Been working away on this saw.
I rinsed out the bottom end with gas several times as it was super dirty and full of crap. Once I did that I oiled the bearings and they seemed to feel gritty. I then felt what seemed like a slight bit of up and down play in the pto side bearing.
So I decided I wouldn't risk having a bad bearing so I split the cases. Bearings are cheap, blown up bearings in a saw are expensive!!
Grabbed new bearings today from a bearing supplier. I can't get 6mm thick seals as it seems nobody makes them so I bought 7mm thick seals, hopefully I can make those work, theres lots of room for a thicker seal in this saw so hopefully they will work.
And finally I have a horseshoe up my arse!!
I emailed 6 or 7 places in both Canada, the States and in Europe looking for a piston and had zero results. Contacted the efco Canada importer and they gave me a few leads but nothing panned out.
I was thinking the husqvarna 395 or 298 piston modified and fit to this cylinder was going to be my only option til I could source a piston on ebay or from a different source.
On a whim I contacted the local shop that sold this saw in the 90s. I said "This may be a longshot but I'm looking for a 999 oleo mac piston." Figured this would be a very longshot, that shop hasn't been an Oleo-mac dealer in like 20 years or more.
Guy at the parts desk got back to me and said "You're in luck we actually have a piston here in stock."
Here it is:
Sounds like this piston was sitting on a shelf in a deep, dark corner for a coupke decades. They had a base gasket to and even gave me a huge break on the price of the piston cause I probably have the only 999 in the area.
So went from this saw being a long term hard to find parts for project to having all my parts to rebuild it in under a week!!!
If I have time tomorrow morning I'll assemble the bottom end and see if those 7mm thick seals will work. I think they will as one seal mounts into the oil pump housing so its like an inch from the bearing and the other side is like 1/2" from the bearing so they should work.
Keeping my fingers crossed that they will!!
I've built quite a few saws since starting my CAD journey but this one excites me the most!!
I rinsed out the bottom end with gas several times as it was super dirty and full of crap. Once I did that I oiled the bearings and they seemed to feel gritty. I then felt what seemed like a slight bit of up and down play in the pto side bearing.
So I decided I wouldn't risk having a bad bearing so I split the cases. Bearings are cheap, blown up bearings in a saw are expensive!!
Grabbed new bearings today from a bearing supplier. I can't get 6mm thick seals as it seems nobody makes them so I bought 7mm thick seals, hopefully I can make those work, theres lots of room for a thicker seal in this saw so hopefully they will work.
And finally I have a horseshoe up my arse!!
I emailed 6 or 7 places in both Canada, the States and in Europe looking for a piston and had zero results. Contacted the efco Canada importer and they gave me a few leads but nothing panned out.
I was thinking the husqvarna 395 or 298 piston modified and fit to this cylinder was going to be my only option til I could source a piston on ebay or from a different source.
On a whim I contacted the local shop that sold this saw in the 90s. I said "This may be a longshot but I'm looking for a 999 oleo mac piston." Figured this would be a very longshot, that shop hasn't been an Oleo-mac dealer in like 20 years or more.
Guy at the parts desk got back to me and said "You're in luck we actually have a piston here in stock."
Here it is:
Sounds like this piston was sitting on a shelf in a deep, dark corner for a coupke decades. They had a base gasket to and even gave me a huge break on the price of the piston cause I probably have the only 999 in the area.
So went from this saw being a long term hard to find parts for project to having all my parts to rebuild it in under a week!!!
If I have time tomorrow morning I'll assemble the bottom end and see if those 7mm thick seals will work. I think they will as one seal mounts into the oil pump housing so its like an inch from the bearing and the other side is like 1/2" from the bearing so they should work.
Keeping my fingers crossed that they will!!
I've built quite a few saws since starting my CAD journey but this one excites me the most!!