044 project

[MustangMike]

I just used sockets to drive em down, just don't go too far.

 

[Wood Doctor]

The Stihl 044 and MS440 are/were surprisingly powerful for their weight, capable of pulling a 28" bar. They generated rave reviews.

A tree service company presented me with an MS440 last week in a complete mess. A climber used one 40' up for a large tree trunk section. He made the wedge cut too deep and the tree top grabbed the saw bar, pulled it away as it went down, and then landed atop the saw after a bounce. All the plastic housings are broken, the chain brake fused to the hot muffler, the outer handle is bent beyond recognition, the tank housing is twisted, and that may not be all that I find.

Get this: the engine still turns over, has 140 psi compression cold, and the spark is still good. So, I decided to rebuild it. Who knows, I may save the land fill from yet another dead chain saw that originally cost $850 new.

 

[BuckthornBonnie]

The Stihl 044 and MS440 are/were surprisingly powerful for their weight, capable of pulling a 28" bar. They generated rave reviews.

A tree service company presented me with an MS440 last week in a complete mess. A climber used one 40' up for a large tree trunk section. He made the wedge cut too deep and the tree top grabbed the saw bar, pulled it away as it went down, and then landed atop the saw after a bounce. All the plastic housings are broken, the chain brake fused to the hot muffler, the outer handle is bent beyond recognition, the tank housing is twisted, and that may not be all that I find.

Get this: the engine still turns over, has 140 psi compression cold, and the spark is still good. So, I decided to rebuild it. Who knows, I may save the land fill from yet another dead chain saw that originally cost $850 new.

This is exactly where some AM parts can help.

 

[stihl_head1982]

I built a simple case splitter from a spare piece of metal. Just drill two holes to align with the bar studs, and have the metal extend over the end of the crank. The bar stud nut furthest from the crank goes underneath, and the next one goes over. Adjust both to get the best angle.

Also purchased a cheap bearing puller from HF (don't know if you have them there). Works very well (MattyO) had demonstrated it.

If you clean that cylinder and get a new piston, a 10 mm can be a very strong saw. Making it a 12 will involve machining the case, etc. For a hybrid, I would choose to start with a 12 mm saw, or a Chinese knock off.

Here is my 10 mm in Red Oak (no port work, but gasket delete, timing advance, dp muff cover & HD-2 filter).

Excellent! Love it!

 

[MustangMike]

A pic of my case splitter, made from an old roto tiller tine (cause that is what I had laying around). A straight piece of metal, or angle iron, would work even better.

 

[MattG]

The Stihl 044 and MS440 are/were surprisingly powerful for their weight, capable of pulling a 28" bar. They generated rave reviews.

A tree service company presented me with an MS440 last week in a complete mess. A climber used one 40' up for a large tree trunk section. He made the wedge cut too deep and the tree top grabbed the saw bar, pulled it away as it went down, and then landed atop the saw after a bounce. All the plastic housings are broken, the chain brake fused to the hot muffler, the outer handle is bent beyond recognition, the tank housing is twisted, and that may not be all that I find.

Get this: the engine still turns over, has 140 psi compression cold, and the spark is still good. So, I decided to rebuild it. Who knows, I may save the land fill from yet another dead chain saw that originally cost $850 new.

I love these kind of tales! And thumbs up to keeping these stihls running

 

[VinceGU05]

I built a simple case splitter from a spare piece of metal. Just drill two holes to align with the bar studs, and have the metal extend over the end of the crank. The bar stud nut furthest from the crank goes underneath, and the next one goes over. Adjust both to get the best angle.

Also purchased a cheap bearing puller from HF (don't know if you have them there). Works very well (MattyO) had demonstrated it.

If you clean that cylinder and get a new piston, a 10 mm can be a very strong saw. Making it a 12 will involve machining the case, etc. For a hybrid, I would choose to start with a 12 mm saw, or a Chinese knock off.

Here is my 10 mm in Red Oak (no port work, but gasket delete, timing advance, dp muff cover & HD-2 filter).

that jug is toast! worn thru the chrome on the inlet side. bin job.

