Thread: husky 3120xp for bobl

Thanks Carl - you have given me some things to consider when upgrading. I have a friend who doesn't get on this forum but who has a 3120xp and loves it - I will try to get some response from him.

Originally Posted by weisyboy

1. oil insufficient to run 42" bar

2. pull start design, the cord goes round tehn under the little plastic surround that is there for god knows what reason then back up. the cord will run sideways on this and jump out and get jammed. i then have to stick a screwdriver down in there to unhook it. this is a common problem others have fixed it with larger cord and removing the little cover thing.

3. fuel vaporises in the carby. very hard to start when hot. and runs badly when it gets hot. another common problem that was fixed on the next model but teh part wont fit.

4. outboard clutch. makes it a pain in the rear to get the chain and bar on.

5. air filter. teh cover rattles lose and it falls out.

It sounds like you have an old model? The only one of those problems I have seen on the new models is the inboard drive sprocket

The current 3120 can output up to 54 mL/min of oil per minute. The standard 880 only does 38 mL/min - a bit more for the Aussie models.

The new model is also coil limited to 9500 rpm

I have one of these, 1998 model... of the 5 points Carl has put up that I do have probs with is the fuel vapourizing kinda problem, if that is what it is mine runs fine when hot or cold but can have probs when in between slabs and I restart but not everytime, only happened once today from about 10 starts, I have noticed that it hasn't been as bad since I have been using ur basic unleaded instead of premium but it could also be that I had a little tune time with it....As premium doesn't sell as much in the servo either I could be just putting old fuel in it as well What do others think about using ordinary unleaded vs premium?

no pull start probs
no air cleaner probs
it spits out enuff oil to coat the inside of the outboard chain guard... 42" bar
out board clutch...well that's just the way it is


Apart from that I bought it secondhand and havent done a thing to it apart from ur basic maintenance

Peter

Be careful reversing Pete!!! Someone left a saw behind ya truck

If I was an everyday user I wouldn't bother but because I am an erratic CS user of fuel I use premium.

What happens with petrol is it slowly goes off and breaks down which has the effect of dropping the octane rating. Additives like two stroke lube speed up the break down so mix loses octane rating faster than straight petrol. Octane loss is also increased if old mix is left in the container so I never mix new into stuff that is more than 4 weeks old

I have 2 x 5 L and a 10 L fuel canisters and I generally buy 10 L of premium at a time. Because I will rarely use all 10L in one day I premix ~3 - 4 L into one of the 5L canisters. If the mix is sitting around for more than 4 weeks, or the premium is sitting for more than 2 months, I dump the lot into the Subaru (yep even the two stroke mix) and immediately top the Subaru up with premium and refill my CS fuel containers. I always buy from a petrol station that has a high turnover so that chances are the stuff will be fresh.

Originally Posted by Sigidi

Be careful reversing Pete!!! Someone left a saw behind ya truck

Rule number one with CS owners ship - never leave the saw behind a vehicle. The number of saws I hear about being backed over on the ArboristeSite is depressing. The other wipeouts are saws being left on the tailgates and being placed on tops of piles of firewood on vehicles and falling off the pile on the way home - that last one is just dumb in my book!

I have owned a 3120 for quite a while,cant remember exactly but must be about 10 years. I have slabbed approx 60 M/3 of hardwood with it, at least half of that was Cooktown Ironwood (it hasnt had much use in the last few years though, health issues and work)

I havent had a problem with the bar lube oil, there is a button on the rear of the engine cowl to give maximum oil output, this has been left on since I bought the saw.
The pull starter has never been a problem.

The air cleaner is the biggest issue I had with the saw, as far as I'm concerned the air induction system is poorly designed on this saw.
Cooktown Ironwood dust comes off very fine, almost like talcum powder, it doesnt take long to block the filter. I started to look into fitting a remote air filter housing to the mill, but didnt go ahead with it, I was worried that the engine might run too lean, bigger carby jets weren't available for my saw , the dealer was looking into options for me (different carby or drilling out jets, but I transferred with my job and didnt persue it further)
The dealer said he knew of guys in New Guinea using 3120's on railmills, they fitted 2 air filters to the saw, one on top of the other, using a long screw and a top plate, throw away the original cover.

I helped overcome the dust issue with mine by turning the saw around in the mill and cutting with the top of the bar, this threw most of the dust away from the saw. I could cut all day on one filter doing it this way. Using the saw this way didnt seem to cause any problems, any extra wear on the bar was compensated by the vast improvement in air filter life.

The air filter itself was also an issue, the glue that they were held together with failed in the extreme heat, I use to mill up on Cape York, so heat was an issue.
I got a foam filter made up by Unifilter, but it was too bulky. I didnt use it long.

Two other people I know had premature engine failure with their 3120's because the muffler screws came loose. Both had to have piston and cylinder replaced.
I always checked my muffler screws were tight at the start of each day milling, and never had a problem.

I always used Premium unleaded, and full synthetic 2 stroke oil mixed at 25:1.
I pulled my engine apart after 100 hours or so, of milling, the piston, rings and bore were still as new. I replaced the rings only because I had them on hand.

All up I am happy wih the saw, and would buy another one the same If I needed to.

