Husqvarna 61 info

[Gary Lee]

I am sort of new to being a "newbie" but sometimes a "new" interest jumps into life and I tend to be rather COMPULSIVE with mechanical things......please bear with my questions as I'm sure they have been asked many times (I did quite a bit of searching here).

I'm wanting a "project" saw and I am leaning towards a Husky 61.
I like to hotrod things and hope this is a good project......

Questions:
How do I identify a "closed port" cylinder, what saw or year came with one, why is it better, what is closed port?

I recently saw a post on here and someone said there was a carburetor that was better also which one?

There will be more and maybe this thread could be a sort of "build up" thread....

Thanks, Gary Lee

 

[dougand3]

A closed port cyl has "walls" over the transfers and a windowed piston. Maybe someone has a cyl model # to ID...eg. Mahle 48xxxx and +++
The HS224 carb off a 266 is a bigger carb and think it's almost a direct fit. The HS260 off a 272 would take adapticating.
A way to hotrod a 61 with little fuss...put on a 272 topend, HS260 carb and change the intake setup. Not sure but may have to get a taller top cover.
Now, if you want to tweak a 61, you can learn muff mod, porting, timing and such.

 

[Stihlmar]

I did this exactly and made A pretty decent runner. Happy with it other than never being able to find a top cover in good shape. I had about $100? in the whole thing.

A lot of guys were very helpful when I did it. The thread is call 61 to 272 parts kit. Search that and you will be cutting in no time.

 

[svk]

You can convert from 61 to 266, 268, or 272 cylinder. The 272 cylinder needs a different top cover and you need to drill/tap a new hole in the upper case to mount the 272 top cover due to a different bolt pattern.

I ran my 61 to 272 hybrid with both the 61 and 272 carbs with the respective intakes. Didn't notice much difference. Then I swapped from Chinese cylinder to an OEM 272 and that was noticeable. In theory you should use the proper carb and intake tract for the respective cylinder you choose.

As mentioned, there are two very excellent threads on this topic, the Frankensaw thread by Briantutt and the 61-272 clearance issues thread by spike60.

 

[Gary Lee]

Thanks y'all!

 

[Gary Lee]

A closed port cyl has "walls" over the transfers and a windowed piston. Maybe someone has a cyl model # to ID...eg. Mahle 48xxxx and +++
The HS224 carb off a 266 is a bigger carb and think it's almost a direct fit. The HS260 off a 272 would take adapticating.
A way to hotrod a 61 with little fuss...put on a 272 topend, HS260 carb and change the intake setup. Not sure but may have to get a taller top cover.
Now, if you want to tweak a 61, you can learn muff mod, porting, timing and such.

So the Closed port probably exhausts better and revs higher..............correct?