slowindown

No doubt. The 346 to a 180 is an apples/oranges comparison, different class of saw, very different price point. You’d need to compare something like a stihl 261 with the 346, or some other 50cc to be fair. But I have no doubt that you’re 100% accurate with what you’re saying. The ms180 is just a homeowner saw. Anyway, I went to another stihl dealer and they had regular ms180’s without the easy start contraption and a regular side tensioner. They were priced at 199.95 and if you bought a 6pack of oil or some premix, they doubled your warranty. Plus I got a new fuel tube for my 029 super. Its light as a feather compared to the poulon pro 38cc I’m retiring. I hope it does well for the things I got it for.

Thanks for the suggestion - hadn't even thought of that. So I looked them up. The husq is 1.88hp. The stihl is1.7. So, little difference. And with the narrower chain on the stihl, probably not noticeable. Let me address a couple of more of your points, Stihl has some next up saw sizes like the ms180 which has a 31.9cc engine producing 2.0 hp. They go up incrementally from there. The only 180 they had at the coop was the 180 b-ce, which has the easy start pull cord I don't much care for and the tool-less chain adjuster, which I also don't care for as it adds a bulge so you can't lay it flat on it's side. There's a couple of other stores that sell stihl. I may check what models they have.

Thoughts on these saws? I’m gonna replace my old 38cc 16” poulon pro. This saw would be used for limbing and cutting small trees for firewood. It’s what I keep in my sxs for trails too. I have a stihl 029 super and a stihl Ms229 for larger stuff. I would go for the stihl but my concerns are that the engine is only a few decimal points over 30cc vs 38 for the husqvarna and it uses narrower .043 chain instead of .050. The stihl is $199 and the husqvarna is either 179 or 189 at lows. I’m also thinking about another cheap 38cc along the lines of the poulan or similar as it lasted better than I had figured.

Well dang. That one is for IRS. I can’t find one with the hoops for a SRA. But it would be simple enough to weld some on after getting the powder coat off.

Where’d you find it?

I have thought about replacing the factory tow piece with one of these. They bolt in the same spot. No welding. https://www.ebay.com/itm/KFI-Rear-2-Receiver-Hitch-for-2005-2019-Honda-Foreman-TRX500-Solid-Axle-Only/254231763794

This is the video I mentioned. The last 1/4 of it is using tire foam. He used a different brand.

Tire foam is amazing on the black plastic pieces like the footwells that turn grey. Just spray it on. Just leave it - no wiping or anything. Come back in a couple hours and the black looks new. I haven’t tried it on the colored plastic as I just replaced my red plastic but the video where I got the idea from sprayed his whole green 420 rancher with it. I’ll see if I can find the video. Heres the kind I used:

As crazy as that looks, it might actually work. . . for a short time. Silicone tubing would be better. Could probably bend some thin walled stainless or aluminum pipe to work even better.

correct

Heres a couple of pics that shows how much it sticks out. Only the fairlead sticks out not the kfi plate. Those pics include the shackle plate I made which mounts to the bottom of the kfi plate and is shown in this thread link:

I’ve been trying to get her to but so far no luck.

I have one daughter in Biloxi and one in New Orleans.

The wife and I watched The peanut butter falcon on amazon Friday night. It was pretty good. Kind of a wholesome feel good movie. We liked it a lot.

I had never heard of the animal "rescue" videos until now. That's bad.

Maybe so. But they're making tons of money with that youtube channel. So good for them. I do hate to see them destroy some of the machines but they are theirs.

And we’re supposed to be taking the camper to Biloxi Sunday. Crap.

There is a color difference. But even with oem paint there’s probably going to be some difference, especially since your paint is 25 years old.

As mentioned, rustoleum aluminum is pretty close, maybe a little shinier. The link to the can below is what I used. Lowes carries it, walmart might too. Here's a picture showing freshly painted front wheels on my 02 rancher compared to the 18 year old originally painted rears. You can spray some in a cup and use it as touch up paint too. Well its not showing the can. Here's a link to it: https://mobileimages.lowes.com/product/converted/020066/020066751586.jpg?size=pdhi

I figured that when I posted. LOL But I wouldn't argue about it - don't have the passion about it. Regardless, I wouldn't buy the harbor freight 2500 lb. There's been a lot of problems with those. What size did you have?

I use a set of torch tip cleaners too.

I don't know about longevity. I've only used it once. But I had a venom or maybe it was a viper on my rancher for 15years (and I don't think they had been importing them from china for long when I got it) and it has held up well. I had a terra 45 on my rhino and have a 4000 lb warn on my commander and they're good too. I did have to replace some parts in the warn - the positive thing about that is that the parts were available. But for $120 if you can find a coupon or $150 if you can't, it seemed worth giving it a shot. I did make that lower shackle mount you see in the pics, in case I wanted to use a snatch block. It's in this thread:

I put the winch in this link on my my foreman. $119 with a coupon I found online. https://www.harborfreight.com/3500-lb-atvpowersport-12v-winch-with-automatic-load-holding-brake-56259.html

There's not a gasket on the ranchers of that vintage but I'm 99% sure there is on the foremans. I've an 06 foreman ES and it doesn't shift hard at all. While you're there, it would be a good time to grease the little gears and bearings the shift motor acts on and the clean the shift motor. There's a really good write up by retro on the subject on this forum - pretty easy when the plastic stuff is out of the way.

That would be me. The Expanse is excellent.