stock build and test er!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DAMN!!!!!!!!! i'm so freakin eXCITEDDDDD im need to ntake my heart pills holy hell
I agree with the stock build. It's also hard to find big saws here in Nova Scotia. I like the fact that you can save a ton of money with the kit. I think people need to see how to clean the cylinder up real nice to be able to run it to save money with cheaper top end kits. I have saved a ton of money doing that when I used to run two stroke scooters. Cleaning up a cylinder is the gateway drug to porting 😉
I've run power saws for a while, but have been wanting to get a saw like this to build and understand them better. Agree with building it stock. My opinion would be to run the camera the entire time you build it....don't skip a bolt. And show what minor alterations you do to smooth out the cylinder. Looking forward to seeing it! Love the channel!
I rarely comment on people's content because YouTurd makes Me pull down My VPN to do so, but I'm glad to hear that Your wife and soon to be newborn are faring well Tinman! As for the Farmertech saw, I'd like to see it put together stock ( with a cleanup of the trouble areas in the cylinder You mentioned), then torture tested. Then let's see back inside and see how it fares, and if it's OK, then maybe a gloves off full on nasty beast build?! That's My vote anyways.
Awesome to see you spending more time in the saw shop, seems like your "Zen" area per se. Prayers with you and Mrs Tinman through everything. God Bless
Thank you Tinman for taking a file to that crankshaft! I keep hearing how these parts are getting better so I just tried a 660 crank case and starter from farmertec I planned on putting a meteor cylinder, piston and rings in it and everything else OEM, unfortunately both were junk right out of the box. The case looked really nice but was softer than OEM and broke. It really doesn't make sense spending time building a saw with cases that are not hardened properly, so putting a better quality crank in it will definitely be better than the butter crank it came with but when the case fails you get to start all over again. I also purchased several other aftermarket starters and clutches for a ms 660 to see if they were any better. The raisman brand starter is the only one out of this batch that has lasted more than 3 pulls so I will test it in the woods. One of the aftermarket clutches had the equivalent of about a years worth of wear from daily logging on an oem clutch right out of the box so I returned it. The other clutch I had to put OEM springs on it so the chain would not spin at idle. Prying the air filter cover off my friends G372 recently with a hammer and chisel after it melted together with only a couple of hours of run time on the saw reminds me they still haven't figured out how to make plastic either. When you rebuild an oem pro saw with OEM parts it holds its value in many ways. West Coast Saws parts are a prime example of what quality aftermarket parts should be. It would be nice if someone would build a saw like a 044 or 272xp equal to or better than OEM in every way, I would pay the price for quality and piece of mind. Time is money and my experience with these kits, parts, and saws have been a waste of both. It can be tough to find good used or new pro saws right now, but take the time to look and really check the saws out, buy a saw that will make you money not cost you money. I have purchased 5 saws already this year the closest 2 being a 6 hr drive round trip, the other 3 I had shipped, one from Canada. 2 of them I modified to my liking, all 5 are OEM, working great and are holding or increasing in value over what I paid for them while I make a living with them. You really do get what you pay for.
Just finished trying out some aftermarket parts on my trusty ol Husqvarna 162SE. The 52mm cylinder & piston needed a bunch of cleanup/work to be usable, but the carburetor has worked great so far and started right away without adjustment. I did experience the plastic welding together tho. The black plastic air filter housing was rubbing the top cover and had started to spot weld together after the first run. Thankfully I found out early because I was pulling the cover after every run to read spark plug color and check comoression. A little work with the Dremel and a dab of silicone grease and no more stuck cover.
Frist time build from one of these kit's and it still holding up. It is a 365 and I'm pretty impressed for the money I spent on the kit. Just started to watch your videos and thank you for the information you are sharing. Look forward for more.
Tinman, I just built one of those 288 kits a couple weeks ago , cleaned the ports up cut the skirt off the cylinder below the lower transfers and feathered it down to the case , put a pop up piston in it . For the muffler cut out stock exit port and enlarged it to 3/4 i.d. pipe and added one on the opposite side, she has a set of horns , and is extremely loud .great runner so far . Couldn't have done it without your helpful video's .can't wait to see what you do with yours, I definitely will be ordering more to play with .
This is great! Build it stock, like you said. Then run it hard! Buy a second one build it with the given parts, and then heavily port it. Then let Buckin run it hard, seeing how it survives. But what ever you do,, this is going to be way cool!
Glad to hear Mrs Tinman is doing well! I'd definitely like to see it assembled stock, using all the kit parts first. Maby just knock down the high spots in the ports, without reshaping or enlarging them if possible.
