Vintage Chainsaw Collectors Lounge

[Stihl #1]

I had no idea there was a Fuji version. The frame on mine looks the same with square tubing and the brace at the front so I assumed yours had just been fitted with a different motor. I found all the manuals and some ads online and no mention of other variations.

 

[s sidewall]

The Centaur is a slightly later creature than the Fuji, production starting in 1960, and it was based on the 1953 French Val-Mobil, the first "suitcase scooter", which in turn was based on the British Welbike, of which French airborne troops had received large numbers after WWII: in fact the original Val-Mobil used a Welbike Villiers engine and as many components recovered from these surplus vehicles as possible.
Most Val-Mobil's were made under license in Japan by the Hirano Motor Co, and renamed Valmobile, and good luck if you have one of those: while the French-made scooters used Villiers engines and other British components that can be sourced relatively easily, Hirano is one of those companies lost in the mist of time. Sometimes you find some poor soul who has just found one of their Popet scooters in a barn or shed somewhere and thinks he owns a treasure of greatest rarity because "only 25,000 were made and very few survive these days". That may as well be the case, but a deadly combination of low grade untreated mild steel construction and lack of spares makes any restoration a truly expensive affair, often more expensive than the restored scooter is worth.

Most of these fold-up scooters could not be sold as on-road vehicles due to the lack of front brakes and other "ancillaries" so they were aggressively pitched as aircraft or caravan accessories, especially on the all-important US market. As most of them had peppy engines that could easily hit 40mph and they handled like a drunk elephant with a drunk handler, that meant a lot of trips to the ER and a few to the morgue as well. I think the famous, and much sought after, Honda Motocompo was the last of this breed.

Nice write up and good info, I know I've never seen one like it before. And with a 2stroke motor, wow, a lot more power that a 3 1/2 Briggs or Tecumseh.

Steve

 

[Deleted member 149229]

The Centaur is a slightly later creature than the Fuji, production starting in 1960, and it was based on the 1953 French Val-Mobil, the first "suitcase scooter", which in turn was based on the British Welbike, of which French airborne troops had received large numbers after WWII: in fact the original Val-Mobil used a Welbike Villiers engine and as many components recovered from these surplus vehicles as possible.
Most Val-Mobil's were made under license in Japan by the Hirano Motor Co, and renamed Valmobile, and good luck if you have one of those: while the French-made scooters used Villiers engines and other British components that can be sourced relatively easily, Hirano is one of those companies lost in the mist of time. Sometimes you find some poor soul who has just found one of their Popet scooters in a barn or shed somewhere and thinks he owns a treasure of greatest rarity because "only 25,000 were made and very few survive these days". That may as well be the case, but a deadly combination of low grade untreated mild steel construction and lack of spares makes any restoration a truly expensive affair, often more expensive than the restored scooter is worth.

Most of these fold-up scooters could not be sold as on-road vehicles due to the lack of front brakes and other "ancillaries" so they were aggressively pitched as aircraft or caravan accessories, especially on the all-important US market. As most of them had peppy engines that could easily hit 40mph and they handled like a drunk elephant with a drunk handler, that meant a lot of trips to the ER and a few to the morgue as well. I think the famous, and much sought after, Honda Motocompo was the last of this breed.

Wow! Reading your info posts are better than the Discovery or Science channels.

 

[brandonstc6]

Anyone want a Lombard chainsaw?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Conquistador3]

Wow! Reading your info posts are better than the Discovery or Science channels.

I am glad all that time spent in drafty garages and leaky sheds was worth something.

