McCulloch Super Pro 125C motor

[Busmech]

If you find a 101 block and head the 125 piston will work but you will need a three point coil and chrome rings instead of the steel rings you have now.


The piston will work if the 101 block is standard bore

 

[Bubba Stump]

you all are exactly right, I do get impatient, but I don't live in a area where these saws and parts come up often. I am from New Mexico and big old saws like the 125 are very hard to come by, in fact I have never seen one or even seen an add for one except for some really old David bradly's and the Pioneer saws which were a favorite for the logging here back in the 60' and 70's. I have never, ever, come across a Stihl 090 or a McCulloch SP125. therefore I rely on ebay, craigslist, yakaz etc. to find what I want. This particular 125 came from ebay and was not even running. It did not have spark and was listed as a parts saw. It cost me over $300 on bid to get it and that was quite a while ago. I have been watching ebay everyday since then and have only seen one other Sp125 come up that was listed as running and it was pulled off of bid before the bidding was over with. When it was pulled it was already over $300, so I expect the fellow who had it listed was offered alot more locally and pulled it because. I scan craigslist all the time and every once in a while a homy 925 might come up or something in the mid power range but never a big popular saw. I have seen some Stihl 088's and once a Dolmar 166 but they wanted over a grand for those saws and they were not exactly vintage muscle. My brother bought a running restored Mcculloch SP125C on ebay not to long ago but it cost him over $750 to get it from Canada. So this is why I can't find what I need like you guys on the east and west coast. I do scan through craigslist in Cali, Oregon, and Washington and do see quite a few old muscle saws come up but most of the time the saws have already been sold, are to expensive, or the owner won't want to deal with someone out of state. All that I can find at garage sales are small cheap walmart "Wild Things" and small firewood saws. I have seen some blocks come up in the past but that was before I found my cylinder problem and I did not need one at the time. I quess that in the future I will buy one up whether I need it or not. As for contacts, there are none in New Mexico so I will have to rely on you all to help me with contacts. I don't know how much the sleeve company will want to build me a sleeve, I will have to wait and see. If it does not seem worth the price then I will have to learn to be patient. At least the Company is willing to try and help me out, that is more than I can say for quite a few other company's

 

[IEL]

Personally, I would pick a sachs-dolmar 166 over a mac 125 any day....
Maybe not at that price though.....
There was a $250 090av local a little while ago.... Not running, and I was on vacation at the time... Deals are out there.
It helps if you live in the best of the PNW... LOL

 

[OREGONLOGGER]

Personally, I would pick a sachs-dolmar 166 over a mac 125 any day....
Maybe not at that price though.....
There was a $250 090av local a little while ago.... Not running, and I was on vacation at the time... Deals are out there.
It helps if you live in the best of the PNW... LOL

Indeed my saw shop is in the PNW those 125's are in every barn round here..I just picked up two 797's off CL huge pile of Mac's from a town that had 7 mills..a Super and a original 797 were in the pile with roller noses

Keep the faith you'll find your 125 parts there out there for sure

...or try Mcbob or ozflea he has extra 125 parts if you can't wait.....might have a Yamaha muffler mounted to it:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[ozflea]

Indeed my saw shop is in the PNW those 125's are in every barn round here..I just picked up two 797's off CL huge pile of Mac's from a town that had 7 mills..a Super and a original 797 were in the pile with roller noses

Keep the faith you'll find your 125 parts there out there for sure

...or try Mcbob or ozflea he has extra 125 parts if you can't wait.:

Ol McBob has both bought a heap of SP125 cylinders off of ol axeman himself for future use as there getting a bit scarce have a few 101 cylinders as well but not for sale

McBob

 