Originally Posted by Ironwood

The air cleaner is the biggest issue I had with the saw, as far as I'm concerned the air induction system is poorly designed on this saw.
Cooktown Ironwood dust comes off very fine, almost like talcum powder, it doesnt take long to block the filter. I started to look into fitting a remote air filter housing to the mill, but didnt go ahead with it, I was worried that the engine might run too lean, bigger carby jets weren't available for my saw , the dealer was looking into options for me (different carby or drilling out jets, but I transferred with my job and didnt persue it further)
The dealer said he knew of guys in New Guinea using 3120's on railmills, they fitted 2 air filters to the saw, one on top of the other, using a long screw and a top plate, throw away the original cover.

The fact that that there is no H screw on the 3120 carby on newer models is a bit of a PITA but the one I used never seemed to have this level of problem with the airfilter even in dry jarrah, although jarrah is nowhere near as fibrous or hard as CT ironwood. All teh other stuff I've cut with one has been green or near green.

I helped overcome the dust issue with mine by turning the saw around in the mill and cutting with the top of the bar, this threw most of the dust away from the saw. I could cut all day on one filter doing it this way. Using the saw this way didnt seem to cause any problems, any extra wear on the bar was compensated by the vast improvement in air filter life.

I have tried milling this way and I found it worked OK except that the powerhead wants to keep throwing itself away from the log and I found I had to waste a lot of energy butting the powerhead up against the log. The reverse jams the log up against the bar and uses an equal amount of energy unjamming the bar away from the log. A solution to this is putting wheels on the inboard side of the mill - I found this uses by far the least amount of energy. The problem got worse with milling narrow logs with a longer bar since if I let the powerhead ride out away from the log, that exposed the bar on the operator side of the representing a greater danger, plus the weight of the power is poorly supported and requires effort to support.

Of course this does not solve your problem but the following might.

The best unintentional result of modifying the exhaust on my 880 was that the exhaust now flings the sawdust well away from the mill.



Besides reducing the load on the air filter (the 880 air filter is not much better in fact it may even be worse than the 3120) it means no more walking on many cm of sawdust when walking alongside the log.

BTW - When I use saws with 25:1 I almost immediately got a headache from the unburnt lube coming out of the exhaust as well as turning my chaps a greasy black and I have never been able to get them clean since. I now run everything 40:1 - no headache and clean chaps - having an exhaust that is directed away from the operator also helps

The fella I know who loves his 3120 conceded that changing chains is a PITA, but has had none of the other problems you mentioned Carl. He bought his saw 6 years ago secondhand, so not a new model. He has twice left the saw for two years, unstarted, and no precautions taken, and it started fine when needed. He reckons the easy starting is a big plus.

Ya never know it could be a Friday model

Everyone repeat after me........
I must not leave the saw behind the truck
I must not leave the saw behind the truck
I must not leave the saw behind the truck
So far I havent run over it or lost it off the back

A few things have come out of this thread for me....
Go back to using premium
Consider a leaner oil mix, currently mix at 25:1
A non oil mixed fuel container must label the non mixed

Originally Posted by pjt

Consider a leaner oil mix, currently mix at 25:1
A non oil mixed fuel container must label the non mixed

Most people are not aware of what is in two stroke lube.

It is a concoction of stuff designed to pass all sorts of tests and look good but is still not good for you. Here is what it says on the MSDS sheet.

" . . . contains lubricating compound, dispersants, solvents, viscosity modifiers, metal deactivators, rust inhibitors, stabilizers, high pressure and anti-wear additives, and antifoam agents! Components may originate from animals and vegetables, or synthetic processes."

The reason the modern two stroke engines produce less visible smoke is not necessarily because they produced less smoke but because they produce smoke that is less visible. Some of this is due to the engine and some is due to the lube. The additives in the lube are designed so the soot and unburnt fuel and lube are converted into particles and droplets that are too small to see so the operator thinks, WOW this is burning clean so there is no problem in adding a bit more. The reality is that you still breathe in all this crap in and it's not good for you.

A modern CS can easily cope with 50:1 petrol:lube ratio but for milling you might want to go a bit less, 25:1 is overkill and just means more unburnt gunk in the air for you to breathe.

In Will Malloff's book on "chainsaw lumber making" he recommends decreasing the petrol/lube ratio by 1/6th

So if the manufacturer recommend X:1 use 5/6 times X : 1
For a 50:1 this translates to 5/6 x 50 = 42:1 or 40:1 is close enough.

All good stuff BobL, I'm up for breathing less "stuff" we can be a bit blaze` at times cant we? Even today I thought...nah it's only a little bit of log I won't put my chaps on, then I had visions of a great gash across my leg
So now I put 125ml of oil to my 5l of fuel for a 40:1 mix

Decommpression would be a standard feature on all saws these days wouldn't it?

Originally Posted by pjt

Even today I thought...nah it's only a little bit of log I won't put my chaps on, then I had visions of a great gash across my leg

I wore my chaps even to prune my sisters bottlebrush with my 50 cc Mac. All spindly and twisted it was. Brother in law thought it was a bit funny, told him I'd look funnier with a cut leg.