I have two ported saws, both loud. Yesterday, a friend brought a 462 and a 500 and neither were ported but both had one of those custom exhausts, Egan Straight Shots, and both of those saws were really loud! (Not ported yet.) They also were bad to the bone. Regarding ported saws, increased performance, is there any way to have less loud or is there just no way, you have to have an open exhaust, no muffling? Of course, loud is exciting and feels cool. I can't imagine using a ported saw without ear protection! OTOH, for the polar opposite, also cool is my little Makita ea4300. I love the sound of that saw, especially at idle. It just sounds cool to me, lol. It is stock thus far!
I have always wondered the same thing. I had a 1st gen. Husqvarna 550xp that I had ported it ran like a champ but man was it LOUD! It was at a pitch/ frequency (at least for my ears) that was almost painful to hear. I used to run it with earplugs & earmuffs together. It was a great saw but the sound levels wore me down & after a logger friend borrowed it for a thinning job & absolutely loved I it let go. He claimed it didn’t seem all that much louder than a stock saw. I wonder if he had more significant hearing loss than I do from years of logging. I would have never let that saw go if I could have found a way to quiet it down & still maintain the same performance level.
It would take some real testing to do a custom exhaust for a ported saw and keep it quiet it is easier to make them loud I used to have a Homelite super 1050 worked for racing had 2 carbs ,ported,decked,and stroke changed and a exhaust chamber from a dirt bike on it made by a company I think was Torque Engineering it was quiet (for a 2 stroke) it was no louder than the stock saw (They were loud anyway) but I remember that pipe was expensive for the time Late 1970's You would have to flow bench the combo to make it work $$ and besides Loud is cool ,Right,HuH did you hear me JB
Being in construction i hear "loud" every day. I really bothers me to sit in a loud restaurant...or bar with loud music. I can handle the sound of a stock saw but i don't dare start my ported 261, splitter or backpack blower without my headphones on.
There are certain muff mods that are louder than others. I’ve had one done with the exit hole on the very front and my son’s saw has it that way. It’s a more straight shot for hot exhaust to exit and those 2 were asked for the “hottest” possible port job. The pipe style mods, if the builder leaves a big piece of the pipe on the inside, they can/will be quieter. Some saws that have internal baffles, they could be left in (to an extent) to muffle sound. Get with the right person and they could help you out. The only saw I’ve ever ported, I drilled about 4 1/2” holes in the front of the muffler to play at a gtg. It was obnoxious. After that, I put a pipe style stock muff back on and kept it that way. It still runs like a ported saw and it’s quiet.
If you want more power and speed out of your saw, then opening up the muffler is part of that. That means less restriction. So it is going to be louder. On this saw that I ported and opened the muffler on you would think that it would be louder than all get out, but I left the spark arrestor in place and that did quiet it down some. But I do not get the full potential of a ported saw. It is a tradeoff.
Really, you shouldn't run any saw without ear-pro for more than just a couple minutes....ported or stock. I added an extra exhaust hole next to the factory one on my saw and it is loud, but not obnoxious loud. Unless you are zipping up a small tree branch you are going to want ear muffs on.
I told the guy that ported my 590 I didnt want it obnoxiously loud. All he did was open the internal baffles and left the rest alone. theres big gains to be had by just cutting the spot behind the tube. Would basically be a straight shot from the exhaust port to the deflector. There ears bleeding through hearing protection loud done like that though. Tell your porter what you want from the saw I'm sure most will work with you.
Any ported saw is going to be louder. More power means getting air in, through, and out of the engine quickly. Lower backpressure is part of that. Anything that diffuses the exhaust will help with db levels, like a spark screen. The way the exhaust is set up will change it too. Deflectors and baffles can help if used correctly. Holes in the front of a muffler are going to hurt performance and be stupid loud. Put them on the side with a deflector.
