Poulan Wild Thing (42cc) vs Husqvarna 346 (45cc) What's the difference?

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

@777funk If you like playing with cheap plastic saws at least get the antivibe versions. Poulan 260 220 etc 42cc and poulan 295 etc 46cc.

I know smitty and that was a saw for build off that was ran at sawfest. Not your normal wild thing any thing goes fuel etc etc etc like I showed. Just so you know his was tops this year with pipe on it

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

I ran these disposable Poulans back in the day and still have a pile of chains left that I use on my 80v Kobalt electric saw. When I finally burn through all of them, I'll look into this Stihl full chisel, thanks for the tip.

Stihl 63PS or 63PS3 there is also a Farmertec and Archer versions.

 

[diver64]

I'm still waiting for people to answer the OP's question.

 

[777funk]

I'm still waiting for people to answer the OP's question.

I guess it's either nobody knows or those who do are engineers at Husqvarna etc. I guess these details are what they earn a living with.

In the mean time, I'll be trying the easy stuff, muffler mod, reduce squish, less restrictive air filter, carb from a bigger saw, spark timing. And read up on porting.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

@777funk another good thing about 260 etc. Besides the coil spring antivibe. They use chrome bore cylinder.

Some of the 46cc were chrome bore too and some wasnt. That green one was chrome bore 46cc. That dark green 46cc was bare bore.

 

[777funk]

@777funk another good thing about 260 etc. Besides the coil spring antivibe. They use chrome bore cylinder.

Some of the 46cc were chrome bore too and some wasnt. That green one was chrome bore 46cc. That dark green 46cc was bare bore.

Good to know on the antivibe and chrome bore. The green 1975 I de squished (0.055 to 0.020) had some piston transfer and I couldn't use too much acid to remove since the bore was not chromed. But it still runs pretty good. I just sanded the scoring off of the piston and the transfer off of the bore and put a new ring on it. Compression feels stronger than stock (standard squish).

Will pickup a pro model next time I see one cheap. It's always the green ones that are cheap or free.

I hardly notice the vibe issues. But I remember the first time I ran a real saw (026) vs the poulan, I was amazed at the difference. I guess I get used to it after a while. I like rubber vibe mounts. Still feels like a saw.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

I was wrong. The guy isn't using 325, he's using full sized (regular) 3/8. Looks strong at that. My 026 pulls 325 about this hard.

I talked to Smitty today. His video with muffler is 3/8LP and when he ran at Sawfest he went to 325 on pipe.

= I had 325 at Sawfest. Early videos had 3/8lp. Video you showed saying full 3/8 was 3/8LP

2024 wt's. 8x8 softwood. Also anything goes with the chains for those. Race square etc.

 

[777funk]

Pretty wild RedneckChainsawRepair. Thanks for the video. He says he's going nitro next time. Wow!

 

[djmercer1]

So, I did a bit more thinking about this question - i would start by finding out which other saw such as Husky, Poulan Pro, Homelite etc share the same genalogy (and thus most interchangeable number of parts) since I am pretty sure there wasn't a ground up engineering effort put into the WT.... Having done this, i would look at the differences between the WT relatives and more or less upgrade the WT with differences that would increase output and reliability since usually when you start upgrading output reliability goes down.....

I would also think the normal mods like carbs, piston, ports etc would improve output but how much is anyones guess if no history of doing it - previous experience would be important to pick up new fail points introduced by upgrading output...

Good luck...

 

[irhunter]

The green 1975 I de squished (0.055 to...0.020

How did you change the squish? Was this a clamshell saw?

 

[777funk]

How did you change the squish? Was this a clamshell saw?

It is a clamshell. There's a thread on here called porting a clamshell and I did pretty much what he did. 1/2" drum sander in a dremel to deepen the bearing seal pockets but unlike him, I just used a flat belt sander (table top model from HF) to take around 0.030 off of the cylinder half of the clamshell. I checked squish with the solder smash method with everything bolted up. I was careful to evenly sand the cylinder base, checking with a calipers to keep it close to even on all 4 bolt corners.

I checked for leaks when complete and it was air tight. No gaps in the sealant.

 

[stihlaficionado]

If I remember correctly, Brad built a ported & piped Wild Thing, but that was many moons ago.

Here it is with a mm mod & ported, not piped

 

[steele_109]

It's the cylinders 346 closed port poulan open port.

 

[sean donato]

It's the cylinders 346 closed port poulan open port.

It's not just that, port timing, port shape, combustion chamber design, case volume, muffler, carb....... may as well compare a Briggs and Stratton to a viper.

 

[777funk]

It's not just that, port timing, port shape, combustion chamber design, case volume, muffler, carb....... may as well compare a Briggs and Stratton to a viper.

I agree that there is a difference and the poulan probably does not have the potential of the 346. But I would bet a properly modified Poulan could make 3.5HP like the stock 346.

A Briggs 5hp may make it to 30hp in the right hands, but it's a dozen ci and 1 cylinder. I think your comparison is perhaps a little exaggerated vs what I'm trying to accomplish here.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

I know first hand 6.5 honda clone motor sold at HF can make 17-20HP on pump gas just in mild builds. Thats the motor we were allowed to use for case etc.

Helped my son for awhile. Boy was that a learning on the go experience.

 

[777funk]

I know first hand 6.5 honda clone motor sold at HF can make 17-20HP on pump gas just in mild builds. Thats the motor we were allowed to use for case etc.

Helped my son for awhile. Boy was that a learning on the go experience.

Pretty cool! Yeah those ohv motors and mods are a lot nicer than what was available to me as a kid (the old briggs). And I personally have never gotten more than 5hp out of one. I have a friend who raced and he'd mentioned the 30 horse build. He was also into the McCullough 2 strokes.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

Pretty cool! Yeah those ohv motors and mods are a lot nicer than what was available to me as a kid (the old briggs). And I personally have never gotten more than 5hp out of one. I have a friend who raced and he'd mentioned the 30 horse build. He was also into the McCullough 2 strokes.

There is a track with a class for the old flathead motors. They fly too.

 

[sean donato]

I agree that there is a difference and the poulan probably does not have the potential of the 346. But I would bet a properly modified Poulan could make 3.5HP like the stock 346.

A Briggs 5hp may make it to 30hp in the right hands, but it's a dozen ci and 1 cylinder. I think your comparison is perhaps a little exaggerated vs what I'm trying to accomplish here.

There's no reason you can't make quite a bit more power out of the poulan, just keep your expectations in line for what it is. At the end of the day, it's initial design is what's going to limit it vs the 346xp.
Yes, possibly the comparison is a bit if an exaggeration, since we're talking about low power 2 stroke designs in general. But it pretty clearly articulated the potential power difference between the designs.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

There's no reason you can't make quite a bit more power out of the poulan, just keep your expectations in line for what it is. At the end of the day, it's initial design is what's going to limit it vs the 346xp.
Yes, possibly the comparison is a bit if an exaggeration, since we're talking about low power 2 stroke designs in general. But it pretty clearly articulated the potential power difference between the designs.

Ya do all that to the 42cc clamshell. Then do all that to the 45cc 346.

Do all that to the poulan to get up to stock 346 45cc.

I know first hand also my 45cc was handing to alot of 50cc 346 for awhile using 3/8.

But my same ported 346 50cc by same guy was stronger then my 45cc using same aggressive 3/8 chain. Could tell in runs and timer.