The big saws of the Pacific North West

[leeha]

Thats kinda what i thought Jacob.
But me being on the east coast surrounded
by sand and small tree's, Iv'e never seen a
big saw till i started collecting. And most of
my Mac's came from the PNW.


Lee

 

[CM76]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys - the big saws and big timber is one subject that I will never grow tired of hearing or reading about. Now if I can just track down a 990G over here in Australia....

Regards,

Chris.

 

[Gologit]

Thats kinda what i thought Jacob.
But me being on the east coast surrounded
by sand and small tree's, Iv'e never seen a
big saw till i started collecting. And most of
my Mac's came from the PNW.


Lee

Treat 'em good...that's part of our history you have there. Too bad those old monsters can't talk, eh?

 

[RandyMac]

Bob,I don't know if they talk, but I can still hear them singing.

 

[Jacob J.]

Bob,I don't know if they talk, but I can still hear them singing.

That's the kinda thing that goes with you until the end...

 

[Mr. Bow Saw]

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[GASoline71]

My McCulloch and Homelite collection keeps growing and growing... I've got some big ol' saws out here. Funny thing is the Mac 640 geardrive I have came from Florida. Prolly why the dang thing pactically looks new.

I bought my 797 from the "sawking".

My Homelite 770G has history up in the woods near Electron and Kapowsin where the loggin' trains were loaded up to head down to Comencement Bay in Tacoma, and the Port of Olympia. It had a 5 or 6 foot bar on it, and it was used to buck the ends of the logs to even them up after they were loaded on to the railroad cars. Those were one, two, and three log loads at the time... Big oldgrowth timber. That 770G cut a lot of logs sittin' on railroad cars from 1960... all the way into the late 70's... Kinda cool that I got to own a peice of that history.

Gary

 

[Gologit]

Bob,I don't know if they talk, but I can still hear them singing.

Randy, that's just the ringing in our ears from the days when we didn't wear ear plugs.

 

[CM76]

My Homelite 770G has history up in the woods near Electron and Kapowsin where the loggin' trains were loaded up to head down to Comencement Bay in Tacoma, and the Port of Olympia. It had a 5 or 6 foot bar on it, and it was used to buck the ends of the logs to even them up after they were loaded on to the railroad cars. Those were one, two, and three log loads at the time... Big oldgrowth timber. That 770G cut a lot of logs sittin' on railroad cars from 1960... all the way into the late 70's... Kinda cool that I got to own a peice of that history.

Gary

Its really nice to have that sort of information on your saws history Gary. As you mentioned, with two and three log loads - you are talking about some real big timber there! The 5 foot bar on the 770G would be something to see as well.

Regards,

Chris.

 

[RandyMac]

Homelites were present in Orygun, I got this beast from an old Coos Bay logger.

The Master Faller who trained me ran big upright cylinder Homelite geardrives, the noise they made was awesome. I ran mostly McCullochs, it was funny to see him wince when I lit one up, like he could hear it over the full on bellow of his red and green chainsaws.

 

[belgian]

The saying here was the Macs would cut like everything if you could just get the thing to start!

Mc Culloch was big here in the sixties and seventies, and I've met a lot of old people than ran them in those days. Their comments are always pretty much the same : temperamental, a SOB to start, and always "something" that caused need for repair ...

You can fairly say that they were not liked very much......:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

 

[ROOTSXROCKS]

Thank God For modern plastics !
I had one of those monsters as a teen.
I tried to use it to convert a three wheel bicycle to a powered version. got her all ready and put it together and the motor was so heavy I couldn't keep the front wheel on the ground. :jawdrop:

 

[2dogs]

I have very little experience with big Macs and Homelites. I ran a gear drive Homelite in 1974 while clearing power line ROW for the local utility (PG&E). Now I have an 090. I'm glad I never had to run a big saw all that much. Those things shake, rattle, and roll LOUDLY. I have no love for my 090. Plus I'm deaf enough from ear infections, gunfire, and high pressure gas that I don't need anymore damage. Still I do like those big saws for a few minutes now and then. When my hands can take it.

 

[GrantC]

Grant- this was in good old Glide, Oregon. Glide Hardware was what it was called in the late 70's and 80's when I was a kid there and they still sold Homelite, and Pioneer/Partner. By then though I only remember seeing the smaller saws. The big ones were sold in Roseburg at Hunt's (Husqvarna/Partner/Poulan), Hobi's (Stihl), and Capitol saw (Homelite/Husqvarna/Jonsereds.) I think it was called Homer's Hardware or something like that in the '50's and '60's.

Yes, I know Glide - been through there a few times!

I grew up on a farm outside of Molalla. The town had 4 large mills - 2 of them inside the city limits. One mill was next to the High School, and we used to watch the jitney loaders ferrying lumber down the street, from the mill to the railcars.

We had 2 saw shops, but I've only seen the inside of one of them - the Homelite shop. Dad was a Homelite guy, so that's where he shopped. Like the one in Glide, this shop handled Homelite and one of the "P" saws - either Partner or Pioneer. (Maybe both?) I seem to also recall an Echo sign going up there when I was in high school.

That saw shop is still there, though I think it handles Stihl these days. The other one - the Mac dealer - is long gone, the building having been replaced by an ugly little "strip" office building. Like most of the rest of Oregon, logging in the area is all but gone.

-=[ Grant ]=-

 

[GASoline71]

Alas... Wood's Logging Supply went tits up awhile back in Morton, WA.

Gary

 

[Jacob J.]

They still have the store in Sedro Wooley?

 

[GASoline71]

Yep... that's my main shop I go to... those guys are the cats a$$...

Gary

 

[Cedarkerf]

The longview shop is still open was couple months ago any way.

 

[GASoline71]

Chehalis/Longview is Wood's flagship store... it's where all their wire rope and yarder cable and stuff are sold. A lot of their truck equipment is sold there too...

Gary

 

[CM76]

Homelites were present in Orygun, I got this beast from an old Coos Bay logger.

The Master Faller who trained me ran big upright cylinder Homelite geardrives, the noise they made was awesome. I ran mostly McCullochs, it was funny to see him wince when I lit one up, like he could hear it over the full on bellow of his red and green chainsaws.

That 8-29 Homelite is awesome - check out that falling spike! Have you managed to get her going again? That is one hell of a saw. Now I would love to have one of those in my collection!

Regards,

Chris.