I did a 372 kit a few years ago and its been good. Those Farmertec cylinders definitely need some cleanup , but I don't like to port them too much and risk peeling the chrome. And with a bigger saw the torque is what its all about, so go mild on it and it will probably be a decent saw.🤞
Glad all is well. Great idea for the channel. I vote to build it with all kit parts (dressed up) in a medium work saw fashion. Who hasn't wondered about Farmertek saws? What is the best saw made in North America? Thanks for your work Tinman.
Ive beem doing small engines for years. Tinkering for almost 30 years, professionally for 15 or 16. I agree about the aftermarket carbs. 2 cycle or 4 cycle, it doesn't matter. They are finicky. One shop i sub out to likes to use then. I tune my carbs virtually the same wa you do. And I'm usually cringing at thoae carbs. I still manage to get them decent, but not usually "good". I actually refuse to run any aftermarket plugs. They go directly in th trash every time. Ive had quite a few machines come into my shop solely because of an aftermarket plug.
I got a 288 kit for my old beat up 288 absolutely loved the kit really nice quality but I did use my oem carb I found my ignition didn’t work so used my oem ignition also but over all really liked the kit made my old beat up saw look new
My first visit here---2/15/23---after first presentation, your comparison of available top end assemblies, I am a subscriber ! I admit it was great to find another Husky "believer." I am in Iowa and I have the same big saw problem and I need one. At 76, I am now a "faller" (feller) and climber. I think I may be the only one in Iowa--climber that is. I am pushing a brand new 441xp for my humbolts especially.
The oil tank line is a hair short also if you triple bond it on case and pump it seals up. With no base I had .026 squish with 102°ex and 80°in. I brought the ex down to 99° and opened up the lower transfers and swap the ex pipe for a 3/4 and she'll pull you fingers off. 100% FT. $300 US.
I'd wondered about their 288 to play with. Thought about the chain too, seeing as shipping is already expensive on the saw kit. Grind doesn't matter but 100ft is a lot of chain if it's too soft. Look forward to the build, might be a good reference.
I bought a prebuilt. Put an oem wrist pin, needle bearing, cabers, clips, decomp and closed it back up. Has been very good so far. Milled some pine beams and noodled large oak firewood last year. Knocking on wood.
Done a few of the kits. Clean up the cylinder and it’ll work great while it lasts. The clutches are fairly hit and miss but overall stock they are great value for the money
Decided to go with a good used OEM crank, picked one up in really nice shape for cheap. Also picked up a OEM starter recoil spring since I had a couple of the 372 kits give me issue's. I will get a OEM low top cover and a Pro Safety full wrap handle bar. At first Huztl was acting like they would replace the cylinder, then wanted me to run it and see if it was ok and I said no so now they have gone silent but I never figured their warranty would mean anything anyway, which I had heard this is how they operate anyway so I knew what I was getting into.
Everyone still skeptical of the Farmertec and Holzfforma saws? They are exact OEM saws guys. Put em together correctly, break in correctly and they run like any original.
I'm with you on this build, Tinman ! I'm about to receive a 372XP Farmertec, (Thanks Chad Meador !) I'm on a tight budget, so I'm pretty gonna work with what's there. Wish me luck, it's my 1st build from a kit. ~Chris~
I thought I recognized that top cover in the last video! I say build it stock and see how it runs, port it afterwards if it doesn't fly apart lol. I've been considering a FT kit just for a project.
Well Tinman build it and see. I would like to see. Someone changing things up. Iron horse has started also. You guy's are making me feel better about everything I do also Keep it up.
My vote is stock build! Just touch up the ports and chamfers. Then let's see if it can hold up to some hard use. Thank you for sharing your time and hard work with us!
glad to hear Mrs Tinman is going well! just build it with the minimum work needed to make it last (done with the most basic tools). focusing the video on what you did modify. then run it HARD or send it to someone that will. if it lasts a season, pull it down to inspect and maybe warm it up. then rinse and repeat untill you see what will go first. i think a lot of people will benifit from this series.
I'm with ya on the aftermarket parts. The case looks great tho. It's one of the few things that are NLA from Husqvarna for the 288. I almost ordered one of these kits for that very reason. Luckily I found a case on ebay that was still in very good shape which is not the norm. Most of these saws were run hard until they just wouldn't go any more LOL!! The starter pawls "looked" cheap and ya the cylinder is pretty sad. Nice video.
I went through 4 broken starter ropes in the china recoils, always the cord no problem with the part period,it now has matching orange 550 cord, yet to break
I'd vote for a stock build first, then some mods to show the gains. I built a 660 kit 2 winters ago, just assembled the kit. Only thing done was chamfering the ports. This is before I discovered this channel. The only part that didn't work was the oiler worm. I may have irritated the problem, but I don't think so. The machine work was sloppy enough it bound when put together. Other than that it has been great. I currently am working on a 460 kit and have a 372 kit waiting to be built. The 460 is getting some mods on the way together. I love the channel, keep up the good work.
