Stihl 044 advice

[Basher]

The best running saw will be the one with the best numbers at the best squish you can get without machine work.

The 10mm saws have a lighter and weaker crank/rod. There's a reason Stihl changed the pin size, it wasn't to waste money as a corporation. The 10mm have a cult following because they did run better than the 12mm from the factory. Was it EPA rules? I'm not sure. I haven't heard of many failures though.

The 12mm saws have wider ports and the piston has wider skirts. Putting a 10mm piston in a 12mm jug can/may freeport or catch a ring. The 10mm Meteor piston has the same skirt widths as the 12mm Meteor and oem piston, but the pin bosses are too far apart-this allows for side to side movement of the pin bearing. Freaks some guys out, but I haven't heard of a failure. I believe a meteor 10mm slug will allow any jug to be used on a 10mm crank.

Personally, I'd sell the 10mm slant fin jug to someone because it's worth more. I'd pic the decomp jug because I'm getting older and I like a decomp now. I have a feeling in a few years, I'll like the decomp even more.

One of the best running 044/440 I have ever done was a straight fin decomp jug with no porting at all. I took .010 from the chamber and then cut the base for an .020 squish with base gasket. Added a flywheel side deflector and advanced the timing by .025 of the key. I didn't time the jug but I sure wish I had.

You can get someone here to do that machine work for very little cash and do the muffler and advance yourself.

I believe cylinder condition plays a larger part in performance once all the cylinders have seen a lot of hours= wear. I have early slant fin cylinders with thousands of hours on them and I can tell you a new straight fin cylinder with new piston and rings will produce more power than those old cylinders even if they have a new piston and rings put in them. The rings have a more difficult time sealing in to a worn bore and just don`t make the same power they did when the cylinder was new, this is just from personal observation building and running many dozens of these 044 saws. My 044`s with new OEM slant fins are a bit more peppy than the used stock straight fin one I keep for comparison but it doesn`t take much work to make a straight fin to match it.

 

[drf256]

Makes sense Basher.

 

[fearofpavement]

I think any 044, no matter what combination of compatible piston/cylinder you assemble it with is going to make you happy. They're all good runners in my opinion.

 

[GeorgiaVOL]

I'm sure it will put a smile on my face no matter what. It will be fun just to compare all my big saws once I get them all running.

 

[Adirondackstihl]

Nice, clean 10mm jug....

 

[dall]

Nice, clean 10mm jug....

View attachment 62932 View attachment 62933 View attachment 62934 View attachment 62935

that is a nice one jeremy

 

[jake wells]

my 044 10mm has this stamped on top of the jug
KS
115/11
can anyone decipher it?

 

[jake wells]

 

[MustangMike]

My strongest runner is a 10 mm 044 KS jug with 3 +++. With a gasket delete, squish is .020. Also did .020 timing advance, dp muff and HD 2 filter. It has embarrassed several 046/460s and some 066/660s.

I also really like my 440 with the same mods, not quite as fast but a nice solid saw, good torque, and it has compression relief, which as Al says, I appreciate more the older I get!

I don't use C/R to start them cold, but after it is warm, and especially if I'm in an awkward position, I use it and really appreciate having it. Makes re starting the saw real easy so you can climb into those difficult positions without carrying it running.

 

[MustangMike]

This is my 044 in Red Oak with a 28" light bar.

 

[huskyboy]

My 12mm saw

 

[huskyboy]

Looks pretty much identical to @Adirondackstihl 's 10mm cylinder.

 

[junkman]

All the +++++++ marks are defeats of 372's

 

[BonScott46]

The best running saw will be the one with the best numbers at the best squish you can get without machine work.

The 10mm saws have a lighter and weaker crank/rod. There's a reason Stihl changed the pin size, it wasn't to waste money as a corporation. The 10mm have a cult following because they did run better than the 12mm from the factory. Was it EPA rules? I'm not sure. I haven't heard of many failures though.

The 12mm saws have wider ports and the piston has wider skirts. Putting a 10mm piston in a 12mm jug can/may freeport or catch a ring. The 10mm Meteor piston has the same skirt widths as the 12mm Meteor and oem piston, but the pin bosses are too far apart-this allows for side to side movement of the pin bearing. Freaks some guys out, but I haven't heard of a failure. I believe a meteor 10mm slug will allow any jug to be used on a 10mm crank.

Personally, I'd sell the 10mm slant fin jug to someone because it's worth more. I'd pic the decomp jug because I'm getting older and I like a decomp now. I have a feeling in a few years, I'll like the decomp even more.

One of the best running 044/440 I have ever done was a straight fin decomp jug with no porting at all. I took .010 from the chamber and then cut the base for an .020 squish with base gasket. Added a flywheel side deflector and advanced the timing by .025 of the key. I didn't time the jug but I sure wish I had.

You can get someone here to do that machine work for very little cash and do the muffler and advance yourself.

What is this flywheel side deflector you speak of?

 

[drf256]

You'll see.

 

[hseII]

All the +++++++ marks are defeats of 372's

There are some of those 1128 52mm jugs that the ++++++++ go all the way around the cylinder base.