Great video, I just bought a holtzfforma g288, with 24” bar, so far I like it, I have a stihl ms460 and 034, a old jonesreds 801 and a little shindiawa 488, and the stihl. S180, all good saws, I’m in eastern NY, not far from Albany, I enjoy your channel,
Why I build saws! Any idiot can go out and buy a fully completed saw but I get an extra plus knowing I built the sucker. I finished building my ms 250 kit saw this week. Robbed the bar and chain from my ms 251 to use on it. It is not my ms 440 but cuts a lot faster than my smaller saws. It has some development issues - the chain break handle was rough and it failed after a few uses. I have ordered a complete new set of parts for the chain break system. Will put them on when they come in. I also do not like the master control lever and trigger, so will probably replace them with oem, too.the thing I found to be junk on the kit were seals, chain break handle and fuel line.
I paint my axe heads red to match their original True Temper paint. Makes not loosing them in the leaves I often cut in. What I have a problem loosing is their leather sheathes, which I have made for them. I lost the one on my Boys axe last year and brown is easy to loose in the leaves. I have lost a few wedges but they are yellow and easy to find. I carry five with me and count five before I stop looking. I painted my wedge/ sledge complete blaze orange, so it is easy to find.
I have a fun saw that I use often. It is a 268xp. It is still usable in daily use. I like my saw line up. Making a video on them in the next few days. Thanks for sharing
The ms 250 is also an easy saw to flood, too. Yesterday, it cranked in 2,2P, which is about as good as I can expect from a Stihl saw. I do lift weights every night before supper. I have a 5, 12 and 20# dumbbells. Mi do curls with them every night before supper. I do 50 with the 5#, 25 with the 12# and 20 with the 20#. They have helped me pull over saws because they have built up my hand and arm strength. I ground start everything when they are cold. I may leg start them, afterwards but cold they go on the ground. Age catches up to all of us.
I have been wanting a big saw for a while, but used ones go for $800 around here. I think you convinced me to try a g395. Purely for hobby/fun. I just need to find an orange one.
Expect to have to get a better piston like I did :) And if you don't then you will be happy. I may go "OEM" with the oil pump as well. Need more than what it's putting out on the dead and dry ash. But yeah, I really like that saw and to THIS point in time, it's just working better and better. Could frag tomorrow! But I'm having fun with it. IF you make a living with a saw....buy OEM though. It's worth the money in the long run.
i also do as shallow of a face as possible with roughly 80 percent of the width of the tree for the length of the hinge. i think it used to be the rule of thumb was a 3rd of the tree 'in for your face but i think they might have changed it to a 1/4 now but dont quote me on that lol. the only time i do a deep face cut is if im chunking somthing down or have a totem at the end of a removal i will make a deep facecut so it falls in on itself easier. makes chunking down big pieces quite abit easier when up in a tree or in a bucket. i only really ever come in from the front on really big trees and my bar wont reach cuz i hardly ever use anything more then a 25 inch. ive been running a 440 stihl lately and i really love it. not to heavy plenty of power and just goes forever. have watched your vids for years and have enjoyed them so thank you.
Thank you for your support, I do more bore cut from the front because of the ash tree's we have here....they pull real bad. Most of the time. SO just bore cut away the part of the hinge that gets to the money wood.
Nice video! Walt, If I may ask your thoughts on an issue I have with one of my 2018 OEM 372 x-torque saws that I purchased new, your insight would be greatly appreciated. The saw started really loosing power with the bar buried in a tree while felling, upon diagnosing the source of the problem, the only thing wrong with the saw was small pin holes in the plating of the cylinder. I can poke a scribe into them. The compression is 135#, and the saw pressure and vac tested fine, it has never run lean. Initially there was no scoring. I took the saw out to my landing the next day and made a couple of cuts, the saw really lost power again. I removed the muffler and intake boot, there were more pin holes in the plating a now a couple of light scores originating from the first pin holes. The piston and rings have no damage and surprisingly show no wear. I estimate the saw to have 600 hrs of production logging time. This is the second OEM Husqvarna Mahle cylinder cylinder that I have experienced this in, the other was ironically a 372xp original addition that I purchased used with pin holes in the plating. I am a leaning towards putting an OEM original addition cylinder on this saw, I have been trying to find a 51.4mm xpw cylinder but have had no luck. This saw up to this point has always started and run excellently, I usually run a 28" light bar on this saw. I like this saw but have to say I like my original addition 372s more. Have you seen this issue with OEM cylinders and what cylinder would you currently choose for a production 372 x-torque logging saw?
