1985 white top 61

[Orange Ripper]

Hey folks, Was recently on a little vacation and on the way home picked up this 1985 white top Husqvarna 61 for a good deal!
Wicked little saw and in amazing condition except for a bit of a crack in the top cover.
Saw don’t look like it’s had much use at all really and piston and walls look perfect with no scoring at all anywhere!
Can’t wait to get her into some more wood now! Just have to finish opening the muffler now and she’ll be good to go!

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Good old honest grafters of saws.
Parts still able to be found- albeit easier in the cheap Asian aftermarket arena- but available.
Easily upgraded. Standard main crank bearings available at any bearing shop.
Easy to work on.

Metal flag brake bands are no longer available, you might have the obsolete clutch (which can be worked around), old fish gill mufflers can be a bit crack prone- but cant see which you have, just watch your opening up that you do not direct heat into the top cover and melt it- that cover lives pretty close to the muffler body.

 

[Orange Ripper]

Good old honest grafters of saws.
Parts still able to be found- albeit easier in the cheap Asian aftermarket arena- but available.
Easily upgraded. Standard main crank bearings available at any bearing shop.
Easy to work on.

Metal flag brake bands are no longer available, you might have the obsolete clutch (which can be worked around), old fish gill mufflers can be a bit crack prone- but cant see which you have, just watch your opening up that you do not direct heat into the top cover and melt it- that cover lives pretty close to the muffler body.

Thanks for the little tip on the exhaust heat hitting the top cover, better to find out this way than if it happened to me first hand lol, And nope it’s Not the fish gill, there’s a deflector with screen under it over the outlet with two holes in it,
Will try to get a look at the clutch in a bit to see if it’s the one that you speak of though, may consider a 272 top end if anything happens to it down the road though.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Thanks for the little tip on the exhaust heat hitting the top cover, better to find out this way than if it happened to me first hand lol, And nope it’s Not the fish gill, there’s a deflector with screen under it over the outlet with two holes in it,
Will try to get a look at the clutch in a bit to see if it’s the one that you speak of though, may consider a 272 top end if anything happens to it down the road though.

Tight squeeze trying to get a 272 under the white cover and decomp to work with that brake- 266 might be a viable option- but treated well that 61 should do another 40 years easy.

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

Thanks for the little tip on the exhaust heat hitting the top cover, better to find out this way than if it happened to me first hand lol, And nope it’s Not the fish gill, there’s a deflector with screen under it over the outlet with two holes in it,
Will try to get a look at the clutch in a bit to see if it’s the one that you speak of though, may consider a 272 top end if anything happens to it down the road though.

The top cover on your saw will clear a 272 top end. The spark plug on 268 and 272 cylinders is at a slightly different angle than 61 and 266 cylinders. In other words, the plug sticks up more than a 61 or 266. Your top cover has a broader “peak” over the plug and will clear. The early “small peak” covers won’t fit over a 268 or 272 cylinder. Just did a 272XP swap on this 61 using all OEM parts.

 

[Orange Ripper]

Tight squeeze trying to get a 272 under the white cover and decomp to work with that brake- 266 might be a viable option- but treated well that 61 should do another 40 years easy.

This is the clutch, I’m unsure of how to tell if it is the “obsolete” one you mentioned, if you happen to though please let me know lol, all info is much appreciated!!
The paint on this saw barely has a scratch in it and it was never really taken apart from what I can tell from the look of the bolts and how clean everything is, beside a light coating of chain oil and saw dust of course hahah, the most paint scuffing is on the brake cover, so I can’t see it needing much at all to stay a good running saw for some time to come as you said
And @ballisticdoughnut , that is great to know for future reference if I ever do go that route! Thanks fellas !

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Closed face on the clutch nut with only a grease hole = coarse thread clutch/crank.
Means you are not likely to find a new off the shelf clutch, but you can swap the spring and shoes off the newer fine thread clutch on to your spider when needed.

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

Also wanted to add, you may not wanna bother trying to modify that muffler. If it has the baffle inside (which it likely does) it’s gonna be a bastard to get any kind of good flow out of it. The one you want is part number 501 65 77 03 that’s what came on the 266XP and I believe some jonsered models like the 630 super. They don’t have a baffle inside. You can occasionally find them on ebay or someone here mite have one they’d sell.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Yep, I got one of those also, looks real nice sitting on a table out in my garage. I bought it at a flea market, took it home and repaired it and here it sits..

 

[singinwoodwackr]

Got mine for $85 at an estate sale. Needed a new pull rope, fuel line to start. I replaced the seals...cheap..., plug and opened up the muffler.

