Looking at a Husky 61

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jfhoss

ArboristSite Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
70
Reaction score
2
Location
Midwest
Guys, I've got a lead on a Husky 61 running. But the carb needs work the owner said. He is also throwing in a parts 61 and additional 20 inch bar. Asking $100. I know this is a loaded question, but is this saw worth messing with for $100? I don't know anything about Huskies.
 
If it just needs a carb rebuild, I'd jump on it. It's a 60cc saw, and you can get a big bore 52mm piston/cylinder set to increase the displacement to 70cc.

You could likely trip the parts saw on ebay for nearly $100.
 
husky 61

NO! They are total junk. Send them to me for immediate disposal. Seriously, I have two 61s and love them. Very good power and balance. I would rebuild them if necessary, but most likely just need some TLC. Carb kits are cheap, and they are easy to work on. Plus as stated, Baileys has big bore kits and parts to hop them up if wanted. I kept mine stock, with 24 inch Oregon bars. Love em.
IF cared for, they will give years of trouble free service, as proven by my oldest one. (1978 white top) It still runs strong.
I would not take $300 for mine.
 
But wait there's more.....The spare saw comes with a 24 inch bar....huh...still a good deal. That's more bar I have to clean. That can't be good can it?

The spare does appear to be missing the recoil side cover. But I am seeing everything thing else there.

Both saws appear to be all orange. I thought some had white tops or black tops. These don't say rancher anywhere so they must be just a 61.
 
I may be going to pick it up on Sunday. The seller said that it runs well when cutting, but if you set it down to idle it or you are limbing it "builds up" and doesn't like to start for a while. What could it be?
 
sounds like carb settings or maybe needs a kit. No biggy. I always change fuel filter (inside the tank) and check the cases and seals for air leaks, both pressure and vaccuum. If you dont know how someone on here can help or your dealer should know how. My dealer charges $15 to check it out for me.
 
But wait there's more.....The spare saw comes with a 24 inch bar....huh...still a good deal. That's more bar I have to clean. That can't be good can it?

The spare does appear to be missing the recoil side cover. But I am seeing everything thing else there.

Both saws appear to be all orange. I thought some had white tops or black tops. These don't say rancher anywhere so they must be just a 61.

The all orange 61 was the the newest of the series. They will have the single coil vs. the twin coil setup of the earlier models. Good solid performing saws for sure. They made a ton of them and they're still cutting alot of wood.
 
I go to pick them up tomorrow. I'm very excited for these saws. The owner does tree work and told me if I'm using it for firewood I will be very happy. He bought a new saw and didn't want to mess with these any more. This saw will tell me if I'm really missing something using older Homelite and Poulans. We shall see. Now If I could just find a steal on a Stihl.
 
I go to pick them up tomorrow. I'm very excited for these saws. The owner does tree work and told me if I'm using it for firewood I will be very happy. He bought a new saw and didn't want to mess with these any more. This saw will tell me if I'm really missing something using older Homelite and Poulans. We shall see. Now If I could just find a steal on a Stihl.

You won't want to run a stihl after that 61's purring :hmm3grin2orange:
 
The all orange 61 was the the newest of the series. They will have the single coil vs. the twin coil setup of the earlier models. Good solid performing saws for sure. They made a ton of them and they're still cutting alot of wood.

Well, the 61 always was the least interesting and lowest performing model in a large "family" of saws, but is still is a decent firewood saw. The later ones are better than the older ones.
 
To be honest I owned a couple of 61's a long time ago, and hated them. Now the 266, I loved.
 
They have arrived.

Sorry for the lateness of my progress. Work, harvest etc etc etc.
The saws were exactly as he described them. One starts, ones comes as parts.

Now for the good stuff.

The working saw starts right away. Idles and sounds like a chainsaw at WOT. After it runs a while, just won't start. We'll get into that later.

The parts saw is mostly there. Missing some parts. Off the top of my head looks like clutch, on off switch, additional piece attached to the top of the carb which attaches to the filter the brake linkage/band and the oiler adjustment. The piston looks freaking new. Plus a 24 inch oregon bar and new chain and 2 new spark plugs, new filter. Case looks good and looks sealed. Has compression but didn't test it. I'm thinking if someone has an all orange parts 61 with a seized piston I could make a good trade on a Craftsman Roper 3.7. Decent shape. Even swap. I've done nothing with the Roper. Pulled the cord a couple times. Has compression. Didn't start. But with me cutting wood right now didn't want to dig into it.

The running saw.
Well after it ran for a couple minutes it would die. It started right up after a couple pulls the first time. But after it ran it just would not run. So I thought. Maybe Its the fuel filter. Maybe its the spark plug. Maybe it needs to be adjusted. Maybe the gas is old. Maybe it has weak spark. Timing. Could it be low on blinker fluid?

I did one thing. Pictures will come tomorrow of the saw and the answer to what I did to make it run. But not just run. Cut wood, idled, I shut off, and then started it again, cut wood, idled for 10 min. I shut off and it started right up again.

Sorry for no pictures tonight. I have Wild Blue internet over satellite. It sucks, but I live in the middle of nowhere.
 
One more thing to add. Apparently he had taken the working saw to a guy he knew that worked on chainsaws and that guy said he had it running great. He paid him $130 to "fix" what ever was wrong. Before I get into any trouble. Any of you guys work on a Husky 61 lately for a tree climber in the midwest?
 
If it's the older 61 with the two piece ignition, they were prone to the module dying....You symptoms sound like a bad ignition.

You got a good buy still and well worth fixing.....the older 61's seem lazy as far as spooling up the RPMs, but they still cut fine. I think once you've run a 266 they just seem a bit tame.
 
Have have read manyhobies tag for inserting a picture and for some reason I'm not reading the same instructions on my page to do it. :frown:
 
255386d1349291091-husky-61-running-jpg
 
Thanks Tolman_Paul. I don't know why my pictures won't appear. Did you guys look at the air filter. I think I found the problem with the saw.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top