Baileys Piston And Cylinder Kits?

[bigjayfromwa]

I did a search on here and didnt come up with a whole lot of information. I was curious if anyone on here is using Baileys OEM piston and cylinder kits?
I just got another 026 today that the piston and cylinder are toasted.
I'm curious if they bolt on smoothly or is it like with some of them where things dont line up just quite right so you have to modify them?

Is the power equal to OEM?

How smooth are the castings...as in the exhaust port? Do you have to dremel them out?


little things like that is what i'm curious about...i'm just fixing this to re-sell it and am not into paying what the Stihl dealer wants...so its either baileys kit or parts saw....

Thank you

 

[Lakeside53]

PM me if you want a piston /cylinder kit... I can show you where to get an OEM set for little more then the Baileys chinese stuff.

 

[Grande Dog]

Our cylinder and pistons are manufactured in Taiwan, not China. They carry a 1 year warranty for defects in material and workmanship. I'm sure there will be members that will post their opinions on quality and fit. Whether their opinions are good, bad, or indifferent, they're unsolicited and welcomed. If there is somebody out there that can sell OEM kits for a little over $99.95, they should go public and become a sponsor. With those prices, they should easily be able to cover the fees in the first day of sales.

 

[taplinhill]

I have used the aftermarket P/C kits from Bailey's on a Husqvarna 288XP and the big bore kits on a Husqvarna 372XP and a Jonsered 2065. All three have very little time on them, but no problems yet. The fit was good on all of them, no modification needed. I just finished the 372XP and it is going back in the woods to be used professionally. I can't wait to see how it holds up and see if he can see any difference in power.

 

[Lakeside53]

Grande - why did Baileys say until recently (in the catalog) words to the effect "not recommend for pro use".... sure, it was worded a little differently, but that's basically what it said.


China <> Taiwan.. splitting hairs.... unless it's a major USA/Europe/whatever company enforcing QA and QC at all levels from raw materials to finished product.

026/260 - lots of OEM P&C around right now - NOS closeouts....

 

[kurtty]

last summer i bougth their big bore 372 kit and put it on my 365sp. it still has 5 pounds more compression then my 1month old 372xp.
when i first got the P/C kit i looked them over pretty good and the visible quallity looked similar to the OEM ones.
as far as i can tell your just paying more for the same thing when you buy OEM.
give me five years or so to run my bb365sp and 372xp side by side and ill have a better answer for ya.

 

[Tzed250]

Mahle sets the standard.

 

[bcorradi]

If someone is looking for an OEM 026 44mm or 260 44.7mm piston...there is a guy in the trading post that has them for sale real reasonable .

Here take a look

 

[Pissfirwillie]

Mahle sets the standard.

Not necessarily, Stihl doesn't use Mahle in a lot of their saws anymore.

 

[redprospector]

I've got a 288 with a jug & piston from Bailey's, and it put a lot of bd ft on the ground. Romeo took it apart and put the 3rd ring in it a few week's ago when he was carving it up for a race saw.
There is nothing wrong with the jug's Bailey's sell's, reguardless of what the nay-sayers tell you.

Andy

 

[bcorradi]

I have a buddy who bought a new 372 big bore kit and woodsported it for his personal logging saw. He is a logger and has been porting saws for many years...it imploded after about a week of use. Did he just get a bad one or are there differing qualities amongst the various kits I don't know. I do know he wouldn't take another taiwanese/chinese kit if it was given to him.

 

[Lakeside53]

I've seen several with pealing chrome (most OEM are nikersil, not chrome). On the other hand I've seen some in decent shape - likely some combination of usage and QA/QC. Quality is not a "one off" issue.. it's based on thousands of identically good units. It's not Baileys... it's the supplier(s).

I see Baileys selling a premium cylinder for the BB. Nikersil, coated pistons and better rings. It would be nice to get some of that in a std bore.

I get asked on ocassion to use an Asian aftermarket cylinder - I won't, and I can buy them from Baileys and others a lot cheaper than most end users. It's simply about confidence in the product and who is standing behind it. If an aftermarket cylinder fails, the customer see me as the problem (no matter what was said..). So.. I can try to get another under warranty... time, pita.. and what about other damage at may have occured? and the labor... and the po'd customer. If I use oem and there is a problem, I'm covered.. way way beyond any so called warranty, and if collateral damage occurs, it will get fixed.

An end user doing his own work can make whatever choices he wants. $ is certainly a factor. Most will be succesfull particularly on saw not used professionally. I'll keep watching and I'm open to a goed product, but so far I'm not sold.

I'd like to see Mahle quality product (pistons, rings, pins and cylinders) retailing for about 1/2 of OEM list.. can't be that hard... just get Mahle to make them! Of course, simply copying the OEM would present a problem for them. Yes, most of the Asian cylinders are simple copies.. not original designs.

