Have you run an O41AV?

[Brushwacker]

041 is no dog in my book even compared to the new saws.
Vibes seem to lossen screws more then most saws( so use some loctite and check em now and then ) and the 041 without AV has very uncomfortable vibes. I had 1 for years and I usually ran the big old Homelites more. But here in the last several years I have several to many saws at a time since I incorperated selling used saws with selling firewood. Now when I get an 041 AV it is a hard saw to let go. They feel great cutting firewood. I don't imagine my feet move fast enough to go any faster through small to medium wood and the 041 when properly tuned and maintained powers through some fairly good size wood at a very reasonable pace and cuts alot of wood on 1 tank of gas. I have rotated back and forth with an 044 and never felt handicapped with the 041 AV. I'm sure bigger is better for milling,but general all around cutting I think it shines.

 

[mcb]

my first saw was a "rebuilt" ms290 farmboss (junk, pain to work on) that had a vaccuum leak at the cylinder base and killed itself about an hour into the job i bought it for, so i grabbed an 041AV for $50 locally from craigslist to get by until i could fix the 290. my best friends dead stock, hardly sharp jonsered 2155 (52cc) that i now own beat the pants off that 041, and not by a small amount. i mean hes on his 3rd cut when im finishing my first. the jonsky is all revs and can't be leaned on, but in comparison, the 041 is a painfully slow saw, torquey or not. it'll do the same job, if youve got all day to listen to it bumble along at what sounds like an idle for the other saw.

think lawntractor vs KX80 in a dragrace. sure, the KX80 cant pull around a trailer, but you dont pull trailers in a dragrace, do ya? if the job calls for a 28"+ bar, im not gassing up my 60cc saw no matter how fast it revs. the 041 is a cool relic to give your old man for fathers day or keep in the toolbox of your wheeling truck. its never been the right tool for the job in my experience.

 

[Brmorgan]

I dunno, you sure you have your 041 tuned properly? Mine's no slouch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa6UOs7lI-4

 

[Brushwacker]

my first saw was a "rebuilt" ms290 farmboss (junk, pain to work on) that had a vaccuum leak at the cylinder base and killed itself about an hour into the job i bought it for, so i grabbed an 041AV for $50 locally from craigslist to get by until i could fix the 290. my best friends dead stock, hardly sharp jonsered 2155 (52cc) that i now own beat the pants off that 041, and not by a small amount. i mean hes on his 3rd cut when im finishing my first. the jonsky is all revs and can't be leaned on, but in comparison, the 041 is a painfully slow saw, torquey or not. it'll do the same job, if youve got all day to listen to it bumble along at what sounds like an idle for the other saw.

think lawntractor vs KX80 in a dragrace. sure, the KX80 cant pull around a trailer, but you dont pull trailers in a dragrace, do ya? if the job calls for a 28"+ bar, im not gassing up my 60cc saw no matter how fast it revs. the 041 is a cool relic to give your old man for fathers day or keep in the toolbox of your wheeling truck. its never been the right tool for the job in my experience.

A $50 041 a quarter century old likely had issues enough it wasn't working normal. If your ms 290 had a significant vacume leak, enough it killed it and you didn't notice it in time to quit using it and fix it you probably at the time didn't realize the 041 wasn't running right either.
Have you run or do you even know how a properly tuned 041 runs ? I've run well over a few very many days. Cutting 10" wood and smaller a good 52 cc saw may beat it but not come close to double it tuned and sharpened equally. Put a 20" bar on both saws equally tuned and cut firewood blocks 20" to 30" in diameter for about 5 hours and I wouldn't be surprised to see the 041 cut 2 times the wood.
I don't mean to offend you but it sounds to me you don't have very much chainsaw experiance. About 5 years ago the biggest firewood dealer I know in northwest IN was still using 041's. Thats the last time I seen his saws. Wouldn't be surprised if he still is. My experiance the 041AV is a great all round firewood saw for what I cut here in IN. Sure there are better but if you don't want to spend the money for newer, a well maintained 041 AV does a great job.

