Stihl 026 vs Stihl 026 with decompression valve

[shooshoo1997]

Hi everyone,

First post here. I burned my piston and cylinder on my old 026. I would really like to rebuild it but the OEM pieces are like 450$... They have rebuilt kit on Amazon but it's not exactly the same cylinder and piston. The one on Amazon has a decompression valve. I also think the cylinder and the piston are a few mm bigger.. I'm curious if anyone here as tried this repair or has an opinion on it?

Thank you!

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

First off- detect exactly why you burned up the piston and cylinder on the original- put up photos of how bad it is/isnt. Many an OEM cylinder can be cleaned up of transfer and put back to use again with a new piston and rings. Considerable cost saving.
If it was not straight gas that took out the original, then most likely an air leak of the fairly major kind- if not corrected it will eat any new top end regardless of price or quality.

I have not done the swap you mention- no doubting the decomp cylinder would be for an 026 PRO or 260.
Only thing I might be worried about is will the new cylinder with decomp fit under the plastics of your old 026?
I understand the wish to cut costs, but be aware cheap Asian copies of cylinders rarely make the same power of the original cylinders- you can make a saw that will pull a chain around a bar- but out of the box fitting usually leaves you with a lesser saw. They are cheap for a reason.