First Project Saw - Sthil 038

[czyhorse]

Yes I am new to all of this so please forgive me for being needy and uninformed. I heat my home on wood. I cut a minimum of 10 cords a season. I get into a lot of types of wood, scrub oak, elm, huge cottonwood, and lodgepole pine to name a few. My father gifted me his 038 AV Farm Boss before he passed. I used it for a while but was having a lot of trouble with it. SO I shelved it and bought a Husky cuz it was affordable and easy to get OEM parts for, which I thought was important at the time. I love it and I think I have it running as well as it it can. I am cutting some pretty big trees on the nearby national forest here in Colorado. I was hoping for something that was a bit more. I have been toying with buying a new pro model saw. But then I looked up the specs on the 038 and realized I have a pretty decent saw sitting and collecting dust. Plus it has huge sentimental value as it was my dads prize saw and the saw I learned to cut on. So I have decided to do a total rebuild on it. A new cylinder and piston, clean & rebuild or replace the carb, replace all the rubber, new sprocket, porting, new ignition coil (I know this is trashed), and replace anything that is worn or broken.

I have some questions I was hoping the more experienced hands around can help me with.

Does anyone have the original service manual and parts diagram they can share?

who makes the best cylinder / piston set?

whats the best source for good quality parts?

I have been told the 038 can have a 47mm, 50mm, or 52mm cylinder / piston. I believe the 52mm is for the magnum which this saw is not, and I don’t want to alter the bolt holes in the case to use it. But I haven’t seen if the 47 and 50 cylinder heads have the same pattern. I believe the stroke is the same on all 3 so if I find I have the 47 I’d like to go up to the 50 if it is the same bolt pattern.

any help or guidance you can share with me would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Crispexx]

Does anyone have the original service manual and parts diagram they can share?

Well I can’t help on the rest of your post, but here I can assist. In the chainsaw forum in the stickies section there will be a “Beg for Manuals” forum. There I would post you are looking for the service manual and the IPL (parts list) for the saw you got there. Welcome to the site and enjoy the enormous wealth of knowledge that is floating around here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Crispexx]

The Beg for Manuals Thread
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/to...ls-Thread.68615/&share_type=t&link_source=app

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rocketnorton]

48 & 50mm are same bolt pattern.
i like oe parts for them.
they can be hard to start, just cause of the choke setup.
i have some stuff, if ya cant find anything closer.

 

[John Lyngdal]

I have a 038S parts saw that might be able to supply some parts for your project.
I think step one would be to pull the muffler and look at the piston skirt.
If it looks clean, pull the air filter and see if the saw will run on prime.
Use fresh fuel mix for this and above all don't use starting fluid.
If it pops or runs on prime, I would order a carburetor kit.
038 used several different carburetors, so you will need to identify the manufacturer to get the correct rebuild kit.
Replacing the rubber would be a good long-term plan if you end up tearing the saw down for rebuilding.
My old 038 mag is still pretty much original from the rubber perspective, but that will vary by storage conditions it experienced.

 

[Mad Professor]

Yes I am new to all of this so please forgive me for being needy and uninformed. I heat my home on wood. I cut a minimum of 10 cords a season. I get into a lot of types of wood, scrub oak, elm, huge cottonwood, and lodgepole pine to name a few. My father gifted me his 038 AV Farm Boss before he passed. I used it for a while but was having a lot of trouble with it. SO I shelved it and bought a Husky cuz it was affordable and easy to get OEM parts for, which I thought was important at the time. I love it and I think I have it running as well as it it can. I am cutting some pretty big trees on the nearby national forest here in Colorado. I was hoping for something that was a bit more. I have been toying with buying a new pro model saw. But then I looked up the specs on the 038 and realized I have a pretty decent saw sitting and collecting dust. Plus it has huge sentimental value as it was my dads prize saw and the saw I learned to cut on. So I have decided to do a total rebuild on it. A new cylinder and piston, clean & rebuild or replace the carb, replace all the rubber, new sprocket, porting, new ignition coil (I know this is trashed), and replace anything that is worn or broken.

