so I bought this chainsaw....

[vtfireman85]

I had wanted a 440 magnum since I was in college, we used them on the woodsman team, and in other areas and I was really in love with them. I put an ad on CL and a guy contacted me with one that he wanted more than I wanted to spend, but we eventually agreed on a price, I got it home, bought a new plug, filter, fuel line and fuel filter, I didn't get an impulse line but I am going to, new bar and a couple chains. I put everything in it, and while doing stripped it down to get at all areas to blow out and inspect, reassembled, the clutch felt a little stiff, but not being a stihl guy I figured it might be normal, dropped a couple trees and it just didn't feel right, so I went back took it apart, checked the needle bearing, called my dealer, he said grease it. I did, put it together and it spun free put the sprocket, washer and Clip back on, checked to make sure the clip was seated, it appeared to be, made 3 more cuts and it threw a chain. I took it apart to find the washer and Eclip missing. I scoured for a while, even got a magnet out, but no luck. not sure if the clip cracked from multiple removals or if possibly it wasn't seated, but I did check and was quite sure. maybe its haunted, maybe not. either way, what little I used it I am not as blown away as I remember being. wishing maybe I should have put that towards a 500i and waited. it doesn't have the nut of my 385, which I did not expect it to, and pound for pound I am way more impressed with my 562XP...oh well. I am into it now, and unlikely to get my money back out.
what are the thoughts on the caged needle bearing? replace? what grease should I use? I used Sil-Glyde because I had it in the truck.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

The 440 is an example of a saw that is pretty choked up compared to its predecessor. A muffler mod goes a long way in making these saws more impressive. You can also advance the timing by filing the flywheel key. Go one step further, and replace the base gasket with some anaerobic sealant (check squish clearance afterward), and you can make a pretty good running saw without spending a bunch of money on it.

 

[Mad Professor]

Any good wheel bearing grease works on the clutch bearing.

Looks like a nice clean saw, new B/C

 

[RED-85-Z51]

The 440 is an example of a saw that is pretty choked up compared to its predecessor. A muffler mod goes a long way in making these saws more impressive. You can also advance the timing by filing the flywheel key. Go one step further, and replace the base gasket with some anaerobic sealant (check squish clearance afterward), and you can make a pretty good running saw without spending a bunch of money on it.

Another point, make sure its the oem top end...the port timing can make aftermarket stuff sluggish

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[vtfireman85]

Another point, make sure its the oem top end...the port timing can make aftermarket stuff sluggish

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What am I looking for? Just something that says stihl on the jug itself?

 

[vtfireman85]

Any good wheel bearing grease works on the clutch bearing.

Looks like a nice clean saw, new B/C

It seemed like a fairly clean saw, but clearly had seen some dirty wood. I bought the bar.. so it wasn't part of the deal, but it has nice proportions.

 

[vtfireman85]

The 440 is an example of a saw that is pretty choked up compared to its predecessor. A muffler mod goes a long way in making these saws more impressive. You can also advance the timing by filing the flywheel key. Go one step further, and replace the base gasket with some anaerobic sealant (check squish clearance afterward), and you can make a pretty good running saw without spending a bunch of money on it.

I dont know I would call it sluggish, just they have come a long way . I think mostly my memory has built them up for the last 15 years, when I actually got it ne in my hands it wasn’t what I remembered.
another thing I noticed is the filter gets covered with crap really quickly, the Husqvarna seem to keep themselves fairly clean.

 

[RED-85-Z51]

What am I looking for? Just something that says stihl on the jug itself?

Usually says Mahle on the jug on the sides or near the base

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[Patrick62]

Ain't nothing "wrong" with a 440. Arguably one of the BEST saws Stihl ever produced. Light enough to limb with, powerful enough to block with.
Maybe not as "zippy" as the 044 was, as mentioned it can be tuned and tweaked some.

 

[Ryan'smilling]

I dont know I would call it sluggish, just they have come a long way . I think mostly my memory has built them up for the last 15 years, when I actually got it ne in my hands it wasn’t what I remembered.
another thing I noticed is the filter gets covered with crap really quickly, the Husqvarna seem to keep themselves fairly clean.

I get what you mean. That's my main complaint about those saws, is needing to clean the air filter pretty much every tank of fuel.

Really though, that's about the easiest saw in the world to muffler mod. I like to just open up everything behind that deflector. Even if you don't do anything else, opening that up and retuning the carb will make a big difference. It'll be louder too, of course, but noticably snappier.

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

I suspect an aftermarket cylinder if you don't find any casting marks. That saw should be killing it for you ? Have you investigated it for non OEM parts? Or done a compression test?

 

[vtfireman85]

I suspect an aftermarket cylinder if you don't find any casting marks. That saw should be killing it for you ? Have you investigated it for non OEM parts? Or done a compression test?

I have not yet done a compression yet, but i will tomorrow, what should i be looking for? when i had it apart i examined as best I could the cylinder and it looked good, it is certainly an adequate saw, i am just accustomed to bigger saws. Until I bought the 562xp the smallest saw in the fleet was my 385xp, also hd a 390xp with a 20” bar to make it more handy to fit in a tool box. I will check for non OEM parts, i am also interested in a dual port muffler, i just don't want to blow it up doing something i don’t know what i am doing. Unless there is an aftermarket with an excellent reputation, I would just as soon stick to OEM parts.

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

Well the like all major manufacturers stihl uses casting numbers for their parts and they should be clear to read at the base of the cylinder.
Simple stuff like a muffler mod likely would not lead to a shortening the life span of your saw.