Pioneer FarmSaw Ignition Coil Swap

[Duke Thieroff]

In my time messing with chainsaws I have owned atleast 2 Pioneer Farmsaws, which are certainly a respectable model, but suffer from a couple of weaknesses that I am aware of.

The ignition coils have a tendency to fail, as well as the recoil setup. I have seen numerous Farmsaws shelved as a result of this. In one shop I have been to he had atleast 5-10 models just sitting on the self. It always seems that it's the recoil or igniton coil with these, unless of course the shop is not familiar with the saw and tries to do a compression test with it.


In speaking with a mechanic at a shop he informed me that a Homelite Super XL electronic ignition type coil will work with the Farmsaw. A buddy of mine happened to have one handy and sent it right out to me (Thanks Aaron!) Side by side they were the same coil, same frame, smae number stamped on the side and same number of laminations.


The saw fired right up and runs just as it should!


It seems the Homelite coils can be found a little bit easier, as they were much more common.




Chris

 

[ncfarmboy]

Thanks for sharing that info. Been wanting one for a while. I just like the looks of them. Down the road a nice one is coming to live with me. Hardest part is getting past the "WHAT DO YOU NEED ANOTHER SAW FOR".
Shep

 

[Sprintcar]

The correct coils are still avaiable from Poulan.

 

[Duke Thieroff]

The correct coils are still avaiable from Poulan.

You are right. They are a bit pricey though, for sure.

There is a Homelite coil on the bay right now for much less.

I wrote this thread up as an FYI for people who may have a SXL parts saw around.

Chris

 

[RobShelton]

"Correct" ignition

I was looking around on flea bay and found the going price for the correct electronic ignition (For a Farmsaw) is now going for over $900!!! Wow, a good saw is less than half that price, so I hope folks find this thread!

I haven't yet tried it, but it appears that this part will interchange:

Solid State Module (Part #A94605S)
Solid State Module - Homelite A 94605 S

 

[mattinky]

I had to go look up that coil on eBay, $973??? are you kidding me??? I'm all for making a profit but that's just crazy.

 

[pioneerguy600]

The Homelite XLA coil is the same and correct coil for the Farmsaw, however they have the same failure rate as the ones used on Pioneer saws, just the nature of the beasts. Moisture takes most of them out of service, sometimes heating those blue coils in an oven at 180-200 F for a couple of hours will resurrect them but most times the moisture has done its damage internally to the varnish used as an insulator on the copper winding's.

 

[RobShelton]

Option

I think if mine fails (when) I'll get a P-40 coil and try one of those universal electronic ignition kits. I already have a P-40 that is dis-assembled so I might try the kit on it first. If I ever get around to putting it back together-finding all the parts, etc. It ought to be easy to swap unless there is something I don't yet know.