Well I did it.

[Rockarosa]

I've been cutting wood for my outdoor Cozeburn with a MS 290 Stihl for the last 7 years. A friend let me try out his 362 Stihl and I could not believe the power difference. The 362 weighs about the same as the 290 but that's about the only comparison. I have a huge Maple tree to cut up and went and bought the 362. I just can't believe the power this saw has. At 63 years old this is about all the saw I would want. Anybody else have the 362?

 

[rwoods]

I have the non -M 362. Great firewood saw. Ron

 

[Hinerman]

I have the 361. Congrats on the new saw. Post some pics if you got them.

 

[zogger]

I've been cutting wood for my outdoor Cozeburn with a MS 290 Stihl for the last 7 years. A friend let me try out his 362 Stihl and I could not believe the power difference. The 362 weighs about the same as the 290 but that's about the only comparison. I have a huge Maple tree to cut up and went and bought the 362. I just can't believe the power this saw has. At 63 years old this is about all the saw I would want. Anybody else have the 362?

Yep! That's why guys say in most cases spend the extra clams and get the pro saw in the size class you need.

Now man..get the bug..get it ported! Then you'll know why guys get addicted to that as well!

 

[Roy Cobb]

I just cut firewood myself , use my 361 a lot , save my other 2 saws for the bigger stuff, Have fun let it rip

 

[flotek]

You should also then try a 562 husky

 

[CoreyB]

The 362 is a great saw. You will get many seasons of good reliable service. That is one of the best 60cc saws money can buy.

 

[sb47]

I have the 290/362 and the 391.
All great saws. The 290 is a bit slower because you just can't force through a cut. But it will get the job done.
The 362 and 391 are basically the same saw. Same power and weight and both cut the same.
That 290 will cut better if you use the proper fuel.
Go to a motorcycle dealer that seles racing fuel. Get you some VP u4.4 racing fuel.
It's 103 octane and run it at 50% pump fuel and 50% U44.
Or I like running it on 100% U44 mixed with shihl's synthetic 2 stroke oil.
Two strokes love high octane fuel. It will rev faster and be more responsive and wont bog down when you put under a heavy load.
The VP U44 makes power because it burns hotter and longer then pump fuel, giving you longer power strokes.
It will not hurt your saw in any way. I have ran all my saws on this fuel for 10 years with zero issues.
In fact the fuel is so clean burning it keeps carbon build up to almost non existent .
I run that in my racing bikes and after 7 years of seasons it had zero carbon deposits when I tore it down.
The piston and valves looked brand new.
Very clean burning fuel. With no ethanol.
http://www.vpracingfuels.com/motocross.html

 

[flashhole]

Yep, fuel quality is very important. I run 93 octane ethanol free gas/stihl additive in all my saws. Noticed the power difference years ago from day one.

Mine is an MS460. Great saw.

 

[turnkey4099]

I've been cutting wood for my outdoor Cozeburn with a MS 290 Stihl for the last 7 years. A friend let me try out his 362 Stihl and I could not believe the power difference. The 362 weighs about the same as the 290 but that's about the only comparison. I have a huge Maple tree to cut up and went and bought the 362. I just can't believe the power this saw has. At 63 years old this is about all the saw I would want. Anybody else have the 362?

I have the orginal 361. Agree it is an amazing saw. Does most of the work with speed and doesn't like being overloaded. When I first fired it up it stalled every time on starting a cut in a locust. Then I found it liked to be wound up a bit before biting.

1s for "All the saw I would want", I was the same by running a 28" bar on it (yes the book listed it as the longest recommended" Then I got into the big stuff 3' and more in diameter - biggest I ever cut was over 4'. I finally broke down and bought a 441CM. WOWSER!!

I'm still out there at 80 and pulling that 441 on a cold morning is about all I want. Dealer didn't start it for me when I picked it up and I had to take it back to get it running the first time. Even he had trouble getting it running.

Harry K

 

[Rockarosa]

Harry, good for you, the 441 is a lot of saw! I have a 24 inch bar on the 362. I cut up a ton of maple today.

 

[flashhole]

Does the saw not have a compression release valve? My 460 would be a real bear to pull if not for the valve.

 

[stihly dan]

My MS362 is my favorite go to saw. Always starts and cuts as it should. I do grab the bigger saw for the big wood, but get the 362 back as soon as I'm down to 20 inch wood again. Love that saw.

