Stihl 076 first use

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

Having finished the rebuild a day or so ago, I tried my 111cc Stihl 076 Super In dry 50cm diameter Jarrah. (That hole is superficial, it’s solid below it).

It was the biggest I had and also my limit of what I could manage (just) to lift into the car and get to the chainsaw area (derelict land where people can ride their bikes and drive their 4x4’s)

After just setting up I started the saw, after a few cuts I looked up to see 8-10 people gathered dribbling over it.

Then another guy got his 661 out to show me how my rakers were too high (I just use the stihl 2 in 1) and then cut through the log. It is an Oregon chain.

The saying, no replacement for displacement kinda fell on its head as the 661 was a light saber, though I guess above 36” the tables may turn.

So it cut nice and straight and sounded incredible, but it didn’t self feed, I have some reading up to do on a stihl sharpening document I was sent.

Those 661’s are absolute monsters, it is the first time I have seen them cut in person rather than in videos.

All in all I had a great time and most important have all my limbs.

 

[PV Hiker]

Really there are people that just happen to have a 661 that whips it out to spoil your thunder? Are you a magnet pulling these people to you?

Yea get the chain dialed in and fine tune carb and your off...

I always like the thump rumble of older saws. Video?

 

[Yukon Stihl]

Made my first cuts with a 661 i rebuilt...
Yea it's a monster i have a long bar on it and after the relearn procedure i did some cuts in a pile of logs.
Chews through the spruce we have here like nobody's business

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

Really there are people that just happen to have a 661 that whips it out to spoil your thunder? Are you a magnet pulling these people to you?

Yea get the chain dialed in and fine tune carb and your off...

I always like the thump rumble of older saws. Video?

Haha I know it’s unlikely, but it happened! I was doing a live face time with @trains at the time who can validate everything I have said No video as I was on my mobile to @trains

It’s not uncommon for guys with utes to have saws with them, you can collect firewood from the Bush for free, the wood is massive, stupidly hard and require big saws.

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

Made my first cuts with a 661 i rebuilt...
Yea it's a monster i have a long bar on it and after the relearn procedure i did some cuts in a pile of logs.
Chews through the spruce we have here like nobody's business

Seeing the speed at which it went through this hard 25” Jarrah was incredible. I also noted the sound of m-tronic on high idle after starting before you blip the throttle, sounds cool! Sounds like it has a slight delay between each cycle!

 

[trains]

Hey Tom,
Great to see it run well, and bring a smile to your face. Considering you only did a few cuts with the 039, and thought that was powerful, it was a good step up.
Dont worry too much about the cutting speed, yours cut fine, it was straight, smooth, and it wasnt slow by any means.

might find that you can take more off when you have a progressive raker guide on it for that chain. If not, no biggie, your just starting out on the journey to sharp chains, and you were cutting dead dry jarrah, which has a rockwell hardness all of its own.
The rakers on that 661 were really low, and the chain was grabby, just because you have the power to drag a chain thru dosent mean you should.
And your only running a 25 on a 110cc saw, put a 72" on it and it would be a completely different story.

Either way, it was a good run, a good start on chain sharpening, and the saw ran well, sounded great, your tune was perfect, we could have maybe tweaked the H a bit richer, but with the crowd gathering, as the noise of those saws brings out anyone within earshot we missed that opportunity. But that was being fussy. It was 2 stroking off load, and clean in the cut.
Give it some more time cutting, and re visit the H once its had some good work, and see where its at, but its good to go and sounds great.

Was interesting listening in on all the bs going on, lots of chest thumping etc from a few of them, but they all shut up when the saw started, and really, that was all that you needed to say, let the saw do the talking

Good rebuild Tom.

 

[rogue60]

What chain are you running Tom
3/8? Looks like semi chisel in the pic?
Throw that rubbish lol
Get some Stihl chain in .404 RS can't remember if you can get a rim drive for the 076 or just spur sprocket either way a 7 tooth in .404 is bigger and will increase chain speed could even try 8 tooth in .404.
In that small size wood the 661 has revs over the 076 but you can use the grunt of the 076 and gear it up for faster chain speed in that size wood.
Good job on the saw.

 

[sean donato]

Gonna post up a video of it after its run in? I love watching those big saws put to work.

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

What chain are you running Tom
3/8? Looks like semi chisel in the pic?
Throw that rubbish lol
Get some Stihl chain in .404 RS can't remember if you can get a rim drive for the 076 or just spur sprocket either way a 7 tooth in .404 is bigger and will increase chain speed could even try 8 tooth in .404.
In that small size wood the 661 has revs over the 076 but you can use the grunt of the 076 and gear it up for faster chain speed in that size wood.
Good job on the saw.

Hey this is .404 semi chisel and the saw has a 7 tooth spur sprocket on a hard nose bar

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

Gonna post up a video of it after its run in? I love watching those big saws put to work.

I need to get something other than Jarrah, the wood is dusty and coats everything in a fine powder haha. Unlike the softer woods like...

 

[rogue60]

Hey this is .404 semi chisel and the saw has a 7 tooth spur sprocket on a hard nose bar

Ok that makes it easy just get some RS Stihl chain.

 

[toadman]

cedar is fun Looong stringies & blazing fast to cut through.

