What $10 at a scrap metal yard got me today...

[Brmorgan]

I went to a local scrap yard today looking for an engine to drive the bandmill I'm working on. Came up empty on that front, but found these instead:

The thing on the far left is called a "Whizz Witch" by Hoffco. I have no idea what it is, looks like an old-school brush saw or post auger engine. But it's an 85cc two-stroke engine that isn't seized, so I took it. From L to R the remainders are: A terribly smashed up 051/075/076 variant, what looks like a Husky 280CD or 2100CD, and some huge Homelite. The label says XL- and then it's half rubbed off but there's an 8 in there for sure. I have yet to measure any of these pistons to know for sure what models they are.

The piston on the Stihl looks great, but the cylinder is broken around the intake port where the carb mounts up. Looks like it took a good hit to the top and the carb mount bolt broke the side of the port off. Disappointing indeed, since the piston is fine. Sure has some compression to it though, I thought it was seized at first.

The Husky's P/C are in great shape too (from looking thru the exhaust port anyway). Flywheel and clutch look OK, and the clutch side case half should be fine but the flywheel side has some breaks. Other than that there isn't much salvageable on this one. FWIW the serial number is 244639 (couldn't find a model plate) and the cylinder has "Mahle" cast right into the side of it near the base on the clutch side.


The Homelite is the only really promising one of the bunch. Nothing appears broken and only the clutch cover is missing. The P/C look great inside, and BIG too. Not sure what model this is but it must be in the 90cc+ range. And talk about compression! It's all I can do to turn it over without giving it a real strong pull as if I were trying to start it. I'm hoping that this one will run with just a fuel system overhaul. I should be able to find a clutch cover from my friend locally, but we'll see. He has a bunch of old Homies in pieces in boxes. BTW is that just an auxiliary oiler plunger above the muffler? Seems like an incredibly inconvenient place to put a manual oiler pump.

So, nothing pretty to look at, but I should be able to more than recoup my $10 investment, and possibly have a running big Homie out of the deal. I'll most likely part out the Stihl and Husky to salvage whatever I can and either offer it up here or eBay, so if anyone sees something they need/want let me know and we can work something out. I told the scrapyard owner to keep his eye out for any chainsaws that come in, running or not, complete or not, and set them to the side and I'd check in every couple weeks to see what he had.

 

[pioneerguy600]

Well Brad you got yourself some project saws there, there goes your summer, looking for parts, cleaning up the old carcasses and tinkering on the mechanicals, don`t ask me how I know. LOL.
Good find and best of luck fixing them up.
By the way I got my RA completed and a pict posted on the Pioneer chainsaw thread.
Pioneerguy600

 

[husq2100]

great find

im interested in the 2100 piston cylinder and other stuff if any good...

Serg

 

[husq2100]

looking at the husky, could be a 298 as they didnt have a manual oiler... piston dia. is 56mm

Serg

 

[parrisw]

Just need a little TLC

 

[rupedoggy]

I think that Husky is a L65, 77, 380, 480 or something like that. It does not have the correct shape in the top of the cylinder to be a 298 or 2100. Mike

 

[Brian S]

Just need a little TLC

Or a LOT of TLC.

Homeite looks salvagable, rest look like ebay parts to me.

 

[kruege84]

great find

im interested in the 2100 piston cylinder and other stuff if any good...

Serg

I spotted a P/C for the 2100 floating around on fleabay, yesterday I believe...

 

[parrisw]

Or a LOT of TLC.

Homeite looks salvagable, rest look like ebay parts to me.

ha ha ha, ya your not kidding!!! I was!

 

[Brmorgan]

Well I have absolutely no intention of trying to complete the Stihl or Husky. They need far more parts than they have. My friend has an 051/076 (can't remember which) that he's been trying to find a working ignition for, so if this one's good I may just see what he'll trade me for the whole thing. I also have (most of) an 041 non-AV in a box, and a kinda-running Poulan 2150 that I might give to him as well, so I might be able to score something decent in return. I wonder if he'd give me a completely intact crankcase for my 090 since mine is broken out around the front-left handlebar mount eye, which is the only real physical defect except paint. he has a half dozen or so kicking around. I also saw a couple 084s or 088s in various degrees of completion that I might be interested in.

