? pitch chain for Shindaiwa 488W

[Treehugger101]

Having such good results with having a Husky 372xp Walkerized, I decided to see if they would work over my favorite small saw a Shindaiwa 488. I don't hear too much about these saws but they are the only ones our ground men can't seem to kill! They are even better than the 026's Pro's. Anyway, Walker's was more than happy to perform their magic on this little guy and sent him back in record time.
Running it next to my brother, cutting up a 14"+ dia. green Fir log, the little 488 was averaging about 1-1.5 seconds faster per cut than my brother's 036 Pro, and about 0.5-1 second faster than my freshly tuned 262xp. Thats pretty impressive for a 48 cc saw that is not even broken in!
I was running it with the stock .325 pitch bar and 20LP chain. Do you guys think it would be beneficial to switch up to 3/8 pitch in terms of cutting speed?
I was very impressed with Walker's work, a truly professional job. They are happy to work on any saw so if you have an off beat favorite like me don't hesitate to use them. They are charging $200 canadian (~$125 US) for pretty much any saw when I checked.

 

[Dennis]

Ok, as long as you dont tell the rest of these guys....I sold some 488's to some guys a few years ago....(6 guys...4-5? years ago) and they have been truly good saws...they arent used everyday..but are still used alot, and I can honestly say I havent seen those saws back in my shop very often...maybe those guys hate me now?...lol..but seriously...the 488 is or was? a very good saw...

-Where are we going? And what's with this hand-basket?

 

[Walt Galer]

Howdy,

The 488 is one of the finest chainsaws on the market today. Unfortunately, most of the folks have never heard of it, while they fight over Stihl and Husky. (Kind of like Ford and Chevy, both junk of you have ever gotten into a German vehicle!). My only criticism of the 488 would be that it is a bit too high speed for the average Joe. It is the only saw under 50cc, that I would suggest might do alright with a good 3/8 professional chain. The fastest chain on it is a Windsor .325 chisel without any guardlinks, but this is a might hard to find. For Firewood cutting, I would recommend LG, but do not lower the depthgauges unless you can not regain self feed. The saw does not want more than .025 bite the first 1/3 of cutter life, if the chain is correctly sharpened.

Regards,
Walt Galer

 

[HUSKYMAN]

If you can outcut an 036 pro why do you need more speed? You are kicking ass already. For anything under 50cc stick with the 325. it will not bog your saw, it cuts smoother and keeps your rpms up, which as you have found out leads to more cutting speed and longer engine life

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hi There, I got me an Art Martin Special, this saw is aching for some clean 8x8 Poplar which it will see on Sunday at Ed Heard's place. I am beside myself with excitement, as though a small boy again.
Ed says it takes him about 8 hours to do a chain and that Gaston Dupriere put 400 hrs. into one chain and that it didnt cut any faster than the chain he put 7 hrs. into.
I think I am gonna love this sport.
Thanks to all!
John

 

[tundraotto]

saw wars - we all love the colors - its almost like hockey/football

chains, the critical advantage - the names we hear and we still dont know the winner...

please post some race results guys...who makes the best chain would be a highly honorable title in this forum i would think....

that redneck from canada can test them all since his so infatuated with the 357 he will cerainly eliminate any bias.lmao

 

[Treehugger101]

Its nice to know I'm not the only one who has had good luck with these saws. Yes we love all kinds. I really believe that shindaiwa makes the best performing small saws around. Need a very light saw for an older person or significant other, check out the shindaiwa 377, aluminum crankcase, very well built. No one else that I have seen has such quality in a little saw!

Walt- The Windsor chain you refer to is available at www.arbordirect.com . I'll give it a shot. I appreciate your advice.

Steve

 

[Walt Galer]

Hey Treehugger,

Look out, that listing is rather confusing. They don't make it too clear which chain has the big guardlink! If you are willing to forgo the LowKickback stuff you want The JL chain, not the JLG! The "G" means you get the big bumper drivelink guardlink.

I used the little Shinny one morning down at my favorite casting rock for the big Chinook salmon, when a big wind blew a cottonwood across the rock messing up the fishing spot. I cut it out of there and into firewood sections for a warming fire in seconds much to the amazement of my fishing buddies, if you could call them that, at this most competitive of fishing spots.

No time to loose fishing time to some ???? tree.

Regards,
Walt Galer

 

[Art Martin]

John,
If Gaston Dupriere put in 400 hours making a racing chain, he's lucky if it cut at all because there wouldn't be any teeth left. Gaston is one of the fastest sawyers in the world. I have seen his chain and he uses an extreme top plate angle of approximately 50 to 60 degrees it seemed. He held the world'
s record with the unlimited hot saw at one time. 400 hours would be 8 hours a day for 50 days. If he spent that long in one spot, he would take roots. Please.
Art Martin

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hi Art, Maybe that is why Gaston is no longer with Daniel. Could it be that he was just making her a wedding present?
Your chain cut real nice today on a frozen 11.5" Poplar that was 40 years old. It was run on Dennis's 2171 and made the cut in 2.3, which was the exact time that the Walkerized 088 cut through it with my round filed 3/8 with 21" bar. Ed Heard was impressed and we had fun and this greenhorn learned alot.
Ed had four saws there that we timed, all were hotsaws run on that funny smelling fuel that burns your nose and throat. He just had one stock 371. He had a 371 with a pipe and a 3120 and 2100CD that were highly modified. Things were happening very fast and he made the same cuts in close to one second or below. I have several movies of it and will send them.
I wish you guys could talk to Ed, cause he is into it very thick and most of what he said was lost on me. He tried to help me with square filing. I realized later that Ed is not into computers much and we probably wont see him here, but I hope you phone him to see where he's at with the saws. He invited me back and I am trying to figure out where I will ever fit in. Ed says the heart of the saw is in the carb and he put 40 hrs. in the one on his 090.
That nitro methane fuel scares me, but I really liked the way things went today. The 300 mile drive was well worth it. I spent about three hrs. there sawing and talking, but I wish I had of looked at his saws and listened more to what he said. He's a cyl. that he showed me that he was working on.
Thanks to All
John

 

[tundraotto]

nice pic john - im glad you got to try your jonsey and and art's chain - not bad at all by the sound of it... this nitromethane stuff is very interesting. All my buddies use it in their drag cars and they are all telling me that that is really good for power - i dont know how it would work in saws but im sure someone does - they told me that i should probably use about a capful in a tank and that should make quite a difference- what do you guys think - or is it just a good way to blow up my 136 when i start racing with it -