Chainsaw Pics...

Could we see pics of the axes you have there?

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I'll start an axe pic thread in the axes , mauls and handsaw forum .

 

My ported flock updated recently.

 

Betcha have a new favorite saw!

 

Here's a couple...

 

Too bad I can't make the GTG this year. The MS361 is ferocious.

 

Nice hand guard.

 

Is the kms4 a runner?

 

Hand guard is present but no serial number badge
I looked for a couple years before this one found me.

 

I've always wanted to run one of them.

 

I definitely want to make that gtg soon. If I hadn't gone to Dennis's I would have went this year.

 

Soooooo . . . if your KMS-4 did have the serial number badge, where would it be? Now that you mention it I don't recall seeing a s/n tag on the one I'm currently fostering? Is it a common occurrence for these jokers to be missing the tag?

 

ok here is the deal on the KMS4
This saw was designed specifically for the US forestry service and US military and Dolmar got a nice development grant to foster the use of Wankel rotary design in a "small, modern chainsaw".
Wankel is a rotary motor with no piston such as used in the early Mazda RX-7.
The saw was released with marketing in modern science and popular mechanics magazines but sold slowly due to the higher price point for the size.
Then the unusually hot design from the stuffy muffler caused a forest fire, in the hands of the forestry service. Yeah, not good.
Total recall on the saws, all a dealer had to do was peel off the serial number sticker to the right of the rear handle on the back of the saw body) and affix them to the dealer refund sheet and mail it in with a signed form saying the saws had been destroyed or rendered permanently inoperable. Dealer got a complete refund of his costs. Now some saws remained in the wild in hands of operators who liked them and decided to keep them. It is believed that NONE of the forestry units survived, they will have a forestry inventory tag on them if found. Some units remained on store shelves of dealers who were lazy or foresighted or uninformed.
Most were actually destroyed.
Surviving units without a tag are either from dealer backdoor sales or simply the flimsy adhesive tag fell off and nobody cared to save it.
There were never any part available to dealers the lifespan in the marketplace was apparently less than 3 months and no parts ever shipped to dealers other than large and smaller bar sizes.
They shipped stock with an 8 pin 3/8" rim as far as I can tell and a 20 or 25 inch hard nose bar.
These saws have to warm up for several MINUTES to run right, until warm they have no power and stall pretty much instantly in the cut.
They require 110 octane and lead additive to run properly.
Any parts needed to fix one of these saws must come from a parts saw or be fabricated.
The coils got roached easily by the excessive heat of the motor and stuffy muffler.
They are commonly found with broken flywheel fins, from guys trying to get the flywheel off to monkey with the bad coils.
The hand guard is flimsy and broke off easily.
The Serial number badge is again normally missing, if you can see the outline of the sticker then it is more likely to be a survivor than a backdoor saw where the stickers were removed immediately after they were built.

Pricing info certainly subject to change but is what i have found recently in seeking mine out and buying it with info from the guys up at The Cutting Edge in New York who have 6 or 7 of these including two NOS in the boxes
A non-runner complete without the hand guard or serial tag is in the $500-$650 range, check for spark, a bad coil is the kiss of death.
Runners fetch @$600-$800
A good non-cracked hand guard adds $100 to the price
A clean serial tag still affixed adds another $100 to $150
A nice complete PHO will fetch $850-$1400 depending on the level of minty-ness
NIB upwards of $2800

probably more than anyone wanted to know but i already had two cups of coffee so there it all is
I will bring mine along to PA for guys to run, they just sound so cool at idle and actually run stronger the harder you push them once warmed up.
I am not sure i have mine really tuned properly because they sound so different from a regular chainsaw.

 

Thanks for the backstory. Dang! Wish could make the GTG.

 

They were pretty stout hp wise. 3 lobes on the rotor basically ment 3 cylinders at 58cc and advertised 8hp and supposed to be really smooth running.

 

definitive dave tuned up wankels are know to munch apex seals (in auto applications). Are the saw motors similar in that regard?