Coffin Dodger
New Member
Hey folks.
First post on the forum here although I’ve been readin through stuff for a while now. I live in Scotland btw.
I’m wondering if there is a kinda addiction factor to saws?
Reason being up until a year ago, I’d never laid hands on a saw -(I’m 53 now) – always thought they were probably far too much to handle in inexperienced hands. To be honest I was a bit scared of the things as well!
Anyway, I was working with this guy who’s been using a chainsaw for years and years. He was cuttin, and I was lifting the rings and splitting on a nice tractor mounted hydraulic splitter. Watched this guy cutting and I thought, “I need to try doin that”. Well I wouldn’t ask to use another guy’s tools and anyway I didn’t have any experience so I decided on another way.
This guy had an old saw sitting at the side of an outhouse in his yard and when we got back one night, I said “what’s with that old wreck of a saw there?” Turned out it’d been sittin there for more than two years. It had just refused to start and the repair shop had said it wasn’t worth fixing, so it was brought back and dumped. Top cover was off, no spark plug, chain open to the elements. Oil & fuel caps were unscrewed as well, and both tanks as well as the jug were full of rainwater. I said “how about I take that away and see if I can clean it up and make it work?” He looked at me like I was an idiot and said if you can get old pile of junk to work you’re welcome to it.
So, to cut a long story short. Husky 61 (as I discovered) in pretty bad shape. Very bad shape in fact. After a bit of a search, I managed to download a workshop manual from the web. Very helpful.
Took everything apart except the case & crank & cleaned as best I could. There was just a very slight scoring inside the jug which I basically just gently smoothed off with fine wet & dry. I got a new ring for the piston, gasket set and also a repair kit for the Tillotson carb. Also took a look at the oil pump. Stripped it down, gave it a clean and then put it back together since it all looked ok. The pump seemed to do what it was supposed to. When I turned it manually after priming it with oil, air bubbles appeared.
After a good clean, the bar was fine, so I put everything back together the way it should be, stuck in a new plug, filled the oil tank, fresh fuel mix and put the old cleaned up & lubed chain back on. No way was this chain ever goin to cut anything, but I reckoned it was better with a chain on to see if it was goin to run. Chain brake worked fine too. When the time came to pull the rope, which was one thing I didn’t replace since it seemed fine, I was pretty nervous.
Anyway, I put it on the ground, slid the switch and gave it a few pulls. After about twelve tugs, I was beginning to think I’d wasted some money on parts. Back to lookin at the manual – specifically high and low settings. Did what it said and tried again. Fifth or sixth pull and something nearly happened. A few more and then nope. I decided to remove the spark plug – it was wet. I left it and went for lunch.
About an hour later, I came back and put the plug back in still thinkin I’m on a lost cause, and suddenly. I had a live chainsaw in my hands! Couldn’t believe this thing was running. Of course it wouldn’t idle – just died. And it didn’t seem to like running at high speeds either. Anyway, you folks know more than me about adjusting carbs so no point in describing what happened next.
Eventually got it running sweet then stuck on a new chain. THEN, I took it back to the guy I’d worked with and said hey, want to see what I did with your old saw? He offered me money on the spot to buy it back, but I decided to keep it. Over the summer I’ve lost my fear of chainsaws, learned how to use it safely and gained a new respect for an awesome tool.
I’m well aware how a moment’s disrespect for a saw could turn into something nasty. But I’ve also discovered something that’s maybe been latent in me for many years. Wow, do I enjoy using a saw to cut up timber. Hardwood or softwood - for firewood mainly. I love the environment around me and I also love trees, but like I said at the beginning, usin a saw gets you like an addiction. Maybe I’ll grow out of it, after all, I’m gonna be 54 next birthday. Either I grow out of it or it’s gonna be a new modern saw to supplement this old one come spring.
Hey, sorry for the long first post folks.
Here’s a pic of my refurbished old 61.
