@@DavesSmallEngines You got that right, Don is a great teacher, and you don't find many mechanics who are willing to teach you, most require you to go to collage to get your associates degree before you can work for them.
whenever i tap out a piston pin i like to turn the saw on it's side and sit the piston on a block of wood , this way you're not applying unnecessary stress on the rod , just thought i'd put in my 2 cents , 😂 great work 👍
Your very helpful video is appreciated. I am another "elderly gentleman" out there, 79. I have had the 026 for over 25 years, but had noticed it was getting harder to start because of the compression. I don't think it was just my aging, it seemed more difficult to start - even to point I tried wd-40 as was recommended here somewhere, and it did work, but you have to continue to do it every time it is cold started. It was a great thing to discover the possibility of a retrofit which your video did for me. Anyway, following your lead, I decided it was worth the try as it was not a functional saw for me the way it was. I will say it was not an easy challenge, but I did get it done, and today, it started up with the help of the newly installed decomp valve. It is running great. As a side, I was impressed that by comparison to the saw you switched out, the piston, and cylinder on mine were almost pristine, no scoring, or burn marks at all. Without the decomp valve engaged, it still pulls hard, but using it makes the difference. And, I did end up purchasing a ring compressor kit, and that made the job much easier. I see someone recently commented about that. Thank you, Dave. Ron
I bought a 026 about 10 years ago and it say made in west Germany, that tells you it’s age. It is a super saw to start especially after I serviced the carburettor, always starts first pull when hot, takes about a dozen pulls if I have not started in a months, great saw
I have one of those old 026 that I've owned since 92" and it has never given me any trouble. Just replacing worn out parts when needed. Great saw. It's good to know I can replace the head with a MS260 if I ever need to. Thanks for this video !
Thanks. This procedure really helps. I can no longer pull my 026 starter rope with enough force. Your video has encouraged me to try and revive my old 026.
Thank you Dave. Your presentation was most informative and sequential as presented. As a novice to chainsaw mechanics, I am very appreciative when a person offers valuable information and presents the instruction in a logical, sequential fashion and manner for best results. I also found your "previous experiences and lessons learned to do, and not to do, extremely professional and note worthy. A good teacher is always willing to share success and offer caution with failures and new learnings. Thank you again.
Thanks Dave, now I know I can do it! I have two of these and both came with decompressor, maybe it was a UK option. Ashamed to say both are burned out, it happens almost before you know it, just pushing it too hard on an awkward gnarley cut. Muffler off and the damage is all too visible! I agree that the 026 is the best they made, and now I’ll fix one and keep the other for parts. I have an 021 as well, also an excellent saw. I’m 76 by the way, I’m sure your friend appreciates what you’ve done…
I have my late father's 026 and I've used it a lot, but not for a living, and it still runs great after 32 years. I didn't want to burn up my father's saw, so I also bought a great used ms 260 pro with a case for $325 and it runs great too. I've only changed one needle bearing also bars and chains from 16" 18" and 20"
I have the Stihl 026 “Pro” which I purchased new many years ago (it still runs and cuts perfectly). It came new WITH the decompression valve, although I rarely use it (it seems to start better without it). Good to know that I can rebuild my saw with the newer 260 or 261 cylinder/piston if it is ever needed. I’ve always run Stihl 2cycle oil at 50:1 and have no visible scoring on my piston or cylinder wall. This is one torquey little 50cc chainsaw….I love it. I also have a very old manual-oiler Homelite 50cc chainsaw that still works quite well, but it is very heavy, very noisy and simply no match for my 026 Pro. Dr. K.
I recently bought a replacement piston/cylinder for my 026 on eBay, (have not done the work yet), after watching your video I checked the cylinder, the replacment has the decompression valve! Difficult to start without. Thanks for the video.
Great video Dave. As someone who regularly works on chainsaws, you should invest in a set of ring compressors. Very inexpensive tool, but it makes installing the cylinder much easier. I'm sure your friend will be very happy with his rebuild saw, better than new.
Hi Dave, it looks like the person who owns that saw took care of it but maybe it over reeved with a dull chain or something. Good job you did on the conversion and bringing a old saw back to it's glory.