 

[Lakeside53]

Not necessarily, Stihl doesn't use Mahle in a lot of their saws anymore.

They still set the "standard" and only a few of stihl saws are using Stihl's own production.

 

[Pissfirwillie]

I don't believe the 441 cylinders are made by Mahle, and that is a professional model chainsaw. I don't know about the new Husky saws.

 

[Tzed250]

They still set the "standard" and only a few of stihl saws are using Stihl's own production.

Couldn't have said it better myself...:spam:

 

[spike60]

This is an interesting discussion, and at a really good time for me. I now have a supplier that is offering these kits which I will be able to retail for $99. The brand is Forester, and those of you in the business will know where they are coming from. The usual claims that they are well tested and have a warranty are of course there, and I'm sure that this company, like Baileys, are are on the up and up. At least as far as their control can be extended. I just ordered one this week to look it over, and I'm going to try it out on a Husky 268. It will probably look OK, and will probably run fine when I first put it together. With each tank of fuel, I guess that confidence in the product will increase.

My problem though is what should be implied by a dealer selling these things, and what should be expected by the customer buying them. I certainly don't think that it should be suggested that they are "just as good" as OEM units. So what do I tell the customer? I think you have to be fair and say that although it is a third of the price, there is some degree of risk involved when going this route.

Perhaps it would be a good alternative for the customer with an older saw who would otherwise junk the saw rather than spend the bucks for an OEM P&C. And I think that customer's saw needs would probably have to be confined to his own firewood cutting. I couldn't see myself suggesting one of these things to a pro user.

So what do you guys think about this? How do you think that they should be presented, and what would your expectations be when buying these kits?

 

[Lakeside53]

Huh? 12 hours and nobody has any reply for Spike???


I guess you guys don't have any expections other than "it worked for me".

 

[Pissfirwillie]

I have always run stock 046 (460) cylinders in the past, but I make a living with a saw (well I used to, with the lumber markets so bad, I don't know how much work there will be this year!). I just cry when I hear some of the prices for OEM Stihl parts lately, so I am tempted to try a new Baileys cylinder when the time comes. We run Oregon Lightweight bars and some use Oregon 75CJ, which is not Stihl, and they seem to work well. I am no fan of Chinese stuff anymore than the next guy, but all of my living expenses keep rising and my wage stays the same, so I try to save when I can, and lately that means buying Chinese stuff.

 

[huskydave]

I think if you want to keep the saw for a long time then spend the extra money. If your on a budget you can get a used oem cyl. Aftermarket Pistons are hit and miss. Some are good and some are very bad. I would rather have oem. I have to wonder how many ebay saws have aftermarket p&c's on them. If I was a dealer I would have a hard time using aftermarket just for my own peace of mind.

 

[redprospector]

This is an interesting discussion, and at a really good time for me. I now have a supplier that is offering these kits which I will be able to retail for $99. The brand is Forester, and those of you in the business will know where they are coming from. The usual claims that they are well tested and have a warranty are of course there, and I'm sure that this company, like Baileys, are are on the up and up. At least as far as their control can be extended. I just ordered one this week to look it over, and I'm going to try it out on a Husky 268. It will probably look OK, and will probably run fine when I first put it together. With each tank of fuel, I guess that confidence in the product will increase.

My problem though is what should be implied by a dealer selling these things, and what should be expected by the customer buying them. I certainly don't think that it should be suggested that they are "just as good" as OEM units. So what do I tell the customer? I think you have to be fair and say that although it is a third of the price, there is some degree of risk involved when going this route.

Perhaps it would be a good alternative for the customer with an older saw who would otherwise junk the saw rather than spend the bucks for an OEM P&C. And I think that customer's saw needs would probably have to be confined to his own firewood cutting. I couldn't see myself suggesting one of these things to a pro user.

So what do you guys think about this? How do you think that they should be presented, and what would your expectations be when buying these kits?

Spike,
I think that if you're thinking about handling them you should get a few and install them on your own saw's, and run the piss out of them. Form your own opinion on whether they are worth handling or not. If you're sold on them, then you can sell them. If you're not sold on them, you would probably have trouble selling them.
Be honest with the customer (as I'm sure you would be), don't tell them it's as good as oem, it's just another option. There are a lot of saw's laying in the junk pile that could have had some more life because the owner didn't want to shell out what oem cost.
What are my expectations? That depends on how they are presented. If the salesman say's "I've got a $100 jug and piston that's just as good as the $300 one." then I expect alot. But if the salesman said "I've got a jug and piston for $100 if you don't want to put $300 into that saw. They aren't quite as good as the $300 set, but we've tested some on our saw's and they seem to do ok.". Then I expect it to be ok, but not as good as oem.

Andy