I don't know enough about the old vintage Huskies to tell the models apart at a glance. All those bigger ones look very similar or the same to me. I've only seen one 480CD and one 2100CD in person so my basis for comparison is fairly limited.

However, I measured the cylinders just a few minutes ago, and ALL THREE checked out at 52mm +/- 0.5mm. So I believe the Stihl is an 051, and the Husky is a 280/380/480CD, or possibly 185/285CD as they have the same diameters. Same diameter as my 181SE too but it certainly isn't one of those. I wonder if the piston would work though, since it has 2mm longer stroke.

I'm not 100% sure what the Homelite is yet for sure. After further inspection, it looks like what I thought was an 8 is more likely a 9 - either way a ~80cc saw.

crop:

It also appears to have "AM" written below the model designation, which pretty much narrows it down to a 902/903AM. What does the AM stand for? No matter what it is, this thing is noticeably harder to pull over than my 090 with 80% more displacement. Even harder than my 181SE w/o base gasket at 180LBS compression. I want to leave the muffler gutted and hear this thing bark! I miss the sound of my Dad's old XL-12 cutting firewood, and I was an idiot to let him sell it for $25 last year. It'll be nice to have one of the old Homelites in the collection.

 

[Brmorgan]

Took this stuff up to my friend's place today. In return for the Stihl and Husky carcasses, he traded me all the parts I should need to get the Homelite fully restored and functional, and even threw in a 25" bar for it. I even managed to find an actual XL-902AM clutch cover for it, so it matches. He had tons of 922 & 925 etc. parts but after going through a few boxes I found the 902AM one finally. I'm going to clean it up and start working on it right away this afternoon. I need to have a brush bonfire out back so I think I'll just work on it while I keep an eye on the fire.

 

[Edge & Engine]

I think it's an XL-800 AM (I didn't even know there is a 902AM). That sure looks like an 8 to me.

That first engine is off a real old school brushcutter. Tecumseh engine. I just got one running the other day, needed a new carb diaphragm.

EDIT: 902 must have been a Canadian model

 

[Brian S]

Dang man, your're lucky to have found the correct parts so quick. I will be waiting paitiently for pics.

 

[Brimmstone]

As to the old whiz they used lots of those on hand held brush cutters in the 70s. I have several of them right now waiting to be brought home from my moms in Ohio. The ones I have are all 3 horse engines and are quite vicious to use. The ones I have all wear 10-12 inch blades. The 12 being a carbide tooth saw blade.

 

[Brmorgan]

As to the old whiz they used lots of those on hand held brush cutters in the 70s. I have several of them right now waiting to be brought home from my moms in Ohio. The ones I have are all 3 horse engines and are quite vicious to use. The ones I have all wear 10-12 inch blades. The 12 being a carbide tooth saw blade.

Good heavens, those must be a fight to control! This one also says 3.0HP on the cover, though 3HP for 85cc seems tremendously low. I was thinking that if I got it running I might use it to drive a 10" saw arbor vertically on the bandmill I'm building. This would run ahead of the band and allow me to cut narrower boards from wide planks in one run, rather than canting the log and then slabbing the cants down. I'd only cut a couple inches deep with it, so it would never load up the engine too much.

Anyway, I finally got the old Homelite put together and running. Here it is now:

Excuse the Husky bar for the time being... It was all I had to do a few test cuts with. I don't have a chain for the bar my friend gave me, and to be honest this Husky bar fits better anyway - the mount groove fits nice and tight to the studs, while the Homelite bar has a mm or two of play. Not sure if the oiler hole lines up on the Husky bar though - I wasn't too concerned about it with just a few quick cuts in 8" wood.

Edge - It's very possible that it is an 800AM. I'd have to see a close picture of an intact label from both to compare them. I would expect an 8 to have a slight indent on the sides where the "crossbar" is (like the 8s typed here) but maybe not. The lower-left of the number is too faded/worn to tell for sure. And yes, the 902AM is Canada-only. But that makes sense in my case. The clutch cover I got is certainly from a 902AM, and since the other side is worn they match up just fine visually.

After removing the recoil cover to replace the rear handle section of the case, I discovered that 4-5 fins are snapped off the flywheel, so I'll need a new one of those. I doubt I'll have too much problem getting one from my friend. Same goes for the other parts I still need - a new air filter, a proper muffler cover (this one's just a piece some guy cut out of sheet steel and cut a couple slits in) and the rubber part from the rear handle. I'm not too sure if my friend has the rubber handle piece though. Edge, would you happen to have one kicking around in case he doesn't?

