Mac 610????

[Aldiehoggydoggy]

I'm a husky/ Stihl guy mainly. Anyway got a chance to but a Mac610. Its in immaculate condition, I mean maybe 3hrs run time total. My question is cc's, reliable, max bar, what's it worth? The saw looks big but the guy only had a 16" bar on it. I'm wondering what to offer the guy without insulting him. Thanks!

 

[bigv]

Same as the PM605 and the Timber Bear.

I own two.

60 cc's. Stock form, they're not tremendously powerful saws. I've seen more than few folks on here call them underpowered. They're not rip snorting muscle saws, but I never thought they were underpowered. I liked mine better than ANY home owner grade 60cc Stihl, but still not as well as a 60cc Dolmar, and not as well as some Husqvarnas. Of course a Husqvarna and Dolmar command much more money than a Mac.

A 24" bar was all mine would pull, and that was it giving it all had and not able to give no more, captain. A 20" or 22" was much better, but still not fantastic.

Parts are dwindling away, and are more and more difficult to find all the time for Macs.

The HDB-6 series Walbro carb that was used on them is a piece of crap in my experience. They were also available with a Zama C2 series carb, and I've seen a Tillotson on them. I'd say the Tilly is the best carb, then the Zama, and then the Walbro.

PM605's, PM610's, and Timberbears have some POTENTIAL weaknesses- the oiler itself, the oil pump, and the pto side bearing can go wrong. If it is as new as it looks, then you'll probably never ever have this problem.

Mac's have always been notorious as cold collared bastids, if you don't keep them in tune and take care of them. If you keep it in tune, take care of it, keep you fuel line good, and carb rebuilt, and NEVER use ethanol in it- I think it would be a fairly easy to start and reliable saw.

If you need an extra saw and can afford it and it truely does not need anything- $125 and no more. And that is if it turns you on, and if it is perfect, essentially. Other wise $75 or lower. I had one that looked great outside but did not run, that I gave $25 for, complete with 20" bar. Sold it for $50, am both glad I did sell it, and also upset I sold it.

If you see a Macculloch Timber Wolf, they are late 80's and early 90's, a little bigger, and I think a better saw. Also much rarer than a Timber Bear it seems.

 

[machinisttx]

The PM605 is 55cc I believe. The 610 and 650 are 60cc, and aren't bad saws. They are extremely porky though. The powerhead weighs as much as my 394xp.

 

[ethar]

It's one of the few saws that will take abuse. Mine looks like crap the case is from a few donor saws but the engine is still going good. When I got it it hadn't been run in years put alil fuel in it and it started after a few pulls. As far as bar size I've had 3 of these the one I'm using now will pull a 24" bar no issue the other two would but liked a 20" alot better I think alot of this has to do with compression and wear. It's a good firewood saw. My suggestion from experience is run a skip chain balances the saw out.

 

[fearofpavement]

I've got one of those on the shelf awaiting repairs and I can't even recall anymore what is wrong with it. Seems like maybe the oiler wasn't working. It is also missing some chain brake handle parts. They don't sell for much. The nomer "cinder block" that they have acquired is quite appropriate.

 

[old 040]

i know there isn't much love for these saws here on A.S., but i've owned several over the years, and really cut a lot of wood my now sold timberbear, the bears are also smaller cc than the 610 but mine sure ran darn good, i'm actually going to be calling on a pro mac 5700SE that's for sale not too far from me and priced right, i haven't had one in my stable for a while....................

 

[Chris-PA]

60cc, will pull a 24" bar. Two most common failures are the ignition modules (pretty much true for any older electronic ignition) and sometime the oil pumps. I have the 55cc version and it has had both those go bad (and I probably caused more damage to the original pump in trying to clean it), but has been great other than that. They are heavy but I like them.

For prices you can look on eBay for ideas.

I removed the spark screen and installed a larger HDB-1 carb, and it runs quite well. It usually runs a 24" bar with square ground full comp chain, and I'm impressed that a 55cc saw can do that as well as it does. The key is compression - these saws have a ton if in good condition. I run mine at 40:1 on E10 from the local station, as I do with all my saws.

