Vintage Stihl 034 Chainsaw: A Wolf in Cheap's Clothing

[@aldredske6197]

Hi Mr. O !! I owned several 034,super and 036's years ago when they were new. They were all considered pro saws. That saw dosen't have many hours on it because it still has all the paint on the emblem on the rewind. I do agree that they pull over a little hard. But if you drop start them it's not too bad. If you put a elastostart handle on them they start a lot easier. I cut thousands of cords of pulpwood with them back in those days when I was young. They stood up as good as or better than any other saws on the market in those days. Take care my friend!! Logger Al

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

Really nice to hear from you. My 034 has had a hard life, with very little maintenance. It was used for firewood work by the original owner, who purchased 2 of them new. I need to do a full rebuild on the fuel system, and hope that will help with the starting. Once I get all the mechanicals up to snuff, I will do the drop start process. Thanks for the tip. The powerheads on the 034's had to be quite good, as this one still packs a real punch and is a real wood eater, even though it had very poor maintenance.

[@TheNorvikWay]

🤣🤣... love the beginning about the crazy price for that part... 🙄 WOW... great video Obsolete....🤙

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

A little humor in a video once in a while, is fun to do. Thanks for the excellent comment.

[@Old_Indian_Trick]

I bought an 036 over the summer and really enjoy using it. The power to weight ratio is outstanding and not as noisy a pm1010 or 650 which are my other go-to saws.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

I was given some info from a pro saw shop, who said the 034's had the best power to weight ratio of any Stihl's until recently. The extra .6 hp of the 036 in the same chassis is even better. I think I will look around for an 036.

[@Old_Indian_Trick]

I think your saw performs very nicely, probably not much different than mine. I know they sound identical. @@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

The 034 is a real good performer for sure.

[@chrischiampo7647]

Happy Vintage Tuesday Mr& Mrs Obsolete 😀😊😀

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

Hope you are having an excellent week also !

[@johnclarke6647]

I don’t have a problem with clamshell designs. My favorite saw is my Stihl 021, which is a clamshell design. I cut down two wild cherry trees for my daughter last weekend. The biggest was about 9 inches in diameter. Not big by any shape of the imagination but big enough. I had to drop it about 90 degrees from its heavy side. If I had let it drop as it wanted to it would have destroyed quite a few of her yard bushes. I had forgotten to bring a few felling wedges with me and that made it a little difficult, but I dropped it almost sideways into her back yard instead of down the hill, as it wanted to go. The 021 then cut it up pretty easily. I burned about 3/4 of a tank of gas, overall. I spent one morning cleaning the 021 up and sharpening it up. I hate filing green chains, so I will put a Stihl RS chain on it as soon as I can. It uses a .325, .063, 68 chain, which is easy to find. What I want to know is it a large mouth or small mouth bar? My slip-on 17:04 Skechers fit into the rear handle of all my Stihl saws.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

I originally thought the 034 was a home owner/farm saw, but have been told that it was sold as a pro saw. It doesn't have the clamshell crankcase, but it does have a lot of cheapo features. It is a strange mix of good and not so good features. The bar is the small mouth bar, I swiped the bar and chain off my 031 so I could cut with it and do the video. I have only had one Stihl green chain, and it wouldn't hold an edge. The RS chain that is on the bar I put on the 034 cuts excellent and stays sharp. Funny about Sketchers shoes, the one in the video for starting the 034 is that brand !

[@johnclarke6647]

@@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156 if it is a small mouth it is not a pro saw. All my pro saws have a large mouth bar, including my 024. I can swap bars between my pro saws and all are set up for 3/8” full chisel, full comp chains. My 025, 021 and MS 250 have small mouth bars but the 026, 024 and MS 260 have large mouth bars. I think the 028 has a large mouth bar, too.

[@tedneitzel]

Well 034 is mag splitable case. 025 is homeowners saw because it's a clam shell. I had to replace starter Pawls on both my 025 and 031. I thought for the 025 it was under 5 bucks! Lucky my Husky dealer has a ton of 031 stuff and had some good Pawls for it! Anyways good stuff as always!

