total novice scored a McCulloch Super 250 for $20 -- what now?

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chuckfury

New Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2021
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Location
Blue Hill, ME
Hello all,

I'm new to the site and to the world of chainsaws. My wife and I moved back to her hometown in Maine, from NYC, and bought a home with some land. I'm an outdoors-loving person but have no experience whatsoever with chainsaws. After a bunch of research, I bought a Husqvarna 550 XP II, which I believe will be a good tool to learn with but one I won't outgrow. I've felled dozens of dead, sick, or crowded trees and things are taking shape. Didn't take long for me to want a chainsaw mill and 50cc's and a 20" bar will only be enough to make some nice planks and posts. I'd like to make slabs and was told I'd need at least 70cc's to do that effectively. I ended up scoring a working McCulloch Super 250 for $20; was told it's tricky to start but that it would run for days, thereafter. It clearnly needs an overhaul, but I am not a small-engine mechanic; gotta pick your battles and my hobbies are all heavy ones--photography, tech-scuba, and pyrotech. I will learn, no doubt, but for now I'd just like to get it in stable working order. My chainsaw service dealer is swamped and can't keep labor, so it may fall to me to learn. I have the manuals and tools, so I was thinking I'd start with a general disassembly, cleaning, and inspection of all expendables. If it looks OK, I'll put it back together and see how she runs, but beyond that, I'm not sure what my next move is. Any ideas or suggestions greatly appreciated, and I look forward to contributing as my knowledge grows.

Charlie
 
Hello all,

I'm new to the site and to the world of chainsaws. My wife and I moved back to her hometown in Maine, from NYC, and bought a home with some land. I'm an outdoors-loving person but have no experience whatsoever with chainsaws. After a bunch of research, I bought a Husqvarna 550 XP II, which I believe will be a good tool to learn with but one I won't outgrow. I've felled dozens of dead, sick, or crowded trees and things are taking shape. Didn't take long for me to want a chainsaw mill and 50cc's and a 20" bar will only be enough to make some nice planks and posts. I'd like to make slabs and was told I'd need at least 70cc's to do that effectively. I ended up scoring a working McCulloch Super 250 for $20; was told it's tricky to start but that it would run for days, thereafter. It clearnly needs an overhaul, but I am not a small-engine mechanic; gotta pick your battles and my hobbies are all heavy ones--photography, tech-scuba, and pyrotech. I will learn, no doubt, but for now I'd just like to get it in stable working order. My chainsaw service dealer is swamped and can't keep labor, so it may fall to me to learn. I have the manuals and tools, so I was thinking I'd start with a general disassembly, cleaning, and inspection of all expendables. If it looks OK, I'll put it back together and see how she runs, but beyond that, I'm not sure what my next move is. Any ideas or suggestions greatly appreciated, and I look forward to contributing as my knowledge grows.

Charlie
 
McCulloch hasn’t made chainsaws in years and parts availability is limited, chainsaw mills are very slow at producing lumber and not very accurate. Much better to get a bandsaw mill, Harbor Freight Tools has one for about $2000, I have one and have produced thousands of board feet of good lumber with it.
 

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