044 Different Bar Length Setups Question

[Saw_Squatch]

Long story short I just recently got into saws in a big way, a logger friend of mine gave me a blown up 044 for free and I just went through the joys of doing a full rebuild. I got the saw running great, all oem parts and the thing rips. It currently just has the old 20" Oregon bar that came with it on it and I'm starting to get into some bigger wood with it and I could really use something more like a 24"-28" bar and that got me wondering. What are people running on theirs right now, and what would make the best setup? Should I just swap out and run a 24" full time or should I go for the 28" and keep the 20" for when I need the extra power?

 

[Deets066]

Long story short I just recently got into saws in a big way, a logger friend of mine gave me a blown up 044 for free and I just went through the joys of doing a full rebuild. I got the saw running great, all oem parts and the thing rips. It currently just has the old 20" Oregon bar that came with it on it and I'm starting to get into some bigger wood with it and I could really use something more like a 24"-28" bar and that got me wondering. What are people running on theirs right now, and what would make the best setup? Should I just swap out and run a 24" full time or should I go for the 28" and keep the 20" for when I need the extra power?

Run a reduced weight 28” on it all the time. Perfect match

 

[AlfA01]

Go big, or go home....Lol. I run a 20" or 25" ES Light most of the time on this saw.

10 or 12mm? 12mm is better for longer bars. The 10mm saws are short bar saws IMO.

 

[Saw_Squatch]

Go big, or go home....Lol. I run a 20" or 25" ES Light most of the time on this saw.

10 or 12mm? 12mm is better for longer bars. The 10mm saws are short bar saws IMO.

View attachment 222226

Probably way more information than you wanted but the saw was originally a 10mm saw but the previous owner wanted to do a big bore kit on it so he split the case and put a new 12mm crank in the saw, problem was that he didn't get a good seal on the crankcase, ran it lean and blew a big chunk out of the piston. At first I thought it was a 10mm so I got oem 10mm piston and 2 used but really nice oem jugs for like $100 (got lucky on eBay) well obviously that didn't fit which is when I learned all about the failed big bore and crank swap so I picked up an oem 12mm piston and did the whole rebuild from that. It worked great for me though because I have his old 10mm crank, a new 10mm piston, and an old 10mm jug since the two jugs had a 10mm and a 12mm jug, so I basically have a whole backup 10mm kit of oem Stihl parts that I could sell for the whole cost of the rebuild.

TL;DR it's 12mm

 

[huskihl]

I’d call Ironhack and see about getting my $ back

 

[Saw_Squatch]

I’d call Ironhack and see about getting my $ back

So I'm fairly new here and I'm kinda confused what this means and what this has to do with my question about bar length for a Stihl 044

 

[huskihl]

So I'm fairly new here and I'm kinda confused what this means and what this has to do with my question about bar length for a Stihl 044

Was just noticing the exhaust port pic and it reminded me of recent happenings.
I’d hunt for a 24-28” lightweight like the other guys said. @Redbull661 has Tsumura and might be able to help you out

 

[Junkyard]

28” light weight is what I run 99% of the time on a 440 hybrid I have. I’ve got three different brands of light weight bars in use on various saws. Oregon, Tsumara and Sugihara. I’ve had good luck with all of them.

 

[pwheel]

... Ia logger friend of mine gave me a blown up 044 for free and I just went through the joys of doing a full rebuild. ... What are people running on theirs right now, and what would make the best setup?...

My ms440's have 20" bars for oak & maple with full comp chain. Balance is dead level; handling is good. Bought a 25" bar & full comp chain for a number of larger (46" dia.) white pines a few years back; that setup is now on an ms460. Don't know about skip chain on longer bars.

 

[Saw_Squatch]

28” light weight is what I run 99% of the time on a 440 hybrid I have. I’ve got three different brands of light weight bars in use on various saws. Oregon, Tsumara and Sugihara. I’ve had good luck with all of them.

Full comp on the 28"? The only thing I'm questioning for the 28" is I spend half my year cutting balsam, *b-word, and white pine up north with the occasional maple or oak, but pretty much all I cut when I'm down in southern Illinois for the other half of the year is Osage orange, maple, oak, and walnut with a lot of scrub brush in there so I'm just wondering how the saw would handle these harder woods with a 28" bar and if I should run full comp or skip

 

[Ryan Browne]

I've got a couple 044/440s. I like a 28" light bar a lot on them for working in the woods. I also like a 20" bar for cutting firewood. So, if I were you I'd skip the 24 and go to a 28". Full comp would generally be my preference at that bar length. You could compromise with semi skip if you want. Get a loop of each and see what you like.

 

[Junkyard]

Full comp on the 28"? The only thing I'm questioning for the 28" is I spend half my year cutting balsam, *b-word, and white pine up north with the occasional maple or oak, but pretty much all I cut when I'm down in southern Illinois for the other half of the year is Osage orange, maple, oak, and walnut with a lot of scrub brush in there so I'm just wondering how the saw would handle these harder woods with a 28" bar and if I should run full comp or skip

I’ve run em all with the 28” bar. Full Comp, half skip and full skip. Most of the wood I cut is oak, hackberry and hedge. The only time I feel like the saw won’t pull it quite as good is noodling bigger chunks. I do keep my chains sharp.

Worst case try a couple loops of each and see whatcha like. That’s how I ended up with a bunch of extra bars, chain, tips etc etc. it’s a sickness!

 

[huskyboy]

I’d say if you were felling/bore cutting hardwood all day long a stock 044/440 is a 20-24” bar saw max. However with some simple mods or porting they wake up nicely and pull a 28” well with a 7 pin sprocket. 24-28” is about the max for the oiler in hardwood as well and I usually mod the oiler on them.

 

[Flying_Dutchman]

I really liked the light 28" that I had on for a little while. I usually run a 24". Depending on how tall you are, a 24" or 28" will be a lot nicer for limbing than the 20".

 

[Boomhower]

As Huskihl touched upon, that original cylinder exhaust port work looks like it was done with a 4” grinder and a case of Busch Light.

I run a 28”, .063 3/8 RS,7 pin pulls fine on stock saw with dual port. Good luck with your new hobby. Watch out for these forum guys though.

 

[CR888]

Run a reduced weight 28” on it all the time. Perfect match

This.

 

[Saw_Squatch]

I really liked the light 28" that I had on for a little while. I usually run a 24". Depending on how tall you are, a 24" or 28" will be a lot nicer for limbing than the 20".

Yeah I'm 6'6" and I was thinking it might be nice for limbing too

 

[Saw_Squatch]

As Huskihl touched upon, that original cylinder exhaust port work looks like it was done with a 4” grinder and a case of Busch Light.

I run a 28”, .063 3/8 RS,7 pin pulls fine on stock saw with dual port. Good luck with your new hobby. Watch out for these forum guys though.

Yeah that whole cylinder and piston got scrapped and it's a miracle the crankshaft survived such a catastrophic malfunction but that was all meteor stuff, everything in it now is oem Stihl

 

[00wyk]

I run a 24. If I need more, I reach for a 288xp.

 

[lehman live edge slab]

24” full comp would be my personal choice on an 044, still can cut a heck of a large tree with that and it will still pull decent in hardwood as long as it’s sharp. I’m sure a person can go bigger but Im kinda impatient if I have a lot of cuts to do and I’ll just go to my 046 or 066