C51 smokes and safety classes in West MI

[dean06919]

First off, great site. This is my first year cutting wood and before I found this site I had a ton of questions. Thankfully, I found answers to almost all of my questions using the search feature, all except for two.

Does anyone know of any safety or how to classes for felling trees offered in West Michigan? I've read a lot and even watched a few U Tube videos on the subject, but would like some hands on experience with a professional. If I can't locate a class, I probably try to find a logger and see if I can work with him for a few days.

Second, my father has loaned me his Homelite C51 for use on felling and bucking larger trees. It has seen little use and has been meticulously maintained for its entire life. It currently sports a 25 inch bar with a standard .404 full chisel chain. I have probably cut down and bucked about 20 tress so far this year without incident. Lately, however, it has the tendency to want to stall while cutting. If I let off the throttle, the saw returns to an idle. When I pull the throttle it runs until I start cutting again and then starts to die out. Eventually, the saw will just run fine and cut like normal. Today I was bucking up a very large oak, around a 48" DBH I would guess. I shut the saw off to add more gas and noticed smoke was coming from the left hand side, from the recoil. The saw refused to start until it cooled down. The plug looked tan and had good looking spark. This happened a few more times so, I called it a day. Any ideas what might be happening to the saw? I run full synthetic oil with 92 octane. I never force the saw, instead allowing its great weight to do the cutting.

Thanks,
Dean

 

[AngelofDarkness]

Welcome. I am the Angel of Darkness, and I shall drag you to the fiery depths of Helvate where you shall remain until Ragnarok.

As far as classes, none that I know of. You'd be better off finding an old timer and hanging out with them, or some books. And there is always this site, theres tons of good info here.

It sounds like your saw is boiling it's fuel. Its somewhat of a Homelite quirk, there is an air gap between the fuel tank and manifold that clogs with dirt and sawdust, when it does that heat is conducted to the tank and makes the fuel boil and the saw vapor lock, you need to open the saw;s case and clean all the junk out of there and put it back together. Thats a neat old monster saw that will pull a big bar in big wood all day long.

 

[dean06919]

Thanks for the information AoD.

It's comforting to know nothing is seriously wrong with the Homelite since, I won't be able to afford a replacement until at the earliest, next summer (Solo 681). Also, it is by far the best starting saw I have, usually starting on the first or second pull compared to my grandfathers old Remington SL-4 which, takes about 10 pulls to start.

If you don't have one already, I'd recommend adding one, or one of its relatives, to your collection. This C-51 has a few more years of cutting ahead of it, with a final resting place on the cabin mantle.

Dean

 

[johncinco]

Try adjusting the High Setting. Its the H on the carb screws.

The Game Of Logging class comes to Detroit every once in awhile, you just have to check the sites once in awhile to catch it. I have never heard of one in W MI.