chain saw recommendations

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Stihl MS271 Farm Boss 16". I have the old MS270 Farm Boss and from what I hear, the 271 is even better (which is hard to believe). It's a good, solid ground saw. Not a pro saw, but better than most homeowners will ever need. If you feel like 16" is not enough bar, you can get 18 or 20. For me, 16 is fine. I'm no lumberjack.

CORRECTION. I have the old MS290 Farm boss, not the 270. Johnny @GLTHFJ60 and I have the same saws. He and I had discussed this before. I discovered my erroneous post last night when I used my saw to take down a maple tree with a broken top (storm damage). It is a 290 and it works great. Starts on 2-3 pulls when cold and one pull once it's warm. I did switch over to the yellow blade last year and it cuts like butter. I am seriously considering doing the muffler mod and tuning the carb. From what I hear, it'll give the saw even more power (like 25-30 percent more). Everybody loves more power, right? I know I do. Free power is even better. Here in the US the EPA requires the exhaust on the saws to be severely restricted. The same model of saw sold in any other country would have twice the exhaust ports compared to what we get. Drill a couple of well-placed holes, a little dremel work and tweaking the carb settings is all it takes to bring the saw up to EU standards.
 
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CORRECTION. I have the old MS290 Farm boss, not the 270. Johnny @GLTHFJ60 and I have the same saws. He and I had discussed this before. I discovered my erroneous post last night when I used my saw to take down a maple tree with a broken top (storm damage). It is a 290 and it works great. Starts on 2-3 pulls when cold and one pull once it's warm. I did switch over to the yellow blade last year and it cuts like butter. I am seriously considering doing the muffler mod and tuning the carb. From what I hear, it'll give the saw even more power (like 25-30 percent more). Everybody loves more power, right? I know I do. Free power is even better. Here in the US the EPA requires the exhaust on the saws to be severely restricted. The same model of saw sold in any other country would have twice the exhaust ports compared to what we get.

Muffler mod?
 
Muffler mod?

Re-read my post. I was editing it to explain the mod when you responded. A quick google search will tell you everything you need to know to be able to do it. It looks super easy.
 
If you remove the spark arrest, that helps.

You can also drill a hole in the right spot for your saw - you need to find the specific location on the specific saw.

Green blades are horrible - first upgrade should be moving to the real blades :)
 
My saw that was like the commercial version of the Farm Boss - - drank gas like CRAZY - mods will also help with that :)
 
The MS290 muffler can be modded to leave the main baffle and spark arrester intact by drilling two or three well-placed holes and opening up the exhaust vent cap. It is my understanding that the noise increase is minimal if you do it that way. If you drill through the baffle, however, it will get loud. Opening up the exhaust will run the saw lean, so you have to tweak the carb settings to get it back to a safe mixture. Seems easy enough.
 
Sounds cool - I did the mod to my MS201T and it runs amazing now. It was only one drilled hole - was awesome.

On the Spark Arrest - it clogs up over time - make sure you are cleaning it out if you have to leave it in. Of course you can take it in/out, etc. You wan to keep it for Uwharrie, etc.
 
Custom muffler :cool:
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It is amazing how sensitive 2 stroke engines are to exhaust tuning. Increasing or decreasing the expansion chamber can have dramatic effects. My old Kawasaki KDX200 transformed from a torquey little woods bike to a scary 4th gear wheel-standing beast by simply changing the pipe and tuning the carb.
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Stihl 028 in my garage. Had it for 20 33 plus years. 18" bar rips through EVERYTHING. Have three old chains I rotate through the line up (along with a green chain that sees no use). I have escaped unscathed but both my father and step brother have scars on their knee caps from not paying attention. Leaking through all the gaskets now but if it works for a Land cruiser to mark its territory and rust proofing why wouldn't it work for a German piece of machinery?
 
So since Thursday I have pretty much ran a chainsaw at work all day and then at home in the evening. 23 trees down at work and around 10-12 at home. The trees at home came down with straight line winds in the woods in the worst jumbled up mess I’ve ever seen. The last of the domino trees fell on the standing seem roof of the house we are building and did mild damage. At work we use both a Stihl MS250 and an Echo CS530. They both do very well. At home I’m using an Echo CS306 and a brand new Stihl MS170. I am super impressed with the Echo CS306 and even more impressed with the MS170. For smaller saws they both have been ripping it. I said all that to say this, it’s all about how good your chain is. Power goes a long way but a nicely sharpened chain on a small saw will out cut a large saw with a poorly sharpened chain all day.

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Thank you @stevezero for equating me to a ****ing stupid looking dog for the 100th ****ing time. I’m so very sorry I tried to put anything pertinent and or helpful in this thread.
 
@fj40z , man I wasnt meaning to piss you off. I'm sorry if it came off that way. stress of the last week on top of my usual stress level has me majorly not myself. I'll delete the previous posts.

My most sincere apologies
 
I've got some tuned pipes from my RC pattern flying days....hmmmmmm

I never got into flying pattern but I did build a fair share of pattern planes for customers. I used the tuned pipes on RC helicopters. Made a huge difference in power. You see them on competition chain saws all the time.
 
@stevezero I saw this at the power equipment shop today and thought of you. Might wanna add one of these for those “just in case” instances.

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