Just got one of these in 372. Parts look decent, but the gas tank and body plastics are an ugly calfshit brown while the cases are the more proper allis chalmers dukes of hazzard general lee orange. Going to be a fun project. Thinking ill build the kit first and see how it runs.. then ill do a tear down to upgrade the crank, bearings, carb, plastics and port out any weaknesses etc....
I’d keep it stock, see whats needing to be swapped out straight away (wolfcreek NWP crank later…) or is rec’d broken. Once its built & tried, swap out the other bits - carby, cyl etc, one by one and check out the difference. Whatever tho, its gonna be cool to watch, l’ve got the G372XP kit here awaiting build (Melb 🇦🇺). Good to hear Mrs T-Man is going well 🤞
Hi Tinman Stock build, but clean up the cylinder/ports. I‘m thinking it is important. Thank you for doing it and showing us the results! Greetings, Dirk 🤜🌳🌲🪵🤛
Tin man, new here. This next week I'm going to look at a 388 xp. I also prefer huskys. But you can imagine the price. I'm in MI. There are bigger saws around but I would like to see it built with what they send you. A good friend put the farmtec 395 kit together and says it's a beast. If this kit works out maybe I'll pick one of these up. I'll learn from you. 🙃 Later
I live in the northeast, not much big logging but a lot of tree service company's and they always have big saws for stumping. Most of the big saws here have little wear as the boys don't like the weight.
Good to see what is coming in the kit, I have done several 372's. I have the 288 kit coming in tomorrow and even though they claimed it was US stock it shipped from out of the country. I ordered in Nachi C3 bearings since they are so cheap and I just don't want to have to tear the bottom end apart from a bearing failure, OEM seals, a Oregon rim and drum since I haven't had good luck with the china being round, OEM Drum bearing and OEM crank bearing. Wolf Creek gasket kit as well. I plan to get a OEM switch since I have had two of the huztl switches fail on 372's. I will see how the carb works but I haven't even tried their carbs. I always ordered used carbs and rebuilt them for other builds. I plan to get the Meteor cylinder and a LRB pop up. I will be going with Nikasil even though they offer the Titanikel, I've heard Titanikel doesn't take well to porting, either chipping away or chewing up burs. I will also pick up the New West crank as well for the build, I have plenty of time to put it together. I'll have to make a blank off plate for the muffler side for pressure/vac testing, I wish they offered the other muffler since the one's that come with it aren't USFS compliant so I will have to pick up a used OEM for that.
As a follow up on my kit I actually received it today. WOW the cylinder looks like it was taken straight from the casting and chromed. There is missing chrome and pitting in the casting everywhere. I mean completely unusable, which sucks since I was intending to use it as my test cylinder for my porting then use what I come up with for my final cylinder.
My vote is to build it with the parts you got from them...or as much as you can so we can see if it would be worth the money to buy one our self! Thanks WildBill
Clean up that cylinder, maybe .030 squish to keep the heat down for the soft crank (base gasket??), use the stock bearing and seals for sure, check the numbers, run it with fat oil ratio 32 to 1 for the soft crank -- a bit on the fat side tune??? Things that keep the heat down
The first few of us to assemble these FT 288s had to grind down the cases below the carb especially w/o base gasket or else the cylinder will not seat to the cases. I would recommend a test assembly cause it's hard to keep the shavings out of the crank bearings.
Hey Tinman. Please do the stock build. I have been considering an FTH saw but am a little leary re the quality. On the other hand affordability is key and what the heck we all gamble from time to time. Thanks for the vid. I hope all is well at your end.
Hey buddy I have the same 288 light and it looks exactly like yours I'm thinking I could just buy the fermertec plastics just to shine it up a bit I can't wate to see what u do with yours awsome video buddy
😍 I'm so happy to see you do one of these kits!!! I just bought a pre assembled G660 Pro... let me start by saying I was a skeptic who only planned on running this clone until I could afford a big husky or stihl... That being said I'm absolutely blown away at the quality of the new pro models! I took it out for some testing and liked it so much that I brought it home, tore the muffler off, inspected the cylinder and decided that it was actually high enough quality to be a better value than a used stihl , and I'm not even exaggerating that was my gut reaction. So i ordered a hot rod dual port rippem muffler from Dukes, and a decomp delete. I'm going to run it just like that until I have an issue with it. Im even impressed with the "walbro" carb im almost certain it's a copy cat, but it functions EXACTLY as it should... I'm literally blown away. Im considering ordering a kit to build myself now. Just trying to figure out what one... I'm thinking about just going with a 372xp that seems to be a crowd favorite. Do you have any input? What kit would be fairly easy for a guy just getting started learning to break his gums on???
got my 660 pre assembled 5 wks ago,, 36 inch bar, works great , small adjustments to carb, getting alot done with alot more to go, thinking i may get a smaller 20 inch bar and see what thats about. maybe a bit small but lighter and agile in tight spots.
