Going to potentially purchase a Stihl 039 tomorrow.

[WickhamWood]

Good evening, guys! I am going tomorrow to pick up a Stihl 039. It supposedly fires right up and runs/cuts great. The saw appears to be in excellent cosmetic condition. Is $200 a fair price if it is all original and runs well? I have just begun buying old Stihls this will be my fifth in the past few weeks. Is there anything specific I need to inspect on the 039 or is it the usual piston and cylinder scoring, compression, etc? Any advice and insight is highly appreciated!

 

[Wood Doctor]

The price of a new Stilhl MS390 is about $600 with bar and chain and sales tax added. I'd say $200 should be acceptable. Good luck!

 

[WickhamWood]

Thank you for the advice, Wood Doctor. Hoping it is runs as nice as it looks, I will bring it to a new home.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I am assuming that it runs well, but even if you have to rebuild the top end, you likely have a good buy there. I have rebuilt a half dozen of these saws. Not easy, but it can be done, and several here can assist you on this mission with advice if that is required. If you buy it, please post a pic or two. Thanks!

 

[grizz55chev]

I am assuming that it runs well, but even if you have to rebuild the top end, you likely have a good buy there. I have rebuilt a half dozen of these saws. Not easy, but it can be done, and several here can assist you on this mission with advice if that is required. If you buy it, please post a pic or two. Thanks!

I found them quit easy to rebuild, the 029 to 039 upgrade is a snap.

 

[WickhamWood]

I am assuming that it runs well, but even if you have to rebuild the top end, you likely have a good buy there. I have rebuilt a half dozen of these saws. Not easy, but it can be done, and several here can assist you on this mission with advice if that is required. If you buy it, please post a pic or two. Thanks!

I have been building my confidence wrenching on the 010, 011, 012, and 028 super. I figured this would be the next step up to explore working on. This site has been an amazing wealth of information. I will post some pictures tomorrow.

 

[WickhamWood]

I found them quit easy to rebuild, the 029 to 039 upgrade is a snap.

I have watched a few videos of guys modding saws. I am still at the level of trying to get them to run like they are supposed to at this point. I had not worked on a motor or carburetor until a few weeks ago. I appreciate the encouragement.

 

[Wood Doctor]

The 028 Super was likely easier to work on. If you have to rebuild this 039's top end, most of the saw will have to be taken apart. That's why I said it was not easy. Regardless, that may not be necessary. You learn a lot when doing it, and other clam shells require the same effort. Give it a shot -- nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

I owned one for a short period, did a total rebuild on it. They are a PITA to work on, not difficult, just unnecessarily complicated and at 6kg’s with 4.6hp nothing ground breaking, but I have it on good authority that they are a great workhorse of a saw for firewood. They look rather charming too, but I’m biased, I prefer the older Stihl design.

 

[WickhamWood]

I owned one for a short period, did a total rebuild on it. They are a PITA to work on, not difficult, just unnecessarily complicated and at 6kg’s with 4.6hp nothing ground breaking, but I have it on good authority that they are a great workhorse of a saw for firewood. They look rather charming too, but I’m biased, I prefer the older Stihl design.View attachment 826003

Tom, she is an absolute beauty! I agree, the late 70's and 80's Stihls are the most aesthetically pleasing, IMO. I do not have enough experience to have a preference based on the actual mechanics of the saws by era.

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

Tom, she is an absolute beauty! I agree, the late 70's and 80's Stihls are the most aesthetically pleasing, IMO. I do not have enough experience to have a preference based on the actual mechanics of the saws by era.

Don’t worry, I’m new to saw mechanics too. I’m coming up to about 9 months of learning and have already rebuilt 4 saws. My best advice is to ask lots of questions and I’m sure you’ll have the fortune that I did too to have some great guys who are very generous with their knowledge who will really invest time into you and want to see you succeed. Invest a little $ Into some important, but affordable tools and before you know it you’ll have the basic knowledge to rebuild saws with a certain degree of confidence in short order. Happy sawing and rebuilding

 

[WickhamWood]

Don’t worry, I’m new to saw mechanics too. I’m coming up to about 9 months of learning and have already rebuilt 4 saws. My best advice is to ask lots of questions and I’m sure you’ll have the fortune that I did too to have some great guys who are very generous with their knowledge who will really invest time into you and want to see you succeed. Invest a little $ Into some important, but affordable tools and before you know it you’ll have the basic knowledge to rebuild saws with a certain degree of confidence in short order. Happy sawing and rebuilding

Thank you for the insight again, Tom. What essential tools would you recommend? I have been buying all of the basic line wrenches, sockets, picks, and of course tons of carburetor rebuild kits, fuel lines, carb manifold gaskets, fuel filters, etc. What else do I need? I have noticed the tachometers in a lot of tuning videos, I assume I should have one.

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

I’d suggest a tachometer, a pressure / vacuum tester, 8mm t handle deep socket, long t27 torx, torque wrench, a compression tester (get a good quality
One with a shrader valve in the end that goes into the spark plug) and vernier calipers.


An air compressor is fantastic too!

 

[svk]

If the saw is mechanically sound, runs well, and has good plastics that’s a good deal.

They are a pain to work on. Not impossible, but as Wood Doctor has mentioned, basically the entire saw needs to be disassembled to change the cylinder. Very poor design IMO but that doesn’t hamper the performance.

The likelihood of you needing to have the saw apart more than one time is relatively low though, so worth checking out at that price.

 

[jp233]

Echo everything here. Normal piston scoring check, easy to do. If it has even a little bit, you might be able to haggle the price down even further.

I like the old Stihl design too

 

[lambs]

I still have an 039 that I bought probably 15+ years ago off of CL. It was my main saw until I picked up a used 046 mag. I currently have a 20" bar on it and ran it 2 weeks ago. My BIL's 034 muffler rusted through and finally came off while cutting, so I handed him the 039 and I kept going with the 046. He liked the 039 just fine. I think I paid $225 for it with a half dozen used chains included in the deal, which I ground and put back into service. I think it was money well spent.

 

[WickhamWood]

I went and checked out the saw. He had not started it is over a year when I showed up. It was covered in dust and it took about seven pulls to get it going. It has old rec gas in it and ran like a champ. The saw was in beautiful condition. I brought it home and put a 18" bar and a newer chain I had on my 028 Super before I ran it through some Hawthorne chunks I had laying around. The saw is beautiful. I could not even bring myself to try low-balling him. I paid the $200. I believe it was a wonderful deal. Here are some pictures. Also he included the original manual and four extra 16" 3/8 chains.

 

[WickhamWood]

I’d suggest a tachometer, a pressure / vacuum tester, 8mm t handle deep socket, long t27 torx, torque wrench, a compression tester (get a good quality
One with a shrader valve in the end that goes into the spark plug) and vernier calipers.


An air compressor is fantastic too!

Awesome, thank you for the shopping list!

 

[OM617YOTA]

Well done, great saw.

Nothing wrong with a seller asking a fair price and deciding to pay it.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Wonderful! That engine wasn't even breathing hard with a 16" bar and chain on board. I revcently bought and sold an 064 with a 20" bar and chain on board. Same story, I sold it only because the compression was so high that it about tore my shoulder off while trying to start it. These saws are diamonds in the rough.