I picked up a couple of husky saws just recently and in the process of deciding what to do with them. The saws were picked up by my father when he was on vacation and I did not see them until about 2 months later. Husky 51/55 and a 340. They both run and seemed to cut good was his feeling when he looked at the saws.
First saw was a Husky 51 that had low compression so the guy put a 55 AM top end on the saw, new bar and chain, recoil housing and choke lever.
He want $260 for the saw and my father talked him down to $200. Pictures looked nice and new looking. Decent price for here in Canada. I like the older saws because they don't have primer bulbs and they always seemed dependable when I was growing up helping my father cut wood for the winter.
When I finally got my hands on the saws I looked them over. First impressions were they look used as they should for 14 and 21 year old saws. Taking them apart was another thing. Pisses me off when guys sell something and don't even bother to clean them up , just a little would have been better. These things still had 20 year old sawdust I am sure. Anyway did the usual blow down with the air hose and some break kleen along with some scraping of the old gunk and wiped them all clean with a rag. The 340 didn't bother me as much because the guys was 85 yrs old and his daughter was selling it for him , plus I only paid $100 for it. It's going to be the wife's saw for helping me limb some trees after falling them.
Both saws wear a 15" bar and both had brand new chains. Took them over to my neighbors place where he had some large Manitoba Maple to test the saws in. Plus the neighbor has a Husky 51 stock. Thought this would be a good comparison for the 55. Tried his saw first and it cut pretty good with a fairly sharp chain that is just about on its last sharpening. Next was the 55, first thing I noticed was that it was a lot easier to pull over. Thought the decomp was on but it was out. Got the saw started and it did not cut as well . I could tell it was not as strong as the neighbors 51. Only a few tanks of gas threw it since the rebuild.
Up next was the 340, well it is a nice snappy little saw and it out cut the 55 easy. Definitely new something was wrong with the 55 .
Compression test showed the 340 at 135 psi and the 55 at 110 psi. Quick look through the plug hole showed 2 score lines just to the right of the exhaust port. Started to tear down the saw and found a few things I didn't like and if the guy wasn't 4500 km's away I would be shoving the saw where the sun don't shine.
Pulled off the muffler and found no gasket between the muffler and cylinder. Backside of the muffler had some hack welding and brazing done to it and ground down like with a cheese grater. Probably explains why the hand guard and clutch cover were showing some hot and melted spots.
Then I see a cracked bottom fin right where the bolts goes through along with red loctite around the base of the bolt. Taking the carb off and found that the choke lever looked funny and kind of sloppy. later after looking at a picture of a new one, this one was missing half the plastic. More or less just a hack job done to the saw .
I pulled the cylinder and cleaned up the scored marks a bit but they would hook a fingernail so it is most likely done for. Threw it back together after cleaning up the base gasket area and chasing the threads for the cylinder bolts. No base gasket and the squish was around .50 thousands so it wasn't going to gain much in compression even if the cylinder is salvageable. Fired it up and cut a few logs to get it good and warm to recheck compression and it was only 120 psi. So it looks like a new top end kit for that saw.
Kind of decided on a hyway kit from HLsupply. Seems to be a acceptable kit from what I have read on this site.
Now the 340 is a descent runner but while I am ordering one kit I thought about getting a top end for the 340. Going to bump it to a 350 cylinder kit. Now after doing all the reading I can on the 340 top end kits there seems to be 2 different cylinder options. Both 45mm kits.
One is from HLsupply and has the base adapter for the conversion from clamshell to pro style cylinder , transfer port covers a dual ring piston and closed port cylinder. $59.99
Second option is from Northwood saw company and their kit from looking at the pictures seems to be based off the 346 cylinder with no transfer port caps , single ring piston and no adapter plate. Not sure if it is open or closed port cylinder. $69.95 + $15 for the adapter
I don't know the brand of either kit as none was mentioned in the description. I have seen similar kits on Ebay that look like the HLsupply kit with the transfer port caps for $40 to $50 but I am always a little leary about ebay items.
Are either one of these kits good. one better then the other , cheaper places to buy.
Might try my hand at doing a muffler mod to both saws and smooth over the casting in the ports on both saws. Won't be messing with any timing or aggressive porting , just clean everything up for better flow.
The 340 has the plastic clamp on the carb boot so that will be changed out to the metal clamp. Saw is a 2002 model so I think it has a zama carb on it so I may grab a carb kit for it as well.