 

[toadman]

I'm glad you like the 076, and I'll agree with what you said above about big bars. 36" is the most I'll normally run my 661, with on a rare occasion a 42"... I have a friend with a 070 & we cut together sometimes & I have run it once or twice as well... when pulling less than 36" of hard wood or running 3/8" my 661 beats it hands down for speed. the 070 really pulls ahead with the 42" running .404.
070 is comfortable to use with a big bar burried in big wood due to the slow turning torque, & while the 661 can do it in a pinch with the 42" it is exhausting and very very hard on the saw. with a small bar you're not really seeing the best side of the monster you have... I suspect the 076 would pull away from the 070 even. Nice saw

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

I'm glad you like the 076, and I'll agree with what you said above about big bars. 36" is the most I'll normally run my 661, with on a rare occasion a 42"... I have a friend with a 070 & we cut together sometimes & I have run it once or twice as well... when pulling less than 36" of hard wood or running 3/8" my 661 beats it hands down for speed. the 070 really pulls ahead with the 42" running .404.
070 is comfortable to use with a big bar burried in big wood due to the slow turning torque, & while the 661 can do it in a pinch with the 42" it is exhausting and very very hard on the saw. with a small bar you're not really seeing the best side of the monster you have... I suspect the 076 would pull away from the 070 even. Nice saw

Thanks mate some good points and interesting info! Brought a smile to my face, it’s been cleaned and now sitting on the shelf, unlikly to be used for some time ha.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

I would have to say Tom you are wrong, but the 661 is not bad either. The 076 is always a great contender. You are using some thing that you know nothing about, but you will hopefully. Where the 076 shines is because of some issues like older technology it is very reliable with SLOWER CHAIN SPEED. That means you will be able to cut much longer than the newer saws would be able to. It is not monster heavy, but not a feather weight. When you learn how to adjust your chain with a good balnce of the rakers and cutters you will be much more impressed as well as your onlookers. You managed to restore the thing to usable condition which is awesome and now you just need some more experience with it. Do us a favor do not leave it on the shelf. I like hearing the stories. Thanks

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

I would have to say Tom you are wrong, but the 661 is not bad either. The 076 is always a great contender. You are using some thing that you know nothing about, but you will hopefully. Where the 076 shines is because of some issues like older technology it is very reliable with SLOWER CHAIN SPEED. That means you will be able to cut much longer than the newer saws would be able to. It is not monster heavy, but not a feather weight. When you learn how to adjust your chain with a good balnce of the rakers and cutters you will be much more impressed as well as your onlookers. You managed to restore the thing to usable condition which is awesome and now you just need some more experience with it. Do us a favor do not leave it on the shelf. I like hearing the stories. Thanks

Thanks for the message and I agree!

As for it being a shelf queen and to get it off the shelf, I need a cutting buddy with land and big trees not my small 2 bedroom unit with a back garden the size of a decent lounge and old neighbours all around haha.

I would love to just step outside, start It and cut some wood.

Sadly the process to use it is a good hour preparation of lugging wood and fixing it firm, driving to the saw area, laying out tarps, setting things up and after all that only managing to have 25” wood and be able to do 8 cuts, which even with standard sharpening abilities, happens in a heart beat. Then the dismantling occurs and takes another hour. That’s a lot of work for 8 cuts lol. This is probably why I prefer rebuilding saws, it’s easier

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

I inspected the cuts I did with the saw. You can see the first 3 cuts I did (left most cuts in the picture) I was out of my comfort zone and the cuts weren’t very straight. After getting a feel for it I got into the swing of things with the 4th and subsequent cuts being nice and straight.

This is from the back side of the log. The amount of oil trail at the base of where I finished the cuts was reassuring, especially in such Incredibly dusty wood. The guy with the 661 did the 5th cut that didn’t leave an oil trail. I did chuckle when Trains told me to press the manual oiler button a few times when I first started the saw just to get it on the chain. After a few presses, the chain was flinging it out in the bucket load like it was free
Anyway the standard automatic oiler was clearly more than enough even in such dusty conditions. A 60” bar may benefit from the manual oiler though I suspect.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

You can not just go to where timber is and cut away?? I could share some of mine any day. I have access to thousands of cords big and small. Then I have made a system to spend weeks cutting every day. A few years ago I spent Christmas day just putting in a normal day of cutting. It was wonderful good food good company lots of timber to cut load some up for sale. And I have the best entertainment ever watching deer sheep with eagles and hawks squaring off. Not mention my four legged friend that prefers plenty of blankets in the morning. Thanks

 

[TheDarkLordChinChin]

Strap a 62" bar on it and call your 661 buddy.

 

[rogue60]

I need to get something other than Jarrah, the wood is dusty and coats everything in a fine powder haha. Unlike the softer woods like... View attachment 838232

That looks like pine chips ha Jarrah is no workout for a 076.
Hate to break it to you Tom but compered to other Aussie hardwoods Jarrah is like cutting a rolled up foam mattress lol
Wait tell you get into some Ironbarks/ Grey Gum or the Box family of timber you haven't seen dust yet..
Also the harder the timber gets the more the 076 will shine it has the power to just keep pulling the chain.