Are cheap saws worth spicing up?

[GoodFellers]

I’m seeing a lot of $30-$50 used old saws… McCullough, Poulan, craftsman, wild thing… and was wondering if picking one up to learn some chainsaw mods would be worth it.
It seems like the juice is worth the squeeze with certain saws over others, so are are any of these cheap saws good candidates to give it a go and learn to hotsaw something with a minimal investment?

I could also see it being worth doing on something more towards the pro version saws to reap the benefits for years to come?

I'd love to hear what more experienced people have to say on the subject.

Many thanks!

 

[GoodFellers]

Also, are there general things to look for when choosing a saw to mod/make hot?

 

[Fubar]

They are worth practicing and experimenting on , if you mess it up modding it you are not in the hole hundreds of dollars .

 

[thompsoncustom]

Wild thing is a good one to play with as you can get them really cheap last one I got cost my 10 bucks and ran.

 

[gerrywoodsy482]

I’m seeing a lot of $30-$50 used old saws… McCullough, Poulan, craftsman, wild thing… and was wondering if picking one up to learn some chainsaw mods would be worth it.
It seems like the juice is worth the squeeze with certain saws over others, so are are any of these cheap saws good candidates to give it a go and learn to hotsaw something with a minimal investment?

I could also see it being worth doing on something more towards the pro version saws to reap the benefits for years to come?

I'd love to hear what more experienced people have to say on the subject.

Many thanks!

Experimenting with mods on cheaper saws is a good idea for me. For one, the potential benefits far outweigh the minimal investment. If you end up tinkering a bit too much and something goes awry, at least you're not breaking the bank. You get the chance to experiment without worrying too much about the cash.

 

[GoodFellers]

I'm liking this advice more and more as time goes on. Lean start up of my tree service I purchased farmertec/jon cutter saws with the plan to upgrade as time goes on then play with the back ups. Now that I am at the point of starting to afford upgrade... those are still my back ups and beside minor things here and there they've taken a beating and still been great for me and made a lot of money for me... but now with more business experience I'm kind of seeing the value of the '2 is 1, 1 is none' principle and I should probably go with the cheapest running saw I can find to learn to mod and woods port.

As I'm learning more, these mod/porting principles are getting at the fundamental 2 stroke principles and can be applied to any saw... however, I think I will try and stay away from anything with reeds to start. My neighbor said he had a old cheap saw in his basement he was given and never ran... I was thinking he might want to part with it... I finally got him to dig it out and it turned out to be a '86 HomeLite Super EZ Automatic. Cool old saw but I guess people have had trouble finding replacement parts and what not plus it turns out its worth some money!

 

[Lightning Performance]

Go with something consistent. Having a parts pile matters. I choose Stihl for one reason. Used and new saws and parts are available in my area. I'm a pro user, always was. If Husky was in my area so be it. Poulan 42 to 48cc are all about the same nomatter what plastic color you have or name brand. Just something to consider when you do start buying tools. Many people will make or adapt that one part nobody else can get. Now you control that market. Some people end up selling custom parts by request. Word gets around unless you live under a bridge in a van down by the river.

 

[GoodFellers]

I'll have to keep checking regularly and get a better feel for the market over time. I'm seeing Stihls, Husqys, Echos...etc but not too many pro saws that aren't as much or more than a brand new one.

For now I'll probably try to pick up a $40 Poulan to play with for now and will probably have a better idea of what pro saws are prevalent in my area by the time I have better cash flow.

 

[stihltech]

Saw a poulan wild thing with nitrous. Fun while it lasted.

 

[Howsitgoineh]

Go with something consistent. Having a parts pile matters. I choose Stihl for one reason. Used and new saws and parts are available in my area. I'm a pro user, always was. If Husky was in my area so be it. Poulan 42 to 48cc are all about the same nomatter what plastic color you have or name brand. Just something to consider when you do start buying tools. Many people will make or adapt that one part nobody else can get. Now you control that market. Some people end up selling custom parts by request. Word gets around unless you live under a bridge in a van down by the river.

Good point here. I run Huskies for work, but I have collected a pile of vintage saws, I love fixing them up. Got a bunch of them back to working order.
Then moved into the newer style plastic poulan, craftsman, etc - they are easy to come by cheap as they always get shelved when they stop running they are they same style as the newer husky saws. Now I'm pretty confident I can fix most saws I get my hands on.

... I live in a prefab in a swamp

 

[Howsitgoineh]

I'll have to keep checking regularly and get a better feel for the market over time. I'm seeing Stihls, Husqys, Echos...etc but not too many pro saws that aren't as much or more than a brand new one.

For now I'll probably try to pick up a $40 Poulan to play with for now and will probably have a better idea of what pro saws are prevalent in my area by the time I have better cash flow.

Yes I have seen the same trend, a lot of performance or production saws seem to hold value, even with some damage, parts missing, or not working. Good luck my friend!

 

[Howsitgoineh]

Facebook marketplace and Kijiji, I found lots of goodies locally this way

 

[Okie]

Howsitgoineh wrote:​

Go with something consistent. Having a parts pile matters.

Yes about a parts pile and a good place to store the parts piles out of the weather is a good thing also. I usually will not attempt fixing or restoring a lesser grade Poulan/Craftsman unless I determine I have some donor parts. Keeps from throwing good money and time after bad stuff. Having donor parts also reduces the cost of getting experience with these type saws that are made for OCCASIONAL USE ONLY.
I get free molasses barrels (about 25 gallon size) with lids from ranchers and they are weatherproof and stack really good for storage outside outside. The big plastic lids are also good for use on the work bench when working on chainsaws and small engines. (keeps oil and grit off the workbench and lid is captive for parts/pieces and tools that want to end up in the floor)
I store donor chainsaws in them after removing the bar and lots of other stuff such as lawn tractor engines.
When working (restoring/fixing) Poulan/Craftsman saws I sometimes take about 3 donors and make one. With no donor parts one can easily get more into one of them type saws than they cost when new if not careful especially if you need a bar and chain to do a performance test and then find the engine is not performing correctly under load.
Sometimes even have to replace the complete case on a Poulan if the saw has been operated with the chain brake on and melted the case in the oiler area..
Not any such thing as a Frankenstein Poulan because they are Franken from when built. (not all the same with the same model number)

 

[NSEric]

I mod the chinese zenoah clones like the supmix 6200, they're as cheap as used saws.
The 54.5cc one is best, they're sold as 60 or 62cc for 165 canadian on amazon, that's about a 100 bucks in the US, with a decent bar/chain on it.
This is a clone of of pro saw so it's easy to mod. With simple mods that cost me nothing but time it's as strong as any 50cc pro saw.