Especially it taught me that unless you run into an impulse buyer who really really wants what you are selling, you can consider yourself lucky if you break even after a restoration project. You either do it because you love it, like most people here, or you are bound to run into a painful reality check down the road.
Vintage, be it chainsaws, cars, motorcycles or whatever, has run through a massive bubble. I don't know if it was the same as here, but when a Contra, which may be a piece of history but isn't exactly rare, goes for €600 in non-working order, you know it's time to step away. Kinda like the Volkswagen T2's going for over thirty grands.
Then people realize they have something that's very cool-looking but it's basically 1960 technology, and expensive to fix when (not if) something breaks down, and air starts to hiss out of the bubble. Add on top slowly rising interest rates (credit cards and consumer credit work to prop up consumption until they don't) and that "restored into as new conditions" Contra will have to fall a long way to find a buyer.

This is not real estate nor the stock market, so the media aren't interested. Specialist publications, which get ad money from auctioneers and companies selling overpriced spare parts, don't like cover a sagging market. But trust me, I've seen enough strained family relationships due to far too much money sunk into old bikes and cars when they start not to sell and each new restoration turns into a money pit. On the Internet everybody is a winner, buying low, restoring for peanuts and selling for big money, but the reality is completely different. People don't like admitting they lost a big pile of money so they make up fanciful stories which, incredibly, others believe until they run into a brick wall.
I am happy if I can lend my accumulated experience to somebody else to fix a tractor or help ressurect a bike (provided they have a nice bench: my knees are not what they used to be) but that's about it these days. My oldest chainsaw was manufactured in 2012 and my oldest bike in 2009, and I like things to stay that way.

Sorry for the tirade, I haven't slept well in days and I have a problematic water purification system waiting tomorrow!

 

[charlie sparks]

i'm a new member - just signed up. I hope I'm doing this right.
I was given an old (probably 30 years, +/-) Olympyk with a nominal 18" bar as well as a case, grease gun and two old worn out saw chains. It fires right up but I have a problem with it. I bought two different 18" saw chains (Oregon, S62 and S63) and neither fits the Olympyk, being about 2" too long. I also bought a new Oregon 18" bar but the Olympyk's tensioning pin doesn't line up with the hole in the bar. Any pointers to where I can get a saw chain that will fit this saw?
TIA, charlie

 

[Deleted member 149229]

Welcome. Have a model number?

 

[s sidewall]

Welcome aboard Charlie, lots of knowledge in here,, someone will chime in

Steve

 

[Philbert]

I was given an old (probably 30 years, +/-) Olympyk with a nominal 18" bar . . . I bought two different 18" saw chains (Oregon, S62 and S63) and neither fits the Olympyk, being about 2" too long.

Welcome to A.S. !

Google 'Oregon Selector Guide', or click:
http://en.oregonproducts.com/pro/lookups/selguide.aspx?BusId=OCS&SellReg=USA&LangId=ENG

Enter in the information (this will only work if you have the original bar). Drive link count can vary with the bar, drive sprocket, etc.

Some bars will have the information stamped near the mounting end, but this may be off by a few links if not used on the intended saw:


Other option is to take the saw, and the bar that fits to a servicing chainsaw dealer (STIHL, Husqvarna, ECHO, does not matter) who makes up chains from a 100' reel. Once they make you one of the correct size, you will know for the future.

Philbert

 

[Kensie1988]

i'm a new member - just signed up. I hope I'm doing this right.
I was given an old (probably 30 years, +/-) Olympyk with a nominal 18" bar as well as a case, grease gun and two old worn out saw chains. It fires right up but I have a problem with it. I bought two different 18" saw chains (Oregon, S62 and S63) and neither fits the Olympyk, being about 2" too long. I also bought a new Oregon 18" bar but the Olympyk's tensioning pin doesn't line up with the hole in the bar. Any pointers to where I can get a saw chain that will fit this saw?
TIA, charlie

Welcome aboard Charlie! You can take some pictures and upload them, that will tell us a lot, and snap some pics of the old bar as well

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk

 

[Mac&Homelite]

Yes, very nearly all restoration projects are not going to break even once you are done. As is sometimes the case for me, I struggle to break even after I get one of my projects to a running usable state, let alone restored. I don't know why I continue to operate in such a fashion, it keeps me from doing other things I guess. I would save a lot of time, and probably money if I would just spend a little more for stuff that wasn't always so far gone. So now, instead of buying thing with the intent to flip, I really try to stick to stuff I will hopefully keep for years to come and use for future projects. I can never bring myself to sell a project I have worked long and hard on, so if I can keep it and use it for years to come that is ideal. Regardless of what I buy, it's always a good time and I always learn something new from every project I get. It keeps me going in a way, a break from the frustrating (and often mind-numbing) schooling and work and forces me to think in a fun sort of way.

