3 different 346xps and 2 262xps. The 346s are faster in this size wood. Honestly.... The 262s would pull 24" bar just fine. If your cutting 16"-18" wood, a ported 346xp is the ticket. I think they would even handle a 20" bar just fine. None of the saws are tuned through the roof, just work tunes. And of course, they all wear different chains. Not a scientific test, just fun with ported saws. All saws ported by mastermind.
The 262xp has more grunt and is still better for bucking because of the torque. The 346 noodles a lot better. 262's clog up pretty bad noodling. In my mind, the 346 is more useful. It's lightweight and super strong for its size. The thing that is impressive about these 262's is torque. Maybe I'll try an eight pin rim on the 262 next time. That would be iteresting. 262xp ported:
Does anyone know how a stock OE346xp with .325 compares to a stock 262xp with 3/8"? I've never owned a 262xp.
Noodling takes a lot of torque,there is no way a 50 cc will out noodle a 60 cc saw,if you want to noodle with any speed you need 75 cc or more
346 does noodle better, not because it's stronger, but because it clears better......a lot better. The 346 has plenty of grunt to noodle fire wood size lengths. I usually use a dolmar 7900 for heavy duty noodling, but the 346 does fine when I need it to.
tried an 8 pin w 20" on my 272xp and it didnt like it at all. very grabby...went back to 7 pin and it cant be stopped with same 20" bar.
I tried 8 with a 28" ony 2172 on some small wood on a job we did , these trees were allowed to be taken for firewood so i tried some combos..its fun with 8 in small wood but a no go in bigger stuff
I found the same thing on my MMWS 7900. It liked the 7-pin better. My MMWS 2188 will pull an 8-pin just fine, though.