Now, how many others here...

[John in MA]

...have a Homelite Super XL-9xx they're fond of? I recently found this board and I'm feelin' the love. I landed a 24" 924 at a yard sale ($10 plus a $10 Stihl 032av!) a couple years ago and I've had loads of fun with it. Nice big saw, powerful engine (compared to most chainsaws, you 2100 guys), and I think it looks better than the newer 650-style models. Must be good, since they used the powerhead for years on the Xl-98 demo saws. Coincidentally, I have one of those, too.

So, what's the general opinion of this baby?

(If you think the above post is a little odd, figure in the amount of sleep I got last night...)

 

[Dennis]

Hey, I dont know much about the saws you are referring too, but are they anything like the 990..I happen to have one sitting on the roof of my store that I was thinking about restoring....pretty thing it is...thinking maybe about sending it to Lamberts house so his other saws can catch something...

 

[Walt Galer]

Howdy,

Your 924 is pretty much the end of a long series of Homelite's that began with the XL-700,800 series, 900 series of which yours is toward the last. Each was a bit larger displacement than the predecessor but largely in the same case. They all were very long lived saws, and there are still a lot of them running.

Their downside was that they tended to be a bit nasty to work on, but there were "Homeilite" blooded guys who loved them. They also lacked any safety devices. Be sure to keep with a rather small nose radius guide bar on these saws, and be a bit conservative about lowering the depthgauges on your chain. These old solid clutch engagement babies could kick like a mule if you had agressive over the nose cutting attachments on there! They were itended for use with stellite nose bars of rather smaller nose radius. Homelite's own stellite bar was welded with #12 alloy, and the nose of the bar would last forever.

Personally, I own a XL-500 that I rebuilt. It is the largest of the old XL-12 series saws. It makes a great "farm saw" as the chain speed is slow enough that if you hit something, it doesn't do much damage! You will find that your XL-924 will also do far less damage to the chain than the newer highspeed saws, making it a great saw for serious firewood cutting.

Parts for your saw will be getting to be a bit of a problem, and when you find a source, or identify a retrofit, be sure to keep notes for future reference.

Regards,
Walt Galer

 

[John in MA]

Thanks for the response. I doubt it makes much difference, but the 924 was a typo, it's actually a 925.

What do you mean by "nasty to work on"? I have an XL-98A demo saw that uses the same powerhead as the SXL-925. Right now it's lying in about 40 pieces in my basement, awaiting some replacement parts I ordered. It's a fairly mechanically involved saw, but it came apart smoothly. No glaring design problems like the rubber intake boots in the later biggies. Rebuilding this is nothing compared to all the small outboard motors I have sitting around.

The bar it came with is a 24" Homelite roller tip. Pretty small nose radius for that size bar. I'm not a logger so I keep the chain filed to normal specs. Heck, most of the trees around here would fall down just from looking at the 925. I know what you mean by the solid clutch--the whole saw recoils from the chain starting when you gun it.

Parts haven't been a problem for me. Using XL-98C (late '70s, I think) demolition saw part numbers, I've managed to get all the odd parts I require from our very own Fish.

It sure is fun to listen to everyone else's saws in the spring. All over town you can hear these high-pitched whines from the Home Depot specials. Fire up this and you get a rumbling bass roar.

John

 

[homelite360]

right now i have a sxl-925 on a fr3esh rebuild and then thing runs like a beast. it sure does make my neighbors home depo special go back and hide in the shed. but i have a line on a 990G which should be coming shortly.