New member looking for help on obsolete parts.

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2/ Addiction

New Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2012
Messages
3
Reaction score
1
Location
The Third Rock
Hi Guys,

Great site you have going here, lots of good advice and help for the newbies like myself.

I just recently discovered chainsaws and love it, small 2/ engines screaming away, takes me back to my youth running 2/ motorcycles, RD250/350LC etc. US designation was RZ250/350LC I think? Anyway satisfies my ears and the big piles of firewood come in handy as well.

About 15 years ago I bought a MacCat 839 at auction very cheaply; absolutely mint no signs of wear whatsoever. I used it the once to “burn” my way through a 5” stick and when it ran out of fuel I was glad and put it away into the attic for the next 15 years. My thinking at the time was I didn’t know how to sharpen the chain, had no PPE and no idea at all what I was doing with it, in short I figured I was an accident waiting to happen and it was probably best that the thing was put out of immediate reach.

Fast forward 15 years and circumstances changed, with the high winds last year and trees down all over the place, my work had a number of issues with access roads to sites being blocked, we had only the one guy with a chainsaw ticket and he was working non-stop for three days clearing fallen timber. My boss decided that he wanted another four people qualified on chainsaws for the next time and I was asked if I wanted to do the course, my initial reaction was No (never volunteer!) and about fifteen to thirty seconds later I changed my mind to Yes! Well that course grew arms and legs due to insurances and liability, so to get approved for clearing windfall and taking off root-balls we have to do, chainsaw maintenance, small tree felling, crosscutting and clearing, medium tree felling, root-balls on single windfall and it looks like we have another course to do for multiple windfall. It’s been great fun, but I can only say that the guys working in the felling industry really earn their money, it’s hard work to be doing day in, day out.

Anyways as it’s my first post I thought a little intro was in order, so hope I didn’t bore you all. My problem is that the MacCat 839 snapped a bar stud when being tightened! Honestly I wasn’t going mad with the wrench and figure that the metal used is substandard or at least of a lesser quality than I thought. I contacted the UK dealer who advised that the part (stud) is obsolete and he couldn’t help, now that maybe the case but I am sure that MacCulloch didn’t change the part that much when revamping their product line and am hoping that someone can advise what modern part number can be tied back to the old 839 stud part number so I can get the little bugger back in action again. It’s not a great saw but I like it (a lot) and have dropped a lot of trees on the mark with it, so some help would be appreciated, I could also do with a work shop manual for it.

My second problem is somewhat different but the same, another obsolete part if I understand correctly. Figuring that more is better, especially when crosscutting 3’ beech for fire wood I bought a Husqvarna 266XP off of Ebay, sold as in good working order. To be fair the saw start easily, runs well, ticks over nicely and restarts with no issues. Compression felt a bit low though and on testing was found to be 70psi, with a little oil in the chamber compression tested at 100psi, still not brilliant even should my tester be reading a little low. Got out the borescope and checked the cylinder and could see some evidence of scorching and what looked like alloy on the cylinder walls, so pulled off the exhaust and carb, scoring could be seen on the intake and exhaust side of the piston. Not really a problem I figured on rebuilding the saw over the next twelve months anyway, maybe porting it a little and doing some other mods to improve performance. I hadn’t figured on the fact that replacement cylinders for the 266 saw are expensive and hard to come by, I had figured with a production run of over twenty years a number of suppliers would be producing components for it.

Anyway I have removed the stuck alloy from the cylinder with sulphuric acid and there are only two small scores of note on the cylinder walls, these appear to be both below the bottom of the exhaust port, so hopefully will not have to much effect on the rebuild. My ball hone and full gasket set have arrived and am presently waiting on the replacement piston coming, so thanks to those guys who have posted on how to remove alloy smearing etc. With the clean up and a new ring only, compression has now come up to 100psi so am hopeful that the hone and new piston will give another increase.

The real problem for me is that the saw is actually marked on chassis plate as a 266SE, the covers have the XP stickers and the present cylinder is of the closed port variety, so would appear that it may have been converted at some point in it life, I am still unsure on the crank type at this point but will investigate closer when I get around to changing the crank seals. The saw has the old metal brake handle and on inspecting the brake band it can clearly be seen to be knife edged (thin) on the bottom and does not have much life left in it so needs replaced, the sooner the better.

Does anyone know what part number the band is for the older style brake band?

Do they know where I can source one? I really want to keep the existing configuration but if pushed I may have to replace the side casing and brake, if I understand correctly this means also changing or modifying the exhaust outlet, all stuff I do not really want to do at this point at least. But if necessary what side casing would be best to replace the existing one with?

I’m also looking for a workshop manual for the 266SE/266XP if anyone can help?

Any help would be appreciated, chainsaws are great fun and dropping trees is fun as well, especially when getting up into the 30” now.
 
No replies but thats ok I think with being a new member and needing moderator to ok my first post it may have dropped a couple of pages if the original date and time was used.

My Episan piston ordered from Greece came in and was a Meteor when it arrived, I understand this is not uncommon with the seller, nice quality piston but the only caution I would give would be watch the inside edges of the casting they are dammed sharp! My thumb is healing nicely.

