New Saw's

[martyinmi]

My brother and I were talking about cows yesterday and somehow our conversation morphed from bovine genetic traits, then to pesticides, a short sidetrack to invasive species(EAB), and finally to chainsaws. I'm sure that the focal points of most brothers conversations would not sway that much, but hey, that's how we roll.

We were talking about our favorite chainsaws we've owned over the years, mine of course were Stihl, followed by the old Macs. His were old Macs, followed by Poulans. That caught me off guard. He's owned a half dozen Stihl's over the years, and I figured he favored them over the others. He told me that the reason he didn't care for Stihl saws was because of a bad experience he had with his(now mine) 026 with a 18" bar. He bought it new and it always ran rich. He took it back to the dealer twice, and the dealer told him the carb wasn't adjustable and he'd have to live with it. I've ran the saw, and he was not exaggerating. Your eyes would burn and the fumes would make it very hard to breathe if the wind was just right. He took it to one of his friends while it was still under warranty and had him put an older, adjustable carb on it. He cut for another month or so with it, and ended up seizing it up. He then took it back to the dealer and they wouldn't touch it because he had "modified" it. It's been sitting now for about 6 or 8  years-maybe longer.

About that time a friend of his from church needed money and had an o46 with a 28" bar that he wanted $100.00 for. My brother bought it and finished cutting his firewood that year with it. He didn't like it because he thought it was heavy. He had a bad winter that year, and before the next year he put in a new propane furnace and swore he'd never burn wood again.

He offered to give me both saws yesterday, but I told him I wouldn't take them unless I could pay him something for them. He said he felt the 026 had no value, and that he only had $100.00 into the 046, and that would be the price if I felt I had to pay him. I wanted to give him $200.00, but he said absolutely not. He decided we should arm wrestle to determine the price-if he won it would be $100.00, $200.00 if I won.

I easily beat his butt-with both arms 8) 8) He works out 3-4 times/week and is 5 years younger, BUT, he is also 55 lbs lighter. His boney butt came right up of off the chair when we used our right arms!

I'm picking them up after work today. He said he thought I could get a new piston and sleeve kit for around $125.00 for the 026. Does that sound about right?

Sorry for the ramble. Had an hour to kill before my kidney ultrasound.   

[thecfarm]

Just want to say good luck with the ultra sound. Must be something going on for them to do that.
By the way,I would stay away from the dealer that told him he would have to live with it.

[mad murdock]

Thanks for the ramble, reminded me of conversations with some of my brothers. As for the Stihl parts, you can cross check prices by doing an eBay search, or check pricing and availability from forum sponsors chainswr and bailey's. I go for the old macs first and newer old macs second.

[martyinmi]

My brother's memory is failing him. The 026 has a 20" bar, not 18, and the 046 is actually an 045AV with what appears to be a 22" bar-not a 28". From the head to the chain tip is just over 21".

I took the muffler off from the 026 and looked in with a pen light. The bore is spotless. The piston has some scoring. The saw was not seized up, so I squirted saw gas in the exhaust and it started on the 3 or 4th pull, but wouldn't stay running. I repeated that a few times and it still wouldn't stay running. I think I'll clean the carb and put a new line and filter on it before I tear into it. I'm taking my compression gauge to work with me also. It appears to have great compression.

If I need to replace the piston and jug, can I put parts from a super on it? I think the bore is .7 mm bigger on a super..??

[martyinmi]

A little update on the Stihls.

045- Blew off with compressed air, sharpened chain, filed burr off from bottom of bar, dumped old fuel, added new mix and bar oil, fired on 11th pull and runs like John the bear! That old fart will flat out annihilate my muffler modded 310.

026- Could not get it to stay running. Tore the jug off and found that the piston was scored badly and the rings were seized tightly in the grooves on the exhaust port side. Ordered a new 44.7mm piston/cylinder kit and a gasket kit from Baileys. (They have good prices!)

I'm thinking the reason that the 026 seized up was because the hose clamp that holds the intake boot to the cylinder was not tight-in fact,the bottom of it wasn't even in the groove in the rubber. I'll bet that the factory neglected to tighten it. There was evidence that it had been sucking dirty air, as the throat had a greasy, gritty film in it. I believe that saw was doomed before it ever hit the dealers showroom.

[joe_indi]

This is the first time I am hearing of an nonadjustable carburetor on a professional Stihl saw!
I had a look at the 026 workshop manual.There is no mention of such a carburetor.
Am I right or wrong on this?   

[JohnG28]

This is the first time I am hearing of an nonadjustable carburetor on a professional Stihl saw!
I had a look at the 026 workshop manual.There is no mention of such a carburetor.
Am I right or wrong on this?

There were some 026s here in the States made with no H adjustment.

[joe_indi]

There were some 026s here in the States made with no H adjustment.

Thank you for this very valuable info.
Joe