Old Husquvarna 61 restoration

[Jim Duggan]

Hello all,
My buddy and I are restoring an old husqvarna 61 that didn't come with a chain brake. Is it possible to install one on a model that wasn't ordered with one? I bought an oem plastic handle brake but it seems to come into contact with the handle bar. Does it need the old style metal brake or will it not work at all? Thanks!

 

[Orange Ripper]

Hello all,
My buddy and I are restoring an old husqvarna 61 that didn't come with a chain brake. Is it possible to install one on a model that wasn't ordered with one? I bought an oem plastic handle brake but it seems to come into contact with the handle bar. Does it need the old style metal brake or will it not work at all? Thanks!

I don’t see why it shouldn’t work! I’ve got a 1986 61 converted to a 272xp and I run a newer style cover with plastic style brake flag on it, supposed to be a metal one though, think the brake was just an option in those years

 

[Orange Ripper]

 

[Gord404]

are all your rubber mounts in good shape, might be pulling up the whole front of the saw and are your handle bars streight ?

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

Hello all,
My buddy and I are restoring an old husqvarna 61 that didn't come with a chain brake. Is it possible to install one on a model that wasn't ordered with one? I bought an oem plastic handle brake but it seems to come into contact with the handle bar. Does it need the old style metal brake or will it not work at all? Thanks!

You’ll need the old metal handle chain brake, I did the same on my white top 61.

 

[Jim Duggan]

I don’t see why it shouldn’t work! I’ve got a 1986 61 converted to a 272xp and I run a newer style cover with plastic style brake flag on it, supposed to be a metal one though, think the brake was just an option in those years

Thanks for your input. The handle bar may be tweaked or we're installing the brake incorrectly.

 

[Jim Duggan]

You’ll need the old metal handle chain brake, I did the same on my white top 61.

Thank you! Now if only I could find one, haha!

 

[Orange Ripper]

Thanks for your input. The handle bar may be tweaked or we're installing the brake incorrectly.

I did kind of compare a pic of my saw at the same angle your saw is on there in your pic, and it does seem like your handle bar is tilted slightly more forward than mine

 

[Jim Duggan]

I did kind of compare a pic of my saw at the same angle your saw is on there in your pic, and it does seem like your handle bar is tilted slightly more forward than mine

We're starting to think that is the issue.

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

We're starting to think that is the issue.

The handle could be tweaked, I’ll have to look at my 61 when I get home. I will mention the later plastic handle chain brakes need to be pulled back much further to reset. It’s common for them to hit the handle on older 61 and 266 models.

 

[Jim Duggan]

The handle could be tweaked, I’ll have to look at my 61 when I get home. I will mention the later plastic handle chain brakes need to be pulled back much further to reset. It’s common for them to hit the handle on older 61 and 266 models.

If that's the case I'll have to hunt down an old style brake assembly. Thanks for your help.

 

[Farmer_Nate]

I worked on a 266 once. Keep in mind the brake flag, the metal ones, are different for full wrap vs regular handle.

I had the wrong one, but bent it to work.

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

I worked on a 266 once. Keep in mind the brake flag, the metal ones, are different for full wrap vs regular handle.

I had the wrong one, but bent it to work.

That’s correct. The metal flag for full wrap handles looks like this. The straight ones can be bent slightly to clear like you said.

 

[JoeMay]

Added a chain brake to an early 80’s white-top 61. Yes, it definitely can be done and quite simply. The hurdle is finding a decent combo of clutch cover, brake band, activation mechanism and that cool silver metal flag. I was lucky to score a NOS one, complete. A member here had one.

 

[Jim Duggan]

Added a chain brake to an early 80’s white-top 61. Yes, it definitely can be done and quite simply. The hurdle is finding a decent combo of clutch cover, brake band, activation mechanism and that cool silver metal flag. I was lucky to score a NOS one, complete. A member here had one.

The good news is after adjusting the handle bar and the actual chain brake itself we managed to get it to fit and unlock. I did find some old style in ebay but people got into a pretty nutso bidding war on them so I walked. Thanks for everyone's help on this.

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

I see you got it sorted out. Here’s a picture of my 61 white top I put together from parts I had on hand. Tried to get a similar angle as in your first picture.

 

[Jim Duggan]

I see you got it sorted out. Here’s a picture of my 61 white top I put together from parts I had on hand. Tried to get a similar angle as in your first picture.
View attachment 1101544

Nice. The plastic brake handle is working but I'm a bit worried about performance so I'm still looking for an original metal one like yours.

 

[ballisticdoughnut]

The later plastic flag clutch covers are inertia activated rather than mechanically like the early metal flag covers which is better from a safety aspect. That being said, they don’t always work on the early saws as you know. If you look at a later single coil 61, 268, 272 you’ll notice the handle is set further back to accommodate the longer pull of the plastic brake flag.

 

[Jim Duggan]

The later plastic flag clutch covers are inertia activated rather than mechanically like the early metal flag covers which is better from a safety aspect. That being said, they don’t always work on the early saws as you know. If you look at a later single coil 61, 268, 272 you’ll notice the handle is set further back to accommodate the longer pull of the plastic brake flag.

I haven't seen enough of the saws in person to be able to compare side by side but that's Interesting.

 

[JoeMay]

Here's mine. When I first got it running well it sported a 17 inch Windsor bar and had no chain brake system. Now it has 20 inch Oregon bar and an OEM chain brake system. It also has a Meteor P&C kit installed and a muffler mod was done. I had gifted this saw to my brother but he struggled to start it with no compression relief. So, I gave him my 359 and I got the 61 back home. We're both happy.