Longer bar for Stihl M261 - relative novice.

[WinterDeere]

I have to admit, I almost never pull that side off my saws. I remember having the recoiler off the 064 just once, to replace a broken pull cord, and have probably never popped that cover off the other two. I do blow thru it with compressed air, so hopefully not too terrible, but should I remove the covers and check?

 

[xyz123]

I have to admit, I almost never pull that side off my saws. I remember having the recoiler off the 064 just once, to replace a broken pull cord, and have probably never popped that cover off the other two. I do blow thru it with compressed air, so hopefully not too terrible, but should I remove the covers and check?

I would. They get bad under there.

 

[WinterDeere]

Speaking of pull cords, your photo was a little small to see for sure, but were some of those 084's without compression relief valves?!? oof!

My 036 has one, but that saw is small enough that I rarely even bother to use it. My 064 must have pretty high compression, or a comparatively small-diameter spool on the recoiler, because that is the toughest saw I've ever pulled over. Thankfully, my 084 had de-comp, I'd think you'd almost need a kick starter on those things without!

 

[xyz123]

Speaking of pull cords, your photo was a little small to see for sure, but were some of those 084's without compression relief valves?!? oof!

My 036 has one, but that saw is small enough that I rarely even bother to use it. My 064 must have pretty high compression, or a comparatively small-diameter spool on the recoiler, because that is the toughest saw I've ever pulled over. Thankfully, my 084 had de-comp, I'd think you'd almost need a kick starter on those things without!

All 84's have them. Decomps.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Good post, but just to clarify one point, all Stihl pro saws I've ever owned have adjustable oilers. I've heard that some of their cheaper homeowner and "farm and ranch" series saws lack adjusters oil their oilers, but I've never bought any of those.

My husky and all the husky I have seen have adjustable oiler as well.

 

[ernemats]

My battery powered saws also have adjustable oilers. greenworks and ryobi

 

[Hay Dude]

I looked at a few saws over the weekend and discovered that some modified saws seem like they were ruined by their owners.
I don’t have any saw mods on mine, but am open-minded to any/all that offer benefits.
Seems like the #1 mod is opening up the exhaust and that adds loudness.

 

[xyz123]

Depends on person doing mod. Muffler mods are a first step on stock saws.

On a stihl 290-390 a simple muffler mod can get you 18% to 23% quicker cut times.

Echo 2511 28% by just putting on a Egan pipe.

The echo's and lot of stihls are held back by mufflers.

 

[Fields_mj]

This has probably already been said, but 20" is about as long as I'd run on a 261. The oil pump will likely struggle to keep up on anything longer than that. 261 normally runs .325 pitch chain and the longest bar they make for .325 chain is 20". Swapping to a .375 pitch rim/drive sprocket will allow you to run a .375 pitch chain and bar. They make just about every length bar in .375 pitch.

Personally, I wouldn't go more than 18" on a 261. If the 16" bar cuts 70% in one pass, I'd say its the ideal bar length for what you're cutting. Its easy enough to cut from both sides for the other 30%. Realistically, a 16" bar can cut an 18" log in one pass if you use the right technique. Running a longer bar reduces the amount of tq and hp available to make the cut. Going with a 20" bar so you can make 30% of your cuts in one pass will slow the saw down for the other 70% of the cuts. It also cuts slower on the 20" cut, but it may be faster than having to walk around and make the additional cuts from the back side.

If most of what you cut is hardwoods over 12", and you're you're cutting enough that the 16" bar seems to be slowing you down, you might want to consider a 60cc or 70cc saw with a 20"-24" bar. I cut a lot of hickory and oak in that size, and my primary bucking saw(s) are my 036s. I run 18" bars on them, and I can generally reach through 20"-22" rounds without having to walk around and cut from the other side. If I'm going to be cutting a lot of stuff that's in the +18" range, I'll pull out a 90cc saw just so it has a chance to run once in a while. I bought the big saw because I occasionally get into stuff that's in the 30"-50" range. I don't have a 70cc saw. If I did, I'm not sure I'd ever start my big saw. I have an 026 as well (predecessor to your 261, and about 20% less hp), and a 16" bar is ideal for it in hardwoods. I use it mostly for limbing, but I'll also grab it for bucking up stuff that's in in the 8"-10" range.

I will say that every saw I own gets the muffler gutted, and the carb re-tuned accordingly. Yes, they are louder, but ear pro is mandatory if I'm running a 2 cycle tool anyway. If I wanted something quiet, I'd buy a battery powered saw, which I may do at some point.

 

[WinterDeere]

I looked at a few saws over the weekend and discovered that some modified saws seem like they were ruined by their owners.

I've heard the same. My local saw shop says they do more repairs and rebuilds on mod'd saws than stock saws, due to either bad mod's or folks pushing them past their design points. These are guys who do nothing but repair saws all day long, it's a dedicated pro saw shop who sell Stihl, Husqvarna, Echo, and Redmax.

They always argue buying a bigger saw, over mod'ing a smaller one, but then again... they sell saws!

Seems like the #1 mod is opening up the exhaust and that adds loudness.

I bought straight-shot mufflers for both my 036 and 064, but after hearing how much louder it made the 036, I held off installing the one purchased for the much larger 064.

I can see the appeal, if you really need a little more horsepower to run a longer bar, or want minimum weight for a required horsepower. But the 064 already has the horsepower I need for the 28" bar that I'm running on it 99% of the time, so my desire to make it much louder is a bit less, than with the somewhat underpowered (for 20" bar) 036.