went back to honey hole, which is beginning to dry up, for one more load. Wanted to try out my new MS 361. Noticed the chain had a few nicks in it so instead of sharpening I just put a new one on. This is what was under the cover when I took it off. We had run it for a minute when I bought it and I ran it under the porch one rainy day. Not bad for a saw that was discontinued 8 years ago LOL I noticed the marks on the chain catch. Must be related to the small chips on the chain I noticed. Probably from idling with a loose chain. I get the impression the owner never used this saw but ran it at an idle from time to time. He showed me how to start it without using the trigger set for high idle. Doesn’t like to start a saw at high rpms. Also told me he adjusted the idle down. Well it does idle too low. Will stall if you leave it idling for 30 seconds or so. Seems to run good beyond that. Needs a little more run time to know for sure. Fairly strong engine but not exilerating. I need a little more time on it. Stalling saws leaves a bad taste even if they run strong with the trigger depressed. I need to start packing a small screwdriver
I had a 361 before I traded it in on my Dolmar 6400. It is a really good saw, power to weight ratio is high for the class. It will open up and get "more powerful" as it is broken in. I get the impression from your comments that the prior owner had no clue what to do with the saw.
Sometimes it is amazing when people buy a new saw and they really don't even know what they are getting. Then after a few years sell it; and the new owner gets a real deal!
Almost, sorta, hard to say. He definitely had a clue about saws. He also had his own very particular views on idling. And for whatever reason I don’t think this saw ever saw any wood. He did have a Dolmar 5100 that had seen its share of use. About all I could figure out is he baby’s these things a lot more than I would ever consider LOL Yes, seen some comments that it takes up to 15 tanks for these saws to come alive. That’s more than most.