Hello Dave, couple items: my eyes aren't what they used to be so I clean the work bench and drape it with a white sheet. Helps if a circlip takes off or even a dropped bolt. Cut a piece of carton with a slot for the conrod and slid that over the gasket, so if something dropped still not in crank case - even it you never find the piece - with the carton covering the crankshaft area you know it is not down inside. Finally mark down the exhaust side of the piston with a felt tip pen. Now insert the piston and rings into the cylinder at your leisure and in proper orientation. With the piston well started in the cylinder bore and one side of the piston having the circlip in place, the wrist pin is easily inserted. To my hands, a lot easier to install the remaining circlip than contend with the rings.
Hi Dave, Thanks for the video. I am getting close to 70 myself. I have a similar sounding problem with my 034 AV. I don't know if you will see this post since I am now just viewing your 2 year old video. I purchased the 034 new in 1985 and it has been a great chain saw. Over the years it started to occasionally grab/stop the starter cable as I would try and start cold and just about tear my arm off/injure, it is now becoming a very common occurrence. I have taken the 034 to two different Stihl licensed mechanics and they basically say I just need to pull the starter cable as hard as I can. The mechanics can start the 034 but it has grabbed them at times, also. When the 034 was new it never acted like this, I hate to get rid of the saw but I don't want to injure my shoulder. I have taken your information on diagnosing a problem and applied it: 1. It has spark, 2. It has compression, 3. I have looked at the exhaust side of the piston/cylinder and see no indications of scoring. The only thing I can think of is loss of vacuum/or I just can't see the scoring. I don't have the vacuum testing equipment. Do you think a vacuum problem could be causing the extreme compression stopping the starter cord from turning over the piston? Any ideas? I always run the premium gas out of the saw before storing for any length of time. That is all the information that I can think of to give you. Thanks again for your help! Started watching you on Donny's channel. Sincerely, David
All I do know is if you don't know the reason for the lean issue and it doesn't get fixed dame will happen again. Learned that the hard way years ago! Great job ans sweet little saws!
Another great video.As others have commented a set of plastic ring compressors make the job a lot easier.If my 026 ever blows up on me there now is another option to make it worthwhile saving my favorite limbing saw..Take care.
Good video done in a way that the average DIYer can follow, I am not quite ready for a decomp yet but recently picked up a 026 to go with a lighter saw than the 044s that I have been running forever. Barn find 026 with a 1/4inch of dust which after clean up might have hardly ever been run judging by the near new condition of the bottom of the cases and still shows cross hatching on the cylinder walls when viewed thru the exhaust port nearly threw my shoulder out going for my wallet when the seller asked for $125 LOL, now starting ,my quest for a 026 with decomp for my 72yr older brother.
I did almost exactly the same thing for a mate who was coming out of a divorce. He had work but no money and had blown up two 026s and then his newish MS260 got a tree on it. I built him one out of all the best bits and he reckoned it was the best saw of the whole lot. I flushed the bottom end out with 50:1 after being careful not to get debris in it. I lube the piston, rings, end and main bearings with two-stroke oil.
I picked up a crash damaged 026 this week that I am restoring. It has a broken rear handle which I am replacing. It has wonderful compression. After I got it, I spent a good afternoon cleaning it up. Since it was missing an air filter cover I removed the air filter and clean up the carb area. After I was through cleaning it up, I squirted some gas down it’s throat and pulled it over. It had been sitting on a dealer storage shelf for about 15 years but I felt it had been running when it was damaged. It actually rolled over after a few pulls, so I gave it a few more squirts of two cycle. I wanted to lube it’s bottom end real good with good two cycle. I then pulled it over, again, and that time it ran for a few seconds. Every day since, I have given it a squirt and got it to run a few seconds. This morning, Inam going to connect it to a piece of fuel line and filter which I will drop into a small container of two cycle. I want to hear it run and idle. What do want to bet it will? All I have for a throttle is a throttle rod hanging off the carb and a kill wire hanging off on a piece of the control lever. I can always touch the kill wire to the metal spring and shut the saw off by killing spark. If push comes to shove, I can always put my thumb over the end of the carb and kill it. I think it will run and idle on my Rube Goldberg fuel tank arrangement. After all this is a real saw and not a strato controlled EPA saw. I do not need a deco on a 44.7mm saw. This is a toy compared to my ms 460 and 660.
