Husky 3120 and Stihl 880 ,positives & negatives.

[widowmaker]

gday

i have cooked (melted) the cylinder on my 3120 and 2 x 575XP husky saws splitting posts, never cooked a stihl.

i feel they just rev to high to the extended constant use.

i will never buy a husky again.

hey carl, howz things ?? I've never cooked a saw yet, done countless split posts, with both saws ..a lot of the iron bark logs have been dead for decades, so they where hard as iron, throwing sparks and all . Ive herd of a few husky melt downs as well as stihl pistons exploding and cooking ... the huskys do rev hard tho ..maybe there better suited to a milder cooler swedish/canadian climate? might be the operator too tho!? I always run my saws 25-1 and keep the H rich, and muffler open... keep the cooling fins cleaned and the saw well maintained ... the boys in the RFS are using huskys and stihls ...and they get flogged hard in middle of summer cutting fire breaks, and felling trees that are on fire in 50 degree + heat, with no problems at all ....

[widowmaker]

hey boys do all the new 880s have them silly flippy flappy plastic fuel and oil caps ?? and does $2500 for a new 880 sound right about right ???

[weisyboy]

i have always had stihls, neve been able to kill one yet.

even when we cooked those huskys we had stihls running on the same fuel cans doing the same work.

$2500 sounds about right, and i think all the stihls have those caps now, i havent found them to bad. never had nay real problems but a little fiddily.

when splitting i have the rakers cut right down and the saws are bogging down teh whole time, really hauling threw.

i am just a stihl fan.

[widowmaker]

thanks carl ! fan of both saws in Pro series & Pro Jreds ...love the 090, old Av's and the old 066 ....love the 395xp that's my felling ,bucking saw. got 2 of them

[BobL]

hey boys do all the new 880s have them silly flippy flappy plastic fuel and oil caps ?? and does $2500 for a new 880 sound right about right ???

No problems with the caps.
$2500 sounds right for a new 880
I managed to get mine for $1400. It was a year old and never been used - no warranty but I was going to write it off by modifying anyway.
There's no need to fog yourself with 25:1 on it either - it mills fine at 40:1 and that's what I use for the 076 and 441 as well.

[widowmaker]

No problems with the caps.
$2500 sounds right for a new 880
I managed to get mine for $1400. It was a year old and never been used - no warranty but I was going to write it off by modifying anyway.
There's no need to fog yourself with 25:1 on it either - it mills fine at 40:1 and that's what I use for the 076 and 441 as well.

hey bob, yeah ratios are a debating topic in the industry ..I find all the oil gets burned no worries when the throttle is opened up mate, I don't have a problem with unburned /smokey clouds .. been using 25:1 for 20 years ..its what all the logging boys down these parts use, and that's what the local dealers recommend for "big bore" performance saws, these saws spend there life constantly in there full RPM range, they need the extra oil, especially in summer on the far south coast of Oz, I think the saw manufactures only say a higher ratio so they can sell more saws and keep the greens of there ass .but all things considered the guy down the road with the little saw "Non Big Bore" that only cuts some firewood occasionally ,he can use a higher ratio and not cook his saw ... some reading that might be of some help ?? Dan's Motorcycle "2-Stroke Oil " /
Motorcycle Repair Course ....I realize you rip a lot of wood and use the higher ratio without any trouble, but the saw could benefit with a "little" extra oil in my opinion ... cheers bud

[BobL]

hey bob, yeah ratios are a debating topic in the industry ..I find all the oil gets burned no worries when the throttle is opened up mate, I don't have a problem with unburned /smokey clouds .. been using 25:1 for 20 years ..its what all the logging boys down these parts use, and that's what the local dealers recommend for "big bore" performance saws, these saws spend there life constantly in there full RPM range, they need the extra oil, especially in summer on the far south coast of Oz, I think the saw manufactures only say a higher ratio so they can sell more saws and keep the greens of there ass .but all things considered the guy down the road with the little saw "Non Big Bore" that only cuts some firewood occasionally ,he can use a higher ratio and not cook his saw ... some reading that might be of some help ?? Dan's Motorcycle "2-Stroke Oil " /
Motorcycle Repair Course ....I realize you rip a lot of wood and use the higher ratio without any trouble, but the saw could benefit with a "little" extra oil in my opinion ... cheers bud

We can chew the fat about this all day long but the fact is that many additives used in modern two-stroke lube have nothing to do do with lubrication and are specifically designed not to burn up. The prime function of these additives is to act as a smoke suppressant to stop the formation of visible smoke so we don't annoy the neighbors. What these additives do is prevent the unburnt oil from agglomerating to form particles that a big enough to see as smoke. Unfortunately this fools the operator into thinking that "more is better" they can use more lube because it is getting burnt up but all that is happening is that an invisible fog of unburnt oil fills the general atmosphere around the operator. It must be my weak "city boy" disposition but whenever I use 25:1, I get a headache after working a saw for a couple of hours. It also leaves my chaps and clothing and skin with a fine layer of gunk which I can well do without. Whenever my buddy runs his 3120 with the 25:1 I stay well upwind from him.

Modern saws will run very successfully using 100:1 fully synthetic lube but the down side is the mix has to be done very accurately and the saw has to remain very well tuned so there is no room for error and this is why 50:1 is recommended. The oil companies wont tell us any of this because it is in their interest for use to use more, not less, lube. Once the mix has a bit of oil in it the reason operators cook their saws has much more to do with air/mix ratio than oil/petrol ratio in the mix.

