Finally the Farmertec 288xp kit saw is together. After start up this saw started running poorly. I'll show in this video how I repaired the runability issues without changing any parts. Thanks for watching.
Now that it’s running it would be cool to see different stages of mods. Start out with a muff mod then base gasket delete and eventually do port work. See the gains in each stage
I've found with aftermarket carbs, it always helps if I clean them out before using them just in case there are any machining "leftovers" that got glued in place with cutting oil. Just soak them in a jar of gas overnight and swish it around a few times. Even better if I tear down the carb and clean it well afterwards just to be sure.
For an occasional use saw, they are pretty good value for the $. Don’t trust their decomps. They can’t be compared to a OEM 288, 372 etc. you need to compare them to what else you can buy for $350-$400. Also you must have the basic skills and aptitude to troubleshoot the problems you are gonna have with these kits.
My Chinese 372xp pro wasn’t oiling either. Turns out the guide bar plate had a oil slot about two times smaller than an original 372 so I had to die grind it out.
I built the Farmertec 365 kit and I'll say that I had a similar experience with the chain brake at first. But it bedded in after a handful of uses and seems to work just fine now. I'll also say that Farmertec stuff seems to be continually improving, but its likely that new kits will take a bit for the kinks to get worked out. I have four Farmertec kits, and the carb sucks on all four of them. Little by little I'm going to replace them with OEM carbs.
Great job Tim man on the 288. U help so much on my 288. I bought a basket case all took apart and When I watched you build that kit I was able to put my stocks all back together which I didn’t take apart I bought it that way but now I got a good running to 288 thank you for taking the time to teach me it means the world to me keep up the great work my friend talk to you later and I hope you and your wife have a wonderful baby and everything goes good I’ll be saying a prayer for you but I will tell you this it’ll be the best time you’ll ever have when you grab your newborn baby yeah how old him or her in your arms and they look up at u eye to eye. You’ll never forget it my friend talk to you later your friend, Bruce
Outstanding, let's see how long that carb holds up. The one on my 372 lasted 1 tank of fuel. When I built my 288 I put a 298 carb on it. 2 years later it's still going good. Of course my 288 build is not a straight out of the box build. I used a number of upgraded components simply because I don't trust Chinese quality. Sure it cost a bit more but still half the price a Husky would have cost me. It rarely see's any felling or bucking. I mostly use it for ripping with a 42" bar.
I have used farmertec 288 one year ago. It just feels okay. For maximum power, you need to adjust the carburetor correctly. 😁. This chainsaw is not very fussy either😁
The downside to the 288xp clone is their ignition. Mine died after two tanks of gas. But they are a beast. Mine screams with a 28 inch bar. If you want a big saw for butt cuts this is your boy. I’m not crazy about the oiler. They could have done better.
I bought a g395 powerhead and I still haven't gotten it to run . Meanwhile I found a tired 281 oem saw I will refurbish with a meteor top end. Great vid btw.
I had a spark plug play tricks on me and I couldn't find a carb for my 298 xp. So I ordered a carb aftermarket for just dirt cheap for a 272 what's it going to have a 1,000 of an inch smaller jet the thing that's going to rob power from that saw would be letting it get dull so I'm not going to worry about less power it was a gas hog anyway so I also thought it was the module so I got another one of them used and neither of those helped so I took a spark plug out of another piece of equipment and it's runs beautifully so that means the old carburetor is still perfect and will work and it also means that the module was not bad I tried to get spark in the beginning and I got an arc about the diameter of a hair.... And the new spark plug had a 1/32nd of an inch diameter spark I didn't think it was a big deal but now I have extra parts I had to mess with the linkage rod for the 272 carburetor to work and drill another hole on the carburetor crank but it works it has full throttle I loaned the saw to a lager and he says it's an absolute animal it's got six cubic inches it's almost 100cc... It's a collector's item it's 1986 298 XP they only built them for 2 years and what they are is a souped-up factory Saw... People that were out of shape could not start the saw because it needed to have a compression release put in also it would tear that starter cord handle right out of your hand and you get rewarded by having super sore fingers so the mechanic at the shop showed me right where to drill on top of the cylinder head and make sure the piston is all the way down take the spark plug out and shove paper towels in there during drilling and tapping. And then put a generic compression release in there that has a 3/8 fine pitch thread... About 10 years ago I was cutting up a 30-inch diameter spruce into firewood rounds... And the guy at the Saw shop sold me a new bar and chain and he said we're trying to get rid of this chain because it's hardened chain you cannot file it right from the factory and he says we're going to discontinue it in our shop because it causes people problems but I bought some like I say it can only be ground to sharpen it but right out of the box I made 18 cuts on that spruce and the teeth showed absolutely no ware whatsoever I'm sure some of it was a technique I use when cutting firewood with grit and sand on it I cut a ring in the bark and then follow that ring when I cut my round off that thrusts all the grit off and away and does not pull it into the cut the chip literally knocks the sand and grit off and it never makes contact with cutting teeth I can cut it all day down on the beach by doing things like that or I'll just cut a vertical halfway through cut and then walk over to the other side and match cut right down through there. Be safe keep sharing knowledge I'm 72 years old I wish Billy Ray Smith... Would not have blocked me from his channel I was just trying to help him and others and keep them safe.