 

[s sidewall]

How's school going anyway?

Steve

 

[Yukon Stihl]

A couple more oldtimers join the herd
A 1-61 and a 895 McCulloch geardrive. Both wearing original hard-nose[/ATTACH] bars and not seized

 

[mogulmasher]

I have CAD bad....doubled the herd today with a 12 saw haul. Of importance in the pile was a Poulan 245sa, been looking for one. Also a couple of j-reds a 70e and a 510sp. A bunch of top handle Poulans 1800 x2....one of them brand new never had fuel in it, a 2300, and a Super 25da. A couple cool little Danarm 1-36 saws in a cool Danarm metal box. Also got a Homey 245 and a cool looking Lombard 42d.

Only keepers for sure probably will be the 245sa and the pair of Danarms. If anyone has any interesting info on any of these I have no experience with any of them. If anyone needs any of them more than me let me know, otherwise I'll slowly go through them one by one and run 'em and figure out what to do with them.

 

[mogulmasher]

Here's the brand new Poulan 1800. Still has price tag on it, never even been fueled up. Pretty neat.

 

[mogulmasher]

Oh yeah and of course I didn't drive my truck to work today, and the saws we're the opposite direction than home.

So how many saws fit in the trunk of a e39 BMW 530i?

Answer: All 12 did!

 

[Beetlejuice]

The Centaur is a slightly later creature than the Fuji, production starting in 1960, and it was based on the 1953 French Val-Mobil, the first "suitcase scooter", which in turn was based on the British Welbike, of which French airborne troops had received large numbers after WWII: in fact the original Val-Mobil used a Welbike Villiers engine and as many components recovered from these surplus vehicles as possible.
Most Val-Mobil's were made under license in Japan by the Hirano Motor Co, and renamed Valmobile, and good luck if you have one of those: while the French-made scooters used Villiers engines and other British components that can be sourced relatively easily, Hirano is one of those companies lost in the mist of time. Sometimes you find some poor soul who has just found one of their Popet scooters in a barn or shed somewhere and thinks he owns a treasure of greatest rarity because "only 25,000 were made and very few survive these days". That may as well be the case, but a deadly combination of low grade untreated mild steel construction and lack of spares makes any restoration a truly expensive affair, often more expensive than the restored scooter is worth.

Most of these fold-up scooters could not be sold as on-road vehicles due to the lack of front brakes and other "ancillaries" so they were aggressively pitched as aircraft or caravan accessories, especially on the all-important US market. As most of them had peppy engines that could easily hit 40mph and they handled like a drunk elephant with a drunk handler, that meant a lot of trips to the ER and a few to the morgue as well. I think the famous, and much sought after, Honda Motocompo was the last of this breed.

Wow..,, sorry Steve but this is much better than discovery channel.. I almost hate to ask about an old toatgoat.. I have a chance at getting one of those.. Takes me down a long road, called memory lane..

 

[motorman1]

So what's every body up to? We've been cleaning out the creek fence. Will start next weekend rebuilding the upper one.

Steve

 

[motorman1]

So what's every body up to? We've been cleaning out the creek fence. Will start next weekend rebuilding the upper one.

Steve

Forgive me for asking, but I'm on the west coast. What's with the "creek fence"? Why?

 

[s sidewall]

For cows to get water. We have a small stream that goes through the cow pasture but when the neighboring pond gets low, we have no water. Never had problems with the stream til fellow up from us built a pond, almost damning off the water flow.

Steve