@@DavesSmallEngines I got the rear handle on it, yesterday. I still have a few things to do to it. MIT was filthy, sawdust and oil everywhere on it. I scrubbed it with old two cycle and got most of it off. I was covered with sawdust and gas when I got through. I also found out that someone had taken off the clutch, worm gear and sprocket bearing. I am going to see if I have a clutch that will work on it in my junk pile. If not, it will be another few weeks before I can get it running. Still have a few other things to do to it, anyway. I want to go through its carb before I put it back on.
Nice video, Dave. But i think you forgot that heat shield between cylinder and exhaust. It is recommended, to prevent from overheating your engine. Greetings from Germany.
Good video and nice clean work area. We'll see how long that lasts😄 I have a set of plastic ring compressors but saws don't always have clearance for them. I found the a great compression tool can be a piece of shim stock or flashing wrapped around the piston and taped closed. Always lube the piston and rings. this method fits anywhere and once the rings are in, just untape and unwrap the metal shim or flashing. If you do a lot of these, a better tool, need one with diameter for each piston size, is to machine a thin wall aluminum cylinder just a few thousandths larger than the piston. This ring would then have to be split and some sort of quick fastener, or even a cable tie (to be cut later), added. Again the only benefit over the plastic tools is that there's almost no space required for the tool.
Awesome rebuild and tutorial. I have the 026 Pro and we're both getting older and harder to start. After watching this I'm thinking of doing this rebuild, this gives me hope.... because I love this saw. Nice work and thanks for posting. Sub'd.
Thanks for starting your channel. Im looking forward to your future videos. It would be helpful if you could improve the lighting and visuals of the close up shots, like inside the cylinder. Thanks!
I am sure a running saw is better than a scored cylinder and piston that doesnt run.... but ms260 piston/cylinder is a downgrade from an 026... look again at the intake and exhaust ports. the decomp valve is definitely NOT the only difference. Valuable as a teardown and assembly video tho. Good work.
Hey Dave, the 026 Pro’s (labeled) on air cleaner cover had the decom in that cut out that your friends saw had which you replaced. Pro labeled saws had the magnesium cover starters as well. FYI
@@DavesSmallEngines I'm from Hungary. The ms 260 is still being produced in Brazil, but officially it is not available in Hungary. Mine was brought into the country from Ukraine, where the ms260 is still sold in dealerships. A lot of older model chainsaws are still sold around the world, and being produced. I think even 2 series Husqvarnas are made to this day. It's mainly for countries with not that strict emission regulations, and less income.
Nice one Dave, bought an MS 260 at a car boot sale in the UK a couple of years ago for £18. looked like a pile of rubbish as the bar/chain was rusted together. Engine turned over with plenty of compression. I stripped and cleaned the carb, added a new chain and 18" bar and it runs like a dream. It is now my go-to saw and has cut loads of firewood. P.S. is that old fellah you were talking about a guy Donyboy73? He looks as though he is getting on a bit. Must be all that teaching he is doing. Kind regards to you both from Scotland.
Hey Neil! That’s an awesome story. Great work! Nah, Don is about 15 years older than me. The other fella I’m talking about is late 70’s Thanks for the comments! Cheers!!!
Nice job Dave! That was a nice used cylinder for sure. Do you work on mowers in the summer months or do you keep purchasing non running saws? Your doing a great job of explaining your processes of the repair as you go. Dony is very good at doing that as well and it makes the videos so much better! ✌🇺🇸🇨🇦 Roger
@@DavesSmallEngines Dave you must really like that 2 stroke stuff. Since retirement a year ago i started flipping mowers for a hobby. I get some curb find string trimmers, but i cant really make any money on them. Most people here just buy the $90 junk trimmers from the big box stores. I mostly flip name brand mowers, such as Toro, Honda, Craftsman, Lawnboy, etc. Roger
@@rogermcdonald1607 hey Roger! I have a nice Toro 22” personal pace mower for myself. Truthfully, I enjoy the portability of the small 2 stroke equipment. Fits in my car nice and easy!
There is a rumor saying that the 026 will be easier to start if you upgrade it with a 260 airfilter because the choke functionality of the 260filter is closing better. That would be an interesting video, testing the number of pulls needed to cold start an 026 before and after replacing the original filter with a 260 filter. Must change the air filter cover as well. Cheers.
