Stock or modded, what's better, lasts longer?

[ScottWojo]

Wyk,

Really no reason to even bring up what I do on eBay. You were the one who failed to connect the threads with a quote. I was merely responding to your post. Your words. What you were saying. You did not mention that you were responding to anything else, or being facetious.

I was only trying to add something to the thread. Not to insult you. You really have no reason to attack me or my activities on eBay. All I was doing was drawing attention to how stupid your statement was. Which without all the notations and quotes, that you failed to include, was just that.

Being impulsive or stomping out ignorance? I guess its a fine line.

You've utterly missed my point, which was also that you can not compare them, and will find it difficult to compare chainsaws to one another as well. My auto industry paragraph had little to do with chainsaws; it was merely in response to THALL's original statement that was quoted by the OP. Had you read the OP's entire post instead of jumping blind, you might have understood that. In the future you may be better off spending less time being defensive and impulsive, and spending more time overcharging for your muffler mods.

 

[squad143]

when you run a everyday car over a 100mph you just took 10,000 miles of life out of the engine

Perhaps, But I'm going to be getting to the places I need to go sooner. And time is money. The million dollar question.... are you saving enought time (money) to replace the engine by going so fast?



Just thinking.....

A modded saw that cuts faster, is shut off sooner......

Therefore, the total number of revolutions (the r in rpm) maybe less than that of of a stock saw performing the same cut.


Can't base a saw on the number of years it lasts, but the amount of wood it cuts.

 

[MCW]

Just thinking.....

A modded saw that cuts faster, is shut off sooner......

Therefore, the total number of revolutions (the r in rpm) maybe less than that of of a stock saw performing the same cut.


Can't base a saw on the number of years it lasts, but the amount of wood it cuts.

Very good point and one I was going to bring up as well. The chain speed determines the length of time in the cut and in the end the same chain on a stock OR modded saw (all things being equal) cuts the same amount of wood for a given rpm.
I have no doubt that an improperly modded saw will have a noticable decrease in life and also think that saws modified to increase compression will load bearings more and hence lead to earlier bearing wear or failure, noticable or not it is plain physics.

In saying that though the guys who are running modded saws in a paid environment will see them pay for themselves and the guys who run modded saws on weekends etc will never wear them out anyway. The difference I had in number of trees felled per day was colossal going from a stock saw to a modded saw, in the order of 20-25% however this was simply a felling exercise with windbreak trees, completely different to maybe felling 20 prime timber trees in a forest although gains would be made there too.

 

[AUSSIE1]

Perhaps, But I'm going to be getting to the places I need to go sooner. And time is money. The million dollar question.... are you saving enought time (money) to replace the engine by going so fast?



Just thinking.....

A modded saw that cuts faster, is shut off sooner......

Therefore, the total number of revolutions (the r in rpm) maybe less than that of of a stock saw performing the same cut.


Can't base a saw on the number of years it lasts, but the amount of wood it cuts.

Yep, it's all about production

 

[Freehand]

Stihl waiting for some hard science……..as opposed to bias and rhetoric and stuff……..a fine grey line between too much and too little seems to be at issue here.opcorn:

For those whom dare to dwell in mediocrity…….

 

[Log Hogger]

Seems pretty obvious. A bearing, for example, will not last as long at 15,000 rpms as it would at 13,000 rpms.

It's a trade off. Do you want the superior power to weight ratio of a modded saw, or greater longevity? Pro saws are designed for hard use day after day by loggers. What does modding take off the life of the saw? 10000 hours down to 8000? How many users are going to notice that difference? And if you're someone who likes to work on saws, what's the big deal? So you tear it down after 8000 hours to replace the rings and bearings. Most of us consider that a small price to pay for performance.

Stihl has quite an incentive to dissuade people from modding, too, because it can hurt their reputation. Some hack mods their Stihl, sells it, and it self-destructs, what does that do to Stihl's reputation? It hurts far more than all the skilled woods porters can help it.

 

[MCW]

The other thing about modded saws not touched on is grinding away the Nikasil in the ports. A number of the big name replating companies state that pro builders (not blind chainsaw cylinders but dirt bikes etc) get them replated AFTER porting as then the new Nikasil actually gets plated into the port and hooked around the bevelling. Although I've never seen it happen I know there is a concern that plating can start coming away from ports when they've been ground and not replated afterwards.
I'd be more worried about the longivity of the plating than bearings etc. In reality though I don't think either is a major concern for 99% of chainsaw users.

 

[CJ1]

I know in my own case I have only had my Copsey modded saw since the first part of Augest and I will not go back to stock. I have only cut about 35 cord of firewood with it but I don't see why it will not last me along time. I get more production because I am not in the cut as long and that relates to more wood cut for the same effort. Fuel useage is about 10% more for time but with 25% more wood cut that is a no brainer to me. If I was cutting full time again, would I have the saws modded? YES in a heartbeat. If I could have gotten a year out of a modded saw I would have been very pleased, 25% more in my pocket for a years work in trade for $300. Another no brainer. This saw will last me 10 years or more at 50-75 cords a year and as near as I can tell most on here seem to cut less than that. + IT IS JUST FUN TO RUN IT. CJ

 

[Riverrat123]

I run my VW TDI at high tire pressure, trying to get that last drop from the gallon. I'm seriously thinking of getting a $500 software tune to further alter it once it's off warranty.

As a recovering addict of all things VW including naturally aspirated water cooleds, TDI, and Turboed motors, the best mod you will ever do to any engine you will ever have will be to go ahead and chip tune your TDI motor.

We had a member of the car club I used to be in get shipped out to the sand box, and while gone, he gave us access to his bank account to modify and build a show winning quality car. First thing first was a chip tune it, and put on a more open exhaust while we wait on the new turbo and poping to be shipped. Holy moses what a difference, it went from being a sluggish off the line borefest of a car to drive to being a rocket off the line stock Mustang V8 crusher that not only had vastly increased low end torque, moderatly increased high end horsepower, but also had an impressive increase in gas mileage. I'll not even touch what the turbo and piping did once we had the chip retuned to get the most use out of them, but to make a long story short, the head studs had to be replaced at risk of blowing the head right off the block. The gas mileage decresed signifigantly at this point hehe.

With that said, it's had tweaky issues ever since.

I think to add to the subject, and this is pretty much from a 4 wheeler/motorcycle engine stand point. Modifications can actually improve performance and longevity of most engines. But that's to a point. There comes a point with every engine that modifications will most certainly come with diminishing returns from a cost effectivness standpoint.

The only true way to measure with something like a chainsaw is productivity from an all else being equal stand point.