help needed on 020av

[tony marks]

hi folks . i picked up a 020 at the flea.it old enough to not have a brake. saw cranks an runs out real good. have to kill it with the choke as the switch doesnt work. it dont flood tho so far as i know that wont be a problem.
now to question
on the bar is stamped stihl 11.76 next 300 ooo 6409
on chain stihl chain 1/4 and on the drivers
the number 3
i suspect this may not be the chain gauge for the bar as it has a lot o room. thanks ahead,any help appreciated.
like i needed this saw but couldnt resist at the price and after i heard it run. also the depth gauges never been touched and i think its time. later now

 

[tony marks]

oh well got the switch fixed,an filed the gauges . chain rolls in the bar and bar chain groove seems to be wider until it approaches each sprocket.appreciate any advice .
after playin with it have decided it worth a new bar an chain. my problem is the dealer mechanics around hear dont inspire confidence. forgot to mention its 8 tooth sprocket. suprisingly goodshape as it must be pretty old. later now

 

[WOLF_RIVER_MIKE]

i don't know if i can help. chainsawworld sells gb bars, several folks selling saws and parts here.

 

[tony marks]

thanks mike, its looking better all the time.im a sucker for these saws anyway. well i got plenty of time to figure it out . later now

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Sounds like that saw has 1/4" pitch chain, probably going to be hard to find. I would switch it to .325 chain and a 7 tooth sprocket. Dont know if you can get a .325 sprocket to fit it though.

 

[rupedoggy]

Don't switch to a 3/8 sprocket because you also have to switch the oil pump drive gear on the 020 to make it work. Instead send me $27 and I will send the one in the picture. They don't make these Stilh bar this pitch any more to my knowledge. This one is a 14" and .050 gage with sprocket tip for 1/4 pitch. Mike

 

[high life man]

Tony,

I have two old Stihl 015's. One of them has an original 1/4 pitch chain, and the other's been converted to 3/8 Picco. Rupe is right. That conversion cost me $110, which is a little more than what the saw is worth.

Perhaps you could buy Rupe's bar, or maybe the old one just needs a good squaring. As far as the chains go, if you can't find any 1/4 pitch, E-mail me. I have two dealers nearby that have some in stock. I'll put you in touch.

The 1/4 pitch cuts superbly on a small saw.

 

[tony marks]

think u fellas are right on the money about this one.ive got it cutting just fair now and im just silly enough to want it right .
thing is the saw itself is almost mint.i think ill stay with the
1/4 chain.got to be careful though cause i did the same thing u did high life to a 015 ,only to have the fuel line fail an leave me trying to find one.i boughta echo 3000 after waiting for the line to come in a month or so.gonna go to an old timer a ways off monday and see what hes got.rupedoggy if this bar is shot
i ll get in touch. also mabe silly but ill have over a hundred in it
w new chain and your bar . so is there a way i can recondition that bar to look as good as the saw.normally i just work w these things but im afraid i might be becoming addicted to these saws
and sure would like to get the wholepackage looking right.
i know it dont help it cut any better. i tellu im outa control

in any case thanks for the input . let me mull it over in this old slow mind ,a day or so.id appreciate any other ideas an thanks
again.just shows the value of the forum cause i didnt know nothing much except how to usum, until i got here.later now

 

[Methoss084]

Tony, Huskyman is right. Switch the chain to .325 with a 7 tooth sprocket. I did that to mine and it works alot nicer then the 1/4 chain, besides if your using it in branches 1/4 chain has a nasty habit of pinching in the branch and jumping the bar. I was curious to know how much you paid for your 020AV Tony? I got mine for $10.

 

[tony marks]

well u beat my deal . i paid 55 for it.ill think about what u and huskyman said. i ll take my time .this thing seems like it cuts a little better all the time. mabe ill keep piddiling with it an get it so it really cuts like it should,with a little luck. thanks for the advice. later now

 

[HUSKYMAN]

The other thing is .325 will be more durable and is easier to sharpen, and the chain is much more common and easy to find

 

[Walt Galer]

Howdy,

If you want to keep the 1/4 pitch (smoother cutting and smoother trimmed end) try rebuilding the guidebar occassionally. all you have to do is lay the bar on a good hard surface, such as a large piece of scrap iron, and close up the groove to fit the chain. Do this with the flat of a hammer (preferably baldpeen large end). Tap along the outside edge of the rail with the hammer flat, (not tilted banging on the sharp rail edge!) When you have it right, the hammer will seem to bounch in your hand. Check the gauge with an new section of chain. The drivelinks are plus or minus .001 inch and a small section of new chain makes a great gauge. If you over-do it, wedge back open slightly using a screwdrive as a wedge, not as a pry. (Prying will split the spotwelds). Take it easy and stay away from the nose. The groove is correct when the new chain slides freely all around, but will not tip sideways enough to loose clearence to the side of the cutter reletive to the bar edge.

