Trailoftears

The .325 is on the saw.The picco rim sprocket is,say a third bigger than the .325 rim sprocket physically,also just measured the external rim width slots on the picco super rim,and I would say its bang on 2mm.

Its a tiny difference tho widthwise?

Soo,then in theory you could put an oregan 1.5mm chain in a standard rollomatic 1.6mm bar thereby decreasing rolling resistance?

https://www.chainsawbars.co.uk/chainsawbars-essential-information/ Phew,a lot of info here,but helpful.

Its all v.confusing. looking at the stock .325 as supplied nxt to the picco super in the kit I bought,the picco chain is virtually identical,except the cutter lengh is praps 1.5mm shorter but no narrower.The picco is 3/8 and came with the picco 3/8 rim and has 60 rather than 67 cutters (16" chain),so is the picco semi-skip chain in a sense? Less teeth/less drag? 🤔

Well,Given stihl in their wisdom decided that this was the optimum setup for a 50cc saw,I thought it best to go with the flow.I've just bought the reasonably priced old picco 'upgrade' kit for the saw.I notice the picco bar is lighter than the light 04 bar,also the picco chain has 7 odd less teeth than the .325 chain-easier on the saw/maximises performance? I'm guessing putting a standard 18" 3/8 1.6 bar would just ask a bit much lf the saw.Saying that,in the states its often put on a 20" standard bar setup.Which to me,is a tad silly for the saw's output?Sometimes less is more i.mo.

Where are the british entrepreneurs nowaydays?What I'm gagging for is the equivelent of a powerful backpack blower that has a lightweight say,7 meter tube that sucks and enables you to just suck grey squirrels off the lower boles of trees,ideally then,it would repurpose them internally,then spit out furry socks/hats out tutha end.

You dont know my missus mate......

Just to muddy the waters a bit,there is also a green solenoid available on several suppliers websites (l&s engineers),not sure what thats about?Considerably more expensive than the newest white solenoid+uprated fuel filter-no fuel filter supplied with the green one-possibly an interim fix issued by Stihl for earlier versions of the mntronic software??.Running a fair few high-priced stihl machines, I've decided to put the finer filter on my other saws/hdgetrimmers/pole trimmers etc.In the hope that a pristine carb is a happy carb. There are several identical looking orange stihl filters available on fleabay,however the part no is NOT the same.For anyone that wants the upgraded fuel filter the part no is-0000 358 3401 C.

Thanks to the good offices of mark@skyland I am now the (slightly) over excited owner of a stihl light 04 18" bar.When it arrived,I was so overwhelmed,I had to sit down for a bit and gather my thoughts.Many thanks Mark.Ironically when I bought it via radmore&tucker there was only a fiver difference between opting for the 16" or the 18" version.In my wisdom,I decided 16" was the perfect sweet spot for the saw.Always intended to then purchase an 18" option to add a bit more flexibility.However,I didnt know then what I know now!

Once upon a time I was in charge of a c.house hotel grounds,there was also a resident chippy+a painter.We were all q.matey really.One day at lunch in the staff room me and the painter got into a food fight and I came off worse.He was quite a cool dude-had a scrambler type road bike,belstaffs etc.I stomped back off down to my potting shed with revengeful thoughts running high.Then I noticed my stash of dead moles-I was planning to make a fur hat-it never happened!So in due course I snuck back into the staff room and gaffer-taped the oldest dead mole into the top of his full face helmet.Better still,at hometime I watched with great interest (and a straight face-just about) as he solemnly 'togged up' and off he went on his merry way.Its a tribute to gaffer tape that it held on for that evening with the helmet on his coatstand.Next morning he was confronted with an upside down dead gaffer tape strewn mole on his kitchen floor..Happy days,even now,many years later I still occasionally p#ss myself laffing at the thought of him doing 60mph on his way home with a furry friend onboard.Tempted to think thats probably a world record speed for a mole?Particulary when dead.......

I own a few blowers-a 36v makita-decent enough,a 4 stroke makita-weirdly quiet to me as a hardcore 2/ enthusiast+a biggish backpack stihl version-430 I believe. Well,it just gets better and better.Apart from the usual clearing of leaf strewn woodland paths+the avoidance of lowering myself to carry a broom to cleanup lawn edges after strimming,I have now discovered a completely new role for them.Encountering moleheap ridden lawns is somewhat trying at this time of year-particularly given a lot of clients are loath to let me 'deal' with them in the time honoured way.As an old cynic,thats probably because they dont have to repeatedly scrape all the manifold heaps on a daily and repeated way.However,I have come up with both an easy and environmentally friendly way to deal with them.Strap your big backpack blower on and blow them away-I'm happy,the client is happy-everyone's a winner.I shall be shortly patenting this method,but I thought I would share it with the select few!Also another satisfying use of blowers-tho admittedly not quite so environmentally friendly is if you have the misfortune to encounter an aggressive wasps nest whilst minding your own business brushcutting and have to leg it sharpish whilst attached to a 6kg machine-There is a pervese satisfaction in returning to the scene of the crime And blowing several hundred really pissed-off wasps backards at high velocity whilst they vainly attempt to sting you to death.

