Well it's been a couple of weeks but the snow has finally melted enough that I could get to a wood pile, I'm mostly over the cold I had and it isn't pouring rain - which meant I could try out the saw a bit. In the mean time I got a new GB bar for it:
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This bar is supposed to be 18" but is actually a full 19" from the case installed (19.5" with the chain), which is pushing it for a 42cc saw. The chain is 91VXL.
I don't like to waste wood cutting cookies so I noodled a few instead. I'm really pretty happy with this saw - it's got guts. The is noodling white oak with a knot, almost full bar:
It's working pretty hard but I think it's decent given the bar length.
Also, it illustrates how stupid the Piltz stuff is! This heavily modified 42cc saw can actually pull this bar with lo pro, but no way a smaller saw can cut a longer bar.