 

[Aldiehoggydoggy]

Well hell yeah guys I appreciate the feedback. I'm gonna try to buy it if the guy will part with it. I definitely don't need it but can pass up how great of shape its in. I'll offer him $80 for it and put pics up if I get it. Thanks again guys.

 

[old 040]

Well hell yeah guys I appreciate the feedback. I'm gonna try to buy it if the guy will part with it. I definitely don't need it but can pass up how great of shape its in. I'll offer him $80 for it and put pics up if I get it. Thanks again guys.

so, did you end up buying the mac?..............this morning i'm going to head out to snag the 5700, i'll post pics when i get back.............wanted to add, the timberbear that i owned was only 3.4 C.I. but would easily pull a 20" b/c fully buried and keep on singing, i do miss that saw, again, i know most don't care for these saws, but i feel they're now somewhat of a sleeper saw, fine with me if no one else wants them, keeps the price down and with as many that have been sold, parts are easy to come by and cheap.....................

 

[old 040]

60cc, will pull a 24" bar. Two most common failures are the ignition modules (pretty much true for any older electronic ignition) and sometime the oil pumps. I have the 55cc version and it has had both those go bad (and I probably caused more damage to the original pump in trying to clean it), but has been great other than that. They are heavy but I like them.

For prices you can look on eBay for ideas.

I removed the spark screen and installed a larger HDB-1 carb, and it runs quite well. It usually runs a 24" bar with square ground full comp chain, and I'm impressed that a 55cc saw can do that as well as it does. The key is compression - these saws have a ton if in good condition. I run mine at 40:1 on E10 from the local station, as I do with all my saws.
View attachment 331038

was wondin chris, seeing that your saw is the 3420, is it actually 3.4 C.I.?.........sorry i see you listed it at 55cc..........a couple pics of the saw i'm going to see/buy today that seller posted, i owned an N.O.S. one the same model, which is an S.E. version, (not sure if there was anything really special about it though) that i sold via e-bay, the crazy 610 lover that sells this series of saws for big money on e-bay bought it at my buy it now price of 325. plus shipping, should have asked more!..................

 

[Chris-PA]

was wondin chris, seeing that your saw is the 3420, is it actually 3.4 C.I.?.........sorry i see you listed it at 55cc..........a couple pics of the saw i'm going to see/buy today that seller posted, i owned an N.O.S. one the same model, which is an S.E. version, (not sure if there was anything really special about it though) that i sold via e-bay, the crazy 610 lover that sells this series of saws for big money on e-bay bought it at my buy it now price of 325. plus shipping, should have asked more!..................View attachment 331496 View attachment 331497

Nice! I'm not really sure if my SE3420 is 55cc, as I have not tried to measure it. I'm assuming the 3420 designation is 3.4cu in and 20" bar. As far as I know the SE were just another of many name, paint and decoration marketing schemes from McCulloch, which unfortunately had replaced actual product development in that company and ultimately led to their demise.

The McCinderblocks are good saws for their intended use through, despite the grief they take here. I would not want to lug one all day as a pro, but it is no big deal for what I use it for. Other than that they are well designed, largely made of quality materials, produce good power and are durable. The engines have very high compression and pretty advanced porting designs.

 

[old 040]

just got back from grabbing the 5700, still need to clean it up, but it runs as new, got it for 70., he also has another of the same saw, just didn't have it with him this morning, said he'd sell it for 30., i'll most likely grab it too, i'll post pics when i get it cleaned up, won't be til monday or tuesday though, i guess what i like best about these saws is when you need to drop a tree that your unsure of which way it may fall, it's not going to bother me much if the saw gets crunched, well, maybe i'd be a little bummed.................

 

[old 040]

had a chance today to go over the 5700, biggest issue i found was a badly worn sprocket bearing, so i replaced the drum and bearing with a new one, a new sparkplug, fuel filter, and cleaned the like new air filter, saw cleaned up real nice, no missing paint even on the face of the saw!, added a inner spike, a good sharpening and dressed the bar, readjusted the carb with my own fuel mix, this saw still runs as new, i happy for only 70. bucks, will make a good felling saw for those trees that i'm unsure of which way they may fall.................