New to chainsaws: want advice...

[woodcarver]

Greetings All!

I am just a guy, not a professional at anything woodwise; but I am a bit of a tool junkie, and occasionally help my buddy and his dad cut firewood, and occasionally also some lumber for my own woodworking. I am looking to learn more about chainsaw mechanics. does anyone here know of a good place to start? Does anyone give courses? I work for Habitat for Humanity, and therefore my budget doesn't run to much $. Right now it would be enough to learn to work on my own saw(s); but I have about zero mechanical/engine experience. It's a new thing for me since I got divorced. Currently I have a Stihl 025 and a 011 AVT, which needs a lot of work.

Thank you for any and all advice. Be safe out there in the woods!

 

[cus_deluxe]

Welcome!
My advice is to use the search function on here and you will learn a ton just by doing that. There is a load of info on here from some pretty smart guys who've been operating/fixing/moddi g saws for a long time. Familiarize yourself with the compenents of chainsaws (carb, intake, cylinder, clutch etc... A few basic tools can do 95% of what a guy needs to do on a saw. Good luck!

 

[bayard]

go ahead and take, em apart. you have to start somewhere.

 

[rynosawr]

Greetings All!

I am just a guy, not a professional at anything woodwise; but I am a bit of a tool junkie, and occasionally help my buddy and his dad cut firewood, and occasionally also some lumber for my own woodworking. I am looking to learn more about chainsaw mechanics. does anyone here know of a good place to start? Does anyone give courses? I work for Habitat for Humanity, and therefore my budget doesn't run to much $. Right now it would be enough to learn to work on my own saw(s); but I have about zero mechanical/engine experience. It's a new thing for me since I got divorced. Currently I have a Stihl 025 and a 011 AVT, which needs a lot of work.

Thank you for any and all advice. Be safe out there in the woods!

Welcome!

I like the advice of tearing some saws down.

The best advice is to let people know that you are looking for chainsaws to work on. Go talk to some shops and ask if they have any saws in the junk pile that you can have or buy for cheap. Bring gourmet donuts (jon1212 technique-noted) to the shop and offer them to the techs and owner.

I have found some real honey-holes by just asking. Some shops are a-holes and would rather throw pro saws in the dumpster than have someone take or buy them for cheap; yes, really.

The best advice I can give:

Stay away from cheap junk saws like new homelites and any mcculloch, new made stuff.

These will dissapoint with cheap build quality and not be very durable or powerful.

In general, watch for magnesium cased pro saws or semi-pro saws like your Stihl 025.

These can be really worth your time and efforts to fix up and resell or use for yourself or friends.

You can ask questions here if your search is unsuccessful and check YouTube for many informative videos.

 

[woodcarver]

Welcome!

I like the advice of tearing some saws down.

The best advice is to let people know that you are looking for chainsaws to work on. Go talk to some shops and ask if they have any saws in the junk pile that you can have or buy for cheap. Bring gourmet donuts (jon1212 technique-noted) to the shop and offer them to the techs and owner.

I have found some real honey-holes by just asking. Some shops are a-holes and would rather throw pro saws in the dumpster than have someone take or buy them for cheap; yes, really.

The best advice I can give:

Stay away from cheap junk saws like new homelites and any mcculloch, new made stuff.

These will dissapoint with cheap build quality and not be very durable or powerful.

In general, watch for magnesium cased pro saws or semi-pro saws like your Stihl 025.

These can be really worth your time and efforts to fix up and resell or use for yourself or friends.

You can ask questions here if your search is unsuccessful and check YouTube for many informative videos.

Thank you much Sir... this is exactly the kind of advice I am looking for. You have me thinking now that I will try to rebuild the Stihl 011 I have laying around, instead of trying to sell it. Especially since it's been on Craigslist for a month with no hits! Can you give me any advice on good models of Husqvarna or Jonsered?

Again, many thanks!

 

[rynosawr]

Haha, well, I would recommend starting on something else besides your 011....

They are honestly a pain to work on and one of the few saws I have literally tossed out my door after three solid days of messing with them....

Find the mike acres chainsaw website for a lot of great knowledge and history about chainsaws.

The main thing I would recommend is to stay away from the older stuff in general, like your 011.

The parts are sometimes tough to get, expensive, and the saws aren't worth much when running good.

I would stick with mostly saws that are newer Stihl, Husqvarna, Jonsereds, Redmax, and Shindaiwa.

More Common, really good saws that are semi-pro or pro level and not too old and may be found for cheap

Stihl 020t 024 025 026 028 034 038 044

Husqvarna 42 142 242 246 50 51 55 61 162 257xp 261xp 262xp 266 268xp 272xp 335xpt 338xpt

Jonsereds are basically the red headed brother to the Husqvarna saws and share 70% of the main parts with Husqvarna saws- if you see a Jonsereds saw with a magnesium oil tank, chances are it is a good saw and worth your time and efforts. The 49sp and 70E saws were excellent saws and many were sold, but didn't come with a chain brake at all or one that was sort of an afterthought, the parts for these are more scarce but they are worth having if you find a nice one.