If the bar rail is burred, deburr first with a shovel file. If the rails are uneven they should be squared. This is difficult to do accurately at home, but if you're careful you can.

One suggestion:

Have you thought of using a stellite type bar? There are some good ones available, and on that saw, they last forever and will run various pitches of chain if necessary. They are actually better for prunning in my opinion, and have less tendency to derail the chain or kickback. Sometimes you can find a perfectly good one in a junk pile on an old junker saw. They are easy to recondition, (except for the nose if worn out).

Regards,
Walt Galer

 

[chainsawworld]

tony,
1/4 chain is more expensive than any other(more expensive to make). it will cost about $132.50 for 25 feet. the 020 will not handle .325. if you wish to convert the saw to less expensive chain, use 3/8 low pro. it will be just a bit slower(less cutters).
difficulty turning the saw off is common for those saws. the do cut very well. the 020t replaced them. to get the 020t to cut as well as the 020, the spark arrester must be removed. both 020's out cut any other climbing saw.
another problem with the 020 was the fuel line would brake at the tank, easy to replace.
protect yourselves; marty

 

[tony marks]

well heck fellas thanks a lot. this type pro help is valuable to the max.ill do on it until i get it right.i was wondering how the 020av
compared to the 20t ive heard so much about. thanks for that info also. guess ill try the hammer thing next. later now

 

[rbtree]

Tony,

I climbed with the 020's back in the mid 70's. They had some problems with the carb/boot/manifold back then, so we switched to Echo. We went back to 020S (more power) in late 80's. The 020S was rated at 2.2hp, the 020T 2.15. Pretty much the same powerhead, I think, but 9.7 lb versus 7.9.

Go here for new bar and chain in .25 pitch:

http://www.localaccess.com/madsens/barsaw.htm

Likely easier and cheaper to switch the oil pumpdrive gear and go to 3/8 low profile as others have suggested. .325 is not the chain for minisaws.

I often wish I still ran 1/4 pitch chain, it is amazingly smooth cutting. But the low pro 3/8 is fine.

Walt,

Nice tip on hammering bar grooves back into shape. Thanks.

Dont agree about hard nosed bars, however, especially for climbing. We want the lightest bar possible, with least drag. I have no derail problems, and the life expectancy is long enough, as I get em for under $20.

Roger

 

[tony marks]

ok rbtree ,that gives me some pt numbers to work with.
u are sure right about the weight difference. the 020av is a bit heavier than my cs3000. does seem to be a lot stronger tho
if i can get it cutting right. not knocking my little cs3000
tho . it does anything i need it to.kinda wonder if it ill be the saw the 020 is when its as old as 020,if u know what i mean.well i wont be climbing nothin but the rest home steps by then anyway.un less i get lucky.
thanks for the info.

 

[tony marks]

well i didnt get to take the saw off today as a deck i was staining
turned into a al day job.so i pulled the bar an chain . smoothed the gauges as some were a little rough on approach.
then laid the bar down and carefully worked on it with a flat light hammer.the results were very satisfying.it finally sucks it self thru a 7 or 8 inch limb like it should. funny thing . it is grease lightening on an upcut,using the top of thr bar.its oiling good so cant figure that. no big thing tho . im ahead of the game and only 55 dollars in it.
so just to say thanks to all . i just plain couldnt have done it without u.my problem is most o the shops around here couldnt have done it at all.and when i am the best chainsaw man around., we have a problem,if u know what i mean.later and many thanks again . if i can return the favor ,im at your service.

 

[Walt Galer]

Howdy Tony,

Thx. for the come-back. Unfortunately you are correct. Most saw shops don't have a clue how to correctly service cutting attachments! Tapping down the rail gauge equally from both sides is quick and achieves impressive results, especially with 1/4 pitch chain, (because of the short little drivelinks). Most shops believe that servicing a guidebar means squaring off the rails surface! That is the last thing that needs worked on in acutallity. It is the gauge that is critical. With a correctly filed and cutting chain, the chain should only rarely even touch the rail surface! The saw is supposed to suck itself down into the wood - self feed, right? Rather difficult to feed a bar through the wood if the chain has leaned over.

Regards,
Walt Galer

 

[tony marks]

absolutly walt . thanks again. later now

 

[chainsawworld]

tony,
a couple of things walt forgot to mention about groove wear(maybe it did not take place in a lab). one, a bar groove will wear because of poor sharpening habits. top plate directs the cutter in the kerf. that means,if the top plate angle is not the same on all the cutters on both banks of cutters the chain will pull to one side. that cocks the chain and the drive links wear the inside of the bar groove. another thing is poor bar and chain oil. people use motor oil, waste oil, etc. oil needs to contact the bar and chain completly around the bar. motor oils simply just blows off the tip of the bar, no lube on the bottom of the bar, metal on metal=wear and drag. bent bars, fragged drive links to mention a few other things also add the your problem. you bought the saw used so you have no idea was has been done to it. good luck and as always, protect yourselves; marty