Saws That Surprised You

[toadman]

I will add another to my list of surprises... husky 181.
That thing has been sitting for 3 years since I found it in a creek with no brake handle, chain rusted to be almost unrecognizable, and full of water... all I did was clean the carb, new rings, new crank seals, & thoroughly flush the crankcase today.
Fired after several pulls & it cuts impressively well

 

[pastryguyhawaii]

Sweet saw!

Thanks Brett. This saw actually came from your side of the state. Just got it ported this year.

 

[Redgap]

Husky 257

 

[chipper1]

Thanks Brett. This saw actually came from your side of the state. Just got it ported this year.

Well shucks, I missed you again.
Shoot me a PM when your gonna be up here again.

 

[Chris-PA]

Saws that surprise are not necessarily worshiped. I found this Mac 5700 in a garbage can, power head only. It needed a new spark plug, a pull cord, and a tune up. That's it. The first time I used it on some large logs, here's what it produced while pulling a 28" bar:
View attachment 843299
It never bogged down. Yes, indeed, this was an enormous surprise.

I agree, the McCinderblock series are excellent saws. Mine's the smaller one but still pulls a 24" bar just fine. Not many saws from that era with chain brakes and A/V, and that are still viable today. I like how the exhaust is in the cooling air outlet stream which helps to blow it away from the operator.

 

[SAWMIKAZE]

My 661 Redfin ported. Amazing speed and torque.

 

[Orangeinthebarn]

Stihl ms361 ran better in stock form than I anticipated also stock 550xp mark 1. Ported saws my cs2159 ran better than I thought it would. It would run equal to a mm 365xt with 20 inch bar.

 

[Stan R]

i pick up a j red 351e a while back, 44cc she a great little saw,i like those year of the jred also have a 70e ,made well, i think they had great AV setup,dont mind the weight,compared to the lower quailty light weight saws of today!

 

[mogulmasher]

i pick up a j red 351e a while back, 44cc she a great little saw,i like those year of the jred also have a 70e ,made well, i think they had great AV setup,dont mind the weight,compared to the lower quailty light weight saws of today!

I gotta try one of these 44cc jonsereds, I keep hearing nothing but good about them. I've got a 70e and it's one of my absolute favorite saws.

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

Looks

I agree, the McCinderblock series are excellent saws. Mine's the smaller one but still pulls a 24" bar just fine. Not many saws from that era with chain brakes and A/V, and that are still viable today. I like how the exhaust is in the cooling air outlet stream which helps to blow it away from the operator.

View attachment 846127

Looks like its in great shape.

 

[KarlD]

It surprised me at how well this 50-cc saw works:
View attachment 843618
Makita DCS 520i. Now and then I give my Husky 353 a rest and pick this one up instead. Tough little puppy.

I have Dolmar version; lent it to my groundie for a cross cutting course (which he passed)...but he gorilla’d the bar nuts and ended up pulling one of the bar studs out
One of my fave saws, and undoubtedly the cheapest, so I will try to get it helicoiled...but then I might end up with different size stud nuts, which would chafe my balls

 

[turkeybob]

I have Dolmar version; lent it to my groundie for a cross cutting course (which he passed)...but he gorilla’d the bar nuts and ended up pulling one of the bar studs out
One of my fave saws, and undoubtedly the cheapest, so I will try to get it helicoiled...but then I might end up with different size stud nuts, which would chafe my balls

Fit a keensert, it will sort it without problem and keep the same size stud / nuts. Why people insist on hanging on bar nuts I will never understand, I've never had one back off yet!

 

[KarlD]

Fit a keensert, it will sort it without problem and keep the same size stud / nuts. Why people insist on hanging on bar nuts I will never understand, I've never had one back off yet!

Thanks fella, I will look into a keensert, never come across one before

 

[champion221elite]

Echo CS490. Lots of people complain about Echo saws here on AS. My CS490 was OK out of the box but really woke up after 10-15 tanks of fuel. It really woke up after a muffler mod and retune. Very solid 50 cc saw. Not the highest rpm saw but it seems to have more torque than my MS261 of the same displacement.

 

[Chris-PA]

Looks like its in great shape.

It's not as clean any more, it gets worked. I had it out cutting ash with a 24" bar yesterday, bar was buried. Only smoked a little on start up, bar oiled fine, saw ran great. I have replaced the oiler and ignition on this saw though, but since then I can always count of the Mac, it gets the job done.

 

[pastryguyhawaii]

I thought I'd dig up this old thread to add this saw, Pioneer 3200. Pretty impressive running saw especially considering it was produced in '69 & '70.

 

[KASH]

Except for using a Mac mini Mac I had never run a bigger Mac the 700 shocked me with its power speed and loud exhaust.
Kash

 

[Okie]

It's not as clean any more, it gets worked. I had it out cutting ash with a 24" bar yesterday, bar was buried. Only smoked a little on start up, bar oiled fine, saw ran great. I have replaced the oiler and ignition on this saw though, but since then I can always count of the Mac, it gets the job done.

From the picture in post #85 by Chris-Pa

What approx years were the 3420' series of Mac's made?
I tried a brief on-line search and not much info

 

[cuttinstihl]

Probably my CS590. For a $400 saw, it's held up great for 5 years, it's been through hell and back several times, cut wood way larger than a 60cc should, and it still starts every time. Not to mention, it's an impressive saw since I did a muffler mod. With a muffler mod, it's probably dead even with a stock 620, lotta torque too. Pulls a 24" full comp like nothing, though I generally run a 20 on mine

 

[Okie]

Saw that surprised as a diamond in the rough>

Poulan S25 series of saws.

Had one that was given to me and when I seen it was a Poulan it was headed for MY cha9nsaw salvage yard. I inquired about the saw here and the guys on here went to bragging on it so sure enough I re-searched and it was made back when Poulan made good saws, appeared it was made to kinda compete with the Homie EZ series.

I replaced the fuel lines cleaned it up little bit and it fired, run and cut great.
I now have two plus some spare parts.
Very reliable, easy start little top handle saw and will pull a 16 inch bar easy.