McCulloch Saw Age and What Happened to Mac?

[litefoot]

Recently picked up a Pro Mac 700 (s/n 12-027230). My first non-Swede/German chainsaw.

Can anyone tell me the year of build?

I'm really impressed with the build quality (no plastic)and the oomph of this unit. It's a real runner. It feels every bit as powerful as an 044 in the cut (should be, I guess, they're both 70cc), and its muffler is wide open...Wow! Don't forget the hearing pro when you run this unit. It's a blast to run.

Hey, what happened to Mac? I know they still make "saws" (notice the quotes) and they were purchased by a Taiwanese company in the late 90's. But it seems they got away from making the bigger saws long before that. Why?

 

[Edge & Engine]

Recently picked up a Pro Mac 700 (s/n 12-027230). My first non-Swede/German chainsaw.

Can anyone tell me the year of build?

I'm really impressed with the build quality (no plastic)and the oomph of this unit. It's a real runner. It feels every bit as powerful as an 044 in the cut (should be, I guess, they're both 70cc), and its muffler is wide open...Wow! Don't forget the hearing pro when you run this unit. It's a blast to run.

Hey, what happened to Mac? I know they still make "saws" (notice the quotes) and they were purchased by a Taiwanese company in the late 90's. But it seems they got away from making the bigger saws long before that. Why?

I worked on one of those a few weeks ago, nice unit. Like you said, it's a blast to run. And yeah, do NOT run it without hearing protection!:greenchainsaw:

 

[artie__bc]

I have a PM700 and it has all the power and definitely more torque than an 044. Feels quite a bit heavier though, and will make your ears bleed if you run it with no plugs. I was talking to an old retired Mac dealer a while back and he claimed that McCulloch started down the slippery slope to ruin when they sent all their experienced engineers over to Scott Atwater to try to make their outboards into something that could compete with Merc & OMC. The result was poor saws and poor outboards.

 

[Tzed250]

.




I like mine,

 

[Brushwacker]

I picked a 700 up at an estate auction. The deceased had several boxes of Mcculloch stuff besides which I bought most of. The gas tank and handle bar are off but it has compression and I am guessing he took it apart to clean the tank and wasn't able to finish. Hopefully I'll get it fixed and give it a good trial before selling it.

 

[eyolf]

Mac's story is pretty much the same as many other American industries.

Lots of industries seemed to follow this general pattern:

*Start out lean and hungry, with a great idea for a radical new product
*Begin to do very well with this product, and enjoy a period of market domination
*Get complacent, forget your core business strategy, but still continue to do OK...for a while.
*Wake up and realize you haven't kept pace with the market; scramble and panic to regain market share or try new products, most of which do not have the chance of performing as well as your expectations...or the stockholders and the labor unions.
*Implode into a shadow of your former glory or even dissappear.

I'm not sure I believe the stiry of McC losing all its best talent to Scott: that happened in the early 1960's while McC was still a major force; If I have it right, McC pulled the plug on Scott by about 1967, while McC's revenues were still OK.

BY the 1970's, McC management had grown tired of running the company and was assembling bridges in AZ; innovation had slowed to a crawl, making it easier for the Swedes and Germans to begin snatching market share. The American companies responded by vigorously pursuing the homeowner market in the box stores. Many dealers dropped them in disgust when they found they could get whole goods at K-mart for about the same price as distributors wanted for them.

Parts supply became hit-or-miss. As Dealers dropped away, sales of the higher-end saws dropped off; with reduced pro sales came an increased emphasis on the consumer market, but while this market has high volumes, the margin is razor-thin; an off year is a catastrophe. In attempts to serve the few die-hard pro dealers, outsourrce saws from other mfgrs are catalogued, but occasionally hard to actually get. Parts continue to be a problem, especially on these outsource units.

By the late 1980's McC is little but a sad story.

 

[litefoot]

.




I like mine,

That's a nice unit there Tzed. Did you restore it yourself? I noticed your oiler button is green. Both the oiler and the choke are black on mine. Got a pic of your Super 125 you can post? I guess I've been really ignorant to how well-built and engineered the old Mac's were/are.

I've got roughly 2 cords of lodgepole pine in 4' lengths I'm going to block up with the PM700. Should be fun...but the neighbors might not like me after I'm done...

 

[litefoot]

Good post. eyolf. Thanks for that. Sad story, though.

 

[Old Mac Guy]

Great summary, eyolf!!

Like many innovative companies, the McCulloch story is really the story of McCulloch... Robert Paxton, born 1912, died 1977 at age of 65. When Mac sold McCulloch to Black & Decker in 1973 for $65 million, most of the great old McCulloch chainsaws were already history... though multiple thousands of them were still cutting wood in the forests. Mac was the guiding light and sparkplug which made the company what it once was. A parallel story is that of Kiekhaeffer and Mercury engines. There are many other similar stories in several industries.

B&D managed to continue a part of the thrust of McCulloch's long and admirable traditions after 1973... particularly the model 700 and the 600 series. But big changes were happening during the mid-to-late 1970's in the North American forest industry over-all and in the political and legislative environment of the USA. These changes contributed to the decline in the market for real loggers' chainsaws, and corporate management watched their bottom line and jumped into the production of consumer saws (K-Mart and the other box stores, plastic, make-it-cheap and sell it fast).

It didn't take long for the product line to go to hell in a hand basket... loss of profitability, spinning-off the division from the conglomerate, more mismanagement, bankruptcy, sale of the famous name to other multinationals, out-sourcing of the production and the resulting continued cheapening of the products using the name... what we have today...

There are still many thousands of the great old McCulloch chainsaws out there... many of them now 50-60 years old. And a new generation of wood-cutters sometimes discovers one of the Old Mac's and goes...