That was how I found this site a few years back when you guys helped me with a poor running Jonsred 2159. New carb kit and parts between the carb to cylinder and it is like a new saw. Hasn't missed a beat since.
First saw was a Husky 51 that had low compression so the guy put a 55 AM top end on the saw, new bar and chain, recoil housing and choke lever.
He want $260 for the saw and my father talked him down to $200. Pictures looked nice and new looking. Decent price for here in Canada. I like the older saws because they don't have primer bulbs and they always seemed dependable when I was growing up helping my father cut wood for the winter.
When I finally got my hands on the saws I looked them over. First impressions were they look used as they should for 14 and 21 year old saws. Taking them apart was another thing. Pisses me off when guys sell something and don't even bother to clean them up , just a little would have been better. These things still had 20 year old sawdust I am sure. Anyway did the usual blow down with the air hose and some break kleen along with some scraping of the old gunk and wiped them all clean with a rag. The 340 didn't bother me as much because the guys was 85 yrs old and his daughter was selling it for him , plus I only paid $100 for it. It's going to be the wife's saw for helping me limb some trees after falling them.
Both saws wear a 15" bar and both had brand new chains. Took them over to my neighbors place where he had some large Manitoba Maple to test the saws in. Plus the neighbor has a Husky 51 stock. Thought this would be a good comparison for the 55. Tried his saw first and it cut pretty good with a fairly sharp chain that is just about on its last sharpening. Next was the 55, first thing I noticed was that it was a lot easier to pull over. Thought the decomp was on but it was out. Got the saw started and it did not cut as well . I could tell it was not as strong as the neighbors 51. Only a few tanks of gas threw it since the rebuild.
Up next was the 340, well it is a nice snappy little saw and it out cut the 55 easy. Definitely new something was wrong with the 55 .
Compression test showed the 340 at 135 psi and the 55 at 110 psi. Quick look through the plug hole showed 2 score lines just to the right of the exhaust port. Started to tear down the saw and found a few things I didn't like and if the guy wasn't 4500 km's away I would be shoving the saw where the sun don't shine.
Pulled off the muffler and found no gasket between the muffler and cylinder. Backside of the muffler had some hack welding and brazing done to it and ground down like with a cheese grater. Probably explains why the hand guard and clutch cover were showing some hot and melted spots.
Then I see a cracked bottom fin right where the bolts goes through along with red loctite around the base of the bolt. Taking the carb off and found that the choke lever looked funny and kind of sloppy. later after looking at a picture of a new one, this one was missing half the plastic. More or less just a hack job done to the saw .
I pulled the cylinder and cleaned up the scored marks a bit but they would hook a fingernail so it is most likely done for. Threw it back together after cleaning up the base gasket area and chasing the threads for the cylinder bolts. No base gasket and the squish was around .50 thousands so it wasn't going to gain much in compression even if the cylinder is salvageable. Fired it up and cut a few logs to get it good and warm to recheck compression and it was only 120 psi. So it looks like a new top end kit for that saw.
Kind of decided on a hyway kit from HLsupply. Seems to be a acceptable kit from what I have read on this site.
Now the 340 is a descent runner but while I am ordering one kit I thought about getting a top end for the 340. Going to bump it to a 350 cylinder kit. Now after doing all the reading I can on the 340 top end kits there seems to be 2 different cylinder options. Both 45mm kits.
One is from HLsupply and has the base adapter for the conversion from clamshell to pro style cylinder , transfer port covers a dual ring piston and closed port cylinder. $59.99
Second option is from Northwood saw company and their kit from looking at the pictures seems to be based off the 346 cylinder with no transfer port caps , single ring piston and no adapter plate. Not sure if it is open or closed port cylinder. $69.95 + $15 for the adapter
I don't know the brand of either kit as none was mentioned in the description. I have seen similar kits on Ebay that look like the HLsupply kit with the transfer port caps for $40 to $50 but I am always a little leary about ebay items.
Are either one of these kits good. one better then the other , cheaper places to buy.
Might try my hand at doing a muffler mod to both saws and smooth over the casting in the ports on both saws. Won't be messing with any timing or aggressive porting , just clean everything up for better flow.
The 340 has the plastic clamp on the carb boot so that will be changed out to the metal clamp. Saw is a 2002 model so I think it has a zama carb on it so I may grab a carb kit for it as well.
That was how I found this site a few years back when you guys helped me with a poor running Jonsred 2159. New carb kit and parts between the carb to cylinder and it is like a new saw. Hasn't missed a beat since.