[/IMG]
First post on the forum here although I’ve been readin through stuff for a while now. I live in Scotland btw.
I’m wondering if there is a kinda addiction factor to saws?
Reason being up until a year ago, I’d never laid hands on a saw -(I’m 53 now) – always thought they were probably far too much to handle in inexperienced hands. To be honest I was a bit scared of the things as well!
Anyway, I was working with this guy who’s been using a chainsaw for years and years. He was cuttin, and I was lifting the rings and splitting on a nice tractor mounted hydraulic splitter. Watched this guy cutting and I thought, “I need to try doin that”. Well I wouldn’t ask to use another guy’s tools and anyway I didn’t have any experience so I decided on another way.
This guy had an old saw sitting at the side of an outhouse in his yard and when we got back one night, I said “what’s with that old wreck of a saw there?” Turned out it’d been sittin there for more than two years. It had just refused to start and the repair shop had said it wasn’t worth fixing, so it was brought back and dumped. Top cover was off, no spark plug, chain open to the elements. Oil & fuel caps were unscrewed as well, and both tanks as well as the jug were full of rainwater. I said “how about I take that away and see if I can clean it up and make it work?” He looked at me like I was an idiot and said if you can get old pile of junk to work you’re welcome to it.
So, to cut a long story short. Husky 61 (as I discovered) in pretty bad shape. Very bad shape in fact. After a bit of a search, I managed to download a workshop manual from the web. Very helpful.
Took everything apart except the case & crank & cleaned as best I could. There was just a very slight scoring inside the jug which I basically just gently smoothed off with fine wet & dry. I got a new ring for the piston, gasket set and also a repair kit for the Tillotson carb. Also took a look at the oil pump. Stripped it down, gave it a clean and then put it back together since it all looked ok. The pump seemed to do what it was supposed to. When I turned it manually after priming it with oil, air bubbles appeared.
After a good clean, the bar was fine, so I put everything back together the way it should be, stuck in a new plug, filled the oil tank, fresh fuel mix and put the old cleaned up & lubed chain back on. No way was this chain ever goin to cut anything, but I reckoned it was better with a chain on to see if it was goin to run. Chain brake worked fine too. When the time came to pull the rope, which was one thing I didn’t replace since it seemed fine, I was pretty nervous.
Anyway, I put it on the ground, slid the switch and gave it a few pulls. After about twelve tugs, I was beginning to think I’d wasted some money on parts. Back to lookin at the manual – specifically high and low settings. Did what it said and tried again. Fifth or sixth pull and something nearly happened. A few more and then nope. I decided to remove the spark plug – it was wet. I left it and went for lunch.
About an hour later, I came back and put the plug back in still thinkin I’m on a lost cause, and suddenly. I had a live chainsaw in my hands! Couldn’t believe this thing was running. Of course it wouldn’t idle – just died. And it didn’t seem to like running at high speeds either. Anyway, you folks know more than me about adjusting carbs so no point in describing what happened next.
Eventually got it running sweet then stuck on a new chain. THEN, I took it back to the guy I’d worked with and said hey, want to see what I did with your old saw? He offered me money on the spot to buy it back, but I decided to keep it. Over the summer I’ve lost my fear of chainsaws, learned how to use it safely and gained a new respect for an awesome tool.
I’m well aware how a moment’s disrespect for a saw could turn into something nasty. But I’ve also discovered something that’s maybe been latent in me for many years. Wow, do I enjoy using a saw to cut up timber. Hardwood or softwood - for firewood mainly. I love the environment around me and I also love trees, but like I said at the beginning, usin a saw gets you like an addiction. Maybe I’ll grow out of it, after all, I’m gonna be 54 next birthday. Either I grow out of it or it’s gonna be a new modern saw to supplement this old one come spring.
Hey, sorry for the long first post folks.
Here’s a pic of my refurbished old 61.
and welcome to the site