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

You are right about the 034 having the good standard crankcases instead of the clamshell like the 025's. The starter pawl was actually about $8, but that is a heck of a price to pay for .25 cents worth of material. Whenever I have to buy Stihl parts, they are just overpriced for what they are. Several commenters say the 034 was sold as a pro saw, but the reason I thought it was a home owner saw is because of the cheap chassis. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@tedneitzel]

@@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156 for Stihl the odd series numbers are homeowners in that day. After they stopped the 0 series they went crazy because say 361 that took place of the 036 or ms 260 were pro but 391 since it replaced 039 are clam shell. Hard to keep up these days lol!

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

Stihl's numbering system used to make sense, but now is nonsense. I was at a dealer recently, and saw some of their so called Pro saws were ones with plastic crankcases. Junk Alert ! I will stick with the old ones.

[@farmerjackson709]

Those 034 are nice I have a 025/250. For a cheap home owner saw it actually runs and cuts pretty good

[@darrellepickering8433]

Only thing, make sure you religiously take care of the air filter. Very poor setup!

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

I have only used the 034 for the tree job so far, as the air filter it has is shot. I just received a new air and fuel filter and a carb kit so I can do a full service on it, and I have a new bar on it's way also. Thanks for the tip. The 034 has good and bad features, so it will be a high maintenence saw to counteract the bad features.

[@darrellepickering8433]

I meant the 021, 023, 025, 210, 250 series' air filters. A saw will get air anywhere it can, believe me! Those will leak debris where it's snapped together.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

I always check my air filters after every job, so I don't have problems with my saws.

[@RussLehn]

I have several older Stihl chain saws I agree with you the parts are ridiculous expensive the last air cleaner I bought was $36.00 dollars.Anyway could you demonstrate the chain oiling system on the 034 and 036 saw thank you and thank you for the video.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

I would have to take the saw apart to demonstrate how the oiling system works. There are some good videos on replacing the oil pump on these saws and explains the operation. Basically how the oiler works is that the oil pump has a pin that fits in to the clutch, which spins and operates the pump, and the oil goes through a port, to the bar. There is an adjustment for volume in a slot in the bottom of the saw. Hope this helps. Thanks for the nice comment and for watching.

[@Arkie407]

Yep, parts are ridiculously EX$PEN$IVE... Here's my tip - have you heard of "TEMU" the undercutting Chinese clone of SCAMazon? I bought filters for both 034 Super and two Stihl trimmers that are identical to the OEMs. One tenth the cost...

[@bradbarley6639]

I Stihl have one I bought back in 93 from a local pawn shop... This thing is like the Terminator. You just cant kill it! Sits in the garage 2-3 years, when I fill it with fresh gas and bar oil, setvthe choke and pull it 3-4 times and it lights right up. Put a fresh chain on it and it will go after any tree or wood pile Im man enough to tackle. I wouldn't trade it for any other saw. Especially since it is one of the West German made saws.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

The 034 is an unusual saw. The chassis is cheaply made, but the power is excellent. Comments from pro loggers said they got very good service from them in commercial use when new. Most of the saws I use are older all metal saws, so when I get a saw that has lots of cheapo plastic parts on them, I usually have a somewhat negative view on them, and in most cases the plastic saws have not been very good, my Stihl 025 is a good example. So far, I would say the 034 is not in that category. With a decomp valve and a purge valve, it would have been even better.

[@bradbarley6639]

@@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156 As far as a home owner use, I've had no issues with the plastic parts. But I don't toss it around and drop logs on it. It gets used, cleaned off and put away after it has beat the crap out of me all day. It certainly works harder than I do! Gotta say though... That is some of the toughest plastic I've seen.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

My 034 had a history of little to no maintenence, was real dirty and grimey when I received it. It cleaned up very nicely, but some of the plastic has deteriorated. For homeowner use the plastic is very good, as the saws are stored inside and out of the direct sunlight. Commercial saw are usually in the back of a truck and out in the sun most of the time they are being used causing the plastic parts to deteriorate or break over time. They get knocked about, dropped etc. also. Sunlight is what ruins most plastics. Plastic lawn chairs, tubs, buckets etc. all deteriorate, get brittle and break when left out in the sun.

[@bradbarley6639]

@@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156 You are spot on!

