Vintage chain saw

el6147

Member
I picked this up from the original owner today , He lived on a lake and used it for occasional trimming and clean up. It had not been used in ten years he claimed , runs perfect.

I have Stihl's but like these vintage homelite's , taken care of they will last.
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Neat--I learned to run chain saw on one just like it of that same vintage, then we moved up to a Super XL and from there to other saws, but we cut an awful lot of wood with ours for many years.
 

Me either but it may have been I did not want to work on it nor learn how to work on it. It did throw it as far as I could picked it up and traded it for a $5 TV : )

More are less it was the "But may have been" : )
 
Homelites of that era had a reputation for not idling, and ours was no different--adjust it any way you could and it would either die when you let off the throttle or idle high enough to keep the clutch kicked in and the chain spinning as of course it didn't have a chain brake. You just learned to work around it--all part of the learning process. It's quite possible that there's now answers to those difficulties--a friend recently found out that he could buy a retrofit chain brake kit for his old Jonsereds and it really improved the usefulness of the old workhorse--but at the time you just learned to live with it.
 
We had an XL12 from the late 60s till the early 90s. Good solid saw but heavy for its size. I seized it up because I did not blow the chips out of the cooling fins. Should have rebuilt it but at the time I thought a new one would be a better saw so I junked it. Well I found out a new saw was lighter and would cut faster but was not near as dependable as the old XL12. Wish I still had the old girl.
 
One of the best saws Homelite built. Bought Super XL auto at farm sale couple years ago, set for how long? put gas in it, choked pulled few times and was running.
 
My dad was a logger. I remember him buying one of those for a lightweight limbing saw, I used it a lot. It was on the log truck when it rolled over and got best up, never ran right after but still got used. Just got rid of it last year cleaning up. I still have a red one that runs and a good super XL.
 
They sure caused a sensation when they were introduced. The first decent lightweight saw. At the time we had a 325 McCulloch gear drive, which had to have weighed about 3 pounds less than the anchor on the battleship Missouri, and a 170 McCulloch which weighed about 3 pounds less than the 325. LOL!

Neither of which had an automatic oiler, by the way.
 


Absolutely nothing wrong with the XL's of that vintage. IMO, having used and owned/still own a couple, they are fine, well made, pretty easy to work on and repair saws. Just keep the ethanol out of them, use a quality mix oil at about 40-1 and tune it for the weather. Great saws, better in some ways that the newer saws that replaced them, especially in price!
 
I have a McCulloch 3-25 saw. I believe the 3 stands for 3hp and the 25 for 25lbs. It is heavy, someday I hope to get it running again.
 
(quoted from post at 12:31:22 09/20/21) I have a McCulloch 3-25 saw. I believe the 3 stands for 3hp and the 25 for 25lbs. It is heavy, someday I hope to get it running again.
y big blue Homelite is late 1950's or early 1960's and I always figured they last so long is the 10:1 gas/oil vs today's 50:1
 
(quoted from post at 13:40:19 09/20/21)
(quoted from post at 12:31:22 09/20/21) I have a McCulloch 3-25 saw. I believe the 3 stands for 3hp and the 25 for 25lbs. It is heavy, someday I hope to get it running again.
y big blue Homelite is late 1950's or early 1960's and I always figured they last so long is the 10:1 gas/oil vs today's 50:1

Actually, no. Super rich mixes were a result of the poor quality oils of the day. You had to keep them that rich to avoid ruining the saw. But with that came excessive carbon build up and many, many scored pistons and jugs. They lasted because they were well built, well engineered and made with quality components.
 
Never was around a Homelite saw though If you yellow saw guy think them are heavy I'll take you out cutting with dads old Von Ruden hydraulic saw. You had 2 3/4 inch 20 foot long hydraulic hoses on the saw to power it. On an H you could kill it if the chain stuck. We used it on the H with the pump bolted to the drawbar to hold the pump aligned with the PTO. Must have weighed about 40 LBS. 30 inch bar about 4-1/2 inches tall with a 9/16 pitch chain. Had a second handle on the outer end for a second guy. Would take the handle off to cut tree down then put back on after the log was small enough to reach through.
 
(quoted from post at 10:21:33 09/21/21)
Here's my McCulloch 250 that I bought new in 1963. Feels like fifty pounds now.
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I've got one too, and a 300. Good saws. I like to let my boys use them, helps them gain perspective! :lol: :lol: :lol:
 

Still run my Mcculloch 795L now and again when I need the long bar.
For the normal big trees, I've got a Super XL with a 24" bar...
I don't get to a modern saw until I hit 20" or less... Modern being only 30 years old...
 

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