I have some questions I was hoping the more experienced hands around can help me with.

Does anyone have the original service manual and parts diagram they can share?

who makes the best cylinder / piston set?

whats the best source for good quality parts?

I have been told the 038 can have a 47mm, 50mm, or 52mm cylinder / piston. I believe the 52mm is for the magnum which this saw is not, and I don’t want to alter the bolt holes in the case to use it. But I haven’t seen if the 47 and 50 cylinder heads have the same pattern. I believe the stroke is the same on all 3 so if I find I have the 47 I’d like to go up to the 50 if it is the same bolt pattern.

any help or guidance you can share with me would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Mad Professor]

Stroke is the same all 038

It think, I did the FIRST 038 --->038M conversion. It was posted here. 2007? 2008?

It worked well, as have others posted here on such. Look at threads. Variations on what I did.

Only a few things you have to look after. Don't use cheap Chi-Com parts.

 

[Mad Professor]

Yes I am new to all of this so please forgive me for being needy and uninformed. I heat my home on wood. I cut a minimum of 10 cords a season. I get into a lot of types of wood, scrub oak, elm, huge cottonwood, and lodgepole pine to name a few. My father gifted me his 038 AV Farm Boss before he passed. I used it for a while but was having a lot of trouble with it. SO I shelved it and bought a Husky cuz it was affordable and easy to get OEM parts for, which I thought was important at the time. I love it and I think I have it running as well as it it can. I am cutting some pretty big trees on the nearby national forest here in Colorado. I was hoping for something that was a bit more. I have been toying with buying a new pro model saw. But then I looked up the specs on the 038 and realized I have a pretty decent saw sitting and collecting dust. Plus it has huge sentimental value as it was my dads prize saw and the saw I learned to cut on. So I have decided to do a total rebuild on it. A new cylinder and piston, clean & rebuild or replace the carb, replace all the rubber, new sprocket, porting, new ignition coil (I know this is trashed), and replace anything that is worn or broken.

I have some questions I was hoping the more experienced hands around can help me with.

Does anyone have the original service manual and parts diagram they can share?

who makes the best cylinder / piston set?

whats the best source for good quality parts?

I have been told the 038 can have a 47mm, 50mm, or 52mm cylinder / piston. I believe the 52mm is for the magnum which this saw is not, and I don’t want to alter the bolt holes in the case to use it. But I haven’t seen if the 47 and 50 cylinder heads have the same pattern. I believe the stroke is the same on all 3 so if I find I have the 47 I’d like to go up to the 50 if it is the same bolt pattern.

any help or guidance you can share with me would be greatly appreciated!

Mfers here says a shop manual is TOO BIG

 

[Mad Professor]

I forgot welcome to AS,

I have all sorts of 038 saws........ask I might be drunk , or just sleeping, someday, I'll answer.........

 

[czyhorse]

Mfers here says a shop manual is TOO BI

I have a 038S parts saw that might be able to supply some parts for your project.
I think step one would be to pull the muffler and look at the piston skirt.
If it looks clean, pull the air filter and see if the saw will run on prime.
Use fresh fuel mix for this and above all don't use starting fluid.
If it pops or runs on prime, I would order a carburetor kit.
038 used several different carburetors, so you will need to identify the manufacturer to get the correct rebuild kit.
Replacing the rubber would be a good long-term plan if you end up tearing the saw down for rebuilding.
My old 038 mag is still pretty much original from the rubber perspective, but that will vary by storage conditions it experienced.

Thank you! Don’t know what I need yet. Didn‘t want to start breakdown until I had parts diagrams. Which I just got. Going to start in on this ASAP.

 

[czyhorse]

Mfers here says a shop manual is TOO BIG

Thank you so much. That is super helpful!

 

[czyhorse]

Mfers here says a shop manual is TOO BIG

Would you be able to email me the manual?

 

[Mad Professor]

Would you be able to email me the manual?

PM me your email address, I'll send a manual.

The 52mm pistons and cylinders are a lot easier to find. It's not too much work to fit them on the earlier saws.

