Tree World - View Single Post

stihl #1 · 6th December 2007, 05:28 PM

Well, for some more info that may or may not be helpful...
The MS 361C uses two springs to activate the chain brake band. One is tripped by the rear handle lever and is fairly soft, just to stop the chain if the rear handle is released, as I said earlier. The other is the big one like all the chain brakes use that is tripped by the front hand guard manually or by inertia. The reason the MS 361 and the MS 441 are easier on the hands is that the UK passed a vibration standard for hand held equipment that was a good bit tighter than the rubber isomounts could provide, so STIHL decided to make all units for the world meet that standard. Usually when one country does something like that, other countries follow suit anyway. Like the EU passing emissions standards pretty much the same as what the EPA did here. I guess AU is next for emissions, right???
The MS 361 was a clean sheet of paper design, not a rework of the 360. It has four long, closed transfer ports, compared to the 360 with two short, closed ports. On the emissions test, it came out considerably lower than the 360, which means it uses the fuel better. So a little more power and efficiency. New ignition with an advance curve. Just a lot of little things that all together really makes this a nice saw. I can pull the jug and have the piston in my hand in 5 minutes, without pulling the carb or front handle. A really sweet saw to work on.
On to the MS 441. This saw has stratified scavenging on it. This uses a secondary butterfly that lets a clean puff of air through two bypass ports and a special pocket in the piston skirt lets that air into the top of the transfer ports, so when the piston comes down and opens the transfer ports, the air purges the combustion chamber and holds the fuel back for the fraction of the second it takes to close the exhaust port. What all this means is that the engine doesn't blow as much raw fuel out the exhaust, so you end up with better fuel economy and good power. And a low enough emissions rating to satisfy the regulators without using a cat in the muffler. This saw is a little tougher to work on though. It has a throttle cable and some complex linkage on the carb, and it is more trouble to get the jug off. But the MS 362 is much simpler as far as the throttle arrangement goes, so it shouldn't be as much trouble.
And all new models will use the low vibe handle arrangement and probably some sort of stratified scavenging. The MS 362 will for sure. I just hope it performs as well as the 361 has.
I added a second port on the left side of my 361 muffler, with a baffle and screen, and adjusted the carb and it responded well. I haven't tried anything on a 441 though.

6th December 2007, 05:28 PM	#34 (permalink)
stihl #1 Sappling Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: chesapeake, virginia Posts: 12	Re: stihl 361 Well, for some more info that may or may not be helpful... The MS 361C uses two springs to activate the chain brake band. One is tripped by the rear handle lever and is fairly soft, just to stop the chain if the rear handle is released, as I said earlier. The other is the big one like all the chain brakes use that is tripped by the front hand guard manually or by inertia. The reason the MS 361 and the MS 441 are easier on the hands is that the UK passed a vibration standard for hand held equipment that was a good bit tighter than the rubber isomounts could provide, so STIHL decided to make all units for the world meet that standard. Usually when one country does something like that, other countries follow suit anyway. Like the EU passing emissions standards pretty much the same as what the EPA did here. I guess AU is next for emissions, right??? The MS 361 was a clean sheet of paper design, not a rework of the 360. It has four long, closed transfer ports, compared to the 360 with two short, closed ports. On the emissions test, it came out considerably lower than the 360, which means it uses the fuel better. So a little more power and efficiency. New ignition with an advance curve. Just a lot of little things that all together really makes this a nice saw. I can pull the jug and have the piston in my hand in 5 minutes, without pulling the carb or front handle. A really sweet saw to work on. On to the MS 441. This saw has stratified scavenging on it. This uses a secondary butterfly that lets a clean puff of air through two bypass ports and a special pocket in the piston skirt lets that air into the top of the transfer ports, so when the piston comes down and opens the transfer ports, the air purges the combustion chamber and holds the fuel back for the fraction of the second it takes to close the exhaust port. What all this means is that the engine doesn't blow as much raw fuel out the exhaust, so you end up with better fuel economy and good power. And a low enough emissions rating to satisfy the regulators without using a cat in the muffler. This saw is a little tougher to work on though. It has a throttle cable and some complex linkage on the carb, and it is more trouble to get the jug off. But the MS 362 is much simpler as far as the throttle arrangement goes, so it shouldn't be as much trouble. And all new models will use the low vibe handle arrangement and probably some sort of stratified scavenging. The MS 362 will for sure. I just hope it performs as well as the 361 has. I added a second port on the left side of my 361 muffler, with a baffle and screen, and adjusted the carb and it responded well. I haven't tried anything on a 441 though.