 

[Adamski]

He made the wedge cut too deep and the tree top grabbed the saw bar, pulled it away as it went down, and then landed atop the saw after a bounce.

I love these kind of tales! And thumbs up to keeping these stihls running

And a thumbs up that the climber still has all his limbs..

 

[MattG]

that jug is toast! worn thru the chrome on the inlet side. bin job.

Yeah, you can feel a groove right there too, if I remember rightly........looks like the 460 hybrid project is on!!

(I guess that the piston must have tilted and pushed slightly on the exhaust side of the jug, where the piston transferred, and hence the cooler inlet side of the skirt rubbed on the jug right there)

 

[MustangMike]

that jug is toast! worn thru the chrome on the inlet side. bin job.

You guys are sissy's, that is below where the rings are, she will run just fine!!!

Besides, with all the hybrids being built, there have to be a bunch of 044/440 jugs out there, and I think a lot of the AM pistons (have different ring pin locations) and will let you run a 440 jug on a 10mm saw.

That said, a Hybrid is a GREAT power to weight saw! If that is what your heart is set on, go for it!

 

[MattG]

Well if anyone wants that jug, they can have it for free, as long as they pay the postage/shipping/etc. I don't expect a massive amount of interest, but there you have it. If someone can use it, I'd rather not toss it out.

 

[huskihl]

You guys are sissy's, that is below where the rings are, she will run just fine!!!

I see you've been hanging out with @T.Roller and me a lil much. Be careful. It's a slippery slope

 

[T.Roller]

I see you've been hanging out with @T.Roller and me a lil much. Be careful. It's a slippery slope

Haha I'd run it!

 

[MattG]

Well those rather pricey special tools arrived the other day. I put the AS (output side) to use:
And hey presto, the crankcases split, and wonder of wonders the bearings remain in the case so far.

What was kind of annoying was that realised that there is not 1, but 2 guides pins in the cases! And I'd left one in!

I'm assuming that this didn't do too much harm, as they still seemed to separate without too much torque being applied to the bolt.

 

[MattG]

Whilst the AS tool was fairly easy to use, the ZS one (I think) needs more planning. You receive 3 discs, and have to figure out that the one with the number 12 on it somewhere is the one to use, by ref. from the manual:

The bolt running through the spindle is actually a reverse thread, which had me puzzled for a moment. And eventually I built up the nerves to unthread the whole assembly:

which was a good idea, as otherwise the T handle aint gonna clear the bolt:
Lastly threading up the 3 supplied M5s to fix the disc down was cool. I did clean and blow out the threaded holes in the casings.....after figuring out that we are reusing the engines crankcase fixing screws....but from the reverse direction of course...those STIHL engineers being the clever peeps that they are:

 

[MattG]

And lastly while I summon up the inner reserves necessary to continue the work, how about some fine art?

 

[Mattyo]

or you could do this:

sorry Matt, didn't see this thread until now.

just finished filming putting a china 044 case together. takes me forever to edit this stuff. hopefully i'll have it up soon to help with your rebuild.

 

[MattG]

or you could do this

Fair enough, but apparently the special tools are also useful to replace the crank back into the casings.
Their price was daylight robbery...and I've fashioned several things in the past to get around buying the special tools, but cos of how I want the project to turn out...I just didn't feel comfortable with the improvised techniques in this instance.

Anyway, here's the ZS tool, nailed down ready to push out the crank:

Ta da!

 

[MattG]

Now that the crank is out, I'm considering whether these cases, which out of the factory carried a 10mm wrist pin crank, are suitable for a 12mm one (MS440), as this is what's required before any such "44/460 hybrid" project can be considered.

Well as they say, let's go compare:


Well, so far, the 12mm w/p crank looks to be a straight swap. I didn't want to actually install it right now so I just plonked it down on the bearings, but it looks as it should clear in all areas in the bottom end.

Mentioning @PA Dan and @blsnelling right now since I sounded out a few ideas/concerns etc. with those two prior to getting hold of the 12mm crank.

 

[Mattyo]

Just used these tools to put my 044 440 project together ....worked a treat. Those shop tools r insane..

I'll get the 440 vid edited in next couple weeks