It does have a nice sound to it, especially at idle. Sounds much like my dad's old XL-12, just louder and a bit throatier. Cuts pretty well too. Not as fast as my 181SE but still very strong. It's surprisingly lightweight for its vintage, and the vibration isn't all that bad IMO. I still have some work to do on it, and I never did really clean it up very well, but I'm pretty happy about having another runner for only $7.50. Once my parts washer cabinet is finished and I have a proper sandblasting setup, I'll probably strip it right down and do a full restore eventually. The Homelite Red shouldn't be a difficult color of paint to match.

 

[Brimmstone]

There are four people beside myself who will dare to run one of them. I'm the only person who will run one on any type of incline. I have used them to take small trees out when clearing paths in the woods. With the one using the 12 inch blade running at full throttle I can take a 4 inch sapling out in one swing of the blade. I'm going to have to find someone who can reline the clutches for me as they are next to impossible to find.

 

[heimannm]

Brad Morgan - I addition to filling out my McCulloch collection eventually, I really want to have one of those red & white Homelites. I believe they were comperable to my Mac muscle saws and even the design and color scheme make them look "fast".

Congratulations on such a fortunate stop.

Mark

 

[Brmorgan]

Went back to the scrap yard today, and this time for $10 I walked away with a nearly-complete 280/380/480CD variant and a nearly-bare crankcase from the same. Included for that $10 I also scored a beautiful 12" rotary indexing table for a metal milling machine complete with a pro-grade 4" cross-slide vise. The main acme thread rod for the actual vise jaw is bent a bit, but it might hammer out and if not I think I have a spare. One of the handles for the cross-slide mechanism is also half-broken, but I have a cheapo Chinese 3-way vise that I'll rob parts off of if I have to.

The Husky I picked up there today will bring my collection up to 20 saws now... A year ago I had 5, I think. The top cover is busted beyond hope and it needs an oil cap and springs for the starter pawls on the flywheel, but other than that it looks complete. I haven't pulled the muffler yet, but I can barely turn the thing over by hand with the flywheel and it feels smooth with good compression. Should be good to go as long as it has spark. But I have two spare ignitions that fit it anyway, so one of them should work. FWIW the big Husky case I picked up two weeks ago is in fact a 2100 case - it has the manual oiler plunger. I have no use for it and will probably end up cleaning it up and putting it in the trading post for parts.

Brimmstone - I managed to get that Whizz Witch engine running last week. I actually had half a dozen parts carb units kicking around that fit it, so I tore a couple apart and rebuilt one good one that had both adjustable jets (the one on there had a fixed H jet). It had a slightly smaller venturi though, so I had to ream the center out a bit to make it +/- the same size as the original. It starts up in half a dozen pulls and runs really strong. The P/C were in perfect shape. I like the removable head on it too! How old are these engines anyway? The only other 2-stroke like it that I've worked on is my old 1957 Pioneer RA.

 

[BobL]

Went back to the scrap yard today, and this time for $10 I walked away with a nearly-complete 280/380/480CD variant and a nearly-bare crankcase from the same. Included for that $10 I also scored a beautiful 12" rotary indexing table for a metal milling machine complete with a pro-grade 4" cross-slide vise. . . . . .

Crikey! that sounds like a hell of a scrap yard! Post some pics man I wanna see that rotary table too.

 

[Brmorgan]

Well, I wasn't going to since it's not really chainsaw related, but since you asked...

And for good measure, a couple pics of the Husky saw I grabbed as well:

The saw's certainly ugly, but I can't find anything broken other than the top cover upon initial inspection. I don't know exactly how much that rotary table is worth, but I know it's a helluva lot more than $10! I don't have a machine to use it on at this point - I don't even think the table of my drill press would accommodate the weight of it, which must be around 100 LBS as it's a real treat to pick up and carry around. As for the scrap yard, if you pull anything out of the big heaps that haven't been sorted yet, they pretty much just charge scrap metal value even though said item may be in near-perfect condition. In today's case though I just told the owner what I found and he asked $10 without even coming out to see what I'd picked out. He did know about the table by the description I gave though.

Gotta run for now, I'll catch up with ya later Bob. I thought that milling table might pique your interest.