[@gregholt]

My Dad owns two of these. One is his, the other was my grandfather’s. First time my Dad saw him use it he took it off him - dangerous! I’m hoping he’ll pass one into me. Thank you for the review Sir. All the best from Australia.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

The 034's have their drawbacks, but spending some time learning their limitations, they can do good job. I would recommend watching a couple of my other video's I have done on the 034's, so you can see them in their element.

[@brianking1138]

I ended up selling mine as is to another collector. My last experience with the local Stihl dealer was bad. I needed a fuel line for an 041 and the guy working there laughed and said "that saw is older than you ". I was able to easily order one online. I don't understand why they wouldn't carry some aftermarket parts to help people keep their old Stihls running. I will never go back to that shop.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

Most power equipment shops today only want to sell you a new piece of equipment. Customer service, repairs and parts are not a priority.I hate going to a dealer for stuff. The one thing I do is have a parts manual so I can look up the parts numbers on the items I need. So even if the counter person is incompetent, I give them a list of items. and they can look on the computer to see if they have them, or if it is still available. Most Stihl dealers I have visited have a real snobbish demeanor, thinking that all Stihl products are pro quality, which they are not, so I always like to tell them about some of the terrible Stihl's that I have owned and why they were no good. Makes for a fun day for me !

[@zastomislisdaznas2483]

Hello... can you write here what are the weak qualities of Stihl?

[@NathanBumgarner]

Love watching this channel! I do have a question though for any possible information. I got a McCulloch 660 with a MAC-1 carb. that's in need of a carburetor kit. Where if even POSSIBLE can I even start to find one.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

I am not familiar with a Mac 1 carb. I am guessing that it is the McCulloch flat back carb. The best thing to do is convert the carb to a Tillotson HL, which McCulloch made a kit to do the change over many years ago, as the flatback carbs didn't work very well, and the primers failed and are not serviceable. The HL carbs are easy to find, but you have to fabricate some linkages for the throttle and choke. I had purchased some repro carb kits a long time ago, but they were no good. Another source could be some of the suppliers for vintage go kart parts, as the McCulloch kart engines are used in vintage events, many with the flat back carbs

[@NathanBumgarner]

Thank You for the information. : ) Other wise it was seeming to be a dead end for carb. kits. I'll look for a conversion to a tillotson HL carb. then. @@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

I saw a video of the conversion to the HL carb's on an old (The Chainsaw Guy) video.

[@jeffreyrubish347]

I'm working at rehabbing a deck. No chainsaws involved: yet!😅

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

Working to get jobs done by hand or with the assistance of power tools is a good way to spend ones time !

[@jeffreyrubish347]

@@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156 Especially in this case. I'm replacing rotting joists and trying to correct poor decisions. I've never built a deck and I'm pretty sure this DIY homeowner never had, either, lol. I know enough to see many things weren't done right.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

Nice to have the knowledge to do things right.

[@jeffreyrubish347]

@@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156 I may not be able to get things right (per code) but at least it will be less wrong!

[@garbagecan6969]

Its unbelievable how badly designed and cheaply made most vintage chainsaw pullcord systems are. I would use my top handle Power Mac and Homelite xl2 all the time, they are so reliable that I would rather use them over a modern saw. The only problem is that half the time I try to start them, the cord pulls out of its slot, and the old brittle, plastic recoil cracks. Someday I'm gonna use a CNC machine to create a proper alloy recoil system that these old beasts had always deserved to have Your channel is one of my favorites, your advice has helped me a lot when it comes to understanding how these machines work and what they need to be fixed. I especially appreciate the information you gave on synthetic oil vs semi synthetic in vintage saws, saved me a lot of headache and saved my best saws from the scrapyard

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

Wow ! What a nice comment. The starter system I don't like the most is the Fairbanks Morse starter assemblies that were used on many vintage saws, lawn mowers and small engines and even some snowmobiles. It had many areas that would wear out easily, and was made of cheap materials, causing them to fail frequently. On your rope problem, try tying the knot a bit higher from the end, then take a match or lighter and melt the end of the rope. Then use pliers to mash it out when still hot, then when cool hold the end of the rope with pliers and pull on the main part of the rope to get the knot super tight. This will make the knot larger and les likely to pull out of the pulley. Not much can be done to fix bad plastic pulleys other than replacing them.