A lot of stuff in that question and experience. Guess one question I have is what oil & mix do you use? The strato saw are hard on the cylinders part because the "rock" and rattle and part because the get a raw dose of air thru the strato ports and on the intake side of the piston. The work saw I build based on the X--torq's have the filter holder, intake boot, and intake port/strato port worked were I essentially rid the saw of the strato stuff. And now the fuel/oil mix also flushes the intake side of the piston more. There is a fuel usage increase but the saws have lasted longer than the stock saws. Sometimes the "repaired" and modified saws I've done out lasted the OEM stock version. Actually most did. As a side note I also converted the "owners" to a 32:1 or at least 40:1 mix on those built saws. ( Husqvarna synthetic blend or "ester" based full synthetic like Bel-Ray H1R , NO Wax ( Paraffin ) based synthetics please! ) I like the OE 51.4 cylinder on the X-torq as it's a little heavier than the 50mm OE so matches up well with the balance of the Strato crank , wrist pin, etc. And like the Strato saws, they rather be at no load around 13k. I guess I've not seen the lose of plating you mentioned. Not yet. Almost wonder if something is getting in there like a grit or a sand
@@afleetcommand Thank you for the reply. I destratified this saw when new before I ever ran it. This saw has only been run on Bel-ray H1r 32:1 with ethanol free gas. There are no marks on the piston. The factory horizontal lines are still like new, If I were to put another x-torque cylinder on it I would have no reservations with reusing the original piston and rings. The plating is not worn thin, and other than the holes, and light scoring originating from the holes, looks to be in nice shape. It really looks like the casting under the plating is bad. I feel I really did everything to this saw to make it last. I have several OEM Mahle Stihl cylinders with over 20 years production logging time on them that I have ran since new that are still good so I figure my maintenance, oil mix and builds must count for something. If I could find a 51.4mm I would go that route but I have had no luck finding one, I originally planned on that build with this saw until I saw your videos on building the x-torques so I didn't buy that cylinder back in 2018 at a bargain price unfortunately. I am one the fence with the x-torque cylinder vs OE my other 372 x-torque is still going strong and I believe your build concept for these is solid. This saw simply had a bad cylinder, perhaps it would have failed alot sooner had I not done the above mentioned steps. I would like to rebuild this saw with the best parts available and hopefully it will last a long time. Planning and researching.....
@@afleetcommand I am afraid so. Not that I am aware of. Unless I find a new old stock Mahle I believe if I ordered a new cylinder tomorrow it would be made by Gilardoni in Italy, none of the dealers I spoke with could confirm that for sure until they get one in. I will take a look at a 2022 372 x-torque and see what cylinder is on it, also I have to double check but either my newest 390 or 395 may have a Gilardoni cylinder instead of a Mahle. I am not impressed with the casting quality of the Gilardoni cylinder on the 592xp, the ports in the Meteor cylinders I have used looked better, maybe unwarranted, time will tell, but just another reason I am hesitant about ordering a new x-torque cylinder. The first Stihl MS 461 cylinder and subsequent I have, looked real bad compared to a Mahle 046 cylinder but they have held up real well despite their appearance so maybe one shouldn't judge this book by the cover. It would be nice to know Husqvarna's real motivation behind switching cylinder manufacturers, was it cost, supply, or quality issues?
I have a box of "Take off's" all Mahle, I'll look but they all look good. I haven't seen the bad plating ... yet. Bob was saying all the Original Edition replacement cylinders are from Italy now. :( Seems like Husqvarna is being driven by bean counters now. They also are getting rid of CST for a more controlled by the mother ship system for dealers.
I love that expression thank you very much. Retorical no response necessary.ttyl Walt it's your biggest fan Cliff
Great video, I just bought a holtzfforma g288, with 24” bar, so far I like it, I have a stihl ms460 and 034, a old jonesreds 801 and a little shindiawa 488, and the stihl. S180, all good saws, I’m in eastern NY, not far from Albany, I enjoy your channel,
Why I build saws! Any idiot can go out and buy a fully completed saw but I get an extra plus knowing I built the sucker. I finished building my ms 250 kit saw this week. Robbed the bar and chain from my ms 251 to use on it. It is not my ms 440 but cuts a lot faster than my smaller saws.