[leeha]

you all are exactly right, I do get impatient, but I don't live in a area where these saws and parts come up often. I am from New Mexico and big old saws like the 125 are very hard to come by, in fact I have never seen one or even seen an add for one except for some really old David bradly's and the Pioneer saws which were a favorite for the logging here back in the 60' and 70's. I have never, ever, come across a Stihl 090 or a McCulloch SP125. therefore I rely on ebay, craigslist, yakaz etc. to find what I want. This particular 125 came from ebay and was not even running. It did not have spark and was listed as a parts saw. It cost me over $300 on bid to get it and that was quite a while ago. I have been watching ebay everyday since then and have only seen one other Sp125 come up that was listed as running and it was pulled off of bid before the bidding was over with. When it was pulled it was already over $300, so I expect the fellow who had it listed was offered alot more locally and pulled it because. I scan craigslist all the time and every once in a while a homy 925 might come up or something in the mid power range but never a big popular saw. I have seen some Stihl 088's and once a Dolmar 166 but they wanted over a grand for those saws and they were not exactly vintage muscle. My brother bought a running restored Mcculloch SP125C on ebay not to long ago but it cost him over $750 to get it from Canada. So this is why I can't find what I need like you guys on the east and west coast. I do scan through craigslist in Cali, Oregon, and Washington and do see quite a few old muscle saws come up but most of the time the saws have already been sold, are to expensive, or the owner won't want to deal with someone out of state. All that I can find at garage sales are small cheap walmart "Wild Things" and small firewood saws. I have seen some blocks come up in the past but that was before I found my cylinder problem and I did not need one at the time. I quess that in the future I will buy one up whether I need it or not. As for contacts, there are none in New Mexico so I will have to rely on you all to help me with contacts. I don't know how much the sleeve company will want to build me a sleeve, I will have to wait and see. If it does not seem worth the price then I will have to learn to be patient. At least the Company is willing to try and help me out, that is more than I can say for quite a few other company's

I understand exactly what your saying but where do you think
all my saws came from. Surely not around where i live. I'm
surrounded by sand and salt water where trees rarely get to
16 inchs in diameter. All my saws are from ebay, CL and have
made a few connections over the years. Just because big vintage
muscle saws aren't in your back yard doesn't mean you can't find
them or the parts to repair them. I have near 400 chainsaws in my
collection including approx 40 123cc's Mac's and not one of them
came from my area.



Lee

 

[Bubba Stump]

Just got an email from the sleeve company and they said that they have come up with a plan and will resleeve the block for $326 including labor and tax. They said when I get it back it will look better than new and will be tighter tolerances and better quality than when it was stock. They are going to make it going off of the factory specs. This does not seem like a bad price considering another member on this site said that US Chrome usually charges $200 to rechrome a bore. The company said that unless I planned on using the saw for competition or using it heavily in dirty conditions for long periods of time the resleeved cylinder should last my lifetime. I am seriously thinking of having this done just because it will be better than new. If I send it off they said it would take about three weeks to get done seeing how it will take a little more work than normal. If I do it, I will send some pics of the redone cylinder for you all to see in case anybody is wanting one sleeved also.

 

[zogger]

Just got an email from the sleeve company and they said that they have come up with a plan and will resleeve the block for $326 including labor and tax. They said when I get it back it will look better than new and will be tighter tolerances and better quality than when it was stock. They are going to make it going off of the factory specs. This does not seem like a bad price considering another member on this site said that US Chrome usually charges $200 to rechrome a bore. The company said that unless I planned on using the saw for competition or using it heavily in dirty conditions for long periods of time the resleeved cylinder should last my lifetime. I am seriously thinking of having this done just because it will be better than new. If I send it off they said it would take about three weeks to get done seeing how it will take a little more work than normal. If I do it, I will send some pics of the redone cylinder for you all to see in case anybody is wanting one sleeved also.

cool project! Just goes to show, it never hurts to ask!

 

[olyman]

Just got an email from the sleeve company and they said that they have come up with a plan and will resleeve the block for $326 including labor and tax. They said when I get it back it will look better than new and will be tighter tolerances and better quality than when it was stock. They are going to make it going off of the factory specs. This does not seem like a bad price considering another member on this site said that US Chrome usually charges $200 to rechrome a bore. The company said that unless I planned on using the saw for competition or using it heavily in dirty conditions for long periods of time the resleeved cylinder should last my lifetime. I am seriously thinking of having this done just because it will be better than new. If I send it off they said it would take about three weeks to get done seeing how it will take a little more work than normal. If I do it, I will send some pics of the redone cylinder for you all to see in case anybody is wanting one sleeved also.

personally,,i think that would be more than worth it,, if they do it correct..the iron bore,, should last you your lifetime..

 

[blsnelling]

My main concern is if they will properly match the port timing and shapes.

 

[IEL]

My main concern is if they will properly match the port timing and shapes.

