Chainsaw selection... ideas?

peanutbaby · Dec 21, 2010

I have used homelite, huskies. mc cullocks, dolmars, stihls, and a few other brands over the last 35 years. The one I would recommend is a Stihl 280 with a 20" bar. You can get a hard case for most of the smaller saws. I own and operate a 440 magnum and just for kicks I have a 660. But shear power I have a homelite xl 925 with 944 barrel and piston, ported and polished, carburator is set up to take three sets of jets. One for 40-1 mix, another to run a nitro mix, and the third set allows me to run cox fuel. This saw was used for several years at logging compititions many years ago. I just can't get rid of it.
I hope that helps.

crazyal · Dec 24, 2010

Nitro-Fish said:
Be cautious of the kits that say they are for the 357, to my knowledge there is not an aftermarket kit available that has the same porting as found in the 357xp (and yes the 359 P&C is not the same even though they will interchange). I have inquired about the ones that I have seen advertised as being for the 357 for a lower than OEM price and on each occasion I have been told they are actually the same as the 359 as nobody makes an aftermarket for the 357 yet. I agree the 357xp is a great saw, I use an 18" bar on the one I have.

I think the 359 is a better match to the 600, that's why I mentioned it.

BTW the 8000 is no slouch, it does just make the 80cc club!

I knew when I bought the 359 kit that it was not the 357xp parts. But since the saw just needed a new piston, ring, and jug I though for under $100 to get the saw working again, why not. I don't know if the original cylinder is coated with something like Nikasil but the new one doesn't look it so long term reliability could be an issue. The local dealer wanted over $400 for the husky parts so it was kind of hard to justify.

But now I see things like this:
PISTON CYLINDER assembly kit HUSQVARNA 357xp chainsaw - eBay (item 130337033647 end time Jan-06-11 02:41:35 PST)

It's says Husqvarna OEM where the other auction said it was aftermarket.

Nitro-Fish · Dec 24, 2010

crazyal, that seller has been on ebay for quite some time (almost 50,000 transactions & still has a decent feedback rating), I would just use the "ask a question" feature to find out if it is in fact OEM. If it is I wouldn't hesitate on purchasing from him.

crazyal · Dec 25, 2010

Nitro-Fish said:
crazyal, that seller has been on ebay for quite some time (almost 50,000 transactions & still has a decent feedback rating), I would just use the "ask a question" feature to find out if it is in fact OEM. If it is I wouldn't hesitate on purchasing from him.

What I'm really trying to decide is buy the parts or put the $200 towards a 372xp/ 576xp and just live with it as it is now. Or I could buy a new saw and buy the parts.

dcyrilc · Dec 25, 2010

crazyal said:
What I'm really trying to decide is buy the parts or put the $200 towards a 372xp/ 576xp and just live with it as it is now. Or I could buy a new saw and buy the parts.

Go for both. That way you have a saw to use while you repair the other one.

LD1 · Dec 25, 2010

It would be really hard for me to drop $200 on a top end kit for that saw. Thats a good chunk of money and used saws are fairly cheap if you are patient, at least around here. But if you decided to go ahead with the top end anyway...

Have you had the piston and cylinder off yet?? Are you sure it needs a cylinder?? From my experience with the Nicasil plating is that looking through the spark plug hole, they can looked scored real bad, but once appart it is a different story. They usually arent scored, but what you see through the plug hole is more like a disoloration. Again, this is just my experience though. But I would take it appart before you buy anything.

Also, If the little I could find is right, the 359 was an open transfer port saw while the 357xp had closed transfers. If that is the only main difference, it looks like baileys sells one that is an OEM and looks like for the 357xp and NOT 359.

But make sure you check for fit because it says earlier models had a 13mm rod and the new ones have a 15mm and it will only work on the new ones. But it looks like it might be worth a phone call.

I have also heard that the 359 takes better to porting as well. So if you have done any reading on how and where to port a chainsaw, and you get one of them cheap $100 china top ends, I would be afraid to break out the die grinder.

http://www.baileysonline.com/itemdetail.asp?item=HVP+537+24+85+02&catID=1841