Late 80's McCulloch 2.0 CID Eager Beaver

[heimannm]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MCCULLOCH-...N-BRAKE-Used/171710510699?hash=item27fabe766b

Mini Mac clutch cover with a simple brake flag.

Mark

 

[Multifaceted]

There are early versions of the brake on the Mini Mac with a flag at the top only, but later they went with the "full wrap" brake design to insure you would activate it no matter where you bumped the saw in a troubling situation. The 300 and 600 Series saws are the same way. They are ugly and add a few ounces but do lend a small safety factor.

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This is a Power Mac (PM) 6 saw but there is a similar brake handle on early brake equipped Mini Mac saws.

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Believe it or not, I do this for pleasure as a hobby. I will work on other peoples saws including Mini Macs but that is not my focus or goal.

Mark

I find that niche hobbies are more interesting than most others - I think this is really cool, and again I appreciate the knowledge you have brought to this thread. I can't say that you haven't piqued my interest after looking at your handsome fleet of 110s - they look great! What a neat little saw these are! As someone who restores old tools myself as a hobby - I take my hat off to you. Cheers!

 

[Multifaceted]

@heimannm - how do you feel that the shorter bars run on these saws? It seems from your pictures that your fleet are running 12-14" bars. I put a 16" bar and lo-pro 3/8" chain on mine as that is what was available one night after having a few beers while on Amazon searching for a parts on the above saw.... what can I say - I was excited after getting it to start up after 20+ years of neglect and storage....

The 16" bar seems wholly unnecessary for such a small saw and would probably have more efficient cutting power with a shorter bar. The original bar was bent, rusted, and trash. The chain was junk as well. I acquired the saw shortly after my dad passed, so I didn't pay mind to bar length, chain size, etc. I just grabbed and started working on it one night while trying to cope. I seem to recall it being a 14" bar, but not certain...

 

[heimannm]

Longer bars will extend your reach, and may minimize how much you have to bend over if you use it cutting something on the ground, but 10-14" is all they ever really will pull effectively if you have the bar buried while cutting.

These are "top handle" saws and intended for trimming, not really designed for use as a firewood harvester.

Mark

 

[Multifaceted]

Trimmed is about all I'd ever use it for. Just ordered an OEM 12" bar, chain, and a few more air filters from eBay.

 

[Multifaceted]

Ordered a 12" bar w/ 3/8" LowPro chain, it's about as close to OEM except the bar doesn't read 'Eager Beaver' as it originally was. As unbalanced as this little saw is, it certainly feels better with a shorter bar over the 16". Before the rain came today, I fired her up and did a few test cuts - and she screams. I can easily one-hand this thing, but with a short bar and high revving engine, I think that's probably asking for trouble....

Anyway, here she is in her (almost) former glory:

 

[heimannm]

That is a very clean looking saw, and a clean looking work bench. How do you like that steel peg board? I have a large lot on hand awaiting my new building to be built.

Mark

 

[Multifaceted]

Thank you kindly, that means a lot coming from someone who clearly knows this make and model well. My bench being clean is ephemeral, and when so it is typically in wait for the next project. I am a stickler for organization. An organized shop reflects an organized mind, and both facilitate efficient workflow.

I very much like the steel peg board over the typical MDF variety. Inserts can easily come out often from pulling tools, and I can see the MDF wearing out over time and not retaining the inserts. The damn inserts need to be fastened once their location is determined. Otherwise they come out with the tool when pulling from the board, and fall onto the floor (or workbench if you're lucky). My workspace has gone through an evolution over the past 3 years, so I strive to keep things modular until n I'm content.

Overall, I highly approve of the steel peg board, but I need to find a more secure solution to tool retention once I'm satisfied with the access layout. If I needed to expand my wall storage, I'd go for the same product. The plastic anchors are plenty enough support for light to moderately heavy tools like hammers, etc.

 

[Multifaceted]

Today I scored another little 32cc McCulloch for free... this time it's the newer, plastic-ey step sister to the 110 series... the MAC 3200...

I have no idea if it runs, started taking it apart before I even thought to check the compression. It's dirty as sin, but the piston moves freely and seems to be relatively clean and intact through the cylinder. This one is definitely more of a PITA to disassemble than the Eager Beaver, hopefully I get it right once I rebuild the carb and put it all back together...

 

[heimannm]

The oil pump and the ignition are both problematic on those models.

Mark

 

[Multifaceted]

Good thing it was free... Any success on rebuilding these models, or are they a crap shoot? The plan was to rebuild it as a small firewood saw for a good buddy of mine who on occasion needs to cut wood. Since it didn't cost me anything except parts and time served, I had hoped to embark on a fairly reliable result...