Keep making these videos they are invaluable I’ve learned a great deal could you do a video on good places to order parts and how to get parts like how to find a schematic of my 346XP so I can order the correct part
Hey Thomas! Google “Husqvarna 346xp parts diagram” that will give you a parts picture for each of the subcategories a d then You’ll have the part number which you can google for pricing and availability! Thanks for watching
I do not need a deco on my 026. I am an active 76. I still ground start it but I can easily pull it over. The scars were from a lost circlip on the intake side. If it comes out on the exhaust side it usually ends up in the muffler. I tap the end of the circlip with an old wrist pin on both circlips to make sure that sucker is seated, correctly. I have not had one come out since.
Exactly the problem I've got at 77 I can't start my 2 bigger Stihl saws. One I've had for about 45 years an 032 and it has the same compression as when I bought it all those years ago. (clean your filters each time you use it) but I can't start it. I was burned out in bushfires 3 years ago and still have lots of timber down needing cleaning up so no rest for this old bloke yet! I think I'm about to transition into Stihl battery saws. Tried Makita...waste of time. My wife can't believe I Stihl need more saws...Grin~
Hey Rob! Stihl makes some easy-start models too that have way more power than battery. Seems like battery is the future, though. Let me know what you end up with!
Hey Dave. Great Job 👍 Today I used a Pistonring assembly tool (sorry, I don‘t know the exact english term 🙈) for the first time. It‘s so easy to slide the cylinder over the piston...🤣🤣👍 Perhaps this would be a nice tool for you also 😉 Greetings from germany, Stefan
Awesome finding that OEM p and c. Your customer will be very happy with the upgraded rebuild. A psi test would be interesting. U have a nice line up of screaming pro stihls on your bench.
Pro's don't need to scream, they just need to stand their and look good, their sheer presence shows, they are ready to take on the forest. Its the consumer saws that get all flashy, boasting big features, trying to pretend their pro's, but their just posers lol. But Dave is our man who is gonna tell it like it is. :)
...great post Dave......audio and video excellent......I just finished restoring a Stihl 026 that a friend gave to me because he could not get it to run anymore.....really enjoyed the restoration......I am a retired electrical engineer, but most of my projects are more mechanical than electrical.......just have a question - when you crank the chainsaw with the spark plug removed, would it not be better to have the run lever in he "off" position so that the magneto does not have to "find" a path to ground somewhere besides the spark plug?.....just curious, and maybe it doesn't matter, but that 20,000 + volts of energy has to go somewhere, right?......really enjoy your and Don's postings....keep em coming.. :)
Hey Ken! Thanks for the comments!!! I really do appreciate it. When I pull over that slowly there is no charge generated (or maybe there is but not that much). You would know better as the electrical engineer but I have pulled a saw over slow like that with a spark plug grounded and I have not seen any spark generated. Maybe you can elaborate and I can adjust my practices? Cheers!
You can do it. An ms 260 cylinder will work on the 026. My 026 has an ms 260 rear handle on it and it works fine. I would just put a new cylinder on it. That will work, too. The 026 is a filthy little Devil. I spent a bunch of hours with a paint brush and some old two cycle cleaning up my new 026, acquisition. I cleaned up everything with gas and my compressor. Even the chain break parts were filthy. They are not, anymore and I coated them with white lithium grease and put the clean cover back on. I can’t cut with it yet because someone had stolen the clutch, worm gear and sprocket bearing but I will put this crash damaged 026 back in operation pretty soon. It starts up like a dream. I went through the carb and it was a filthy as the rest of the saw. Blew everything off with break cleaner and put it back together.
Good job Dave. Not sure you explained what caused the lean condition and what to check for. I usually check the carb setting screws as a baseline and Definitely the notorious cracked intake boot that you had to dance with or crank seals
I have a MS 260 that has no decompression valve. But, my problem I'm having is fuel spitting out the carburetor, I've also found a puddle in my muffler. I rebuilt the carb. Did a test to see if the needle valve was holding, it did drop, but very slowly and looked like it stopped at 2 lbs. I can not find the answer to this problem of fuel blowing out the carb. Anyway nice film showing the swap out of cylinders. Any help would be highly appreciated. Thanks, Jack.