WOW!!!!

 

[litefoot]

And a new generation of wood-cutters sometimes discovers one of the Old Mac's and goes...

WOW!!!!

That would be me.

 

[alpinecrick]

I have a PM700 and it has all the power and definitely more torque than an 044. Feels quite a bit heavier though, and will make your ears bleed if you run it with no plugs. I was talking to an old retired Mac dealer a while back and he claimed that McCulloch started down the slippery slope to ruin when they sent all their experienced engineers over to Scott Atwater to try to make their outboards into something that could compete with Merc & OMC. The result was poor saws and poor outboards.

In part, Mac suffered from the same business approach that affected the American auto industry beginning in the 70's (as one example).

Also, Robert Paxton passed away in the late 70's, and a slow downward spiral seemed to follow...........


Casey

 

[alpinecrick]

Recently picked up a Pro Mac 700 (s/n 12-027230). My first non-Swede/German chainsaw.

Can anyone tell me the year of build?

I'm really impressed with the build quality (no plastic)and the oomph of this unit. It's a real runner. It feels every bit as powerful as an 044 in the cut (should be, I guess, they're both 70cc), and its muffler is wide open...Wow! Don't forget the hearing pro when you run this unit. It's a blast to run.

Hey, what happened to Mac? I know they still make "saws" (notice the quotes) and they were purchased by a Taiwanese company in the late 90's. But it seems they got away from making the bigger saws long before that. Why?

Not to light up the German-Swedish saw guys, but in some regards my late 70's vintage Mac Super Pro 60 and 70 compare favorably to today's saws in the same engine size. I don't know why, but these two models of Macs just seem to be "high performance" saws, even by todays standards. At altitude (9200ft), the SP60 thumped our Husky 455 in a tree felling and firewood blocking session this summer--and the SP 60 was running a 20 in bar vs the Husky's 16 in.

I've been messing with a Pro Mac 55 lately. At a few more cc's than a 10-10, it's sort of like a hi-perf 10-10--same weight and case/chassis size as a 10-10, just a tad more oomph..........

Yeah, it's still kind've neat to have an all metal saw--in large part that's why these saws are still alive and kicking, 30, 40, 50, 60 years later.

Of course, the guys over in Europe will probably say the same things about their old Stihl's.....


Casey

 

[Tzed250]

That's a nice unit there Tzed. Did you restore it yourself? I noticed your oiler button is green. Both the oiler and the choke are black on mine. Got a pic of your Super 125 you can post? I guess I've been really ignorant to how well-built and engineered the old Mac's were/are.

I've got roughly 2 cords of lodgepole pine in 4' lengths I'm going to block up with the PM700. Should be fun...but the neighbors might not like me after I'm done...

Actually I bought the 700 in that condition...

You asked about pics of the SP, here are a few. One day this saw might get restored...

.

 

[stipes]

Thanks for the pics!!!!!

I would just enjoy the he** outta tryin a sp125 oneday...I'm still watchin for one,,and maybe might get lucky and get one cheep..They are so rare and when you fine one,,so expencive...

 

[taplinhill]

I've been messing with a Pro Mac 55 lately. At a few more cc's than a 10-10, it's sort of like a hi-perf 10-10--same weight and case/chassis size as a 10-10, just a tad more oomph..........
Casey

The 10-10 later got the cc's of the 55 and if you think the 55 has more oomph, try the 700. Think "Wicked Hi-Perf 10-10".

 

[jeeptj19992001]

a little 411 on that saw

http://www.acresinternet.com/cscc.n...3ae278ec565727e088256c2f001d2c88?OpenDocument

 

[alpinecrick]

The 10-10 later got the cc's of the 55 and if you think the 55 has more oomph, try the 700. Think "Wicked Hi-Perf 10-10".

The 700 is a later edition of the Super Pro 70--I just bought a second 70 this week.

And yes, the Super Pro 70 is identical to my Super Pro 60--just a bigger bore--same weight, same handling, just more oomph. Nice thing is 95% or more of the parts are interchangable with these two models.

The thng is, I become a little suspect of Mac's built after the early 80's. I would love to find a 700 or 800 made prior to say, 1983.........


Casey

 

[MOE]

A friend came over on sunday with his jonsereds 70E I pulled out the PM700 and we cut up a big oak tree. The 70E revs a bit higher but the PM700 had more tourque. The 70E had better AV but the 700 PM was noticeably lighter. They both had 20" bars. I thought it was a fun comparison because they are the same size, same vintage and cost about the same new.

 

[Austin1]

A friend came over on sunday with his jonsereds 70E I pulled out the PM700 and we cut up a big oak tree. The 70E revs a bit higher but the PM700 had more tourque. The 70E had better AV but the 700 PM was noticeably lighter. They both had 20" bars. I thought it was a fun comparison because they are the same size, same vintage and cost about the same new.

I think that is a really good comparison,makes A guy wonder what could have been if Mac stayed on a steady course. I know I would take my SP 105 over a 056 mag any day. I know because I had a 056 mag2. I have also put the old girl up against a 075 and it was faster than the 075 and it was dead even with the 070. This was done in the biggest wood I can find around here 30'' - 36'' poplar. The only thing you can still get the Stihl parts for reasonable amount of $ mainly are filters and bars

 

[Nailgunner]

mine was an all-metal Mac. It ran quite well but eventually the coil packed up. The casing was magnesium! TBH it really was at the end of its life, it was falling to bits when I bought it.

The one on the stool is rather wonderful, but I imagine I'd get told off if I got hold of one incidentally, is Robert Paxton anything to do with Paxton Superchargers?