It has some development issues - the chain break handle was rough and it failed after a few uses. I have ordered a complete new set of parts for the chain break system. Will put them on when they come in. I also do not like the master control lever and trigger, so will probably replace them with oem, too.the thing I found to be junk on the kit were seals, chain break handle and fuel line.
Thx for sharing walt!!
I paint my axe heads red to match their original True Temper paint. Makes not loosing them in the leaves I often cut in. What I have a problem loosing is their leather sheathes, which I have made for them. I lost the one on my Boys axe last year and brown is easy to loose in the leaves. I have lost a few wedges but they are yellow and easy to find. I carry five with me and count five before I stop looking. I painted my wedge/ sledge complete blaze orange, so it is easy to find.
I have a fun saw that I use often. It is a 268xp. It is still usable in daily use. I like my saw line up. Making a video on them in the next few days. Thanks for sharing
Great video Walt! Love them saws!!👍
The ms 250 is also an easy saw to flood, too. Yesterday, it cranked in 2,2P, which is about as good as I can expect from a Stihl saw. I do lift weights every night before supper. I have a 5, 12 and 20# dumbbells. Mi do curls with them every night before supper. I do 50 with the 5#, 25 with the 12# and 20 with the 20#. They have helped me pull over saws because they have built up my hand and arm strength. I ground start everything when they are cold. I may leg start them, afterwards but cold they go on the ground. Age catches up to all of us.
Thanks for the video. Looks like the 395 is working out great for you.
Good stuff as usual walt. The 395 seems to be finding a spot in your arsenal
Nice saw!
Mate!!!!🤩🤩🪓🌲🪵👌🤙 bloody good . Good saw Nice 😊 👍
I have been wanting a big saw for a while, but used ones go for $800 around here. I think you convinced me to try a g395. Purely for hobby/fun. I just need to find an orange one.
Expect to have to get a better piston like I did :) And if you don't then you will be happy. I may go "OEM" with the oil pump as well. Need more than what it's putting out on the dead and dry ash. But yeah, I really like that saw and to THIS point in time, it's just working better and better. Could frag tomorrow! But I'm having fun with it. IF you make a living with a saw....buy OEM though. It's worth the money in the long run.
i also do as shallow of a face as possible with roughly 80 percent of the width of the tree for the length of the hinge. i think it used to be the rule of thumb was a 3rd of the tree 'in for your face but i think they might have changed it to a 1/4 now but dont quote me on that lol. the only time i do a deep face cut is if im chunking somthing down or have a totem at the end of a removal i will make a deep facecut so it falls in on itself easier. makes chunking down big pieces quite abit easier when up in a tree or in a bucket. i only really ever come in from the front on really big trees and my bar wont reach cuz i hardly ever use anything more then a 25 inch. ive been running a 440 stihl lately and i really love it. not to heavy plenty of power and just goes forever. have watched your vids for years and have enjoyed them so thank you.
Thank you for your support, I do more bore cut from the front because of the ash tree's we have here....they pull real bad. Most of the time. SO just bore cut away the part of the hinge that gets to the money wood.
I love my g395
i hate and love famertec i hate that i have to change so many parts to make the run good but once iv done that it runns well
Nice video! Walt, If I may ask your thoughts on an issue I have with one of my 2018 OEM 372 x-torque saws that I purchased new, your insight would be greatly appreciated. The saw started really loosing power with the bar buried in a tree while felling, upon diagnosing the source of the problem, the only thing wrong with the saw was small pin holes in the plating of the cylinder. I can poke a scribe into them. The compression is 135#, and the saw pressure and vac tested fine, it has never run lean. Initially there was no scoring. I took the saw out to my landing the next day and made a couple of cuts, the saw really lost power again. I removed the muffler and intake boot, there were more pin holes in the plating a now a couple of light scores originating from the first pin holes. The piston and rings have no damage and surprisingly show no wear. I estimate the saw to have 600 hrs of production logging time. This is the second OEM Husqvarna Mahle cylinder cylinder that I have experienced this in, the other was ironically a 372xp original addition that I purchased used with pin holes in the plating. I am a leaning towards putting an OEM original addition cylinder on this saw, I have been trying to find a 51.4mm xpw cylinder but have had no luck. This saw up to this point has always started and run excellently, I usually run a 28" light bar on this saw. I like this saw but have to say I like my original addition 372s more. Have you seen this issue with OEM cylinders and what cylinder would you currently choose for a production 372 x-torque logging saw?