I gotta say Dave, that beanie hat has set your image in stone. If you were to stop wearing a beanie hat, I'd be like, who's this? HAHA :D - Honestly, I was really impressed seeing your conversion of this saw, what a great way to breath new life in a machine. I think you did a great job. :)
I enjoyed very much to watch your video (first time ) However my friend Peter has 026 chainsaw he only use it a few times a Year Last time he went to use it and didn't start , he took it to a Still Shop and they told him it hold and no worth to fix it . He gave to me to have a look ( I got a little knowledge ) But I can assure you the chainsaw look NEW . I removed the exhaust cover (?) no scratches appear on the piston .The carburettor gaskets seems to be OK .Put all back and it fired on the first start ...the second time took me six or seven try to start ...I informed Peter that the chainsaw starts and seems nothing is wrong with it .Well that was a month ago Peter went to use it the other day and it stated straight away then after moving some brunches he tried to start it again but no way would start .WOULD you please give me an idea where to look for the problem ? Thank you ....-BRAVO---
I have seen a utube use tie wraps as ring compresser,they wrap it around the piston push the cylinder down and the wraps fall around the rod just cut them off.
Hi Dave nice work, i have a used 026 too, with original cylinder but with no brand name piston with a letter (A) on it. Which means is 43.95mm, cylinder is in great shape but the piston have some scratches nothing special but i want to replace it . Meteor made three different dimensions for this model:(A)43.95 , (AB)43.96 and (B)43.97mm and i can only find only (B) available on internet so my question is....can i put a meteor (B) piston in this good cylinder,i m afraid the 0,02+ difference between A and B will overheat and seize the cylinder... what's your opinion about that... P.S. i didn't measure ovality of cylinder with a bore gauge .
The ms260 has a decomp valve? is it automatic or manual? I didn't think mine had it so went out to look and there is a solid rubber plug in that spot but no valve.
Nice video! I have a 028 Wood Boss. Is there a cylinder and piston that could replace what I now have to do the same thing. Also, what is the approximate cost for parts and labor?
Howdy dave, i just subscribed! Can you do a video on how to safely load a riding mower onto a pickup truck. Some of those ramps seem to be unsafe, but cheaper than a trailer.
when the exhaust side of the piston expands and scores from the heat it pushes the piston towards the intake side causing the light scoring on that side because the piston to wall clearance is gone and the oil is not there
I loved your video and was very interested because I have an 041 which has always been hard to start, a very hard pull. And a cold start can easily require 50 pulls. A warm start usually will start with one or two pulls but for the past year, the warm start is getting worse. Been cutting fire wood for fifty years with it and it does rip. But now, something is wrong. Am thinking of moving down to a 50 cc Husky or Echo. But would love to convert my 041 to electronic and keep it for a back-up. My limited research cannot find a simple conversion for the 041.
Get an eye dropper and put 3-4 drops of fuel directly into the carb and give it a pull. It should pop right off. It’ll probably stall out but it will fire up much easier afterwards.
Hi Dave! Thanks for the video! I thought the whole production was very well done. I have an O26 that I bought in 1989 and for the most part, it has always started and been trouble free. Recently, it will not Idle. I have replaced the spark plug and am considering a carb kit. Would you know which carb kit it would require or is more info needed? It was not made in Germany. It only has one bar bolt, not two. Could the Intake boot be a problem after 32 years? Thanks for your help.
There could be so many variables with a saw that age. Have you made any carb adjustments yet? I would pull the carb off and see what the model is - then pull it apart and see the state of the pump and metering diaphragms. I then would order the matching kit to the carb part #. Let me know!
Thanks for the reply. I have not made any carb adjustments yet. I will take off the carb and probably get a kit and see if that does it. Thanks for the help!
Funny how everyone uses a ring compressor to get the piston back in, I just use 2 paddle pop sticks, push each side and tap it in, paddle pop sticks wont damage anything made of wood, works for me :)
Dave, any chance of getting the Stihl part number for the MS260 cylinder and piston that you used in this swap? We have a Stihl 026 purchased in 2000 that badly needs this done. Our 026 appears identical to the one you used. But that MS260 cylinder comes in 2 bore sizes, 44mm and 44.7mm. Knowing which you used for the swap would be a great help, so part# if possible, or bore size if nothing else, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help, and for a great video!