[widowmaker]

We can chew the fat about this all day long but the fact is that many additives used in modern two-stroke lube have nothing to do do with lubrication and are specifically designed not to burn up. The prime function of these additives is to act as a smoke suppressant to stop the formation of visible smoke so we don't annoy the neighbors. What these additives do is prevent the unburnt oil from agglomerating to form particles that a big enough to see as smoke. Unfortunately this fools the operator into thinking that "more is better" they can use more lube because it is getting burnt up but all that is happening is that an invisible fog of unburnt oil fills the general atmosphere around the operator. It must be my weak "city boy" disposition but whenever I use 25:1, I get a headache after working a saw for a couple of hours. It also leaves my chaps and clothing and skin with a fine layer of gunk which I can well do without. Whenever my buddy runs his 3120 with the 25:1 I stay well upwind from him.

Modern saws will run very successfully using 100:1 fully synthetic lube but the down side is the mix has to be done very accurately and the saw has to remain very well tuned so there is no room for error and this is why 50:1 is recommended. The oil companies wont tell us any of this because it is in their interest for use to use more, not less, lube. The reason operators cook their saws has more to do with overloading relative to the tuning than the mix ratio.

hey bob ...some what true ,but regardless to the numbers and all the scientific facts and study's, there is Oil and there is the "2 stroke motor" which only has the oil "we" mix in the fuel, the 2 stroke motor relies "only" on this oil to lubricate crankshaft, pinions, bearings, piston, rings, chamber walls and to help cool the whole process of a two stroke engines moving parts! ...if we are to run these engines on minute amounts of oil to satisfy neighbours or satisfy individual opinions on how much oil is being burnt and wasted, then we may as well seek a 4 stroke chainsaw solution . "myself" I use more oil to lubricate moving parts, a 2 stroke motor will cook / seize without enough oil lubricating !! as a lean set H will also cook a 2 stroke motor, and with the harsh Australian climate our 2 strokes, need the extra oil ...if we use more oil (25:1 compared to 50:1 ) it has nothing to do with oil companies ripping us off, or whether the saw emits more or less smoke ....its really all about keeping the 2 stroke motor lubed ,they don't have a sump to scavenge from ...

[BobL]

hey bob ...some what true ,but regardless to the numbers and all the scientific facts and study's, there is Oil and there is the "2 stroke motor" which only has the oil "we" mix in the fuel, the 2 stroke motor relies "only" on this oil to lubricate crankshaft, pinions, bearings, piston, rings, chamber walls and to help cool the whole process of a two stroke engines moving parts! ...if we are to run these engines on minute amounts of oil to satisfy neighbours or satisfy individual opinions on how much oil is being burnt and wasted, then we may as well seek a 4 stroke chainsaw solution .

This is not my own opinion. It is the manufacturers current recommended way of operating saws (ie it's in all their operator manuals) and yes they test world wide including Australia. I used to be a follower of the 25:1 gospel but after I started developing headaches when using 25:1 and had several interesting on-line exchanges with experienced CS operators and some very senior CS engineers about this I changed my mind. You are perfectly entitled to have your opinion but I'll go with the engineers and avoid the headaches and greasy chaps while I'm operating.

[widowmaker]

This is not my own opinion. It is the manufacturers current recommended way of operating saws (ie it's in all their operator manuals) and yes they test world wide including Australia. I used to be a follower of the 25:1 gospel but after I started developing headaches when using 25:1 and had several interesting on-line exchanges with experienced CS operators and some very senior CS engineers about this I changed my mind. You are perfectly entitled to have your opinion but I'll go with the engineers and avoid the headaches and greasy chaps while I'm operating.

hey bob ,i see your point why your using less oil, if the fumes effect your health, Maybe try and hook up a fan system or Mill on windy days. I personally don't go with what the Manufactures recommend, there only interest is selling more saws and keeping there products on the production line in accordance with strict emissions control ...I am a qualified mechanic, so I am experienced in the field. But I guess I just look after my engines better than myself and chaps .. .... cheers mate

[widowmaker]

local husky dealer gave me a price for a New 3120xp today.. $2200 does that sound right ???

[Sigidi]

$2200 for a 3120? wow! I was recently quoted $2000 for a 395, I would have thought a 3120 would be a bit bigger jump in price

[widowmaker]

$2200 for a 3120? wow! I was recently quoted $2000 for a 395, I would have thought a 3120 would be a bit bigger jump in price

yeah the local husky/lawnmower place in town, quoted me for a NEW 3120xp with 42" bar for $2200 ...I also bough 2 New 395xp's of him last year for $1700 each ... And the local stihl dealer Quoted $2500 for a New 880 with 30" bar.

[Dean M]

If I had that quantiy of timber etc from previous threads that you have, I'd drop the coin into a lucas and not worry about another chainsaw. Maybe use one of the huskys you have for the smaller logs chainsaw milling and get the machine that will be user friendly and get the job done with no fuss and probably make better use of the timber you have.

The Lucas mills seem to hold there value, so you could get your job done, have a blast doing it and sell it when you have had enough if you have finished with it. You'd probably be able to depreciate the purchase and I would have strong doubts if you sold it, if anybody would want a receipt for it second hand so you've won again. Just my thoughts.

[widowmaker]

If I had that quantiy of timber etc from previous threads that you have, I'd drop the coin into a lucas and not worry about another chainsaw. Maybe use one of the huskys you have for the smaller logs chainsaw milling and get the machine that will be user friendly and get the job done with no fuss and probably make better use of the timber you have.

The Lucas mills seem to hold there value, so you could get your job done, have a blast doing it and sell it when you have had enough if you have finished with it. You'd probably be able to depreciate the purchase and I would have strong doubts if you sold it, if anybody would want a receipt for it second hand so you've won again. Just my thoughts.

Ill be getting a Lusas soon as I can lay down $10000, got a lucas piggy bank ....But i love My chainsaws and you only live once right ..so I want more