XL 925 or 924

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sacfaller

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I have my Dad's old falling saw he used throughout my childhood and young adulthood. After coming home from the Army I noticed that he was selling the saw for 75 dollars at a yard sale. A couple of old timers were trying to get it to start, but were unsuccessful. I quickly grabbed "Grampa" saw and asked Dad why he was selling it. Won't start and is too heavy for his tired old body. Needless to say I have been dragging Grampa around for a number of years with most shops saying no we don't work on that old stuff.
Fast forward to finding this site and now I think I can get the old saw up and running. I remember Dad saying it is a 924, but it looks like a 925 to me. I need to get a picture on this site, but is there a difference cosmetically with the two saws that is easy to figure out. I think I need to know what the saw is before I can start asking questions.
It has great compression, but I haven't checked the spark or fuel lines.

Thanks for the info,

Matt
 
I have my Dad's old falling saw he used throughout my childhood and young adulthood. After coming home from the Army I noticed that he was selling the saw for 75 dollars at a yard sale. A couple of old timers were trying to get it to start, but were unsuccessful. I quickly grabbed "Grampa" saw and asked Dad why he was selling it. Won't start and is too heavy for his tired old body. Needless to say I have been dragging Grampa around for a number of years with most shops saying no we don't work on that old stuff.
Fast forward to finding this site and now I think I can get the old saw up and running. I remember Dad saying it is a 924, but it looks like a 925 to me. I need to get a picture on this site, but is there a difference cosmetically with the two saws that is easy to figure out. I think I need to know what the saw is before I can start asking questions.
It has great compression, but I haven't checked the spark or fuel lines.

Thanks for the info,

Matt
matt i will applaud you for rescueing that saw it may be heavy but there is a reason for that its called quality built

magnesium casting etc. dan or mark should be alone soon to join in the discussion

as far as parts between me and edgeandengine we should be able to get you the parts you may need

i know i have the 924 ipl somewhere around here i will have to scan it to pdf file but that is no biggie since i have the programs to do this

i do think by memory they are different n the cylinder and piston

calvin

also welcome to the site
 
pictures

Trying to figure this out. Here is the left side with the XL visible.

Matt


picture.php
 
Hey I'm having trouble with photos. How do you just post the link?
Anyway here are two more.

Matt

I use Photoshop CS3 to make all my photos smaller and then upload them to my Photobucket account. From there I copy the link and use the "insert image" icon and paste the link. Works fine for me.
 
Now just to clean it up and figure out why she doesn't want to start. I am going to first try the old spray a little fuel mixture in the carb and see if I get anything at all. Seems to me that the old fuel lines probably are done.
Does anyone know about the ignition on this saw. How much of a problem am I looking at if it is in bad shape?

thanks,

Matt
 
Now just to clean it up and figure out why she doesn't want to start. I am going to first try the old spray a little fuel mixture in the carb and see if I get anything at all. Seems to me that the old fuel lines probably are done.
Does anyone know about the ignition on this saw. How much of a problem am I looking at if it is in bad shape?

thanks,

Matt

I think that there where three different types of ignition systems, not sure though. First, points system. Then, three piece without points. Last, one piece without points. I have the last. I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong, basically I just guessed, but I'm sure that mine is a single piece ingnition system.
 
One thing I have forgot to tell about the saw is that Dad had it rebuilt a couple of times back in the 70's. He said that the shop in Shady Cove OR liked that old saw so much that they decided to "hop it Up" a bit.
When we were cutting down Yew trees for the cancer therapy drug Taxol Dad and his business partner were using I believe 031's.
When one of those had trouble Grandpa saw was grabbed. I remember his partner saying, "man you feel like you can just lay this old saw over and mow these trees down like grass!"
I'm looking forward to breaking it out when my bro and I need to thin some of the timber on my folks property. He will freak when this happens.
Should be fun. 36" bar and all.

Matt
 
Now just to clean it up and figure out why she doesn't want to start. I am going to first try the old spray a little fuel mixture in the carb and see if I get anything at all. Seems to me that the old fuel lines probably are done.
Does anyone know about the ignition on this saw. How much of a problem am I looking at if it is in bad shape?

thanks,

Matt

matt check the air filter it may just be the cause also change the spark plug sometimes a bad spark plug is all it is wrong

i would start with the basics first then go from there

im thinking of taking one of these old xl12 blues i have since i have about 20 of them and make me up one good one out of them
 
Last edited:
924 or 925

sacfaller --

Homelite made a whole series of saws in this line. Maybe 20! different models. [80cc's] 903/923/904/924/925/921944/955/800/850/870..........

1- They DID have [3] different styles of ignitions.

2- Also some were MANUAL oiling only and some had AUTO/MAN Oilers, and some Auto only.

According to my Manuals, the 924 DID have an Auto Oiler and the 925 was Manual Oiler only. Sounds strange to me, but that is definitely what it says.

3- Does it have a DeComp Release ???

Identifying the above 3 points can help narrow the Model search.

Also, does it have black painted on the side covers at all?

Regards.
 
Just look at the little aluminum plate by the starter handle... Its on the flat part by the carb box... There is no way to tell the 924 and 925 apart with exception of the some 924's had the compression release. Most parts are interchangeable. Diff P/C but you can still swap. Great saws I have a 924 and a 925... Pretty much identical.
 
925s do indeed have auto + manual oilers. I'm about 95% sure (won't say 100%) that the one key item on a 925 is that its the ONLY one of this series with thin rings. This doesn't mean a 925 piston/rings couldn't have been installed in a different saw, but from the factory, I'm pretty sure that no other saws besides the 925 came with thin rings. Yep, there's been so many variants on the 700/800/900 series and so many parts can interchange that its easy to end up with a saw that's not 100% original, yet still look and work perfectly. Here's a few things to note about a 925:

1. thin rings!
2. No decomp valve.
3. Open exhaust port
4. Manual + auto oiler (manual oiler mounted vertically under thumb.
5. 3/8" bar studs.
6. Rubber grips on rear handle
7. Either the 3 piece or single piece electronic ignition. Earlier models had points, and I'm pretty sure there was even a couple variants on the multi-piece electonic ignition setup.
8. half or full wrap handle bars.

It seems there were at least 3 different age groups of 925s. An eariler IPL shows a different muffler than the later 2 styles. Most 925s have the chrome cover on the lower edge. The most common 925 I see has black paint on the starter cover and clutch cover with white painted-on lettering. They also had a red air box cover The most recent style has all red starter and clutch covers with a white adhesive decal for the lettering and a black air box cover.

If your saw has a UT tag, that's a good place to start from. Again, its just so easy to mix parts from various models that unless you know its history, it can be a tough job to identify it. Its kinda like if you if take a Porsche 911 engine and cram it in a Kit car body sitting on a Beetle chassis and someone asks what you're driving. If you really want to make sure the saw is a 924 or a 925, take the IPLS and go over the parts of the saw and see what matches up. You may find due to previous parts swaps that its not 100% correct parts for either. If it runs well just enjoy it as these are some seriously fun saws.

Dan
 
I want to say the auto oiler gave up years ago and Dad just stuck with the manual. As far as parts being interchanged, He bought the saw new and it was rebuilt to a higher performance standard each time. Not sure if the cylinder was made larger, porting, milling the head, etc. I just know it had to be layed over a log and pushed away as you pulled the handle to start. This is how Dad did it and he was one of the toughest persons I have ever known.

Matt
 
will the three piece coil from the 924 be a suitable replacement for the three piece coil on the 925?
 
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