I have rebuilt the top end and compression is now showing 100-105psi when pulling it over:msp_smile:, regardless of whether my compression gauge is reading low or not that makes for a approx 50% increase in compression. No decompression button on this saw so the best way to fire it up I'm finding is to pull it over top dead centre and then yank hard on the cord, 3-4 pulls from cold gets her going and a single pull therafter when warm does the bizz.

Saw is still well mannered and reliable starting, ticks over nicely too.:cool2: Overall I'm happy with the present situation and just needing to find some time to run it in, in some decent wood.

I found the brake band part number (501 83 02-01) and as I feared it is obsolete, local dealer contacted the importers and best advise they can give is to purchase a complete later side casing at approx £80!!!

So if anyone can advise where to buy aftermarket bands I'm still interested. Also still looking to replace the broken bar stud on the MacCat 839. Also still looking for workshop manuals for both saws.


I have bought another 266 with a seized top end for spares :msp_confused: I have a bad feeling I may have contracted CAD. The brake band on the spares saw is good but doesn't have the slit in it as per the original part? Now I find myself being torn between rebuilding the spares saw or sticking with the original plan of using it as sppares to keep my original purchase running for another 20+ years.:bang:

Again thanks for a great site.
 
You can buy the complete chain cover and brake assembly. The part number is 503736601. Also there are complete aftermarket cover/brake assemblies available if you dont want to pay OEM prices. Oh yeah welcome to AS.
 
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Most of the guys here drink a lot, and a large amount of text to read can make them click on something else.

So you need help finding some old Husky parts?
And approximately where do you live?

If you at least put a state/country, it would help, we cannot steal your identity just yet.........
 
Most of the guys here drink a lot, and a large amount of text to read can make them click on something else.

So you need help finding some old Husky parts?
And approximately where do you live?

If you at least put a state/country, it would help, we cannot steal your identity just yet.........


Fair comment, thanks for the replies guys. Yeah I'm a little paranoid regarding giving personal info on the net, preferring to bury the details in threads as I get to know people.

Am located in Scotland, The Kingdom Of Fife... as for drinks I do like to partake in our national product preferably a 10 year old MacCallan with a Black and Tan beer on the side. :hmm3grin2orange:

I'll try keep my posts shorter and more concise for those going crosseyed.

I'm wondering on the brake band issue has anyone formed one of these from a steel strip?

I think I better go load some ammo, no cutting this weekend so popping some holes in paper is always fun and my shooting has been suffering some due to this chainsaw thing over the last couple of months.
 
If you haven't already done so, go the Stickies at the top of the chainsaw forum page, and find the Beg For Manuals thread. Make a post asking for the 266 workshop/service manual, & someone will probably send a personal message to you.

Also in the Stickies you'll find the Swap Meet thread, a great place to get help with NLA parts.


Aw ra best!
 
Fair comment, thanks for the replies guys. Yeah I'm a little paranoid regarding giving personal info on the net, preferring to bury the details in threads as I get to know people.

Am located in Scotland, The Kingdom Of Fife... as for drinks I do like to partake in our national product preferably a 10 year old MacCallan with a Black and Tan beer on the side. :hmm3grin2orange:

I'll try keep my posts shorter and more concise for those going crosseyed.

I'm wondering on the brake band issue has anyone formed one of these from a steel strip?

I think I better go load some ammo, no cutting this weekend so popping some holes in paper is always fun and my shooting has been suffering some due to this chainsaw thing over the last couple of months.

Your posts so far are quite enjoyable to read. Certainly better than some of the barely decipherable "text speak" gibberish that shows up.
 
Your posts so far are quite enjoyable to read. Certainly better than some of the barely decipherable "text speak" gibberish that shows up.

:agree2:

2/ Addiction, your posts make sense to me. Apparantly you paid attention in English class, and/or you're an avid reader.
 
Most of the guys here drink a lot, and a large amount of text to read can make them click on something else.

you should know :msp_biggrin::msp_biggrin::msp_biggrin: just kidding fish so don't put me in ban camp,, wait,,do it,, i love the snackies there,,

drinking+fish= drinking like a fish,,,,,, :hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange: i made a funny
 
a 266 is a great old saw. Husky's are known to wind out pretty decent.
I (among others) are not a fan of the outboard clutch. The brake you are struggling with has to be kept really really clean to work well.
 
I was in no way complaining about our new member's writing style, we need more of that around here.
I was just explaining why he was slow in getting any responses.

As far as coming to a site to correspond with other chainsaw nuts, you have come to the right place, and we are glad to see you join.

And on the drinking topic, someone started a thread on beer, and it was quite popular.
 
I am NO expert but your saying that the compresion is reading 100-105 on your gauge. If a chainsaw had 100 psi i would be supprised if it even would pull a chain, after a new piston it should be at LEAST hitting that 140-150 psi mark depending on the cylinder. You gauge propably doesent have a schrader valve or what ever. Probably look into getting one for two stroke engines really good investment
Im not positive if a comp release needs a schrader vavle or shouldnt have one some one speak up
 
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