[@darrellepickering8433]

When those 034s came out, they were gasket delete on the cylinder to crankcase, damn stout! Later models had a gasket due to complaints.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

The 034's are a strange mix of good and not so good features. Their saving grace is the performance, which is excellent.

[@darrellepickering8433]

@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156 A friend of mine, now passed, bought 1 of the 1st 1s. He was at a farm show that had a Stihl booth & that model was featured as it was newly introduced. The rep asked him if he was interested in 1, bad mistake! That old man unloaded on him! To shut my friend up, he asked if he would send the saw back. He wouldn't, not no but hell no! Some months later my friend told me of this & I persuaded him to let me take a look. Yup, gasket delete, he couldn't pull it thru. There were 2 different thicknesses available so I put the thickest 1 in. It was still a bit of a chore so I put a E-Z start on it. Made his day! He was in his 60s at the time.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

Stihl should have put a compression relief valve on the 034's and charged a few more bucks for it. Amazing that such a big company could make such a mistake on them. The 034 supers had one. The other dumb thing is to put only 1 starter pawl on such a hard starting saw. The 034 supers had 2.

[@darrellepickering8433]

@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156 34S were essentially 036, same as what they did with the 024S became the 026. They had a thing about #s. Did you know the 038 had 3 different size of cylinders?

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

I don't know anything about the 038's, as I have never owned or used one. Stihl did some real dumb stuff on some of their saws. On the 034, they used 3 different sized bearings in the clutch and had to have clutch drums to match. They had a bunch of different mufflers and air filters too. The early ones had only 1 starter pawl and the later ones had 2. No wonder Stihl doesn't sell parts for their older saws, too many variations and too many different parts.

[@danfuller4793]

The 036 starter fits the 034. You can buy the whole starter after market pretty cheap. Tons of after market parts available. Easy to repair,port, makes a nasty badass saw.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

Thanks for the info.

[@liljoeii6091]

Awesome video, thank you for the video.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

Thanks for watching.

[@mynameseff2992]

Does anyone know if you can put dogs on the outside of that saw, I discovered one of these 034's in my dads shed and it doesn't have any dogs on it and there seems to be holes to put dogs on the outside but I just want to make sure thats what they're for.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

Dogs can be put on the outside as well as the inside on the 034's.

[@Speedslays]

my dad gave me this saw. i think he just wanted to buy a new one lol i love it though. runs great for the last 4 years ive owned it. pretty sure he bought it around 1986

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

The 034's used in the proper way were real performers. With a compression relief valve and a fuel purge valve, the 034's would have been a really good saw.

[@EricaMTB]

So that's the saw that made all others obsolete, I agree. The Stihl 0x4 range definitely did. 024, 034, 044, 064, 084

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

When I get some trees down, I am going to do a comparison of cutting speed with the 034 versus some of the other saws I have in the same engine capacity size. Should be interesting.

[@tonymayhew191]

Atta Boy! Get the drill out and start popping holes in that damn exhaust pipe! My kinda guy old timer!

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

YEAH !!!!

[@kimberdixon984]

I directed a question to a 2 year old video on Homelite chain saws. I'm hoping that you might be able to help me find the chain size on a new old stock box saw chain. Because the numbers are "old" I can't find info that might help me out. End of box says 38-L50-59HSV and J1-92059-EB I know the 59 is number of teeth. Is the size of the bar hidden in there?

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

I don't have any info on your chains, but it is easy to figure out the size. Measure the distance between three rivets, and divide the dimension in half and that will give you the chain size. 3/8" and .404 are the most common sizes. Next measure the width of the drive tooth which should be .050, .058, or .063 thousands of an inch. Next count the number of drive teeth. Some chainsaw bars have the info stamped on them to make it easy to identify what type chain needs to be used. Hope this helps.

[@darrellepickering8433]

Should be 3/8 pitch, .050 bar gauge, 59 links.