A round chain file and a dremel will do the work. Use a 48/50mm cylinder base gasket as a template for slotting the cylinder holes. You also need to file/grind a bit off the jug where the bolt heads seat, or turn down the bolt heads a bit. Also use the file to open up the holes in the cylinder fins so the torx wrench will fit in.

The muffler will be narrower so open that up to match the ex port. If it's a single port muffler get a dual port , open the ports up to the size of the spark screens, or do a "muffler mod". I leave the inner baffle there but open it up by drilling a few holes in it.

The 038S carb (tillotson) is same size as the 038M (bing), the 038 carbs are smaller. I didn't notice any difference in power with either bigger carb. Bing part$ kits co$t a lot more.

 

[Jack Clancy]

Yes I am new to all of this so please forgive me for being needy and uninformed. I heat my home on wood. I cut a minimum of 10 cords a season. I get into a lot of types of wood, scrub oak, elm, huge cottonwood, and lodgepole pine to name a few. My father gifted me his 038 AV Farm Boss before he passed. I used it for a while but was having a lot of trouble with it. SO I shelved it and bought a Husky cuz it was affordable and easy to get OEM parts for, which I thought was important at the time. I love it and I think I have it running as well as it it can. I am cutting some pretty big trees on the nearby national forest here in Colorado. I was hoping for something that was a bit more. I have been toying with buying a new pro model saw. But then I looked up the specs on the 038 and realized I have a pretty decent saw sitting and collecting dust. Plus it has huge sentimental value as it was my dads prize saw and the saw I learned to cut on. So I have decided to do a total rebuild on it. A new cylinder and piston, clean & rebuild or replace the carb, replace all the rubber, new sprocket, porting, new ignition coil (I know this is trashed), and replace anything that is worn or broken.

I have some questions I was hoping the more experienced hands around can help me with.

Does anyone have the original service manual and parts diagram they can share?

who makes the best cylinder / piston set?

whats the best source for good quality parts?

I have been told the 038 can have a 47mm, 50mm, or 52mm cylinder / piston. I believe the 52mm is for the magnum which this saw is not, and I don’t want to alter the bolt holes in the case to use it. But I haven’t seen if the 47 and 50 cylinder heads have the same pattern. I believe the stroke is the same on all 3 so if I find I have the 47 I’d like to go up to the 50 if it is the same bolt pattern.

any help or guidance you can share with me would be greatly appreciated!

The 038AV is one of Stihl's better saws, although I don't think Stihl is the 'el supremo'. I'm out of touch with details but electrolux owns most doesn't it? You've reminded me that there's something I have to do to finish my (original) 038, bought with some problem or another... I had to do some repairwork with the sound isolating rubbers but ...there's something else...Thanks for inadvertently reminding me!

Chainsaw mania....I still have my Jonsareds 49SP bought new in about 1982..best constructed chainsaw ever in my opinion. It cost a Motza...maybe it was about $800....something ridiculous. I've a few, McCullochs ...another larger Jonsareds, not so much an engineering delight like the 49SP...but good...I've Solo, Echo, a nice Atom saw head which was in top order when I bought it in 1985 and rarely used since to keep it 'smick' with original stickers ....It has an 'original' Atom auger fitting. I'd like to sell as a pair to a collector...Atom was a very good saw but stuffed-up somewhere commercially ... Atom is still going making the best Auger drivers....oh yes I have one of those, unused, also with the biggest engine of course!!...$1000 sitting at the end of my bed!...hopefully holding its price. I can't use it on my farm fences now.

I recently sold a couple of large Stihls and 5 x twin cylinder (EVL) Echo's. Now crippled in my hands, can't even hold a knife and fork properly and without pain and having had major other surgery I am sensibly, I think , selling-off my 'ADHD' collections of a lifetime (e.g. WW11 airborne receivers, car parts and sooner or later my African hunting books and my .458Lott....what madness have I carried all my life!!....was it because I came from a poor family of (eventually) 16 children...?).or did I do it all myself? ..Divesting ones much loved 'no capacity for speaking' items is harder than divorce I think. Time to sell my chainsaws all...maybe keep one in case .....in case surgery fixes my hands....It's the brain which really required fixing.