I forgot to mention the lightest top handled petrol chainsaw known to man,I cant honestly even remember the make-husky?Makita? Whichever,it was horridly underpowered,terribly cold-blooded,and as ever no facility/screws for re-tuning.Roll on the mntronic/autotune revolution.Am absolutely fed up of buying obscure sets of weird screwdrivers just to 'allow' you to put your OWN equipment into proper tune.Even more irritatingly I happen to work at both sea level+occasionally at high altitudes too.

Another thing to consider with mntronic saws and the husky equivalent, is that there seems to be a tendency as soon as you get performance issues to immediately to blame the newish tech.Its probably worth keeping at the back of your mind that they also are subject to the ailments/issues of convential saws that we've all at some point encountered (leading to banging heads against walls,/swearing to never buy this brand again)etc,etc!

I dont think you need to fiddle with carb.I believe its just a matter of unclipping the solenoids wiring connection.Then loosen a screw holding the solenoid in place.Refit the solenoid,with I believe the tiniest bit of lube on the o ring and thats it.Better not to completely remove the screw in case it falls into the innards.Access to the screw isnt great,also change the fuel filter with the new orange model.But you will probably still need to reset the saw afterwards.I believe the calibration technique depends on the mtronic version of your saw.It may be on the r.hand side of the label on your chain brake gaurd in teeny letters.

Ahaa!I nearly bought one today,but due to an seller issue couldnt complete.Dare I ask how much inc.postage please?

I have to say the stihl battery system(s)/choices are as clear as mud!But roll on the battery revolution,its all good for both customers and us wage slaves!Although the decibel levels are MUCH better than the 2/ machines-technically,you should still be using ear protection,tho I'm thinking thats m/cs that you hold in proximity to your ears-hand-held hdge trimmers and so on.

Cheers,the chains I have,no shortage of stihl chains at all,and I have nothing bad to say about rotatech chains,I buy them in pairs for my ms180-possibly they stretch a bit when new.But I'd like a quality bar to go with the stihl chains.The light 04 is not happening till nxt feb.Sugihara lights are equally rare.Weird and disconcerting given its hardly an obscure length bar.I'm guessing its the 1.3mm gauge thats the difficult bit.....

As to the basics of personal protection-sturdy boots with toe protection-s3 type, cofra are good,you dont need big clunky steel toecaps anymore thankfully,most leightweights come with plastic toecaps-much better.Trousers or 'chaps',If you go trousers,pay a bit more and get the lightest you can afford-or you'll be sweating like a tied-up donkey in a sauna,particularly in the summer!Helmet with visor+ear defenders+glasses underneath visor-oily sawdust will find your eyes under a visor on a windy day-no fun at all for the remainder of your day.Chainsaw gloves-2 choices,big clunky gauntlet type/or smaller arborist type-a bit more dextrous.Also,I recommend arm shields with kevlar too.As to gloves/trousers go for class 1 as a newbie-both hands have cut protection.As to helmets/visors-pay a tad more and go for etched steel as opposed to a plastic or poycarbonate visor.You could go for chainsaw wellies to protect your feet,but you will move like frankenstein and carry more sawdust in the house than your wife will stand for=divorce.

So no chance of an 18" husky bar with the right stats fitting a ms261 then?

I notice husky do appropriate 18" bars with the correct pitch and gauge-.325/1.3mm which is v.exciting,but will I be caught out by the bar mounting conundrum? 🤔

Absolutely.If available,take a short sharp! Course on basic maintenance,ppe,safety gear etc.Time more than well spent.

I'm personally disappointed by the weight penalty with a lot of battery saws too.I expect something lighter not heavier!One of my clients proudly showed me his new Milwaukee battery saw tuther day with a 20v battery on board-WHAT a pig (the saw-not him!),heavy as feck with one of those weird big tranverse mid motors last seen on electric saws 20 years ago......

You could admittedly go for state of the art stihl-msa 300+2 ap500 batts+charger.I'd be interested to see a quote for that kit.

Also either via battery you still nead to learn about tensioning/cleaning, maintenance and so on.