Stihl 036/044/046 lower end weakness?

[slowtorque1]

I have a friend who used to cut timber for years up in upstate NY. He now is a professional chainsaw safety trainer for Forestry Mutual Ins Company. He also used to compete alongside Soren Erikson (spelling?). He told me that he used to run 044 and 046 Stihls (modified of course) and had trouble with the rod bearings coming apart and destroying the engine. This has probably been about ten or so years ago, I'd guess. He says my 036 PRo likely has the same bottom end as the 044/046 series. He runs Huskys now for training purposes (371, 372XP's) given that Husky is a generous contributor to the safety awareness cause.

I am wondering a couple of things: has the Stihl bottom rod bearing been improved since then? Are they famous for letting go? And if I mod my saw, am I asking for trouble (I maintain my stuff very well and do not use it professionally).

Thanks!

 

[rupedoggy]

Use your saw and enjoy it. I reccommend at least 40:1 on the mix so your bearings will get enough lube (not just enough to last the warranty and satisfy EPA). Most bearing failures on the 044/046 are heat related and on the clutch side. Prolonged commericial use by a guy that loves to rev the saw up and down constantly, or forces the cut when dull will slip the clutch and eventually have problems.
If you are just a homeowner/woodcutter type that saw, with proper maintainance, will be passed on to your kids. I work on a lot of saws and the 034/036 is one of the best ever built. Mike

 

[Cicero]

Recently the 046 has changed the lower bearing. The reason was that when ran at high rpms under no load the saw would simply get too hot and the lower rod bearing would fail. In some cases the heat transfer would also destroy the piston and cylinder as well. In the last year or so they have added some notches to the rod to allow more lubrication. This has solved the problem as none of our loggers have had lower end problems since we have converted these crankshafts out.

 

[JimL]

I have seen one 046 with a bad rod bearing.
it had been used daily for 5 years..

 

[logcutter429]

I use 46s on regular basis cuttin timber, usually buy one or two a year, but not cause of rod bearings, uncle sam seems to think i need to spend money. this last one the ms460 has about 8mo. use except for carb trouble when i first got its been a good one.

 

[stihltech]

044

1 rod bearing failure is all I have seen also. Biggest culprit is dirt. Only takes a minute piece to stop a ball bearing from rolling and start skidding. Balls and races don't like to skid. I have seen crank side bearings fail, but always accompanied by dirt inside. Clean the air filter.

 

[Cicero]

We replaced at least 7-8 lower ends and top ends. The application was customers using them for notching log home timbers. These guys would run the machine with relatively little load while they cut out their notch. The saw would cut under load for 5mins then they would spend 5 to 10 mins notching. It was just too much heat for the machine. This was actually on late model 046 and even some MS 460. Loggers had no real problems since they are typically cutting under load which means the machine is running at a lower RPM.

 

[Ryan Willock]

i've had my MS460 for three months now and use it almost every day and the only problem that i've had was a gas vent that liked to leak a little but my dealer replaced it free of charge and i haven't had any problems since:angel: in fact thats the saw that you see in my avatar, in the photo it has a 28'' bar and full chisel chain on it