Most everyone on this site knows how much I like the 10mm 044s, and how nicely they responded to air filter and exhaust mods.
So I decided to play with 044 #2 to see if I could get even more out of it on my own.
I considered deleting the base gasket, but when I measured the squish, it was 33/1000, which does not leave enough room to delete the gasket.
I also wanted to replace the recoil cord with an Elastostart , and figured since I already had the recoil off, I'd pull the flywheel and play with the timing. (The Elastostart handle & rope was only $17 at the dealers, don't mess with the AM ones, they are junk, killed two of them in less than a day).
I basically followed the procedure that Randy detailed in his thread on building the 461, and took 20/1000 off the key. FYI the total key thickness is .78, so that was about 25% of the key thickness. Perhaps I should have taken a little less off, as the 044 crank is thinner than a 461's.
The first thing I noticed was the idle was much higher, and I had to re-tune it to stop the chain from spinning and bring it down. After that I was anxious to go out and do a little cutting with it.
It was in the mid 20s here today, and the wood was ice coated. I first did a regular cut of some Ash that almost used the full 24" bar, but even when I hooked up the dogs and leaned on it a little, it kept going strong. I then noodled a couple of pieces of Ash with the same result.
The saw felt strong, but I want to put some more time on it and do a side by side with 044 #1 before I finalize my assessment, but so far I'm impressed.
The only downside is the saw was hard to start when warm, even with the temps in the mid 20s. By hard to start, I mean hard to pull, the handle went through my fingers several times.
Maybe in the spring (Tax Season is closing in on me fast) I'll get a few extra keys and try one at 10/1000 and one at 15/1000 and time the cuts and see what difference they make.
So I decided to play with 044 #2 to see if I could get even more out of it on my own.
I considered deleting the base gasket, but when I measured the squish, it was 33/1000, which does not leave enough room to delete the gasket.
I also wanted to replace the recoil cord with an Elastostart , and figured since I already had the recoil off, I'd pull the flywheel and play with the timing. (The Elastostart handle & rope was only $17 at the dealers, don't mess with the AM ones, they are junk, killed two of them in less than a day).
I basically followed the procedure that Randy detailed in his thread on building the 461, and took 20/1000 off the key. FYI the total key thickness is .78, so that was about 25% of the key thickness. Perhaps I should have taken a little less off, as the 044 crank is thinner than a 461's.
The first thing I noticed was the idle was much higher, and I had to re-tune it to stop the chain from spinning and bring it down. After that I was anxious to go out and do a little cutting with it.
It was in the mid 20s here today, and the wood was ice coated. I first did a regular cut of some Ash that almost used the full 24" bar, but even when I hooked up the dogs and leaned on it a little, it kept going strong. I then noodled a couple of pieces of Ash with the same result.
The saw felt strong, but I want to put some more time on it and do a side by side with 044 #1 before I finalize my assessment, but so far I'm impressed.
The only downside is the saw was hard to start when warm, even with the temps in the mid 20s. By hard to start, I mean hard to pull, the handle went through my fingers several times.
Maybe in the spring (Tax Season is closing in on me fast) I'll get a few extra keys and try one at 10/1000 and one at 15/1000 and time the cuts and see what difference they make.