Love the run down on this saw. Sure makes it nice to be able to replace parts here and there with these floating around. Thank you Tinman. You Rock brother. 🌲❤️🌲👊🪓
Just picked up a g888 to run in an alaskan mill. No start out of the box due to a bad coil, they are sending me a replacement so i cant complain about customer service . I went ahead and ordered an unlimited coil as this was a common complaint. So now we wait for the mail...
The fact the saw fired right up without needing a few pulls without ever being run is an indicator that the needle in the carb is not seating properly, be it debris, diaphragm, or parts issues, you may want to clean out the carb and pressure test it just to be sure. I have had to trim the decomp hole on OEM Husky saws after doing a base gasket delete and cutting the base. I had one new aftermarket decomp come apart in a stihl, the plastic button fell off, thankfully I noticed it before I ran the saw, something to be mindful of. I picked up a used stihl 066 that the owner put a new aftermarket coil in it before he sent it to me. When I got the saw it started ok but on the restart the saw ran backwards, a first for me. I put an OEM coil in it and the saw ran fine, out of curiosity I put the aftermarket coil back in it. The saw ran fine for a couple of days then started running backwards and shutting off so I put the OEM coil back in and it has been fine since. The coil was a DZE by Espel. Curious if anyone else has had this issue? Also what aftermarket coils have you all had good luck with?
@@tinmanssaws Sorry about that I did miss that part. I cut timber today and was cleaning up my saws while I had your video going. The comment may help someone with that problem that did not prime the carb. I can delete the comment if you would like.
tinman.....i understand the new build and saw needs some break-in time. BUT.....for what is called a 90CC saw, sure doesnt seem to have much "grab" or "jump" to it when you hit the throttle. my 372 will jump big time. even my little 501P has a much greater engine thrust then that thing.......so, just me watching and not holding the saw as it cycles upwards in RPM or is it lax on the Torq? Jim
Both of my clone saws barely oiled. Was enough for shorter bars(less than 28”). Not enough for a 36”. Ordered hi volume pumps from FT. Working much better now.
Gonna be watching your channel from now on for tips. Good to see how you troubleshoot the cheap clone saws and get them running properly. Laughed about the knot in the gas line. LOL.
I just bought one a couple weeks ago.It was running funny also. I took the carb apart & it was clean. I still sprayed carb cleaner everywhere. I put it back together & it runs great! 🤩🤩🤩🤩
I got their MS660 kit but with Walbro carb and Meteor piston and cylinder. It rips like a real MS660 but the oiler doesn't oil. I have a new Stihl pump to install, otherwise its all Farmertec supplied except for that and Oregon bar and chain.
Hey Tinman, congrats on the child when he/she comes! I had a brand new Dolmar PS-6400 run the exact same way and it’s really stumped me. Did a carb kit and a fuel tank vent. Still had the same issue. Would start and idle perfect but half way through the first cut would just die. Not stall but die down. So I decided to pull the cylinder. I couldn’t believe it but there was grease on the inside of the cylinder covering the hole where the impulse line went. Blew that out and cleaned it up and has ran amazing ever since. I’ve started porting saws not thanks to you. Thank you for the humble advice through the years and as always, great video.
You said you had a lot of wood to buck. Would like to see it get a good workout. Walter and Harvey both replaced the FT decompression valves with OEM. Me. Johnson talked about cleaning the carburetor with gasoline. Wondering if it would work on the oiler?
TINman , I also had same great experience of great looking pieces and darn near OEM LOOKING parts with the (RAD 88 creation I’m working on , same kit as you purchased, but no shipping damage , I opted for a factory 288XP lite cylinder I had , with mild port matching 4 tanks of fuel and needed a re-tune when broke in , but it’s a ripper , just finished my Hyway ported cylinder and after a 10 tank life I’m gonna plop it on and see how a 288 XP feels at 10-12 K in the wood . Couldn’t bear to use the factory blob job powerhead/cylinder ( just my personal pickiness )
Ya some of the oilers for the 288 are junk. Hultzforma does have a new one that seems to oil better. Not sure why they are still shipping the bad one. Hopefully the lower end holds up. That seems to be the weakness. Some better bearings and harder crank it’ll be a good saw.