 

[Deleted member 116684]

i did a muffler mod on my 290 and it made a big difference. Used it for a few years, then got a 362 c-m. I really like them both, and would be happy with either. Now about the higher octane gas, I've never heard or thought it would make that much of a difference, but now I want to try it out. Sounds like it would be worth it.

 

[turnkey4099]

Does the saw not have a compression release valve? My 460 would be a real bear to pull if not for the valve.

I learned on the 361 to leave the compression realease alone, I pull the 441 without it. Had a problem with it this moring, hasn't run in about a month and I wanted to dry it out. Took about a dozen pulls before it fired. I was surprised I lasted that long

Harry K

 

[Rockarosa]

Does the saw not have a compression release valve? My 460 would be a real bear to pull if not for the valve.

Yes it has the compression release. I'm just surprised in the difference between the 290 and the 362.

 

[sb47]

i did a muffler mod on my 290 and it made a big difference. Used it for a few years, then got a 362 c-m. I really like them both, and would be happy with either. Now about the higher octane gas, I've never heard or thought it would make that much of a difference, but now I want to try it out. Sounds like it would be worth it.

I race ATV's and have highly built motors on my quads. So I have to run a minimum of 100+ octane.
VP and Sunoco have good fuels designed with and without ethanol.
Some are leaded and some are unleaded.
Some are oxygenated and some are not.
it's a little pricey at 65 bucks for a 5 gallon can, but its good stuff.

For those that may not know, octane indicates the volatility or flash point of the fuel.
Low octane fuel is much more volatile then high octane fuel.
High compression lends itself to pre ignition. Pre ignition is caused by the heat and compression being so great that a low octane fuel will ignite before the piston reaches top dead center. Causing it to ping, and lose power.
High octane fuel needs a hotter spark to ignite the fuel and resist pre ignition because of high compression ratios.
2 strokes tend to run a minimum of 11:1 or higher.
Yes they will run on 87 pump gas, but high octane fuel works much better.

You don't need to re jet to run VP's U4.4, just mix with your favorite 2 stroke oil and let'er rip.
You will be amazed the first tank full. Your saw will run a little cooler as well.

I ran a highly built race motor for 7 years on that fuel. The only reason for the rebuild was because the trany let loose.
When we opened it up she looked brand new.

On the quad
I bored it out from a 400 to a 426 and had the cylinder molly plated.went to a 14:1 compression and stroked the crank.
Put in a stage 2 cam with titanium valve guides with oversize valves.
Decked the head and ported and polished the head.
Bigger header pipe with a 450 r flat slide carb, bored out 20 thousands, and choke plate removed.
XR heavy duty timing chain and guides and XR timing gear.
All polished main bearings and balanced gear box.
She started stock with 24 HP
She dynoed at 58 HP with the upgrades.
And of course I run strait 100% VP U4.4 or sometimes C110.
You can buy it as little as a gallon at a time, if you want to try it.

However, do "NOT" run it in your car with low compression motors. You'll burn a hole in the piston.

 

[DanTheCanadian]

We run vp in our saws at the fire department. Definetly noticed better rev speeds but didn't really notice much of a power difference. We run vp because its more stabil, doesn't seem to go stale, and because it burns very clean. Too expensive to run in my saws though.

 

[Marine5068]

As a fellow Canuck, we have certain fuels here at our gas stations. Usually it's three grades and that's it.
Our premium fuel is not that much more money really and I doubt you'd notice the cost difference much seeing as you're only running it through a saw or two.
You will notice it if say you were running the premium through a vehicle though.
Good clean fuel and a good mixing oil as well as a perfect mix ratio will be important factors for fuelling up.
I've seen lots of guys mix up tanks of fuel and not really measure anything and thought to myself," Wow! He could be way off on that ratio"
I always measure carefully with a known measuring cup and known gas can to get an consistently accurate mix every time.

 

[turnkey4099]

As a fellow Canuck, we have certain fuels here at our gas stations. Usually it's three grades and that's it.
Our premium fuel is not that much more money really and I doubt you'd notice the cost difference much seeing as you're only running it through a saw or two.
You will notice it if say you were running the premium through a vehicle though.
Good clean fuel and a good mixing oil as well as a perfect mix ratio will be important factors for fuelling up.
I've seen lots of guys mix up tanks of fuel and not really measure anything and thought to myself," Wow! He could be way off on that ratio"
I always measure carefully with a known measuring cup and known gas can to get an consistently accurate mix every time.

There's the rub. The quit making 1 gal cans years ago...at least I haven't been able to find on in about 20 years. Using an old 1 gal oil container now to measure with.

Harry K