Help with Husqvarna 61 Gray Top

[paccity]

i would go for the 272 swap. just did one last nite and ran it a little today. runs strong, will get better when it breaks in. fresh piston and ring.nobase gasket. mine was a orange top no brake. had to use 272 carb bolts and exhaust bolts.

 

[gunrush128]

Paccity, is there a noticeable power increase? Did you use stock carb?

 

[paccity]

made 8 or 9 cuts with it and yes more grunt, more cc's . 61 is a good saw but this ones stealthy. if you can get the parts cheap enough.. i'd say go for it. stock carb and a gutted muff. not quite as strong as my 272, but not far off.

 

[HittinSteel]

I found a very nice 61 last year. Traded it to Mastermind and he bolted a ported 268 p/c on it. I got it back from him in another trade. Then I sold it off because I had a ported 372.

I really like the 61's

 

[gunrush128]

Where did you get your parts? I see that there are kits for under $40 on eBay, but I'm unsure of the quality of the parts. Also, did the decomp valve fit on your saw or did you plug it?

 

[paccity]

none decomp oe cyl. nos piston and ring. just stuff that accumulates in the shop.:msp_wink: i personally have not used after market top end part's . herd good and bad.

 

[tallfarmboy]

http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/228045.htm

That is a post I made when converting my saw from the 61 cylinder to a 272xp. I am running it with the 61 carb without any issues. I simply rethreaded the 61's intake bolts to smaller thread using a die.

The kit I am using is one of the Hutzl kits from eBay... It has a decomp, but the space between the brake handle on the 61 will not let you use it.

TFB

 

[gunrush128]

TFB,
How much have you run the saw since the rebuild? Any unforeseen issues?

 

[tallfarmboy]

TFB,
How much have you run the saw since the rebuild? Any unforeseen issues?

No issues at all... I did have to bevel one spot on a transfer in the Hutzl cylinder... I don't know if it would have been a problem, but I took the Dremel to it to improve the bevel on the chamfer on one of the transfers.
I've only ran about 4 tanks through it so far though. I even loaned the saw out and it came back together in one piece, still running strong.
I offered it to a local guy to replace an MS290 that he had been using to cut firewood... His words were, "That's a man saw"... LOL!

TFB

 

[gunrush128]

So I received my P&C kit from Huztl on eBay and am very disappointed. The just crammed everything inside the cylinder, put it in a box, and shipped it. I received it with a broken piston ring, dislodged wrist pin bearing, and scored piston and cylinder. Do you guys think this stuff is even useable?

 

[gunrush128]

I forgot to add, they did issue a refund and don't want the parts back. I'm just bummed because I've been waiting 3 weeks to build this saw. It looks like they are very careless with these parts. Two different cooing fins are damaged also.

 

[gunrush128]

Here's a pic of the exhaust port. Gotta love the quality of this casting...

 

[Adirondackstihl]

Any idea what caused the saw to fry the first time?
If you don't find out.....its gonna happen again!!

 

[gunrush128]

Any idea what caused the saw to fry the first time?
If you don't find out.....its gonna happen again!!

I'm not really sure what caused the motor to fry... I did notice when disassembling the saw that one of the exhaust bolts was very loose, leaving a gap between the muffler and the cylinder. I assumed that was just the previous owner checking the piston for damage, and just not putting it back properly, but could that have caused the top end to fry? The threads in the cylinder seemed to be stripped out too. The guy I bought the saw from claimed that he had no clue what was wrong with the saw, but maybe the muffler just rattled loose?

 

[weimedog]

My husqvarna 61

A pic of my '61. See anything wrong with this pic?


View attachment 314381


Might have to "click" on the pic to get full size. After having the preasure of working on these saws two things come to mind after reading this post.

1) Better to get a good used "OEM" top end than use the new oriental replacement parts. Done both. My generic used part franken saw with a 268 open port top end will match the performance of a saw I built with a aftermarket 272 top end. AND I got that 268 for less money....everyone thinks the aftermarket 272 top ends are an upgrade so those 268's aren't as valuable...check ebay! (BTW both the OEM 268 and After market based saws have run the last two years at my Brother-in-laws as he has cleared 15 acres..they have proven reliable)

2) This 61 was a 1978 white top model. The 272 top end is from the last generation's 272's. The reason I did this build was a fun and games excercise to prove the premise that with a little bit of inovation and clever selection of parts, any one of this series of saw can be upgraded, mixed and matched, with any variation of the breed...and this 61 hybrid has been used on and off for the last three years. The only thing that failed was the bar oil pump...that was the origional from 1978. A new "Forester" brand after market pump is running now..so far so good.

 

[SawTroll]

Well, the chain brake is "missing", but it wasn't standard by 1978, so that is not "wrong".

The muffler looks like it is modded, but hardly a surprice = not "wrong". However it may be a non-standard model as well?

....but I am no expert on those saws....

 

[weimedog]

Doubt many have seen 61's with decomp's...lol Even if they have been watching for as long as you..:msp_biggrin:

 

[heyduke]

1) Better to get a good used "OEM" top end than use the new oriental replacement parts. Done both. My generic used part franken saw with a 268 open port top end will match the performance of a saw I built with a aftermarket 272 top end. AND I got that 268 for less money....everyone thinks the aftermarket 272 top ends are an upgrade so those 268's aren't as valuable...check ebay! (BTW both the OEM 268 and After market based saws have run the last two years at my Brother-in-laws as he has cleared 15 acres..they have proven reliable)

2) This 61 was a 1978 white top model. The 272 top end is from the last generation's 272's. The reason I did this build was a fun and games excercise to prove the premise that with a little bit of inovation and clever selection of parts, any one of this series of saw can be upgraded, mixed and matched, with any variation of the breed...and this 61 hybrid has been used on and off for the last three years. The only thing that failed was the bar oil pump...that was the origional from 1978. A new "Forester" brand after market pump is running now..so far so good.

Could you describe how you matched the 62 carb to the 272 cylinder, especially the carb used, the hardware between carb and cylinder, throttle and choke linkages?

Thanks

 

[SawTroll]

Doubt many have seen 61's with decomp's...lol Even if they have been watching for as long as you..:msp_biggrin:

No, but they aren't an oddity on 272xp top ends, as I remember it? :msp_wink:

 

[weimedog]

Could you describe how you matched the 62 carb to the 272 cylinder, especially the carb used, the hardware between carb and cylinder, throttle and choke linkages?

Thanks

Didn't. Used a 272 intake and used a die grinder to make everything work with the 61 air filter and snorkle. Also hogged out the inside of the 61 snorkle so the x-sectional area was close to the 272's snorkle. Also tried two carb configs. One was just the 61's and the other was from a 272 with some of the 61's parts. Think the 61's origional carb ended up on there but don't remember. This was a while ago...did a step by step on another site a few years back.

View attachment 314474

And the Muffler mod was also pretty simple: (Later added a screen to the inside....it needs one before running it anywhere else but your yard! Don't want to start a forest fire!)

View attachment 314478