I ordered a ms440/ 044 kit took be about 3 hours ish I heated the cases on my wood stove could have used the house range and froze the crank and she plopped right in after that everything was a breeze i badged it up as a 044 mag and the used black paint pen 🖊 so it’s officially a “044 magnum almost “. lol 😂 but she’s a ripper I left it stock I filed and sanded the ported didn’t even use a dremal on just round and flat and half round files and then wrapped them with 400 and then 600 grit sand paper the intake I left file rough exhaust I shined but past the it’s exactly how it came I run a 28” full house chain and a stihl light weight bar I made lighter with the gas axe 🪓 plasma cutter and flapper disc on the hand held grinder as I have back issues so I made it light as I could with out marking it to floppy but I run her with 98 octane fuel 40-1 mix and I run a bark box muffler cover and I added a extra exhaust port 180 degrees from the factory one and I have to say it out cuts my dads real 046 magnum and has more power by the hand dyno my dad wanted to trade me straight up I couldn’t do that to him so I have another kit on the way so Iam gonna build him one for his birthday or give him mine and build me one and port the snot out of it lol 😂 but yeah easy to put together I wish tinman would show us his build on this saw and get the o44 ms440 Kia and show us his build on that as well Iam smartly thinking about sending him a 044 kit just to peak his mind on the aftermarket stihl game lol 😂
Stock first and see what works good and what does not. I bought an 030 that I run a 32” bar cutting oak. Had it for two years. Had issue with oiler and starter pauls
Sounds like the weather here in Scotland, we can have every season in one day The 288 lite looks rather heavy, i hope its lighter than my Farmertec 660
Great well delivered video. Any suggestion where I can find a cylinder and piston kit for my Husqvarna 130 chainsaw ? Or do I hone and replace to piston ring? Saw won't start and low compression 75psi
I vote a good woods port with all typical homeowner tools. Meaning a dremel. Use all the parts of farmertec. Make this an average joe build. Like a base gasket delete and some porting to make a ripper. I understand there needs to be some clean up on the transfers
@@iffykidmn8170 that may be true. But if one is on this channel. It’s because they’re pretty interested in saw building or saw mechanic. A dremel is definitely a budget build tool too. Just a perspective.
I agree, stock it is, but I'd dremel the jug. Just clean it up. I have a 388 xp and I'd be interested to see how the stock build compares. I've got a friend that put the 92 cc kit together & swears by it. I'm really considering it. I'd probably go the 394 kit if possible. Anyway I'm a late watcher on this episode. Stock it is & I just watched you & bucking Billy in your shop. Awesome, later you tin knocker. I'm a retired carpenter and we were wood butchers. Remember I live in MI. Take er easy.
I'd use different crank. Unless you want do the oven deal like Iron horse does. Then recheck the hardness of the crank. As far as cylinder I'd go different as well. That or use as a test cylinder one that came with it. Unless you want use as a learning saw. What too change when you get a kit saw.
I have the blue Holtsfforma G288 runs great but the chain oiler is bad, apparently is a problem on these saws. Waiting on the parts to be back in stock to order a new one, supposed to have fixed the issue with them. hope all goes well with this one!
Btw to add to my previous comment, the Pro models come with a meteor piston , Italian nikiseal cylinder with caber rings. Id like to see it run stock so we can get a baseline on the regular kits
The thing I find I like about these saws after market saws.is getting into porting. I would rather blow up a $250.00 saw rather than a $1000.00 saw. I feel like it’s a good learning investment.
Hi Tinnman!!😀😀 Glad to hear that your wife is doing well!! How long before she's do? I think you should clean up the cylinder and build the saw with everything it came with. Take care my friend!!😀👍🙏❤ Logger Al
@@tinmanssaws can we expect this build after the baby tinman and how is the better half doing sir thoughts and wells wishes sir keep us posted on the status of you and the better half plz sir
That cylinder cost about $25 on ebay. I have used them but run a ball hone through it first. You're asking for trouble with that ring, just put a steel ring in and run it. I've never had a crank fail but I think the bearings seem to get a wee loose a wee fast. Toss the carb in a parts bin. It's a problem in the making before you even put fuel in it. Overall I like the parts kits but have built a few now and have an idea what I want to change before I build. Oh, that paper air filter will serve you well if you put a foam cover on it.
