Abrasiveness of sawdust to chain saw engines

[Fatboymoe]

I just bought a new Husqvarna 550 XP from a dealer on the east coast. The air filter that came with it was the east coast version, the nylon mesh one. The west coast version is fleeced. I guess Husqvarna determined that the east has more damp conditions and the west coast has dryer, dustier conditions. Total guess on my part.

If you keep your chains really sharp and blow out the crud after you are done cutting, getting fines down inside the carburetor is almost nil. A little grease on the filter mount helps also.

The Air-Injection really works well on Husqvarna's as mentioned above. I did buy the fleeced filter for my saw. The OEM filter was like $8. I do cut in dusty conditions frequently.

 

[nitehawk55]

Originally Posted By: Fatboymoe
I just bought a new Husqvarna 550 XP from a dealer on the east coast. The air filter that came with it was the east coast version, the nylon mesh one. The west coast version is fleeced. I guess Husqvarna determined that the east has more damp conditions and the west coast has dryer, dustier conditions. Total guess on my part.

If you keep your chains really sharp and blow out the crud after you are done cutting, getting fines down inside the carburetor is almost nil. A little grease on the filter mount helps also.

The Air-Injection really works well on Husqvarna's as mentioned above. I did buy the fleeced filter for my saw. The OEM filter was like $8. I do cut in dusty conditions frequently.


I don't know why Husky does that but smart move on getting the fleeced . My Husky dealer highly recommends the fleeced as well and also recommends just lightly misting them with a gun oil spray like Rem-oil .

 

[boraticus]

Lucky? You think so?

Thirty plus years x three saws all running strong? Hardly luck.

The factory installed filtration systems are obviously doing their jobs.

As a matter of fact, my nephew and I were out cutting firewood on the weekend. My nephew, who's a healthy, strong outdoors guy who lives on the west coast and employed in forest related activity and is very familiar with chainsaw performance. He stated that my old Jonsereds 630 is his benchmark saw for comparing cutting speed with other late model saws. He says that he rarely comes across comparable sized brand new saws with the same level of performance of a 33 year old saw. My 30 year old Jonsereds 670 is just as stout.

I'm confident to say that the performance factor has nothing to do with luck and more to do with pro quality design and build.

Considering your claimed credentials, in your opinion, why would Stihl or any other quality chainsaw manufacturer install ineffective air filtration systems on their equipment? Wouldn't that be counter productive?



Originally Posted By: nitehawk55
Originally Posted By: boraticus
You're over-reacting.

If the saw has a properly functioning factory air filter, it's a non-issue. My Jonsereds saws are over 30 years old and have cut more cords of wood than I could possibly count. They're still using the factory installed filters and they're still running strong. I guess in another eighty or ninety years, the saws may begin to show indications of the deadly "abrasive sawdust" wear. In the meantime, I won't be loosing sleep worrying about it.

Oh, and by the way sawdust from wood is worlds apart from sawdust from concrete saws. The comparison is apples to oranges.

Why do so many participants of this site grow molehills into mountains?

Originally Posted By: nitehawk55
Originally Posted By: boraticus
Non-issue.

Chainsaws are designed with suitable filters to deal with sawdust.

I've got a couple 1980s Jonsereds with the screen type filters. Both still running like the day I bought them and they've seen a lot of saw dust.



No it is an issue . Ingestion of sawdust and dirt (which is in and around the wood and area you are cutting) will cause more wear . How much depends on conditions and for most saws will not be an issue but I have tore down many saws that are victims of ingestion that has caused wear/damage. Run a cement saw with a poor filter set-up and see how long it lasts .


Well you go ahead and think what you want with mesh or screen filters being ok in dry conditions .
My job for many years was inspecting saws for failures or other issues and one issue seen was ingestion of sawdust/dirt thru improperly used filters or ones that had a flaw . This was with Stihl Canada in the technical Dept. so I do know a bit about what I'm saying and no I'm not over reacting , you have been lucky is all .

 

[ironman_gq]

Originally Posted By: nitehawk55
Originally Posted By: boraticus
You're over-reacting.

If the saw has a properly functioning factory air filter, it's a non-issue. My Jonsereds saws are over 30 years old and have cut more cords of wood than I could possibly count. They're still using the factory installed filters and they're still running strong. I guess in another eighty or ninety years, the saws may begin to show indications of the deadly "abrasive sawdust" wear. In the meantime, I won't be loosing sleep worrying about it.

