066 Project Saw

[Brmorgan]

I've been having pretty good luck this year. I swung by one of the pawnshops while I was downtown today, and along with the Poulan 335, picked up this tired old 066 for $200 flat:

She's definitely been ridden hard and put away wet. I came to the shop prepared with a plug wrench and compression tester though. 155 LBS solid, which is a bit better than my much newer and better looking 660. The piston's in excellent shape. Am I right in thinking this is a fairly old 066? It has no decomp, nor does the top cover even have a place for one. This one came with a 28" .404 bar, and by the looks of it and the chain neither have been used in some time.

It needs a few things - when I first fired it up, it ran like it was half-choked when I gave it the throttle. After removing the clutch I found a broken clutch spring, and the drum's center mounting hole is badly worn so it wobbles on the bearing. The back half of the muffler is broken around the bottom-right bolt hole and will need to be welded or replaced, as there is a small ~1/4" square piece missing. At least it's a two-piece muffler and is easy to work on. I will also be either buying a dual-port cover or making my own. Probably the latter as money's tight. The only other minor problem is that the gas tank seems to be very slowly leaking. I'll have to look more at that. Oh, I also got a "new" clutch cover from my friend for a few bucks, since this one was busted pretty bad. It's not as tall though, barely comes down past the edge of the clutch drum. Is it maybe from an 064 instead? Fits and looks fine otherwise. It has little "mudflaps" riveted to the rear section , similar to the rubber chip deflector on my 066 but much thinner. My friend said they were stock, and had two more covers with identical ones. I'd just never seen them before.

I haven't given it a really good cleaning yet, just a good blow-down, especially around the carb (!) and clutch. But, dirty as it was, clearly the previous owner kept the air filter clean and ran good mix. After a quick blow-down and carb adjust, she fired right up and just screams. Now I have to decide whether to sell this saw or the 288XP I grabbed a month ago. I think I could get more for the Husky - it's in excellent shape, while this one's missing a lot of paint and will need a few $ to make it complete and look good for sale. I don't care what the heck she looks like for milling and firewood though, as long as it runs strong.

 

[wi50]

I've got a soft spot for 066's but a bigger one for Husky's.

There's no free lunch, time and running is worth something, parts, etc. And new is new, used and dealing with minor issues allong the way is what it is..... It is fun working on something well used and restoreing it, and there's no value on that. I've fixed up a lot of stuff, never made a million bucks and never will, probably would have been further ahead watching TV or doing noting, but I like to stay busy.


At the price, you did good and can easily turn some quick money re selling it, but for some time and some additional expense you can have a good rig and know what you have which may be better than anything else. Wish I could find one for what you paid.

 

[BC_Logger]

I can never figure out why people don't take care of there equipment i don't think that 066 has ever seen a air hose

maybe its just the guys who own there own equipment

 

[BC_Logger]

I would keep the 288 over the 066

 

[Brmorgan]

I would keep the 288 over the 066

I expected a lot of that opinion. And truth be told, I really like that saw even though I haven't really done any work with it. But money's tight being laid off and all, and I have to think of what I need and what will serve me best right now. I was thinking of porting this old 066, and if that P/C ever packed it in (heaven forbid) I'd slap a BB kit on it. I suppose I could always try to sell the 660 as it's in really good shape too, and keep the 288. Hmm... Hard decisions.

 

[Rounder]

rebuild it when you can. theyr'e a great saw and it looks like you got a good deal. It'll be a hell of a workorse.

 

[Brmorgan]

Well, I got this one in working order this week. Cuts really strong, though I did a test cut alongside the 181SE that I ported over the winter, and the 181SE is noticeably stronger.

I decided I'm going to try to sell my good 660 and keep this old 066 - milling saws don't need to be pretty. So that 660 will be going up in the trading post in the next day or two, if I don't get any bites there it'll go on eBay.

 

[BobL]

Nice score Brad.

I can understand how the bottom of a saw and the wrap handle get scratched and the plastic can be damaged, but how does the front of the oil tank lose so much paint? It looks like the saw was run without any dogs and/or it bounced around in the back of a pickup without the bar on ? I don't want to sound too alarmist and maybe it's just in the photo but looks like some heavy duty contact has been made with the oil tank (see area inside blue line), Is that a crack along that paint line (blue arrow)?

Whatever the case it should make a good project saw.

 

[Brmorgan]

Bob - nope, that's not a crack, just the edge of the paint. If you look closely at the photo of the recoil cover, it is almost completely devoid of paint as well. I think this saw spent a lot of time riding in a vehicle in a holder or up against a bunch of other saws, which makes me think it was a forestry / silviculture saw. I doubt it was a faller's saw because it only has the 3/4 wrap handle and has the smaller bucking dogs, not the big falling dogs like are often seen on 660s.

The only damage I do see is the part of the front around the oil tank that has been cut out completely. It appears that the lower dog mount threads had stripped, and rather than re-tap it they cut away a portion of the front so they could get wrench in behind there, and use a nut-and-bolt setup to hold the dogs. This is cosmetic damage only though, and I can't see any problems from it. Either way worth it for $200 IMO, considering the running condition of it.

 

[BobL]

Either way worth it for $200 IMO, considering the running condition of it.

Yep - that's for sure.