Fantastic firewood saw with a 24" bar
Almost as good as my old 266xp...miss that saw

 

[Orange Ripper]

Good to know about the clutch, thanks @Bob Hedgecutter,

And I will look into that different muffler then @ballisticdoughnut , because there is a baffle like you suspected! Although, that leaves a question for @singinwoodwackr , was there a baffle in yours when you opened it up or did you just put a port in the muffler and call it a day? Also did it improve your performance any?

That’s a nice looking saw at a great price @a. palmer jr. , mine don’t have the heat slots in the top cover like yours, also mine is not the rancher, beautiful old saws for sure! , would be nice to find a white top cover to replace my cracked one one day hopefully.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

Good to know about the clutch, thanks @Bob Hedgecutter,

And I will look into that different muffler then @ballisticdoughnut , because there is a baffle like you suspected! Although, that leaves a question for @singinwoodwackr , was there a baffle in yours when you opened it up or did you just put a port in the muffler and call it a day? Also did it improve your performance any?

That’s a nice looking saw at a great price @a. palmer jr. , mine don’t have the heat slots in the top cover like yours, also mine is not the rancher, beautiful old saws for sure! , would be nice to find a white top cover to replace my cracked one one day hopefully.

There's probably some of the white tops still around. I'll look around and see if there's any to be had. My saw ran great the last time I started it but anymore I don't have much occasion to use it. I generally go for a bit smaller saw like my 353 when I do use one.

 

[Orange Ripper]

There's probably some of the white tops still around. I'll look around and see if there's any to be had. My saw ran great the last time I started it but anymore I don't have much occasion to use it. I generally go for a bit smaller saw like my 353 when I do use one.

i just rebuilt a 1990 50 special, i posted a thread about it not long ago, https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/1990-husqvarna-50-work-saw-build.366843/#post-7974714
That’s what I’ve been fooling around with and it’s an awesome little saw so far, I put a bigger carb on her last night, and definitely a noticeable difference, I just came in from doing some firewood with her actually.
But looking forward to trying out the 61 now when I get the chance, as she needs a new chain atm

 

[a. palmer jr.]

We moved not too long ago to a place that doesn't have a wood burner, not even in the garage so I don't cut anything other than a downed tree or limbs in the yard. My bigger saws don't get much of a workout any more unless we have a big wind. About 5 miles from me they had a tornado which took many of their trees down but at my age I'd be more in their way than a help..

 

[singinwoodwackr]

Good to know about the clutch, thanks @Bob Hedgecutter,

And I will look into that different muffler then @ballisticdoughnut , because there is a baffle like you suspected! Although, that leaves a question for @singinwoodwackr , was there a baffle in yours when you opened it up or did you just put a port in the muffler and call it a day? Also did it improve your performance any?

That’s a nice looking saw at a great price @a. palmer jr. , mine don’t have the heat slots in the top cover like yours, also mine is not the rancher, beautiful old saws for sure! , would be nice to find a white top cover to replace my cracked one one day hopefully.

Well...I haven't used it for some time so checked to see what I'd done. Uh...did nothing, lol
The inner baffle doesn't appear to be restrictive but the side slitts may be and the 6 1/4" holes definitely are.
I guess I put that saw on the shelf and forgot to finish it

So, just opened up those 6 holes and repositioned the fins a bit. Looks like this is all that is needed to get around 89% of the exhaust port volume.

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

Well...I haven't used it for some time so checked to see what I'd done. Uh...did nothing, lol
The inner baffle doesn't appear to be restrictive but the side slitts may be and the 6 1/4" holes definitely are.
I guess I put that saw on the shelf and forgot to finish it

So, just opened up those 6 holes and repositioned the fins a bit. Looks like this is all that is needed to get around 89% of the exhaust port volume.
View attachment 1076052View attachment 1076053View attachment 1076055View attachment 1076056

Those early clamshell mufflers flow pretty good, it’s the later mufflers that are brazed together with the baffle inside that don’t flow so well. I also removed that little six hole cheese grater thing from the muffler on my 61/272XP hybrid. They’re brazed on so you can use a torch to remove it.

 

[Orange Ripper]

Mine is actually the one that is brazed together like @ballisticdoughnut mentioned unfortunately, so yours looks much different inside than mine @singinwoodwackr, wish I had a torch and mine would be finished by now lol

 

[Orange Ripper]

Cleaned the ol white top cover up best I could in the sink this afternoon! Looking sharp if I do say so myself

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

Looking good.

 

[Orange Ripper]

Looking good.

Thanks! Probably going to clean up the brake flag a bit today seems I’m still waiting for the new muffler stud I broke to arrive