stihl 200/201 rear handle, either of which I would have to import from the states - just to add to the cost of a relatively rare and expensive saw. This also means that I can justify to myself the expense of different bar and chain combos, clutch drums and sprockets, different carbys, etc.
My still 011 is currently doing the job, and the extra refinement of the dolmar will be nice, and the chain brake is mandatory lots of the places I work. The 011 is what I consider minimum performance level for this role, and the dolmar will outcut it significantly or I will blow it up trying. This saw owes me what I've seen non-running late model 011/012's with electronic ignition and chain brakes go for.
I don't believe this is too much too ask of this saw - I'm not pretending it will outcut my husky 346.

 

[nstueve]

Do you get the redmax line where you are?

 

[weedkilla]

Do you get the redmax line where you are?

Nope. It's hard to tell physical size in photos - so that has stopped me from looking seriously at importing one.
The dolmar is about the perfect size/weight. Which redmax would be worth investigating?

 

[nstueve]

redmax is a division of husky and some (if not most or all) have Zenoah/Komatsu engines made in Japan. they are some of the finest cast cylinders I have seen to date and have ample power to boot.

The 3800, 4000, 4500 line are small, light and nimble. Those that have had the pleasure to run them know they are nice little machines. There were re-branded craftsman and Ryobi versions of the 3800 which is the only non-strato of the three. I have run several 3800's and believe them to be the best power to weight ratio you can still get new of eBay (at least state side). If the 4500's are substantially stronger than the 3800 I would lay my money there for the extra 0.3 lbs but haven't run one yet. These little Dolmars are quite nice with a few little mods like the 026/260 clutch drum, taller rim, and opening up the muffler but they are getting hard to find in decent condition. Thus, the reason I recommend the Redmax now. The 421 is probably one of the strongest brand new saws you can get from a dealer but at 10.8 lbs for a pro saw... ick! dolmar should have found a way to reduce the weight by a 1lb and it would be an excellent little saw. Bang for the buck state side for 35-45cc's I would get a 3800 and MM it.

Since we are talking about the 341/401 series saws I will have to point out you should get a pump that screws onto a 1gal jug from the parts store. Makes filling the bar oil tank on these things a snap since the oil and gas caps are TINY!!!

PHO
redmax
3800 = 9.3 lbs
4000 = 9.5 lbs
4500 = 9.6 lbs
dolmar
ps-401 = 8.6 lbs
ps-420 = 10.56 lbs
ps-421 = 10.8 lbs

 

[weedkilla]

I looked for the corresponding ryobi here, and couldn't seem to find it.
I'll probably be quite happy with the dolmar when I'm finished I think, and sooner or later I will actually get to see the orange redmax 543, my gut feel is it will be physically larger and won't fit in my backpack.
Busy few days ahead, but I'll make sure I chime back in when I get the dolmar back together.

 

[Chris-PA]

If I recall correctly (from eBay pictures) some of these little saws had single counterweight cranks, but some had two? Was there a switch over point in time, or was it with a model change?

 

[weedkilla]

Mine has a single. I will check to see if the build date is on the ID tag.
I have an ipl - I will see if anything is listed.

 

[nstueve]

If I recall correctly (from eBay pictures) some of these little saws had single counterweight cranks, but some had two? Was there a switch over point in time, or was it with a model change?

It would be interesting to know if there is a double lobe crank. It would act like crank stuffer to improve fuel velocity to the top end. I think that's the theory anyway.

 

[weedkilla]

W

It would be interesting to know if there is a double lobe crank. It would act like crank stuffer to improve fuel velocity to the top end. I think that's the theory anyway.

I'm not sure, hopefully I'll be able to work out from time area as I don't intend to set it up in a flow bench, but my eyeball says the inlet won't flow enough to feed the crankcase if it had a lower volume. In still getting my head around piston ported two strokes - so I'm happy to be wrong.

 

[Chris-PA]

It would be interesting to know if there is a double lobe crank. It would act like crank stuffer to improve fuel velocity to the top end. I think that's the theory anyway.

Well, I was thinking more in terms of balance/vibration - you can add the same mass in one weight, but it still wants to rock as the weight is not centered at the piston. That in turn tries to flex the crank. Probably not too big a deal on a small saw, but might be a reason they don't want to rev it?

As for case volume, if it was designed for one weight they might have been able to change the case to reduce the volume given that the weight is not there. When I was looking into those saws I think I remember that the 421 anyway had a two weight crank.

 

[weedkilla]

After much deliberating I laid into mine with the porting tools, widening and shaping exhaust and inlet, match porting and widening where possible from carb to cylinder, a little cleaning in the transfers - but not much.
Muffler has standard inner brace (the Swiss cheese bit) and screen plate removed. Even with plenty of holes in the screen plate it wouldn't flow. Outlet enlarged.
Running the 325, 6 pin setup it came with on 15" bar it pulls it well now, holds 10000 - 10500 in the cut, can be dogged down to 8000 and still pull. No load seems happiest tuned to 13500, it will 4 stroke to 14000, but cuts worse.
I left the base gasket intact - and didn't mod the piston or squish band. Squish was already at 17 thou.