A lot of stuff in that question and experience. Guess one question I have is what oil & mix do you use? The strato saw are hard on the cylinders part because the "rock" and rattle and part because the get a raw dose of air thru the strato ports and on the intake side of the piston. The work saw I build based on the X--torq's have the filter holder, intake boot, and intake port/strato port worked were I essentially rid the saw of the strato stuff. And now the fuel/oil mix also flushes the intake side of the piston more. There is a fuel usage increase but the saws have lasted longer than the stock saws. Sometimes the "repaired" and modified saws I've done out lasted the OEM stock version. Actually most did.
As a side note I also converted the "owners" to a 32:1 or at least 40:1 mix on those built saws. ( Husqvarna synthetic blend or "ester" based full synthetic like Bel-Ray H1R , NO Wax ( Paraffin ) based synthetics please! )
I like the OE 51.4 cylinder on the X-torq as it's a little heavier than the 50mm OE so matches up well with the balance of the Strato crank , wrist pin, etc. And like the Strato saws, they rather be at no load around 13k.
I guess I've not seen the lose of plating you mentioned. Not yet. Almost wonder if something is getting in there like a grit or a sand
@@afleetcommand Thank you for the reply. I destratified this saw when new before I ever ran it. This saw has only been run on Bel-ray H1r 32:1 with ethanol free gas. There are no marks on the piston. The factory horizontal lines are still like new, If I were to put another x-torque cylinder on it I would have no reservations with reusing the original piston and rings. The plating is not worn thin, and other than the holes, and light scoring originating from the holes, looks to be in nice shape. It really looks like the casting under the plating is bad. I feel I really did everything to this saw to make it last. I have several OEM Mahle Stihl cylinders with over 20 years production logging time on them that I have ran since new that are still good so I figure my maintenance, oil mix and builds must count for something. If I could find a 51.4mm I would go that route but I have had no luck finding one, I originally planned on that build with this saw until I saw your videos on building the x-torques so I didn't buy that cylinder back in 2018 at a bargain price unfortunately. I am one the fence with the x-torque cylinder vs OE my other 372 x-torque is still going strong and I believe your build concept for these is solid. This saw simply had a bad cylinder, perhaps it would have failed alot sooner had I not done the above mentioned steps. I would like to rebuild this saw with the best parts available and hopefully it will last a long time. Planning and researching.....
Obviously then simply sub par parts right? Does Mahle have a factory other than in Germany making those cylinders for Husqvarna?
@@afleetcommand I am afraid so. Not that I am aware of. Unless I find a new old stock Mahle I believe if I ordered a new cylinder tomorrow it would be made by Gilardoni in Italy, none of the dealers I spoke with could confirm that for sure until they get one in. I will take a look at a 2022 372 x-torque and see what cylinder is on it, also I have to double check but either my newest 390 or 395 may have a Gilardoni cylinder instead of a Mahle. I am not impressed with the casting quality of the Gilardoni cylinder on the 592xp, the ports in the Meteor cylinders I have used looked better, maybe unwarranted, time will tell, but just another reason I am hesitant about ordering a new x-torque cylinder. The first Stihl MS 461 cylinder and subsequent I have, looked real bad compared to a Mahle 046 cylinder but they have held up real well despite their appearance so maybe one shouldn't judge this book by the cover. It would be nice to know Husqvarna's real motivation behind switching cylinder manufacturers, was it cost, supply, or quality issues?
I have a box of "Take off's" all Mahle, I'll look but they all look good. I haven't seen the bad plating ... yet. Bob was saying all the Original Edition replacement cylinders are from Italy now. :( Seems like Husqvarna is being driven by bean counters now. They also are getting rid of CST for a more controlled by the mother ship system for dealers.