Thats what I would be worried about..... I bet if you included a letter saying that that is the most important part, they would do it.

 

[rmh3481]

If you send it off to be sleeved, make absolutely sure to send a new piston with it so they can set the tolerances.

 

[Jacob J.]

My main concern is if they will properly match the port timing and shapes.

It was real common for dealers back in the day to get unfinished blocks and then cut their own ports. Port shapes in a Mac block are easy to replicate. It's not like a modern Stihl or Husky cylinder.

 

[heimannm]

If the resleeve approach works, I have a 101 cylinder in need of serious repair.

Mark

 

[Bubba Stump]

I had all the same concerns as you all so I emailed them asking what all they would need me to send with the block and if everything would look like it origianlly did before sleeved. They wrote back saying to send the piston that the saw was going to run with and to remove the three welch plugs on the backside of the block so that the ports could be cut and to make sure I sent some new plugs with the piston and block. It sounds to me like these guys got everything covered and know what they are doing. I want to install a new piston, rings and bearings but the piston costs $100 on ebay for a NOS and I can't find new bearings (crank, rod, or piston). I think I will be OK with the piston and con rod bearings because they look OK but am not sure about the crank bearings. The piston I have is not horrible but it does have some scratches. Does anybody know where I could find a cheaper NOS piston and some new crank bearings, or maybe the part # for some aftermarket bearings that would fit right?

 

[Bubba Stump]

Mark, I forgot to add that the company said that blocks with a removable head like the 101 are a cinch. they make sleeves for just about everything, motorcycles, deisels, race cars you name it. the reason it would probably take them about three weeks, was because they said most of the sleeves they make are for motors with removable heads and my block was kind of off track for them but they could still do it. I don't know how they are going to keep the sleeve in place on my non removable head 125 block, but they said they could sleeve it after discussing it with all their techs. My guess would be that they bore the block to tolerances slightly smaller than the sleeve, then heat the block to expand the bore and install the sleeve while hot. When the block cools the sleeve ain't going anywhere. I have seen this done on steam locomotive drive wheels. The wheel actually has a thinner outer wheel around the main wheel body. they have a speacial built burner that goes around the main wheel body and heats the entire wheel to a red hot. While this is going on they have a new machines outer ring that is smaller than the main wheel ready to be lowered over the red hot wheel. The ring goes over the main wheel easily and the burners are turned off and the whole thing left to cool. When done the ring is on there and won't move unless heated red hot again. Think about it the huge main wheel would be to expensive to replace and make so this solution is how it becomes feasable to operate and maintain without killer cost. I don't know if they could do something similar to this or whether they use some other method.

 

[Jacob J.]

Crank bearings are a cinch. Standard 6203 bearings and they're available everywhere, but VXB bearings on ebay sells Nachi brand and myself and several others here have had good luck with those.

 

[Bubba Stump]

are the 6203 bearings that you speak of the open ball bearings? I checked ebay and they had sealed, open, and some ceramic treated ones. Do you know the exact info on the ones I will need for the SP125C McCulloch. I was afraid that the sealed ones with the plastic insert cover would not be able to take the heat and the sealed metal covered pre lubed ones would not get lubed properly from the saw gas mix, so would the open ball be the way to go or does it not matter?

 

[Eccentric]

are the 6203 bearings that you speak of the open ball bearings? I checked ebay and they had sealed, open, and some ceramic treated ones. Do you know the exact info on the ones I will need for the SP125C McCulloch. I was afraid that the sealed ones with the plastic insert cover would not be able to take the heat and the sealed metal covered pre lubed ones would not get lubed properly from the saw gas mix, so would the open ball be the way to go or does it not matter?

Open. Also, you want bearings with C3 radial clearance.

 

[leeha]

are the 6203 bearings that you speak of the open ball bearings? I checked ebay and they had sealed, open, and some ceramic treated ones. Do you know the exact info on the ones I will need for the SP125C McCulloch. I was afraid that the sealed ones with the plastic insert cover would not be able to take the heat and the sealed metal covered pre lubed ones would not get lubed properly from the saw gas mix, so would the open ball be the way to go or does it not matter?

The Nachi bearings i buy come with the metal shields.
Just pry them out and away you go. You now have an
open bearing. The rubber sealed ones can also be pried
out.




Lee