 

[Andrew96]

Ya, I agree. Mine pulls a long bar...cuts just great. It's missing high rpms like newer saws...weighs more than new ones but still goes great. It's great for what it is...a good old saw that stood the test of time..and still beats many others in large enough trees to count.

 

[mcb]

no offense taken fellas, i can see how burning up my first saw makes me sound inept. that particular day was a rush to do a critical job, not fiddle with saws. anyone who thinks pulling a cylinder on the 290 is a tailgate repair hasnt tried it yet. either way, i caught the sucking sound early enough to shut it down and save the cylinder. its been repaired/modded and rips now.
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?p=1287304#post1287304

ive noticed that the people who fight over how great their old relics are, tend to be antique themselves. sure, it'll cut wood. so will a hatchet or two man bucksaw. that doesnt make them the right tool for every job under every circumstance. if your mortgage is paid, the kids have left the nest and you are looking for relaxing ways to enjoy your free time, buy an 041 and fart around, they are perfect for that.

if you send me up that heavy, sluggish 041 when ive been dangling by my nutsack for 6 hours with my back, feet and hips on fire.. well it better be the last saw in the truck that still runs or im gonna throw it at you. do i know how an 041 should run? no, not really. what i do know is that when you got employees standing around on the clock, rental minutes ticking by and equipment on the ground burning up $3/gal diesel waiting for the next piece you lower down, well that damn saw better spray a hail of wood bullets the instant you pull the trigger or you wont have your equipment long.

as for your firewood buddy in indiana who still runs 041s.. sounds like he's got time on his hands. try that out here in massachusetts where business zoning is sold by the square foot, timberland is nearly extinct, wages are high and competition is fierce. because an 041 runs as good today as it did 40 years ago speaks of its durability, not performance. a 7k rpm saw just isnt going to keep pace with a comparable 12k rpm saw any more than a sportster will keep up with 200mph sportbikes.

its likely mine was tuned poorly, the saw is apart right now for a hop up and half-ass restoration before i give it to pops. i'll let you know the outcome. :greenchainsaw:

 

[mcb]

btw.. i loaned my father the 041 for a while when it was together. he was amazed. then i let him try my 395. he got over the 041 pretty fast.

the point is, one's definition of "pulls a long bar, cuts just great" is relative to what youve got sitting under the work bench.

 

[Andrew96]

Well MCB...my 041 was originally purchased by my Dad. It's 'always' been around and I would think...been in the truck for almost every cutting project since it was brought home new. It still looks great..runs great...what should do? Leave it at home...give it away to someone? Nope...it goes in the truck as a good spare since I've been known to pinch a saw now and then. I'm not using it for 'work', where time is money. My milling is for fun....more time..more fun.
I'm not trying to fool anyone as to it's performance. My only real comparison is a 660 (weighs less) and a 360. The 041 won't out cut anything I have (since I won't hold onto it that long) however...it fits into my 2 + 1 saw plan. It's great to knock bumps off a log before milling...etc. It sits with a 28" bar on it most of the time but also gets the crappy 20" rock bar on it when things look bad. Since I already have one...and I think it's pretty good...it will continue to go out on trips. It might get fueled up.

 

[mcb]

hey i hear ya, exact same reason ive still got mine. i leave it in the toolbox and never cry about it getting rubbed raw from banging around. someone gave me the 015 which is a little more compact and now that goes in the toolbox.. the 'any saw will do' saw.

 

[Brmorgan]

no offense taken fellas, i can see how burning up my first saw makes me sound inept. that particular day was a rush to do a critical job, not fiddle with saws. anyone who thinks pulling a cylinder on the 290 is a tailgate repair hasnt tried it yet. either way, i caught the sucking sound early enough to shut it down and save the cylinder. its been repaired/modded and rips now.
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?p=1287304#post1287304

Burning up a saw doesn't make you inept at all, especially since the new ones are so choked down and tuned lean to conform to emissions specs AND the fact that we're having to use fuels that two-stroke engines were not designed to burn. I have yet to kill a saw yet myself, but it's only a matter of time - I have more than a couple to choose from, so most of them don't see that many hours' use.

ive noticed that the people who fight over how great their old relics are, tend to be antique themselves. sure, it'll cut wood. so will a hatchet or two man bucksaw. that doesnt make them the right tool for every job under every circumstance. if your mortgage is paid, the kids have left the nest and you are looking for relaxing ways to enjoy your free time, buy an 041 and fart around, they are perfect for that.

