# Chainsaw Mods



## John the Painter (Nov 20, 2011)

I have seen on here alot of guys doing mods to their saws.Was just wondering what can be done relativly easy to a Stihl 028 AV Super and what would be the overall benifit of doing said mod?


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## BrotherBart (Nov 20, 2011)

Probably folks here will have some tips but if I was going to hot rod my saws I would check out arboristsite.com. Those guys are seriously into that stuff.


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## wkpoor (Nov 20, 2011)

An 028 isn't much to mod. One thing almost every saw benefits from is a simple and cheap muffle mod. Gut the muffler and put another goes outcha. You can buy the little deflector and screen. As for porting every saw is different. Some take well to porting and some not so. Mostly its years of trial and error to see what works along with experience in how to do it. Like BB said arboristsite will guide you. My advise is to not worry about it unless at least 25% gain can be achieved. There are saws that take well to mods and if you want to have a modded saw then just go with a proven formula. I have a 346XP that is 40% more over stock. I bought it used and paid less than a new saw and it still looks new. Amazing wicked light weight cutting machine. The best advantage is more power in a smaller package. Another one thats real good is the 357XP. Dan Henry is reputable builder and can do that. There is another close me, Brad Snelling that has been doing some nice port work mostly on Stihls. All these guys are on the site. Also racesaws is anoter site but its mostly invitation only and those guys are pretty serious about their saws. 
Sometime I harp alot on is for people interested in leaning more about saws and cutting is find a local GTG. You will amazed at what you can learn and maybe get a chance to run different saws. My last GTG 150 chainsaws showed up. More than any one person cold run in an afternoon. Lots of racing and lots of just cutting cookies testing saws big and small.


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## smokinj (Nov 21, 2011)

There is a crap ton that could be done, just depends what you want to put in it. Personally I would run it stock most of what you hear on saws is loosing up the exhaust side and making the ports wider. Thinner head base gasket, wider ports bigger exhaust will pick up about 8-10 percent on your saw.


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## BrotherBart (Nov 21, 2011)

Best saw mod you can make. Learn how to sharpen the chain.


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## wkpoor (Nov 21, 2011)

BrotherBart said:
			
		

> Best saw mod you can make. Learn how to sharpen the chain.


+1
That it taught at GTGs also. Both with basic round file and square grind with square or goofy file. And if your lucky to be at a race GTG you'll see some race chains and how they are filed. That will open your eyes and make you wonder why you through out those old chains you thought where worn out. I had a guy show up to most of mine just to watch, all he did was sharpen chains and like to watch em race. 

FYI a good race chain will cost 800-1000 bucks and takes about 40hrs to produce and can be made from a worn out full comp chisel chain. Entire chain is taken apart, links milled thinner, and teeth hand filled then reassembled. No 2 are alike unless from the same builder. Those typically don't show at the local races but a less time consuming version does. I had one on lone for a while. They make a fast saw even faster.


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## MasterMech (Nov 21, 2011)

wkpoor said:
			
		

> BrotherBart said:
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I would think they would grind them down on a surface grinder.  I have access to a lot of old chain and a surface grinder.  Hmm......  :coolhmm:


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## smokinj (Nov 21, 2011)

MasterMech said:
			
		

> wkpoor said:
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Few ways to do this but first I would add if your not running .043 and acn your missing the boat...lol There just building a smaller kerf, and I its a fine line but I would rather use a hand file. Leave the chain together. This can take monster hours to make one good chain.


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## Danno77 (Nov 21, 2011)

port, squish, mufmod, and maybe a slightly bigger plug. Never been inside my 028 to know what the clearance to plug is.

you could probably notice a difference. but you'd spend something like 5 - 10 hours doing this stuff to save 1 minute of work per cord. if you burn 5 cords a year, that 5 min a year, so if you do that for 60 years, you'll make your time back.

lol. Not worth it. Buy a bigger saw, payback is faster.

NOW, if you wanna do it because you like to tinker at the bench in the middle of winter, then by all means I think you should. I'm finding it's much more rewarding to bring the dead ones back to life than it is to tinker with the already living ones, though, so maybe consider that.

DO research this modding stuff, even if you don't plan on doing it. It goes a long way towards helping you really understand what happens in a good 2cycle engine.


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## wkpoor (Nov 21, 2011)

I would only try one that I was going to scrap anyway. Many a modded saw came out slower than stock. Unless you have a blueprint from a proven example its hit or miss. Problem there is most people when they get it right won't let out what they did.


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