If you see some stuff for sale or even free, try to look up info on arborist site and eBay to get an idea of their value and user opinions on them first.

Getting a bunch of old 60's and 70's saws will frustrate the crap out of you, especially if you intend to learn how to fix and flip them for extra money or you really need to use them to work. Stay away from big mccullochs for the most part unless they look cherry. The pm610 isn't a bad saw, but is very heavy for what power it makes, and even a nice one won't sell for more than $125.


Sure, there are collectors on here that might buy some of the older saws, but don't expect to sell anything if it doesn't look near mint.

 

[TimberWolf530]

Where are you located? I have an old Craftsman that will run if the rotted fuel lines are replaced. If you live in central IN, I'll give it to you. You could try to place a Want To Buy ad in the Trading Post for a non-working saw. I'm pretty sure there's 1 or 2............... uh thousand in members' garages & sheds.

 

[woodcarver]

Where are you located? I have an old Craftsman that will run if the rotted fuel lines are replaced. If you live in central IN, I'll give it to you. You could try to place a Want To Buy ad in the Trading Post for a non-working saw. I'm pretty sure there's 1 or 2............... uh thousand in members' garages & sheds.

Ah, thanks man... but I'm in SE Pennsylvania. Working for Habitat, I can pick up Craftsman saws almost anytime. We get 2 or 3 donated every month. I've burned out 2 myself. They aren't worth the effort. We get more Craftsman tools donated than anything else besides Harbor Freight/Walmart crap. Ratchets and wrenches from Craftsman are fine, their power tools are junk. I got rid of all of mine about 2 years ago. I do Porter-Cable power tools exclusively now. Keeps parts and batteries simple.

 

[rynosawr]

If you find a craftsman professional saw with yellow and black, I think 42cc/18 inch model 530-069218, it is one of the few very good ones, made by Zenoah/Redmax

Another odd brand is a Ryobi model Ry15032, also made by Zenoah of Japan

The most common, magnesium tanked, affordable, good-quality firewood saw around Denver must have been Husqvarna model 50, 51, and 55.

I have built 5 or 6 now and all are impressive for what they cost to buy used (working and not working, I have paid $20 for some burned up piston saws, and $100 for some good runners)

Do some research on these models on arboristsite and find out about the closed port version and regular open port versions; both make great firewood saws, the closed port version makes more power and pulls a bigger bar with more authority.

These models of saws will usually be much cheaper and easier to find than the 026 260 model Stihl saws


By the way, once you get a bigger pro level saw In your hands, you will become an instant snob and you will shun all lesser saws!!

You will see how much faster you can process firewood and how much less exhausted you are from doing it.

A homeowner saw is really just a minimal design, made affordable for a homeowner who will be happy enough that it works, even if slow.




I recently sold a neighbor a 262xp Husky and it replaced a cheapie homelite 38cc that the salesperson had told him was a good saw for home and firewood; needless to say, after loading an entire trailer with wood from the 262xp, he came back grinning ear to ear and said he really wouldn't have believed the difference if he hadn't experienced it for himself.

I bought that 262xp locally from a repair shop for $100 because it had low compression; it needed new rings, as the piston and cylinder were perfect. I re-ringed it, rebuilt the carb and sold it to him with a Stihl RS chain and a Windsor 20 inch bar. He now calls it his light saber for wood.

 

[TimberWolf530]

Ah, thanks man... but I'm in SE Pennsylvania. Working for Habitat, I can pick up Craftsman saws almost anytime. We get 2 or 3 donated every month. I've burned out 2 myself. They aren't worth the effort. We get more Craftsman tools donated than anything else besides Harbor Freight/Walmart crap. Ratchets and wrenches from Craftsman are fine, their power tools are junk. I got rid of all of mine about 2 years ago. I do Porter-Cable power tools exclusively now. Keeps parts and batteries simple.

Wow! OK dude. Craftsman are junk. I get it. I thought maybe a guy who was wanting to learn to fix them, and may trash a couple in the process, wouldn't be that picky about the brand. Guess I was wrong.

 

[kevin j]

Anything you can get for free would be worth taking apart for experiencxe and learning. It's just that the 'junk' saws aren't worth putting much money into.

'Pro' saws have a removable cylinder atop a two piece vertially split crankcase. Most rebuild is top end only and very easy.

The cheaper 'clamshell' design is split horizontally at the crank center, with the top of crankcase integral to the cylinder. A lot more work and time to repair top end, piston rings, etc

But I say grab the junk stuff and tear into it, learn, then put into recycling bin if any serious damage. .