[@dennisthemenace57]

Magnesium cases tell you that this is at least a semi pro saw. The 034 Super 62 cc is considered by many to be a very desirable saw

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

I can't find any info on a Stihl 034 Magnum. There is an 034 Super that has more displacement than the stock 034. It has a decompression valve also, and is considered a real pro saw. It has a better powerband and has some torque as well, which the stock 034 like mine doesn't have. Most regard the 034 Super as a real good saw, much better than the standard 034.

[@dennisthemenace57]

Sorry, my mistake, I meant Super (just edited comment now). I was thinking of my 038

[@ericfuller6326]

Kinda getting to the saws that basically with upgrades are pretty mych modern saws

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

You are spot on about doing minor mods to semi vintage saws, to make them just like their modern equivalents. Fortunately for me, I have gone back to some of my vintage saws. Modern saws are just too much alike, and just not very interesting. The old saws have personality ! On Tues. the 5th, I will be running a vintage Homelite Super XL, cutting up a tree. I also just picked up a rare McCulloch Pro saw that will be in some upcoming videos. Stay Tuned!

[@chadrogers4635]

There's suppose to be 2 of those starter paws.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

The 034's only came with 1 pawl originally, but were later upgraded to 2. The parts listing shows both the single pawl retainer clip and the double one also. I worked on 2 separate saws, and they both had the single pawl clip when they were sold new. They should have put 2 in originally, as the single pawls fail very quickly.

[@chadrogers4635]

@@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156 didn't know that, but I would upgrade to two so it would last longer.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

I did.

[@craighanson2983]

The 034 is a pro saw.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

You are right, the 034 is a pro saw, but it is very cheaply made like a farm/homeowner saw. The 034 is a wierd saw, having some really good and also really bad features. Saws like this make me appreciate my McCulloch saws, as they are much better made.

[@zastomislisdaznas2483]

You mean the OLD ones, McCulloch?!

[@kraftzion]

Well I'm supposed to buy one tomorrow for $80. You're ☔ on my parade

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

Well since you watched my video, you will know both the good and bad features of the 034 ahead of time. I would run a 20" bar or smaller to get the best results with this saw.

[@johnclarke6647]

As I UNDERSTAND IT THE 034 has a gear drivel oil pump instead of a worm gear driven oil pump. I also do not like it that it does not have a deco valve. That sucks, because Stihl saws can beat you to death. As I understand it the 034 is just a smaller version of the Stihl 038. The 036/360 is a typical Stihl saw. The 360 is my favorite big saw. It is 62 cc’s.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

I just got my parts manual on the 034, and it shows the oil pump is driven by a worm gear. It really could use a decomp valve, as the high compression and Red Armor oil, make it difficult to start when cold, and the too small foot hold opening in the handle makes it even harder. Nasty little saw. I think an 036 would be a better saw, as it has a decomp valve etc.

[@johnclarke6647]

@@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156 use Stihl Ultra - it makes starting them easier. Also, pull slowly until you fell a first compression and then yank it. It cuts down the length of pull but makes them easier to start.

[@johnclarke6647]

@@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156 my one complaint about Stihl is they like big strokes and smaller diameter bores. Anytime you do that - you will have high compression and hard starting. The best relationship is 1:1, like the 327 Chevy engine, 4.0 by 4.0. The 283 would wind up faster because it had a shorter stroke but the 327 had more torque due to its bigger bore. That is why my 021 is a snap to start even though it has a bore about the same as the MS 250, which is difficult to crank for me.

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

I am in the process of rebuilding the fuel system, replacing the air filter and doing a full go over at this point in time. Then I will try the different ways of starting to figure out what is best for this saw. I will try your method first.

[@darrellepickering8433]

​@@johnclarke6647 327 = 4" bore x 3.250 stroke.

[@garybalasa3158]

I have a lot of respect for people of my age and era attempting to do a Yutube session on well anything,please dont give up your daytime job, I found this session so riviting that luckily I fell asleep and only woke at the end👍

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

Good to hear that my video helped you with getting a much needed nap. If you are like me, I can fall asleep while watching TV, and when I wake up, I can tell you all about what was on the channel during my nap. I call it Osmotic Interpolation !

[@josephaustin4386]

Better have your ass wound tight when you go into the STIHL dealer!!!😢😢😢😢

[@mrobsoletesvintagehomestea9156]

You got that right !