The good ole 038 mag

[Funky sawman]

My 038 mag 2 tips the scales with a big chip deflector, big dawgs and full wrap at 15.1 lbs no fuel or oil. Thats withen a quarter pound of the once famous ms441 garbage. Is it a 064?.....no, but it weighs the same, and much more durable than a 064. That said, my next powerhead will be a hopped up 064 lol.
I have always been a fan of the 372,371. They came out around 1997 and have good top end, but find one that lasts a logger more than 3 years of full time cutten, i bet you cant, they are in the loggers shop boneyard by then. Worked on several 038 that survived 10 plus years of landing saw abuse, thats not to say they were not perfect, usually having broken starter covers, flocked air filters that you could see through, torn av mounts, plastic oiler gears that melted, but bottom ends and main bearings were still perfect.

 

[Funky sawman]

Ok here is one for you, local usfs wildland fire crew has some 038 mags, and 044. They are rebuilding them now. Several guys say they just want a saw that runs. They have had lots of issues keeping newer stuff running, and on top of that the usfs wont buy another new stihl due to the flippy cap ordeal. They had a fleet on ms362cmR and 461, 441, and 661, all the mtronic saws wont run in smoke, i havent figured that one out yet. The 461 is ok, but flippy caps did it in. 362 all lost crank bearings.

 

[merc_man]

Seems to be a lot of oh turdy 8 haters lol.

Gonna show a little love....

Heres my good one. Maybe get some pics of the old one later.

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[rocketnorton]

038 s or m is my #2 fav, next to hooray 288.
got 044 [like the light weight] & 460 here, too, so not completely ignorant...
never seen or run the small one.
haters feel free to send em here.
incognito m in pic.

 

[hseII]

038 s or m is my #2 fav, next to hooray 288.
got 044 [like the light weight] & 460 here, too, so not completely ignorant...
never seen or run the small one.
haters feel free to send em here.
incognito m in pic.

View attachment 156631

How does the 038 compare to the 044/460?


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[Al Smith]

Painting with a broad brush 038 --av---super--mag ? Stock or souped ? apples to oranges ! let me put it this way,the 038 AV and Mag take to mods well.Can't speak for the super as I never owned or wrenched on one and have only seen two or three in my lifetime but assume they should also .

 

[Al Smith]

In regards to the 441 it never impressed me .The 044/440 and 046/460 I always liked .If stock my modified 038 mag will usually out run them and that fact plus several dollars will buy you a Budweiser in just about every red neck bar in Allen County Ohio .In other words it really doesn't prove much except it's faster .

 

[rocketnorton]

How does the 038 compare to the 044/460?


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460 kills em both.
044's lighter, bout same power, but faster [more r's], w 7p on both. 038m pulls 8p better, imo.
this is w/24". would put 28 on 038 before the 044.
eye dont race, but the 044 is a fun to use saw w/20-24 on it.

 

[hseII]

460 kills em both.
044's lighter, bout same power, but faster [more r's], w 7p on both. 038m pulls 8p better, imo.
this is w/24". would put 28 on 038 before the 044.
eye dont race, but the 044 is a fun to use saw w/20-24 on it.

Thank You for the explanation.

I don’t race either but a 28” on a Ported 044/440 is just about perfect for the pines around here.



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[rocketnorton]

the 044 pic'd had timin changed a very little, & no gasket. squish was bout .016. "happy saw" my friend said after runnin it.
its gone now, was slant fin 12mm. only 200 psi saw ive had.
got 10mm now w/.030 gasket. piston bumped head w/o. need to get a lil time on it, let cabers [steel?] seat.
hopin it'll happy up...
lotta softwood hear, too, mostly df n hem i get, tho, not lotta pine...

 

[huskyboy]

Sometimes torque and easy to run get more production on the ground. That totally makes sense. Peoples personal preference probably plays a part in this too. I’ve never ran a 038, maybe they are pretty outdated and old nowadays, but in there time they were probably a decent saw I’m guessing. @Funky sawman how did 266’s/268/272/670 fair during that time period? Seems like they outclassed the 038 at least on paper (yes the almighty paper specs lol)... and stihl responded with the 044 then husky with the 371 and so on. The two 272’s I ran had a pretty nice torquey feel.

 

[Fruecrue]

Good comparison.
Same bore and stroke, same max rpm.
272 is listed at 5.2 hp
Couldn’t find hp spec for 038 mag.

I have a stock 038 magnum 2
And a 268xp I plan to convert to 272, all OEM parts on hand.

Also have a bar adapter.

Hhhhmmmmm.......

 

[huskyboy]

Good comparison.
Same bore and stroke, same max rpm.
272 is listed at 5.2 hp
Couldn’t find hp spec for 038 mag.

I have a stock 038 magnum 2
And a 268xp I plan to convert to 272, all OEM parts on hand.

Also have a bar adapter.

Hhhhmmmmm.......

Test it!

 

[Fruecrue]

Test it!

Nah,
Let’s just BS and speculate.

 

[huskyboy]

Nah,
Let’s just BS and speculate.

Lemme just get out the paper specs and see what one weighs less

 

[Fruecrue]

We already know which one has better sideways balance.

 

[Fruecrue]

14.6 lbs Stihl
13.7 lbs Husqvarna

According to the papers.

 

[XP_Slinger]

Seems to me to me the 038 is either loved or set aside just like the 288. Neither are hot rods by modern standards but they have a distinctly different feel to their power, torque on demand. Much like a lot of other older saws, just a different design era.

 

[drf256]

Sometimes torque and easy to run get more production on the ground. That totally makes sense. Peoples personal preference probably plays a part in this too. I’ve never ran a 038, maybe they are pretty outdated and old nowadays, but in there time they were probably a decent saw I’m guessing. @Funky sawman how did 266’s/268/272/670 fair during that time period? Seems like they outclassed the 038 at least on paper (yes the almighty paper specs lol)... and stihl responded with the 044 then husky with the 371 and so on. The two 272’s I ran had a pretty nice torquey feel.

I could be wrong, but I’ve been told the 272XP was Husky’s interim answer for the introduction of the 044 Stihl before the 372 arrived.

The 044 just beat the heck out of the 266/8 at the time and Husky didn’t want to lose market share.

@Onan18

I still wonder if the dealer pushed my buddy towards the 038 because of the 10mm 044 crank issues. Also wonder why Stihl went to a 10mm pin on the 044 intro.

 

[Onan18]

I could be wrong, but I’ve been told the 272XP was Husky’s interim answer for the introduction of the 044 Stihl before the 372 arrived.

The 044 just beat the heck out of the 266/8 at the time and Husky didn’t want to lose market share.

@Onan18

I still wonder if the dealer pushed my buddy towards the 038 because of the 10mm 044 crank issues. Also wonder why Stihl went to a 10mm pin on the 044 intro.

You are correct sir, the 038 and 268 XP were direct competition. When Stihl released the 044 Mag Husqvarna had to do something so they released the 272 XP as a holdover until the 371 was ready.