.404 chain on Dolmar 7900 BB? Also, bar questions

[Anthony_Va.]

No gasket is bad news. Was the saw running good? there's almost always an air leak if you don't have a base gasket on a saw. You should blot it back up and check your squish. 150psi is low for a 7900 with no gasket.

Those lowers could be cleaned up with a dremel pretty easily. You can do anything except the upper transfers pretty good with a dremel and flex shaft.

If it were my saw, I would hunt down a good used OEM 7900 cylinder and piston.

 

[Bret4207]

I run 404 on my 2100. The only reason I have it is because the reel of chain and extra bar were purchased special order for a guy that wanted a dedicated header saw. Bought a brand new 2100XP and crushed it between the loader cabin and frame the very first day! He came back in, bought an off the shelf 2100XP with the 3/8 setup and lived happily ever after. Being stuck with a brand new 20" hardnose bar and most of 100 feet of 404 chipper (round) chain, I took a look in the parts barrels and built a 2100CX- not really a CD, not really an XP. It's still one of the most reliable saws I've ever owned. I ripped a lot of pine for barn beams with it, sawed I don't know how much firewood and I've even saw a few tap roots out with it. My impression of the 404 is based on chipper chain, not chisel. It cuts fast when sharp and tend to cut better slightly dull than chisel does. I does carry a large chip nicely. But, I wouldn't get 404 just to try it. If I owned a really big bar and was cutting dirty wood the 404 might get the nod, but it's a pain finding links locally and no one carries 404 sprockets.

Could be worse though- my neighbor has several old Homies he's brought back from Alaska with 1/2"! Try finding links for that....