044 info help

[Fyrman07]

Bought a what looks to be lightly used 044 yesterday from an older gentleman who gave me his original receipt and what looks to be 20 years worth of service records where he took it in every year to have it looked over and tuned up. It is a red lever, metal tag saw with a s/n of X129584701. It runs and cuts great and for the saw, 4 bars, 9 chains and all the paperwork I think I got a great deal at $350. Can anyone give me any info based on the s/n? From all I’ve read it looks to be very close to the cutoff from 10-12mm.

 

[blsnelling]

Date Purchased : 07/01/1994

 

[Fyrman07]

Can you tell if it’s a 10 or 12mm by the s/n

 

[rupedoggy]

Look at the fins in the top of the cylinder.

 

[blsnelling]

Not a sure fire method. Some early 12mm saws had slanted fins.

 

[blsnelling]

I don't have the exact cutoff but it's 129xxxxxx.

 

[Fyrman07]

I haven’t torn it down and don’t intend to unless I need to but based on what I can see from the outside it has straight fins. I can also see four ++++ signs.

 

[Cody]

I would guess a 10mm, you definitely made out pretty good for the price.

 

[Fyrman07]

Thanks for the info, I’m happy with it either way.

 

[Trx250r180]

Most of the time if has a red lever will be a 10mm saw .

 

[blsnelling]

10mm Serial #.....up to 129583701.

You have a very early 12mm saw.

 

[Fyrman07]

So the 12mm will accept an 046 piston and jug? Or is it the other way around.

 

[cgraham1]

So the 12mm will accept an 046 piston and jug? Or is it the other way around.

Yes. With some mods. 10mm saw would need a 12mm crank swap to build a hybrid 044/046.

Some pics would be nice. Here’s my 10mm...


Very early KS jug with only one + mark...

I had an early 12mm with a slant fin Mahle jug, and it ran pretty good, too.

 

[cgraham1]

There’s a couple tricks to identifying a 10mm vs. a 12mm. One is the corner of the case where the starter and muffler bolt on will be curved on a 10mm, and straight on a 12mm. The 10mm’s I’ve seen don’t have a provision for the metal tank corner guard either. 4mm screws hold the starter on vs. 5mm on newer saws. It’s also my understanding that the better jugs were made by KS (Kolbenschmidt) and the fewer the + marks on the cylinder the better. Early saws had a heavier flywheel as well... I can’t remember the brand name, but they are stamped “made in Japan”. I’m not sure when the red levers were changed to black, but I’ve seen a few 12mm with red levers. Then again, they are really easy to swap out.

 

[Rob Stafari]