Of course it needs new filters, primer bulb assembly, new fuel supply and oil supply lines, plug, and carb gasket/repair kit. Anything else?

 

[Multifaceted]

Ignition and oiler seem to be a better scenario. I don't know why I didn't do this first, but after putting it back together (I'm talking about tge MAC 3200 now) - it tries to start, fires up, then in 2-3 seconds dies. I checked the compression and sure as shite, I'm only getting a hair over 60 psi. Took of the muffler and intake assemblies to inspect the piston, and through the intake port I'm seeing scoring on the piston.... probably the cylinder wall as well. Oh well, I was only $17 worth of parts and about 2 hours into it.

Piston appears okay here:

But here I see some scoring, used a polymer pick for tactile feedback and I feel a ridge:

 

[Chainmale]

Absolutely incredible write up, thank you for taking the time to respond with this knowledge. I certainly learned a lot over the past 6 months working on this saw, but these points are a great reference for future maintenance. That MiniMac 2.1 definitely is a different animal, instead of Eager Braver it's a Silver Eagle. Pretty cool.

I agree, this saw is a little awkward to use, has a lot of forward bias, not balanced at all.

Very unbalanced, I was wondering how much counter balance a 14" bar would give it. It's just way down the list of things to spend money on at the moment

 

[Chainmale]

Ignition and oiler seem to be a better scenario. I don't know why I didn't do this first, but after putting it back together (I'm talking about tge MAC 3200 now) - it tries to start, fires up, then in 2-3 seconds dies. I checked the compression and sure as shite, I'm only getting a hair over 60 psi. Took of the muffler and intake assemblies to inspect the piston, and through the intake port I'm seeing scoring on the piston.... probably the cylinder wall as well. Oh well, I was only $17 worth of parts and about 2 hours into it.

Piston appears okay here:

But here I see some scoring, used a polymer pick for tactile feedback and I feel a ridge:

Have you used your compression tester on small engines before? My one is fine on a larger capacity engines, but with something as small as a chainsaw the volume of the hose can be almost equal to the compression chamber of the engine (my near new ms170 was reading 80psi). Where as the hose volume wouldn't have such a dramatic effect on the car engines it was designed for.

 

[Multifaceted]

Very unbalanced, I was wondering how much counter balance a 14" bar would give it. It's just way down the list of things to spend money on at the moment

It was, I found an OEM 12" bar and chain on eBay for $25, now it's much more easily wielded as it is intended, a limbing saw.

Have you used your compression tester on small engines before? My one is fine on a larger capacity engines, but with something as small as a chainsaw the volume of the hose can be almost equal to the compression chamber of the engine (my near new ms170 was reading 80psi). Where as the hose volume wouldn't have such a dramatic effect on the car engines it was designed for.

Funny you should mention that, because this compression tester is new, recently purchased. Before, I borrowed one from a guy at work, who changed jobs a few weeks ago so I bought this on a whim because I needed one again.

Might have to check my other saws for comparison...

 

[Chainmale]

It was, I found an OEM 12" bar and chain on eBay for $25, now it's much more easily wielded as it is intended, a limbing saw.



Funny you should mention that, because this compression tester is new, recently purchased. Before, I borrowed one from a guy at work, who changed jobs a few weeks ago so I bought this on a whim because I needed one again.

Might have to check my other saws for comparison...

I think there's a thread on here somewhere on changing the valve placement or modifying them to reduce the air volume before the guage , I haven't done anything to mine yet. I thought about shortening the hose right down, but could be a pain to get it to thread down tight into the sparg plug hole on some engines then

 

[dougand3]

With compression tester on tiny engines, you must have a schrader valve in the hose near spark plug hole. And it needs to be a certain one - think it's a white label. It's weaker than a green or red label for bigger engines or a car tire.
Search schrader valve here.

 

[Chainmale]

I've used a few top handle saws for work over the years which I've felt pretty comfortable using one handed, but my Mac 110 is a bit scary limbing up in a tree one handed. Fine for bucking small stuff on the ground though. Was always going to be a hobby/novelty saw to pull out every once in a while though, haven't had the “pleasure” of striping one down too much yet

 

[Dave Byron]

Does anyone have a manual for the eager beaver 2.0 60012312?!?!?

 

[Multifaceted]

Does anyone have a manual for the eager beaver 2.0 60012312?!?!?

I've referred to this one for the saw in this thread and a few other Mac 110s I've since found.

(PDF Warning)