need advise on cs setup

[jn452]

I am new to the site and would like some advise on a proper setup for chainsaw milling. I recently bought 30 acres to build a house on and as I am a builder I intend to clear the land and build the house myself. When I started I had a ms 290, 026, and a 034 and simply started to cut down the trees. However pretty soon I decided that instead of burning or selling the timber, all pines, I would mill some of it. I purchased an Alaskan saw mill and sold my ms 290 because it was too small and way to heavy. The 034 is my dads and i wanted to buy my own saw big enough to cut down and buck trees. I bought a 038 on ebay that runs but only has 90 psi and is very well used. I am now thinking that this saw is not the right one for my needs and that I should sell it and buy a 044. How good is a 038 and is it possible to convert it over to a 038 magnum. The milling part i think i am good i bought a 056 Magnum 2 and all the parts I need to fix the common spark issue. Thanks for your help and Ideas.

 

[Brmorgan]

That 056 Mag will suit you just fine for milling all but the biggest of trees. The 038 should be fairly easy to convert to a Mag too, I think with just a piston and cylinder, but I'm not entirely sure if there are any other parts needed too. Just search for "038 magnum conversion" and a few relevant threads come up, one of which is currently still active. If you did get it converted to a Mag, it would be very usable for smaller milling applications - possibly as a dedicated saw on a Mini-Mill to use for edging and squaring logs. Also, an 038 Mag has a bigger displacement than a stock 044, so as long as the rest of the saw's in good shape and it only needs a piston and cylinder, that would be the cheapest way to go.

 

[jn452]

thanks for the advice I got the 038 running Sunday late afternoon. It runs pretty good, cuts as good if not better than my Dads 034 even with the low compression. I plan on using the 038 as just a falling saw and mill with the 056
I will have to do some cutting in the evenings to see if I like the 038. If it is possible to convert it to a magnum I think that i will try that.

 

[Brmorgan]

If it's running and cutting fine with 90 lbs, I wonder if maybe your compression tester isn't showing a true reading. Most newer saws won't even stay running with compression that low. Pull the muffler off and check for scoring on the piston. If you don't see any, likely the P/C is OK and your comp tester should be calibrated against a known pressure, such as an air compressor.

 

[jn452]

that is a good idea on the compression tester. I have pulled the muffler and the piston and cylinder look good. My dad has a newer compression tester i will use his and see if i get the same reading. I did test his 034 with his newer compression tester and his 034 had about 115 psi. i only tell you this because his 034 is much harder to turn over by had at the flywheel than my 038, but it does run pretty good put a 20 inch bar on it and cut on some dead oak about 26 inch dia last night and it did just fine. I think that I will keep this saw i just need to find the parts to seal up the gas and the oil tank so it does not all leak out. thanks again for the advise.

 

[BlueRider]

It is possible to convert an 038 to an 038MII but it is not a simple bolt on P&C. Search some of the threads on the chainsaw forum to see if it is something you want to tackle. An easier and cheaper solution my be to just do a muffler mod on your 038 and use it that way for bucking and trimming.

An 038M is a beast of a saw and is great for felling or bucking logs but when I use mine for trimming & cutting firewood it really does a number on my left hand.

 

[jn452]

Last weekend after I got the saw running i did open up the muffler some. I am new to two stokes but have a lot of experience building and fixing old engines in jeeps and such. I think that for now I will just use the 038 as is. I will try to replace the av mounts and seal up both tanks so it does not leak so much. But eventually i will have to try the conversion. The allure of more power is just too much for me to resist. I have found a used ms 440 mag for sale in town for 250 and am thinking that i should pick it up. use it and keep the 038 as a back up.