Oh, and by the way sawdust from wood is worlds apart from sawdust from concrete saws. The comparison is apples to oranges.

Why do so many participants of this site grow molehills into mountains?

Originally Posted By: nitehawk55
Originally Posted By: boraticus
Non-issue.

Chainsaws are designed with suitable filters to deal with sawdust.

I've got a couple 1980s Jonsereds with the screen type filters. Both still running like the day I bought them and they've seen a lot of saw dust.



No it is an issue . Ingestion of sawdust and dirt (which is in and around the wood and area you are cutting) will cause more wear . How much depends on conditions and for most saws will not be an issue but I have tore down many saws that are victims of ingestion that has caused wear/damage. Run a cement saw with a poor filter set-up and see how long it lasts .


Well you go ahead and think what you want with mesh or screen filters being ok in dry conditions .
My job for many years was inspecting saws for failures or other issues and one issue seen was ingestion of sawdust/dirt thru improperly used filters or ones that had a flaw . This was with Stihl Canada in the technical Dept. so I do know a bit about what I'm saying and no I'm not over reacting , you have been lucky is all .


Sounds like your saying that most of the issues were because of damaged or improperly installed filters, like many mentioned, a properly installed and intact filter works great and keeps out the crud very well. What your saying is that operator error or abuse makes the filters a poorly designed system which is like saying that one of them having a scuffed piston/cylinder due to no oil is due to poor engineering and cheap parts.

Yes some of the filters aren't that good, the low end Stihl homeowner saws (ms170, ms180) are a few good examples. They just use a flat piece of felt tucked into the airbox for a seal instead of a full filter with a gasket/sealing surface. I have seen these fail when the felt gets curled or shrinks but if you do your maintenance and check these things then they don't become a problem.

 

[nitehawk55]

The old JReds were good saws , I have a nice 1980 621 in my collection that seen light use .

To my knowledge (I retired from Stihl 10 years ago) all Stihl PRO series saws now come with felt filters as standard equipment . The mesh or screen types were standard years back . It depends a lot on what you are cutting and how dusty the conditions are . Some of the home consumer saws use lesser filters but are expected to see much less use and cleaner conditions then PRO saws .
As I mentioned , a concrete saw will wear out a piston in no time from ingested dust if the filter is incorrectly installed , something we saw a lot of with the TS 350 Cut Quick .
Good filtering on any PRO rated OPE in tough conditions has always been a challenge for all companies and protects the equipment from wear by ingested dirt/dust/wood fines.
As I mentioned before with Husky , it surprises me that they still have some models come with a mesh type filter . The Husky dealer puts a felt type on them before they leave his shop .

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: Fatboymoe
I just bought a new Husqvarna 550 XP from a dealer on the east coast.


That's an awesome saw. Laughable I know, but I recently mail-ordered a refurbished Poulan Pro PP5020AV 20" saw. I've been helping my FIL clear an area where a shed is going to go, and have been clearing a lot of wood. I don't usually have the need for this size of saw, but I've been pleasantly surprised at how well this saw does it's thing.. Especially for $138 shipped to my door. LOL.

Doing some research on it, the Poulans are the same basic saw as the Husqvarna 200 and 400 series saws. Poulans are the low end, Jonsered are the middle and Husqvarnas are the high end of the current Husq corp lineup.

 

[boraticus]

"Jonsered are the middle and Husqvarnas are the high end of the current Husq corp lineup"

Not sure what the curren "quality" levels are at Husqvarna.

Approx 35 years ago, Husqvarna bought Jonsereds primarily to get their saw designs and manufacturing processes. At least that's what I've read. I'm fairly confident that the early 1980's Jreds were still being built at the Jreds plant but under the ownership of Husqvarna who continued to use the Jreds brand. Nowadays, it's a moot point. Jreds are sold under the Husqvarna name. It's anyone's guess who actually builds them?

New Jreds are a far cry from the saws of old. They may carry the same colours and name however, they're only a mere shadow of the old Jreds. I'd buy a quality Stihl, Dolmar, Husqvarna or Echo in preference to a new Jreds.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: boraticus

New Jreds are a far cry from the saws of old. They may carry the same colours and name however, they're only a mere shadow of the old Jreds. I'd buy a quality Stihl, Dolmar, Husqvarna or Echo in preference to a new Jreds.


I hear that. Nothing is as it used to be, even with the Husqvarna saws that are <$500.