I bought an aftermarket carb for my 162/272 and it went lean after few seconds on full throttle no matter how rich i tuned it. I found out that the impulse channel and hole from metering chamber to h-screw was too small. I compared those to original tillotson from 162 and drilled those bigger. It works great now.
If you are interested in doing some horse trading I got a big 288 I'd be maybe into trading for some work on my 440. Be it parts or me sending it for you putting your touch on it
Im ok with mine. I found the oil adjustment screw needed to be turned to 4 but the 4 where the screw stopped was not as good as the 4 360 degrees from that. Still not as good as I want it but better. I think the new pump is better. Cheers
Had the same issue with one of their g372 365 blue clone saws I swapped out to 2 different carbs including going back to the original one that came on the saw just to realize that the fuel line was too long and was actually about 1/4 to half an inch higher then the carb as well as being in a weird twist between the case and tank handle and it would not pull fuel at all took me over a week to figure out the issue. Also wondered if the 48mm cylinder I ported was the issue so I cleaned up another 48mm cylinder from farmertec and swaped out to it just to be sure was a massive headache just to realize it was a fuel line issue.. Also a tip on the decompression valves you can re seat them using valve lapping compound had to do that twice to 2 ebay decomps I used. Worked very well. Just a tip and thought.
Change the plastic panels on the rear handle to the OEM rubber inserts and it feels a world different. I hated the way the rear handle felt so slick in my hands so I bought the OEM's hoping they would fit and they do. I had to drill out one of my rubber mount holes that was stripped when I received mine and I put a small piece of paper in the hole then filled it with JB weld and let that harden then drilled it out and threaded the spring isolators that where made for the 288/281 in and it's working fine now. I know I picked on the rear handle in one of the previous posts about how cheap it felt but once I changed out the panels it actually feels really nice now and better than the 372 kit tanks, it's a darker plastic and after taking the two side by side (288 and 372 china rear handles) and comparing them and trying to twist them the 288 felt better. Keep in mind my 372's where from a few years back and they may have started using better plastic on them now as well.
I know this is an odd request… you think you could do a video on the much under rated 55 and see what you can get out of it being open transfers. Thanks
I just picked up a mint 2021 395xp with a 36 inch bar and spare brand new chain for $850.. and I mean it is mint bar hasn't even a scratch I had to pick it up at that cost.
Even my pre built had a lousy oil pump. I got another and saved the hassle, also like to use OEM rubber parts like the fuel lines on the Farmertec saws as a rule.
@@tinmanssaws I just put a used OEM in and never looked back. I didn't have the fueling issue. Prolly because I change out the line. Now trying to decide what to do with the g395. You going to get one of those? Think it needs a better piston option.
I just bought a used 395xp and when it showed up the case was alot more beat up then in the pictures and it seems to leak a decent amount of oil and possibly gas, pretty bummed that i may need to put some significant work into a saw that i didnt expect to really need anything but nice to know theres decent cheaper alternatives for the parts.
I was just gonna say DO NOT USE FT DECOMPS! I’ve fixed saws that they’ve broken off and fallen in the cylinder. I don’t need to tell you what happens after that. Plug them or replace with oem
If I remember from the earlier videos, that oil pump has no car in detail in the top left of the pump body, I've seen other videos by other saw builders commenting there are several aftermarket makers, and the ones with a cat detail in the top corner are much better than the ones that come blank.
Run it on the 25.1 for a while, the bearing on the crankshaft is a bit soft and needs it Im not seeing the point of the kit when you see the price of the kit and a built one are not to far apart
Some others have had issue with the trigger not opening the throttle all the way so you may want to check that also. I replaced the fuel line on mine because it was winding up like a pig tail in the tank and wouldn't allow the filter to go all the way against the sides of the tank, I replaced it with Echo 5x3mm fuel line and an OEM fuel filter.
I purchased the blue G372xp holzfforma saw from Amazon assembled and it runs great granted you have to adjust the carb on every chainsaw but I've been running it for a year now cutting firewood every day of the year because that's what I do im self-employed and I love it and the only thing I've changed was the spark plug. I'm about to purchase the new model of the holzfforma with the carbon fiber top cover because you can't beat the price it's great. I do like that 288 though but I already have 2 of those 288 Husqvarna models that were passed down to me from my father after he passed away in 2018. See the Tinman gave it enough TLC and it's alive