I realise this is not chainsaw banter or witchery but anyway....one really 'hard' sell last week was my beautiful low mileage SAAB 9000 Anniversary, one of the last few built and a brilliant and beautiful car... I also have a Carlsson 2.3 ...so as can be seen I am impressed by quality. I have, overseas, stashed-away in my barn a Cosworth Sierra 4x4 and an XR 4x4....there has been no limit to my 'collecting mania' ...except available cash!..when restoring 37-48 Buick 8's as an apprentice "chain and anchor applicator to my 'keep yourself poor' life". I often worked 24 hour shifts to buy new Buick/Pontiac etc parts...One really has to wonder about 'some people' doesn't one.... but 60 years later and after 4 weeks excruciating pain in hospital post-op after surgery...watching no TV , a real blessing.... gave me a mental turn-around....even so I am reading this Arborist site...

This jumped out at me from your text ...."I am cutting some pretty big trees on the nearby national forest here in Colorado"...is that permitted? unless employed by the State to do it.

 

[czyhorse]

The 038AV is one of Stihl's better saws, although I don't think Stihl is the 'el supremo'. I'm out of touch with details but electrolux owns most doesn't it? You've reminded me that there's something I have to do to finish my (original) 038, bought with some problem or another... I had to do some repairwork with the sound isolating rubbers but ...there's something else...Thanks for inadvertently reminding me!

Chainsaw mania....I still have my Jonsareds 49SP bought new in about 1982..best constructed chainsaw ever in my opinion. It cost a Motza...maybe it was about $800....something ridiculous. I've a few, McCullochs ...another larger Jonsareds, not so much an engineering delight like the 49SP...but good...I've Solo, Echo, a nice Atom saw head which was in top order when I bought it in 1985 and rarely used since to keep it 'smick' with original stickers ....It has an 'original' Atom auger fitting. I'd like to sell as a pair to a collector...Atom was a very good saw but stuffed-up somewhere commercially ... Atom is still going making the best Auger drivers....oh yes I have one of those, unused, also with the biggest engine of course!!...$1000 sitting at the end of my bed!...hopefully holding its price. I can't use it on my farm fences now.

I recently sold a couple of large Stihls and 5 x twin cylinder (EVL) Echo's. Now crippled in my hands, can't even hold a knife and fork properly and without pain and having had major other surgery I am sensibly, I think , selling-off my 'ADHD' collections of a lifetime (e.g. WW11 airborne receivers, car parts and sooner or later my African hunting books and my .458Lott....what madness have I carried all my life!!....was it because I came from a poor family of (eventually) 16 children...?).or did I do it all myself? ..Divesting ones much loved 'no capacity for speaking' items is harder than divorce I think. Time to sell my chainsaws all...maybe keep one in case .....in case surgery fixes my hands....It's the brain which really required fixing.

I realise this is not chainsaw banter or witchery but anyway....one really 'hard' sell last week was my beautiful low mileage SAAB 9000 Anniversary, one of the last few built and a brilliant and beautiful car... I also have a Carlsson 2.3 ...so as can be seen I am impressed by quality. I have, overseas, stashed-away in my barn a Cosworth Sierra 4x4 and an XR 4x4....there has been no limit to my 'collecting mania' ...except available cash!..when restoring 37-48 Buick 8's as an apprentice "chain and anchor applicator to my 'keep yourself poor' life". I often worked 24 hour shifts to buy new Buick/Pontiac etc parts...One really has to wonder about 'some people' doesn't one.... but 60 years later and after 4 weeks excruciating pain in hospital post-op after surgery...watching no TV , a real blessing.... gave me a mental turn-around....even so I am reading this Arborist site...

This jumped out at me from your text ...."I am cutting some pretty big trees on the nearby national forest here in Colorado"...is that permitted? unless employed by the State to do it.

I buy permits