Hm, I love my 041s and I'm only 27... I feel old sometimes tho. Working on an 041 might be relaxing; working with one, hardly so! I'm not, nor do I think anybody else would be, arguing that they're on par with today's saws and/or would be preferable to do any significant amount of work with. It would be foolish to choose to use a heavier and rougher-handling saw unless necessary. I'm just saying that they're not the dogs you're making them out to be.

if you send me up that heavy, sluggish 041 when ive been dangling by my nutsack for 6 hours with my back, feet and hips on fire.. well it better be the last saw in the truck that still runs or im gonna throw it at you. do i know how an 041 should run? no, not really. what i do know is that when you got employees standing around on the clock, rental minutes ticking by and equipment on the ground burning up $3/gal diesel waiting for the next piece you lower down, well that damn saw better spray a hail of wood bullets the instant you pull the trigger or you wont have your equipment long.

as for your firewood buddy in indiana who still runs 041s.. sounds like he's got time on his hands. try that out here in massachusetts where business zoning is sold by the square foot, timberland is nearly extinct, wages are high and competition is fierce. because an 041 runs as good today as it did 40 years ago speaks of its durability, not performance. a 7k rpm saw just isnt going to keep pace with a comparable 12k rpm saw any more than a sportster will keep up with 200mph sportbikes.

LOL no I'd hope you wouldn't be trying to climb with an 041! But there are myriad other saws equally ill-equipped for climbing work. It's not a valid benchmark to use to decide whether a saw is good or not in general.

I'm not sure how your zoning and population density statements relate to being productive with an 041 as a firewood saw... But if said person is getting the job done with that saw and it's meeting his needs and is reliable, why go out and spend $750 or more on a new equivalent saw?

Also, how much you get done with an older saw is all in how you cut. If you like to just let a saw fall through or feed itself through the wood, then you're going to be disappointed because of the slower chain speed. But if you like to really dog in and take advantage of the extra torque available, they can cut surprisingly quickly. Also, my 041 will pull a 28" chain if need be and just keep going; try that with an 036 sometime and let me know how it goes.

btw.. i loaned my father the 041 for a while when it was together. he was amazed. then i let him try my 395. he got over the 041 pretty fast.

the point is, one's definition of "pulls a long bar, cuts just great" is relative to what youve got sitting under the work bench.

Well, I guess so! Comparing 61cc to 95cc is like night and day no matter what saws you're talking about. You could compare a new 361 and an old 056 Mag II just to do it opposite and come up with the same result. Using a 395 to do smaller work that an 041 is suited for is just foolish, as is the reverse.



When I got my first busted-up 041AV last summer, I thought it was a bit of a dog too. But after a thorough going-over and tuneup, it improved a lot. And the non-AV I just finished a few weeks ago (the one in the video I linked to above) really surprised me; its cut times were right where I would expect a modern 60cc saw to be, based on the cut times of my 50cc and 71cc Huskies.

 

[3.7]

Hm, I love my 041s and I'm only 27... I feel old sometimes tho.

There is something to be said about using equipment that is OLDER than you are.

I like the 041's myself being 31, I like it because its simple, cheap and does what I need it to do, which is RARELY cut wood, honestly from what little chainsaw experience I have (which is part of his point) I think the 041 could make a great work saw, having said that, if I were to be presented with an expensive saw that really rips I probably wouldnt want to pick up the 041 again, but ignorance is bliss, and as far as I know it does the job I need it to do in a respectable amount of time and I am not in a race to do any of the landscaping that I use the saw on.

