I need a little 029 advice

[xposure]

Hey guys, Im new to saws. A guy needed some money pretty bad so I bought a 029 from him. It looks to be in good shape, and cranks up cold on 2nd pull. The wierd thing is it has a 28" stihl bar/chain on! I didnt know thats the wrong size till I got to lurking around the forum some. It does run and cuts and seems ok but I dont have a tach or trained ear to verify that. I plan on buying a new bar/chain for it and need some advice on what would be best. Its the only saw I own at the moment so I dont have to worry about swapping with other saws.

we have a lot of tornados here, I basically got it to help people during tornado season andthe occassional need at my house or to help out family/friends when they need it.

All that said, im a old car guy so as soon as I saw mods I was down in the garage with the muffler in the bench vice drilling away at it! Hahaha and my wife of course rolling her eyes at me and my new toy.

I can see yall dont like the 029 but hopefully itll be ok for my needs.

So what bar/chain set up is gonna cut thru trees the fastest yet hold its edge decent?

Oh yea, I plan on tuning it after I get the new bar on

Thanks for any advice!

 

[SawTroll]

Just bumping the post, you wouldn't like the only advice I could offer on an 029......:msp_wink:

 

[Whiskers]

Is the saw a regular 029 or an 029 Super? Not a huge deal but the super has a bit more power. Both saws are suited best for an 16-18" bar in either .325 or 3/8. I've ran both pitches and the difference seem negligible. If you need a 20" bar for anything, they'll both pull it, and the super will pull it better. A 28" bar is pretty big for that saw.

There's a ton of good tuning articles around. Someone will probably shoot you a link.

Welcome to the site!

 

[synness4]

for you in your area with hardwood I to think a 18 inch bar wood work good. btw I hope you looked up how to tune your carb after your muffler mod and I have a 029 s and love it I think the down fall of the 029 is its not a pro saw, keep it use it treat it well it will last a long time

 

[xposure]

Just bumping the post, you wouldn't like the only advice I could offer on an 029......:msp_wink:

Oh after reading the boards id imagine the advice would be sell it to get my money back and buy a different saw lol

esp since I prob paid to much for it at 200, but looking around I havent seen anything that looks better for 200....maybe ill get the right bar on it and put it on craigslist if I run across something bettrr in that price range.


And no, its not a super...just a plain 029, unless someones changed or rebilt the engine at some point, but I doubt it lol

 

[Whiskers]

The saw cuts just fine, no it's not a pro model, and yes it has a high weight to power ratio, which is why it get a bad rap. It's also referred to as a clamshell engine design, which is pretty much a pain to work on when compared to a pro saw. For occasional use and some storm cleanup, it's really all the saw you need. There's guys out there cutting bunch of cords of firewood with an 029/290.

 

[sefh3]

Your best bang for the buck is to run an 16/18" bar 3/8 on that saw. The balance is great. I do run a 20" .325 when I need a few extra inches. A 28" bar is way too big. The oiler will not keep up. If you mod the muffler it will wake it up a ton.

 

[xposure]

for you in your area with hardwood I to think a 18 inch bar wood work good. btw I hope you looked up how to tune your carb after your muffler mod and I have a 029 s and love it I think the down fall of the 029 is its not a pro saw, keep it use it treat it well it will last a long time

yeah, ive been reading up on tuning. I figured id put the right bar on it then take it to a local shop to get the rpm right, then compare by ear to somr of the videos ive been watching where they listen to the 4 stroke.

Also gonna trim the screw restrictors before I take it to the shop.

 

[xposure]

Your best bang for the buck is to run an 16/18" bar 3/8 on that saw. The balance is great. I do run a 20" .325 when I need a few extra inches. A 28" bar is way too big. The oiler will not keep up. If you mod the muffler it will wake it up a ton.

Thanks for the info! I did check the oil, once I found out the bar was real oversized I held it in front of a stump wot to watch for a oil mark. It did make a nice oil line so I think the oil is ok, course if someone was cutting all day with it, it might need more oil than whats its getting, I dont know.

So can the saw run a .325 or 3/8 without any other changes? Is there a way to effectivly gear it lower to get more tq by changing the sprocket the chain sets in?

 

[struggle]

I don't think the 029 has restricted carb screws so you should be ok on that. At least mine doesn't. 029 is good saw and will serve you well. Lot of saw nuts around here so a lot look down at the 029. Look beyond that and buy an 18" bar for it and go with to cut wood.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Whiskers]

So can the saw run a .325 or 3/8 without any other changes?

