New to this site

[Poley4]

Hello all,
Well I guess I'm not really new to this site, I've been reading on this forum for some time now and found a lot of good information here. Today I guess I finally decided to register. I recently bought a new Shindaiwa 488 off of ebay. After about 10 tanks of fuel, I think it is finally starting to get broke in. It still doesn't seem to run the rpms of my sister's 026 pro does but it is getting better. My only real complaint of the saw has been the mickey-mouse nylon mesh air filter that the saw came with, so I ordered the HD filter kit from Shindaiwa for it. Man is that thing huge! It sticks up well above the front handle:jawdrop: You should have seen my wife's face after I got it installed, I think she laughed for an hour! I am wondering now if i shouldn't have opted for the flock filter instead. Has anyone tried the flock filter option on one of these saws? I like the lower filter cover a lot better, but I didn't like all the fine dust I was finding inside the carb throat.

Wes

017
2036
488
036

 

[alderman]

Shindaiwa user

I've never had any problems with the regular filters on my 488's. The filter on the 360 dusts up quite a bit. Things stay pretty damp in this part of the country so we don't really get the dust problem that other experience.

Recently installed a HD filter on one of my saws and got a chance to run it this afternoon. I've got a HD filter on the 757 but it doesn't seem so large on that saw. Figured it to be a pain as it appeared it would be in the way, but once I got to bucking up wood, I never noticed it being a nuisance. I got the filter kit from an AS member so I thought I'd give it a try.

According to the manual, the 488 is supposed to run at 13,500. I run 325 chain /18" bars on my 488's and don't really think they have the hp to handle much more than that.

What bar and chain are you running?

 

[Poley4]

According to the manual, the 488 is supposed to run at 13,500. I run 325 chain /18" bars on my 488's and don't really think they have the hp to handle much more than that.

What bar and chain are you running?[/QUOTE]

Thank you for your reply.
The saw was advertised to have an 18" bar when I bought it, but it arived with a 20". It also came with .325 low-kickback chain, but I have since tried a Stihl .325 full chisel chain, man what a difference. I do have a 16" bar on the way to see if that might wake it up a bit.

 

[alderman]

Shindaiwa power

I've lately been running 20RC chain from Bailey's. My second 488 came with safety chain and it increased cutting time considerably.
There aren't a lot of Shindaiwa fans on AS. Some is due to being hard to find a good dealer. I've got a couple of decent dealers as close as any other brand and am lucky enough to live fairly close to the main distributor so parts usually arrive within a day or so.
There are saws out there that run faster and have better power/weight ratios, but Shindaiwa makes a good reliable saw for the average user.

 

[rb_in_va]

Welcome to Arborsitsite!

 

[Poley4]

Thank you

Thank you rb in va

 

[Poley4]

There aren't a lot of Shindaiwa fans on AS. Some is due to being hard to find a good dealer. I've got a couple of decent dealers as close as any other brand and am lucky enough to live fairly close to the main distributor so parts usually arrive within a day or so.
There are saws out there that run faster and have better power/weight ratios, but Shindaiwa makes a good reliable saw for the average user.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I'm sure I wouldn't have bought a Shindaiwa from my local dealer. They told me that they sell very few Shindaiwa saws because of the price. He told me he could sell me a similar size Stihl for less money. They sell a lot of their trimmers and blowers. I bought my 488 new for $299, so I feel like I didn't get hurt on it.

 

[bookerdog]

Welcome to AS

 

[Timberhauler]

Welcome to AS...I don't know much about shindawa saws,but I've got a shimdawa weed eater,and I like it...It's light and powerfull...And I can't seem to kill the thing.I've had it for over ten years and it keeps going and going and going

 

[brent denny]

$299 is a great deal on that saw. Stihl RS chain works well and so does oregon 20LP. I put the flocked filter on my 488 and it does do a better job of keeping the really super fine dust out. I ran the nylon one for the first 3 or 4 years and I did sometimes see a tiny bit of dust in the carb throat but it never seemed to cause any trouble. That saw will take a fair bit of time to break-in (more than 10 tanks). You will find both your power and rpms will increase over time. Most on here will disagree but I find this saw will hold its own against a 346 or 026.

 

[Butch(OH)]

You can add me to the the Shindaiwa club at AS. I realy llike our 757, no gimmicks just solid performace and an impressive power band. As someone else said the big filter looks bulky but in use you dont know it is there. We just happen to have a real good dealer and again like somebody esle said, that makes a huge differance.

 

[Poley4]

That saw will take a fair bit of time to break-in (more than 10 tanks). You will find both your power and rpms will increase over time. Most on here will disagree but I find this saw will hold its own against a 346 or 026.[/QUOTE]

Brent,
I had a chance to take the saw out again yesterday, and it does seem to run better with each tank. I was cutting with my cousin who just happen to be using a 026 pro, and although we weren't doing any timed cuts, I don't think I had any problems keeping up with his saw. I like it more each time I use it!

 

[Poley4]

You can add me to the the Shindaiwa club at AS. I realy llike our 757, no gimmicks just solid performace and an impressive power band. As someone else said the big filter looks bulky but in use you dont know it is there. We just happen to have a real good dealer and again like somebody esle said, that makes a huge differance.

Butch,
Yeah, the " no gimmicks" thing is what really attracted me to the Shindaiwa and also made me look at the Echo. Some people call these saws "dated design", but I guess that is what I like about them. A simple metal toggle switch for the ignition, a separate choke knob, and standard trigger lock. That one flimsy plastic knob that does everything that some of the other brands use, I just didn't like the feel of it. But I'm sure I'm a little old fashioned anyway. As for the HD air filter, you are right, it really doesn't get in the way.