Newbie To This Forum and Questions About Modifications

[roundhead]

go ahead and open it up. worse case scenario is that you do not tune it properly and fry the cylinder. then you would have to rebuild it and learn all about rebuilding chainsaws. seriously though it is a nice saw, you are happy with it, why mess with it? I am being a hypocrite though because I have done the MM to most of my saws. my neighbors dont like me as much and I have to make sure I wear good ear protection but in some saws you can really see the difference. there is a ton of information on it here. also check out B Snelling's videos on youtube. the main thing is to not allow the saw to rev too high. someone suggested 14000 rpms which I suppose is fine but seems abit high, though I am still learning. you also want the saw to "4 stroke" or gurgle in the wood as you are cutting. BUT it is a nice saw that has plenty of power already. why dont you just put the mac together and tinker with that for awhile until you are more familiar with things.
welcome to the sight! There are many contributors here who are very helpful.
Stew

 

[Moparmyway]

go ahead and open it up. worse case scenario is that you do not tune it properly and fry the cylinder. then you would have to rebuild it and learn all about rebuilding chainsaws. seriously though it is a nice saw, you are happy with it, why mess with it? I am being a hypocrite though because I have done the MM to most of my saws. my neighbors dont like me as much and I have to make sure I wear good ear protection but in some saws you can really see the difference. there is a ton of information on it here. also check out B Snelling's videos on youtube. the main thing is to not allow the saw to rev too high. someone suggested 14000 rpms which I suppose is fine but seems abit high, though I am still learning. you also want the saw to "4 stroke" or gurgle in the wood as you are cutting. BUT it is a nice saw that has plenty of power already. why dont you just put the mac together and tinker with that for awhile until you are more familiar with things.
welcome to the sight! There are many contributors here who are very helpful.
Stew

You want the saw to 4 stroke @ WOT out of the wood, and have it clean up and run smoothe as you cut

 

[apn73]

go ahead and open it up. worse case scenario is that you do not tune it properly and fry the cylinder. then you would have to rebuild it and learn all about rebuilding chainsaws. seriously though it is a nice saw, you are happy with it, why mess with it? I am being a hypocrite though because I have done the MM to most of my saws. my neighbors dont like me as much and I have to make sure I wear good ear protection but in some saws you can really see the difference. there is a ton of information on it here. also check out B Snelling's videos on youtube. the main thing is to not allow the saw to rev too high. someone suggested 14000 rpms which I suppose is fine but seems abit high, though I am still learning. you also want the saw to "4 stroke" or gurgle in the wood as you are cutting. BUT it is a nice saw that has plenty of power already. why dont you just put the mac together and tinker with that for awhile until you are more familiar with things.
welcome to the sight! There are many contributors here who are very helpful.
Stew

Believe it or not, 14,000 is the max rated speed by Stihl and it's called out in the owners manual. I think that may be why these saws are so popular, they're already pretty hot right from the factory. I was reading some of Lakeside's MM threads last night, doesn't look too difficult, just need to brush up on my brazing skills as it's been a long time since I've done any. Are there any good aftermarket mufflers already set up and do they cost much? Brad Snelling, Lakeside and Mastermind seem to be the people to talk to about this stuff. Doing a MM on the Mac seems like it would be a waste, that saw will only be for cutting up downed limbs and light pruning.

 

[apn73]

I have no doubts that a proper MM and re-tune will not shorten the service life of a saw, and have seen no evidence that a properly-ported saw is any less reliable than stock. If you're torn at all, I would encourage you to go for the MM and re-tune. In my case, modifying my 50cc MS260 would still have still left me short of power for the size wood I needed to cut, so the solution was to get an MS440. A strong-running 60cc saw is another story.

Here I was thinking that you were going to assist my wife in tempering these temptations, now I'm looking around for cheap brazing rod. :biggrinbounce2:

 

[Philip Wheelock]

Here I was thinking that you were going to assist my wife in tempering these temptations, now I'm looking around for cheap brazing rod...

Get the MM, re-tune carefully and evaluate the performance. Very likely it'll have the power to handle the bigger jobs you'll run into. No downside to this if you're willing to put in some effort; a very cost-effective upgrade. Certainly cheaper than having to buy a bigger saw like I did...