Basically my purpose for buying the 041 was that I needed something cheap, reliable, and serviceable, and amazingly enough I can still get parts for this thing locally.

 

[Brushwacker]

no offense taken fellas, i can see how burning up my first saw makes me sound inept. that particular day was a rush to do a critical job, not fiddle with saws. anyone who thinks pulling a cylinder on the 290 is a tailgate repair hasnt tried it yet. either way, i caught the sucking sound early enough to shut it down and save the cylinder. its been repaired/modded and rips now.
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?p=1287304#post1287304

ive noticed that the people who fight over how great their old relics are, tend to be antique themselves. sure, it'll cut wood. so will a hatchet or two man bucksaw. that doesnt make them the right tool for every job under every circumstance. if your mortgage is paid, the kids have left the nest and you are looking for relaxing ways to enjoy your free time, buy an 041 and fart around, they are perfect for that.

if you send me up that heavy, sluggish 041 when ive been dangling by my nutsack for 6 hours with my back, feet and hips on fire.. well it better be the last saw in the truck that still runs or im gonna throw it at you. do i know how an 041 should run? no, not really. what i do know is that when you got employees standing around on the clock, rental minutes ticking by and equipment on the ground burning up $3/gal diesel waiting for the next piece you lower down, well that damn saw better spray a hail of wood bullets the instant you pull the trigger or you wont have your equipment long.

as for your firewood buddy in indiana who still runs 041s.. sounds like he's got time on his hands. try that out here in massachusetts where business zoning is sold by the square foot, timberland is nearly extinct, wages are high and competition is fierce. because an 041 runs as good today as it did 40 years ago speaks of its durability, not performance. a 7k rpm saw just isnt going to keep pace with a comparable 12k rpm saw any more than a sportster will keep up with 200mph sportbikes.

its likely mine was tuned poorly, the saw is apart right now for a hop up and half-ass restoration before i give it to pops. i'll let you know the outcome. :greenchainsaw:

Nobody here said an 041 is a climbers saw or that it is greater then new saws. The last few years I've spent plenty of hours behind new or recently new huskies and stihls a makita some efco's etc. and I have run many older saws side by side or the same day or week for hours at a time. A properly tuned and maintained 041 AV is far from a slow cutting slouch in average wood . It will make a man money and if your business is small it will do a much higher $'s saw work without the higher $ investment in a reasonable amount of time. An older cheaper saw has advantages. I lost my first O66 mag in a felling accident cutting a ditchbank tree. Almost a total loss , the saw got pinched and the butt of the trunk slipped off the stump while the tree was still upright and it slid down the ditchbank about 8' smashing the powerhead between the ice and butt of the tree. When your grossing about 5 to $8000 dollars cutting firewood losing a $1000 saw isn't a profitable thing. Now I often grab a lesser saw for felling difficult trees I feel are more of a risk to my saw, then when its down I use the 660 if the tree is big enough to gain time using it. Theives are less likely to target your equipment if its older also and if they do your out less.
[QUOTE=mcb;1973714] ive noticed that the people who fight over how great their old relics are, tend to be antique themselves.
Does Junior know best ? I don't even have an 041 in my work lineup presently, but I do know the differance between them and the new saws. My most used saws the last few months are an 044, 034, and an ms660. I have a couple 026's I use once in a while and an Dolmar 105 tophandle and an efco 165. Have a few other running saws besides I use for testing parts and or resale. I work some for a freind with his Huskies. A 372,385,346 and a tophandle.
The last 041 I run much I had the same time I got my 044. I liked the 044 better mainly its power to weight ratio and handling characteristics. To go out and buck 10 to 20" wood for an hour I doubt I would get 10 % more wood cut with the 044 though. Really I am anxious to fix the old 041 in my shop so I have something to fart around with while I 'm out cutting wood now that its been mentioned.
MCB, IMO a really great relic saw for you would be a well maintained and tuned 034. You would probably give the 290 away .