o36 pro mods

[bwalker]

Is there anyhitng I can do to my 036 to get a little bit more power out of it. Im looking for a little more snot when cutting big oaks.

 

[Dennis]

Whereas I am not familiar with the 036, I would start by looking at the exhaust...is there an easy way to open it up to allow for better exhausting?? Or you can send it to one of us builders and get some serious gains

 

[davefr]

I just got done modifying both my 026 and 046 mufflers and it's amazing that these saws have one tiny 3/8" hole from the exhaust port to the outside world. My little 10 year old 021 has a much more robust muffler design than these two saws.

I'd take your 036 muffler off and look it over. It probably has the same wimpy little 3/8" hole. (I think it's actually a tad less than 3/8")

I just used dremel tool with a carbide bit on my 026 and 046 and increased the area to about 3X what the factory provided. It seems to have helped both saws and noise wasn't increased too bad. If you go this route make sure all metal framents are removed before re-installing.

If any harm comes from enlarging muffler ports than I don't know what it would be. I would think the factory design causes excessive power robbing backpressure and heat buildup.

Does anyone know if the spark arrestor screen needs a certain heat threshold to keep carbon from building up?? Will muffler mods cause heat to fall below this threshold?

 

[bwalker]

I already checked the muffler out and it appears to not be very restrictive compared to the pics I have seen on this board of other models mufflers. The 036's muffler has no baffles and I already have removed the arrestor screen so I think the muffler would be hard to beat unless you wanted put a expansion chamber on it. Which is not really a option since I want a working saw, not a racer.

Whereas I am not familiar with the 036, I would start by looking at the exhaust...is there an easy way to open it up to allow for better exhausting?? Or you can send it to one of us builders and get some serious gains

What do you builders actually do? I would think that you could close up the squish clearance if it was excessive and re cut the, but head mods would be tuff as I think the 036's head and cylinder are one piece. I would think it would be very difficult to get a machine tool in such a small cylinder to do a head mod. You could also clean up the ports, but the ports on my saw are very clean. That leaves port timing. Is there much room for improvement as it relates to changeing the exhaust/transfer/intake port timeing?How much bigger can you make the exhaust port without haveing ring wear issues? Do you guys use TSR software to generate your porting specs? I guess Im full of questions. I would like to no a little bit about what you guys do before I send my saw off though.

 

[Dennis]

You are correct in saying that its difficult to get any machine work done in the cylinder....that is why we do it by hand with a dremel...there is a formula for each port and an optimum port/transfer timing figure...and by optimising everything, you get a great running saw...I dont personally use a software program but rather just manually use the formulas and of course consulting with Yoda(Ken Dunn), who is a warehouse of knowledge..

 

[bwalker]

Just out of curiosity what rpm do you guys tune these saws for? Is the tuned rpm higher than stock? How do you get around the epa carb issue,which my 036 has( ls and hs screws dont adjust very far)? BTW I hope to god you are not useing a dremal tool to port these things. I Fordome or Dumore would work much better and be way less tiresome to use.

 

[buckwheat]

If you are looking at sending the saw out, then I can speak up for Walkers. I recently purchased an 026 that has been Walkerized, and can honestly say that it keeps up with an unmodified 044. My partner and I just spent two weekends cutting up 40+ inch oaks, both bucking and ripping. I ended up using a 25" bar with full chisel chain and found nothing that would slow the saw down. Normally, that set up on an 026 would be unheard of.
I did the math, and when comparing what you pay for the stock saw ($350), plus the mod ($150), you still come out $150 less than a stock 044 at four pounds less weight. Plus, the saw runs cooler, thus prolonging its service life.
I would guess that the gains from having an 036 modified are just as good, if not better. Its money well spent.

 

[Harley]

Open the exhaust!!!!

That motor cannot breathe throught that 7/16" or so hole in there. I did mine with about five tanks throught it, and I thought I got a new saw. It really increases the speed by at least ten to fifteen percent.

If you want more after that, I can recomend Dennis, if he will work on a Stihl. Ken Dunn is the master tuner though.

BTW, I haven't had problems tuning mine with the EPA carb. But you can't get the low speed rich enough so that it starts easily, i.e. without the choke when warm.

 

[Harley]

Here's some pics of my saw mods.


Muffler pics

 

[treeclimber165]

WOW, Harley! What kinda program do you have wired up to your link? It TOTALLY freaked out my IE6, I finally managed to get my computer shut down and re-booted. Now the pages aren't loading right. I hope this post goes through so you can fix it before everyone's PC gets fried!

 

[Harley]

Its a post from a search I did. Its a thread on this site.

Are you serious? I don't have any problems.

 

[Dennis]

yeah...what the heck happened there?

I use a dremel tool to do all my porting work..and it has built many saws..its time consuming..but very accurate...I dont know of the tools you speak of bwalker...but the dremel has been good to me... the rpms dont change a whole lot...just the fact that you can maintain them...instead of being say 9600 in a full cut...we can run 11000...with the top still being 13500...

Harley..I will work on anything even Craftsman...lol..

 

[treeclimber165]

Musta just been me. It works for me now. Kinda freaky clicking on it a second time after what happened before, though.

 

[Dennis]

ok..that still doesnt work for me...takes me to the thread..leaves every second post or so blank....missing info all over.....very strange....

Oh yeah...the epa carbs arent too hard to defeat with my handy dremel tool...or an old style carb...depending on the extent of the mods....

 

[Harley]

If you can't load it do a search.

Pics

Harley; Chainsaw forum

 

[bwalker]

Dennis, Check this link out. http://www.foredom.com/
I may have let my mouth overload my ass on the dremel comment though. I just found out they make a tool simular to the foredom for a little less $. For some reason I pictured one of those plastic dremels from Sears.LOL.
As for the muffler mod. No doubt Harleys mod would flow more air, but would it mess up the resonance charachteristics of the stock design. Is the stock design a tuned pipe? I would think you would lose power if it was in fact a tuned resonance chamber design.
Dennis as far as power goes. Are you basicaly tuneing for a peak hp rpm of 12k with good over rev to 14k? It really a shame that the head is not removable on these saws. I bet there is alot of potential gain from this area.

 

[Dennis]

bwalker..removable heads can be built and are built, and yes again..there are serious gains made there..for the most part this is done on race saws only...what we are doingfor woods saws is only a modest gain in hp...about the 30% neighborhood...and I have not seen a muffler yet that didnt benefit from some work on it...

That tool you linked to is pretty much the same as my dremel attachment...lol...and I did get my dremel from Sears....lol...I am looking at an air powered, foot controlled dentists drill with an articulating head though..one of our fellow members here, and a good friend, is hooking me up with that...that will save some time and labour...

 

[bwalker]

If you are considering a new tool I would get a right angle and a straight tool piece. The right angle tools work great on transfers. BTW whats the price for you or KD to tune one of these saws? I assume you guys are partners or something.

 

[Dennis]

bwalker....the tool I am getting does have 90 degree capabilities, and in very small spaces...dont worry..got that covered..

Ken and I are not partners, Ken has been teaching me the finer points of modified two stroke engines for....heck...6 months? now...he builds alot of race saws that are untouchable...and alot of regular mod saws that are great woods saws...We call him Yoda for a reason..lol...if you have some time to peruse the Greffardized thread...or the Dunnized thread..or the Walkerized thread...there is alot more detail about what can be Dunn to powersaws..

 

[Dennis]

what I meant to say is that i am teaching Ken the finer points prices can vary depending on what you want it to do...