New to me Stihl 440 Mag & Stihl 260 Pro

[JimBear]

I needed these not at all....but I own them now. Why the 440? Because I wanted a larger saw & well I wanted it. Why the 260 Pro when I have a 271? While I was trolling e-bay/craigslist to see what was out there & what was being paid, I thru out a bid to run some poor sod that probably really wanted/needed it ( this was from past experiences & getting bumped myself; just being an ass) 2 days later I get an e-mail I won! . So I both to my local dealer & had them compression & vac tested ( to just confirm what I had been told ) & just basically looked over to confirm that I hadn’t missed anything needed repair wise. 155 &160 compression, vac tested good also. Since I already have a 271 with 18” x .325 x .063 that’s what I set up the 260 for, it came with a 16” x .325 x .063 & I already have some of those chains & a bar from my old 029 that got 5 fingered.
My question is will the 440 pull the 25” bar on it with a standard chain or shall I put a skip tooth on it? I paid $330 for the 260 & $550 for the 440 before someone asks.

 

[Dairyman]

Couple of nice saws there. The 440 will pull 25" of full comp just fine.

 

[JimBear]

Couple of nice saws there. The 440 will pull 25" of full comp just fine.

Manual says 28” max suggested so I figured I should be good but thought I would run it by real life users. Haven’t ran them yet so pretty excited to try them out. Probably be about of carb tweaking. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Slocum]

I can't speak for the 440 but my 260 pro doesn't like any more than a 16" bar and chain.

 

[JimBear]

I can't speak for the 440 but my 260 pro doesn't like any more than a 16" bar and chain.

I have come to that conclusion as well, spent some time this afternoon trying them out, I think the carb may need some work on the 260, I can’t quite get it dialed in. My 271 & 18” will out cut the 260 & 16” by a long shot. This really surprised me. The 440 seems to pull the 25” bar ok but not what I expected.

 

[Tar12]

My one 260 pro came with a 18 in bar and chain...I soon switched both of the 260 pros to 3/8ths and run full chisel on them...they get with the program...I run a 20 in bar on my 044 with full chisel and it cuts very well...Stihl recommends a 20 in on it BTW...

 

[Slocum]

I have come to that conclusion as well, spent some time this afternoon trying them out, I think the carb may need some work on the 260, I can’t quite get it dialed in. My 271 & 18” will out cut the 260 & 16” by a long shot. This really surprised me. The 440 seems to pull the 25” bar ok but not what I expected.

I've debated on doing some muffler and carb work on my 260. My old 025 will run circles around the 260.

 

[Tar12]

I've debated on doing some muffler and carb work on my 260. My old 025 will run circles around the 260.

Mine wouldnt!

 

[JimBear]

Mine wouldnt!

Have you had some upgrades done to yours?

 

[jwfirebird]

would go through the carb on any used equipment, make sure you have the power you re suppossed to. i normally poke the jets with a pick, carb clean everything and blow out. chainsaws just sit for alot of people

 

[Jags]

Hmmmm....first knee jerk reaction is that the 260 isn’t running right. It should be a superior saw to the 271 in every way.

 

[JimBear]

My one 260 pro came with a 18 in bar and chain...I soon switched both of the 260 pros to 3/8ths and run full chisel on them...they get with the program...I run a 20 in bar on my 044 with full chisel and it cuts very well...Stihl recommends a 20 in on it BTW...

The Stihl online manual for the 440 says 16-18-20 but the manual that came with the saw lists 16-18-20-25. I know that running the max recommended bar will not get as good of performance as a shorter bar but the 20 bar it also came with was junk, I didn’t see much point in buying another 20” when I have 18”. Maybe down the road I will get a 20”.

 

[JimBear]

Hmmmm....first knee jerk reaction is that the 260 isn’t running right. It should be a superior saw to the 271 in every way.

Those were my thoughts in researching, if not superior at least equal. Compression can be eliminated, looks like I just need to become abut more knowledgeable about carbs & carb repair. It is supposed to rain & snow for a couple days I hopefully will have time to look at them.

 

[JimBear]

I am not prepared to go into the carburetor repair business but I got them running a little better, after some labor, carburetor cleaner, some bad words, a splatter of CC cleaner in the eye. I got the 260 to cut a 8” hedge post without bogging down, which is a lot better than the other day & the 440 to cut a 14” no problem, still some fine tuning to do but it’s snowing, sleeting & raining today so I’ll wait for a better day for that.

 

[JimBear]

Now I have a seemingly dumb question but I’ll fire it off anyway. I have never had a saw with the stainless steel bar plate spacers. Aren’t those just for insuring you have enough threads to tighten down the cover & bar or is it also helping to align the bar & sprocket? Are these just on Pro & larger saws? Ok that’s 2 questions. The manual doesn’t say anything about them & only thing a search pulls up is ebay selling them. Thanks for helping me out.

 

[Slocum]

Now I have a seemingly dumb question but I’ll fire it off anyway. I have never had a saw with the stainless steel bar plate spacers. Aren’t those just for insuring you have enough threads to tighten down the cover & bar or is it also helping to align the bar & sprocket? Are these just on Pro & larger saws? Ok that’s 2 questions. The manual doesn’t say anything about them & only thing a search pulls up is ebay selling them. Thanks for helping me out.

Does anybody have any idea how many rpm the 260 is supposed to turn?

 

[bens_igloo]

Does anybody have any idea how many rpm the 260 is supposed to turn?

Check here: http://slugaservice-com.3dcartstores.com/assets/html/S_specs.html

RPM specs for your 260 are listed here, plus a lot of good info.

 

[Slocum]

Check here: http://slugaservice-com.3dcartstores.com/assets/html/S_specs.html

RPM specs for your 260 are listed here, plus a lot of good info.

Very nice! Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Tar12]

Have you had some upgrades done to yours?

Just the 3/8ths upgrade and full chisel chain.

 

[JimBear]

Just the 3/8ths upgrade and full chisel chain.

If I sell my 271, I may put a 3/8 on the 260. I just didn’t see any reason to have a bunch .325 chains & bars that couldn’t be used on both saws. The 260 already had a .325 bar & sprocket.

 

[Tar12]

If I sell my 271, I may put a 3/8 on the 260. I just didn’t see any reason to have a bunch .325 chains & bars that couldn’t be used on both saws. The 260 already had a .325 bar & sprocket.

I hear you....thats why I went to 3/8ths on the 260 Pros....now I run the same chain on EVERY saw I own from the 260s to the 660.

 

[Sean McGillicuddy]

Hmmm .... Most people have several chains for there saw .. not several saws for there chain ..

 

[Tar12]

Hmmm .... Most people have several chains for there saw .. not several saws for there chain ..

I have that to....chain totes for the 260s and the 039...

 

[JimBear]

I don’t have anything quite that fancy, mine just hang on nails in the shed, then I grab a few on the way to cut, sharp chains go in the drivers side door panel compartments & the dull ones get put in the passenger side door panel compartments, then they get hung on the appropriate nail when I get back home.

 

[JimBear]

I had a chance this evening to play around with the 440 a little more & cut up some hedge posts & got thru a 22” locust trunk with very little if any power drop. Seemed to load up & slobber a bit as I was almost thru the trunk but it snapped right back out of it. I am thinking it must be a little rich on mixture yet but not sure that’s a bad thing. Still a small tweak left but very happy with it.