EPA & chainsaws

[Tony Snyder]

Can anyone enlighten us on what is going on with air pollution control on chansaw?

Are a lot of models going to disappear, or do most all of them already meet the requirements?

Will current or older models that have not been EPA'd be more desireable from a performance standpoint?

Husqvarna, particularly, comes to mind with their staggering number of models. It is just hard for me to believe that it makes economic (marketing sense) to be producing all those models simultaniously. It looks like they could cut out half of them and the savings would go right to the bottom line. Is this related to old generation vs new generation disigns where many of them are about to go away?

I was hoping that we have somone on here that knows what is really going on. I'll bet there are some industry insiders looking in on this forum. I bet SOLO is.

 

[Dieseldog]

In reading up on this subject on the Carb or EPA web sites under small engine emission/2-stroke requirements for the near future it seems Johndeere is heading the next wave of technolgy that will keep the 2-stroke alive for now.Seems they have developed a new fuel system called Pulse Wave Injection.If you check Johndeeres or Stihls,web sites you will find Stihl has purchased under licence this new technology for future use.It apparently cleans the 2-stroke up by as much as 70% in emissions and up to 30% better fuel economy. The US government has also awarded Deere for their efforts.Check it out. Thanks Dieseldog!

 

[toolmaker]

I was just talking to my Stihl dealer on friday about emissions. Here is what he had to say, and please don't jump on me if I am wrong. The total lineup of 2-strokes is looked at by the EPA. A manufacturer is required to have emissions to a certain degree....lineup-wide. In other words, if a few models have really good emissions, they get "points" for it. If they get enough points, that credit can be spread throughout their lineup to other engines with poor emissions. Stihl is about to introduce a four-stroke string trimmer. They are hoping to get enogh points for it to allow them to slip on some of their 2-strokes......namely their bigger c.c. saws.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Just a guess but I would hypothesize that pulse wave injection deals with exhaust pulses cleaning up unburnt fuel similar to what a tuned pipe does.

 

[tree monkey]

toolmaker, you're on the right track with the epa thing. the manufacturers have to meet the epa standards on an average. if you take 10 engines that pass the epa standard, and one that doesn't, it should pass the average. if it doesn't thay are forced to sell more that passes or stop selling the one that doesn't.
generally the pro saws don't pass.

stihl and jd were working together on an efi system for there saws. that means you would need to carry a battery, computer, extra wiring, and injection system. this adds weight and a lot of $$$$$$$$$$$$$. this is why stihl is going to the 2 stroke 4 stroke idea.


if you ask me, epa is a whole lot of political bulls--t that is going to far.


later scott

 

[Methoss084]

I have heard that the points system is the way the EPA is rating manufactures products as well. But like Syndert mentioned, why does Husky have so many different saws that are so close together in both price and performance catagories? Does it have something to do with this points system?

 

[sedanman]

Tree monkey, Arctic cat has fuel injection on some of their snowmobiles with NO BATTERY! My boss has one (ZRT 600 I think) it's supposed to take two pulls to start it, one to charge the electronics and it'll start on the next pull. In practice it starts on one pull. Making the system small enough to fit on saw might be a challenge.

 

[mryb]

I just caught a whiff of an F-16 fighter jet's exhaust the other day....Phew...& they are worried about chainsaws???
They smell worse then an out of tune diesel...Rick

 

[tree monkey]

sorry, geeez, i just stated what stihl told the dealers

 

[builder]

They can put fixed jets in every saw on the planet and it won't improve air quality a bit,EPA really is nuts,my father just took a job in CA,his rig uses 30% more fuel down there with the same kinda driving,the reason he tells me is the "low emissions" gas they have to burn...how the heck can it be environmentally friendly to burn more fuel?