All in all, I'm happy, and just picked up an 026 clutch drum. Now I'll try 3/8 lp on 7t and I think I'll gain some cut speed.

 

[dl5205]

I don't know how I missed this thread earlier. Great info in here on a very good little saw.

 

[weedkilla]

Turns out mine was running 7 pun 325, and I can't count!

I didn't take any video, but did some rough times cuts.
Stock 410 - 12 seconds
Stihl 011 - 10 seconds
OE husky 346, muff mod and base gasket delete - 6 seconds
Ported 410 - 9 seconds.

I'm going to redrill the 12" bar from the 011, and try a 7 pin 3/8lp next.

 

[Chris-PA]

Turns out mine was running 7 pun 325, and I can't count!

I didn't take any video, but did some rough times cuts.
Stock 410 - 12 seconds
Stihl 011 - 10 seconds
OE husky 346, muff mod and base gasket delete - 6 seconds
Ported 410 - 9 seconds.

I'm going to redrill the 12" bar from the 011, and try a 7 pin 3/8lp next.

I'm betting lo pro will be the ticket. I really like it on small saws.

 

[weedkilla]

I'm betting lo pro will be the ticket. I really like it on small saws.

I have some Carlton n1c at the moment, keen to try stihl ps on this saw. This saw is worth the insane amount of money that stihl charge for chain here. For reference - stihl is $1 a dl, Carlton is $0.33 any day of the week. I never seem to get stihl chain cheap - but have bought rolls of Carlton as cheap as $0.20 per dl, the cheapest I have bought stihl is $0.50.
I tend to have one "good" chain for my saws, and take a loop or two of semi chisel/cheap full chisel with me for when the when the wood is dirty or when wire or stone is likely.
The thought of going to semi chisel helps me stay focussed in keeping my chain away from nastiness!

 

[Chris-PA]

I have some Carlton n1c at the moment, keen to try stihl ps on this saw. This saw is worth the insane amount of money that stihl charge for chain here. For reference - stihl is $1 a dl, Carlton is $0.33 any day of the week. I never seem to get stihl chain cheap - but have bought rolls of Carlton as cheap as $0.20 per dl, the cheapest I have bought stihl is $0.50.
I tend to have one "good" chain for my saws, and take a loop or two of semi chisel/cheap full chisel with me for when the when the wood is dirty or when wire or stone is likely.
The thought of going to semi chisel helps me stay focussed in keeping my chain away from nastiness!

No way I'd pay $1 per DL! Then again, I like semi chisel and I like Carlton lo pro too.

 

[nstueve]

I've run some of the stihl ps on several small saws like the 210t (rear handle) and the Redmax 3800. A super sharp ps chain runs rediculous on these little saws. I'm surprised that it took manufactures so long to make a full chisel 3/8 LP chain!

 

[weedkilla]

So my little dolmar is running a clutch drum from a stihl 024/026 prior to x25809074. It has a 7 pin 3/8 lp rim, 12" modified bar from a stihl 011 and Carlton n1c chain.
The bar mods work - kinda. The new adjuster holes are too low for the oil channel in the bar and the mods ended up pretty ugly to make it work. I lost an inch of cut compared to how the bar mounts on a stihl. About 10" of actual cut.
Mine came with an adjustable oiler, and once I worked out that the adjustment works the opposite way to my huskies it was all good.
Cut speed has come up again, and the saw is much more forgiving. Would need to be an idiot to bog it in the cut. It isn't going to give a 346 a run for it's money - but I'm keen to try it against my husky 445 - the next slowest in the collection. I think they will be close.

Bad news - the bar mods suck, I need to buy the correct bar for it, and that will require 45dl chain, I'll use up the couple of loops of 44dl that I have first. It was a nasty Chinese thing - I didn't care about hacking it, but if the mods had worked well the options for stihl bars are more plentiful than a041 pattern.
The clutch drum I used is ~1.5mm smaller diameter than stock and the chain brake now won't stop the chain. You can blip the throttle and the chain spins. Grrrr. As this was the catalyst to muck around with this saw I am a bit annoyed. I look like I have a chain brake - so that gets safety Sam off my back, but actual working chain brakes are better. The drum needed a couple of mm turned off the splined side - couple of minutes in the lathe sorted it.
The saw is a little tail heavy with a 12" bar, it's not bad enough to worry, but it's not awesome.

Now I'll do a decent days work with it and see how I get on. Power is good, and well matched to the chain. It's starts easily and isn't too loud. All in all it was a worthwhile exercise and I am happy enough to see it through to the finish. Don't know what I will do about the clutch drum, I guess I will go to a dolmar/makita spur.