3 things have to match whether you run .325 or 3/8 pitch and you can't mix and match between the 2. All must be either .325 or 3/8

1. Sprocket on the saw, whether it be a drum setup or a rim setup.
2. Bar, sprocket nose in particular
3. Chain.

The easiest thing for you to do would be to see what pitch chain you are currently using and buy a shorter bar and chain that matches it. That way you won't have to worry about messing with the sprocket on the saw.

 

[xposure]

3 things have to match whether you run .325 or 3/8 pitch and you can't mix and match between the 2. All must be either .325 or 3/8

1. Sprocket on the saw, whether it be a drum setup or a rim setup.
2. Bar, sprocket nose in particular
3. Chain.

The easiest thing for you to do would be to see what pitch chain you are currently using and buy a shorter bar and chain that matches it. That way you won't have to worry about messing with the sprocket on the saw.

Is one better than the other? I guess the 3/8 is a heavier duty
Bar set up but at the same time prob uses more power to turn? its not in front of me but seems when I was cleaning the saw up, I removed the bar and I THINK the sprocket has 3/8 7 teeth stamped on it, if so I gurss ill go that route unless its a bit too heavy for this saw.

 

[jus2fat]

3 things have to match whether you run .325 or 3/8 pitch and you can't mix and match between the 2. All must be either .325 or 3/8

1. Sprocket on the saw, whether it be a drum setup or a rim setup.
2. Bar, sprocket nose in particular
3. Chain.

The easiest thing for you to do would be to see what pitch chain you are currently using and buy a shorter bar and chain that matches it. That way you won't have to worry about messing with the sprocket on the saw.

Actually the sprocket is the cheapest component that was mentioned. Chain and bar are each much more $$.

3/8 is what generally comes on a 029-ms290..so that would be fine..but .325 is OK as well..I'd go 3/8 tho.

An 029 is OK...just heavy. OP..take care of it..and sell it when you find a good deal on a good Pro saw..!!
(or keep as your 'back-up' saw in case you get pinched..and you will eventually..LOL)

J2F

 

[Whiskers]

I understand the sprocket is the cheapest part, but he needs to replace the bar and chain with something shorter anyway, might as well match the sprocket and save a few bucks.

50cc with handle 3/8 just fine. If you'd like to read up on the debate of one over the other, just search .325 vs 3/8 and I'm sure you can have enough reading material to keep you busy for awhile.

 

[MCW]

Your best bang for the buck is to run an 16/18" bar 3/8 on that saw. The balance is great. I do run a 20" .325 when I need a few extra inches. A 28" bar is way too big. The oiler will not keep up. If you mod the muffler it will wake it up a ton.

It may depend on the saw but I setup an 029 for a mate a few years ago which actually ran a 32" 3/8" .063" semi chisel chain OK in Aussie hardwood and the oiler did just keep up. I removed 50% of the cutters though He normally runs a 16" bar, occasionally a 20", but with some pretty large trees on his property that occasionally fall over access roads it was either this option or a new saw. A muffler mod did make a very noticable difference but when first run with this 32" bar it was bog stock.
I've been called crazy but as long as the oiler can keep up the bar length a saw can run is actually determined more by the number of cutters it is pulling. There is no way this saw would cut anywhere near properly with a non skip, 105DL, 32" chain but with half the cutters removed it actually performed more like an 18-20" bar...

I was going to attach photos (which I've posted on AS before) but Photobucket has had a dummy spit

 

[xposure]

So if the 029 came standard with 3/8 I suppose people switch to a .325 as a upgrade to get more tq into the wood instead of using it to turn the heavier? Is that right?

 

[jus2fat]

So if the 029 came standard with 3/8 I suppose people switch to a .325 as a upgrade to get more tq into the wood instead of using it to turn the heavier? Is that right?

You're making much too much out the this chain pitch thing..!!

Folks that change from 3/8 to .325..likely have another saw that uses a .325 chain/bar/sprocket set-up.

It's for convenience not getting more torque..tho the .325 is a bit narrower and a little bit faster because of that.

J2F

 

[xposure]

You're making much too much out the this chain pitch thing..!!

Folks that change from 3/8 to .325..likely have another saw that uses a .325 chain/bar/sprocket set-up.

It's for convenience not getting more torque..tho the .325 is a bit narrower and a little bit faster because of that.

J2F

Thanks for the info! sounds like for my purpose either will be fine!

 

[Fish]

The 029 came out with the .325, there are many threads about changing over to a full 3/8.

Within the .325 camp, you have a choice of 7 or 8 tooth sprocket.

 

[H 2 H]

The 029 came out with the .325, there are many threads about changing over to a full 3/8.

Within the .325 camp, you have a choice of 7 or 8 tooth sprocket.

As did the 310; I did change over two 310 not to long ago