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Got a new ms361. How are they???

Started by Valley Mick, January 08, 2010, 10:50:46 PM

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Valley Mick

Got myself a new ms 361  8)after a bad experiance with a used 034.  Saw seems to be a Demon in wood 8).  But find it really easy to flood.  Any tips for this new saw??
Gotta be a bad habit from my old stihl saws that has carried over. What do you guys think of these?  Talked to a feller up the road and he said he heard good things about them but has never run one.  neat-o thing winds out to 14,000.   Also book says to not cut at high revs for first five tanks. Is this 3/4 trottle or shoiuld I relly baby it for the first couple?   ???
Why do you always realize it was a bad idea after sometin's BUSTED !

beenthere

Flooding when?  cold start or warm start?

Use non-ethanol gas, and plan to run a few tankfuls through before running real smooth.

I 'spect you will like this one real well.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

chevytaHOE5674

If it floods easy at start up that is because you are leaving it choked too long. You have to be listening very closely for that first pop that tells you to take it off full choke. I blame this on the choked up muffler, my muffler modded 361 is easy to tell when it goes pop that first time, stocker not so easy.

windthrown

The 361 tends to flood when you use the decomp when they are cold. Lay off the decomp when they are cold and the choke is set and they will start fine. Also be sure to listen for the roll over. At that point flip the lever to fast idle. O/w you will flood them. For this very reson the L.A. fire dept. used zip ties to disable the decomp buttons on their 361s. They almost always start then cold, so restarting when warm is not common, so the decomp is not needed. Also if you drop start your saws, the decomp is not really needed on the 361 anyway.
Stihls: 440R, 361, 360, 310, 260, 211, 020T. Husky: 372xt.
I ship Stihl saws down under: message me for details.

Valley Mick

I will try to flip the choke off right away.  Only thing I dont like about the saw is the control lever is so neat-o short.  Almost imposible to work with cutting mitts on.
You sais you have a muffler mod on yours what does this do to them exactly???  Also thinking of removing the spark arrester.  This seems to be a real bad set-up
with little slide in screen.  Wonder if a fella just so happeded to drill a couple of holes in it??? And how do you get more oil out of the oiler.  I have mine wide open and still doesn't really seem to put out alot of oil.  Or will this get better with more hours???
Why do you always realize it was a bad idea after sometin's BUSTED !

Rocky_J

The 460 oiler is a direct swap to fix the low oil output issue. And you have the right idea on the muffler. After enlarging the muffler outlet, be sure to richen up the high speed jet to compensate for the better flow. Otherwise you risk burning up the saw from running too lean.

DonT

I have heard good things about the 361.I just bought a husky 357xp,husky and stihl are both good saws,but my dealer is great to deal with,and treats me well.i have found that some of the stihl dealers(rental shops)need a tune up in customer service.is there a thread on modifying new saws?

peppone

Quote from: windthrown on January 09, 2010, 03:52:53 AM
The 361 tends to flood when you use the decomp when they are cold. Lay off the decomp when they are cold and the choke is set and they will start fine. Also be sure to listen for the roll over. At that point flip the lever to fast idle. O/w you will flood them. For this very reson the L.A. fire dept. used zip ties to disable the decomp buttons on their 361s. They almost always start then cold, so restarting when warm is not common, so the decomp is not needed. Also if you drop start your saws, the decomp is not really needed on the 361 anyway.

right! In my 20 years of experience as user and repairman of chainsaws I realized that sometimes the decompressor is something boring that brings trouble. In particular on the medium engine saw as the 361.
But ms 361, for the rest, it's defintly a wondering machine!!!!
you're invited to visit my forum all about chainsaws:
http://lamotosega.forumattivo.com/forum.htm
saluti
peppone

windthrown

Spark arrester screens are required here in the west. Fire control is serious business here. So removing muffler screens is not really an option in the west. As for the US version of the 361, the muffler is pretty choked up for sure. They are crimped at the factory to keep us owners from pulling them apart and drilling them out (like on the 260) or adding factory DP covers (like on the 440/460). The only way to modify the mufflers are to drill and braise/weld on tubes, or cut them open on the side and add shark gills. In the west, we have to add fire screens to the modified sections of the mufflers. Then of course once the mufflers are modified, we have to remove the limiter caps on the carbs to richen them up properly (another attempt to keep us from moding our saws). Once the carb is adjusted, you have to put the limiter caps back on to keep the carb H&L screws from vibrating out of their settings. Some dealers here will not sell limiter caps...

As for running a new 361, it takes about 10 tanks of gas to seat the rings and get them to run at full power. Similar to a lot of saws. I would not back off on running the saw at WOT in the cut when they are new though. Saws are designed to run at WOT, and they run better that way. The 361 books that I have say not to WOT with the saw unloaded for the first 3 tanks of gas, which is probably OK. Its just hard to do a cut w/o running unloaded WOT just before you start the cut to get the revs up. Also they are nearly impossible to tune properly unless you run them WOT unloaded for a moment to get the high tach reading. Note also that once the rings seat the carb should be re-tuned again. Usually its just a fine adjustment that does not require messing with the carb limiter caps. The high seatting for the 361 is 14,000 +/- 500 RPM. With a ported or muffler modded saw, you can probably run it safely up to 15,000 RPM as long as it is still 4-stroking (burpeling) at WOT. 
Stihls: 440R, 361, 360, 310, 260, 211, 020T. Husky: 372xt.
I ship Stihl saws down under: message me for details.

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