Added another saw from my "dream list", this one is BIG and yeller and 123cc

[Roanoker494]

Well I guess I have actually added several saws from the "dream list" but this one is by far the biggest.

After a long Friday the 13th it was nice to come home to a very large box laying on the side porch, along with another long flat package. Today started out with me clocking in at work 15 minutes late, I did not get to take my lunch until late, everyone that came through the door wanted 4 tires, two customers actually got into a fight because one had just bought the last four tires in a particular size of a particular brand, everyone was just in a foul mood, nothing could get done fast enough to satisfy the customers, finally got off work and the car would not start....... After I tried every trick I know to get the starter working I finally broke down and started pulling it off, luckily these Ford Escorts have enough access to remove the starter from the top side. But........ Of course mother nature chose that moment to break our two month drought and it started pouring rain. I get the starter off at 8:57pm but, of course, all the parts stores close at 9pm. The worst part is there is a Autozone parts store right across the lot from me and I get to watch them turn out the lights as I am walking through the pouring rain...... Picked up the trusty cell phone and wouldn't you know it the battery is about gone, had just enough to send out one text to my mother. Mom came to get me and my starter with hopes I could tear it apart tonight and possibly repair it. When I get home I head straight to the workbench, hook the starter up to my booster pack and away it goes...... Starter seems to be working fine now...... I have no idea what is going on with it. Maybe the starter coil has a "flat spot" and the 1200 peak amps of the boost pack was enough to make it work? Maybe the solenoid is bad and the thumping around while removing it knocked something back into place? All I know is when I turned the key I could hear the starter bendix flick out very strongly, which eliminates the ignition switch as a suspect IMO, and all the lights were nice and bright, which eliminates the battery as a suspect.

Anyway...... On to what everyone is here to see!! 123cc of chrome bore, heart stopping, rattle your tooth out, redneck bliss.........

I do believe someone may have "jerry rigged" the front mount.... I mean "made a custom part from alternative materials". What ye say??

 

[Roanoker494]

That would be a full 42" of cutting length, tough it currently does not have spikes installed.

Everything looks good to go except for a small hole in the fuel line, though that hole is actually on the very end on the hose and plugged by the nipple on the carb. I plan to replace it anyway, along with a carb rebuild for good measure. The compression is amazingly high and the intake boot looks solid, from what I can see looking under the carb box.

 

[promac850]

Wow, quite the ####ty day.

At least you came home to something good. Big McCullochs are good...

That home brew front mount looks fine. Run it.

 

[mad murdock]

Congrats on the 125! I am still looking for my piece of shangri-la, so far I am up to 70cc(PM700), but would LUV to find a project 797 or 125!

 

[Roanoker494]

Wow, quite the ####ty day.

At least you came home to something good. Big McCullochs are good...

That home brew front mount looks fine. Run it.

That is exactly what I plan to do...... When it eventually fails I will wrap it with more, what appears to be, inner tube material and go at it again.

Congrats on the 125! I am still looking for my piece of shangri-la, so far I am up to 70cc(PM700), but would LUV to find a project 797 or 125!

Just keep your eyes open, get other people in on your search and run a CL ad for what you are wanting. Laugh if you like but I turned up a solid 112cc Homelite 750 locally using a CL wanted ad, it had been sitting inside the owner's deceased father's truck cab for many many years.


Unfortunately this 125C did not come cheap, though I did get it for less than I expected, and yes I have pulled the muffler to make for sure it is in fact a "C", piston looks great BTW.

If this saw had a "intro song" I would imagine it would be very loud, a lot of fast electric guitar playing, a bass line that would rattle your brain about inside your skull and it would likely contain a fair bit of profanity........:biggrin:

 

[Roanoker494]

BTW this saw actually came from a AS sponsor via a Ebay purchase. I have not seen him posting for a while but he goes by the handle of APSE.


Edit:
Top notch feller IMHO, actually took the time to ship this saw while on his way out of town for vacation.

 

[Jim Timber]

That saw looks bad enough to scare trees onto the ground.

 

[Justsaws]

Excellent find, everybody needs at least one of those. Helps define things. Looks to be in fair shape as well, congradulations.

 

[046]

have always wanted a sp125... but have not run across one yet
guess I'll make do with Stihl 084 with 5ft bar

don't cut enough big wood for 084 to earn it's keep as it is...

 

[heimannm]

Very nice indeed Johnny, you will not be disappointed. Even has the muffler guard in tact, sweet looking rig.

While some poo poo the notion, I find using the compression release for starting is certainly easier on the starter gear, which includes my fingers by the way.

Brian is a good guy, he know's what his stuff is worth and treats you fairly.

Have fun with that one.

Mark

 

[Tzed250]

Welcome to the club!! +1 on using the compression release, the tendons in your arm will thank you. You may want to go over the AV mounts and make sure they are all tight. To much movement puts stress on the carb boot. I know when you drop it into big wood for the first time you will be grinning from ear to ear!

 

[pioneerguy600]

Nice find on the Mac, front mount should be an easy fix, looks good otherwise. On the starter motor I would check your front brushes, when the solenoid clicks into place the brushes need to be contacting the communitator snugly for the current to flow.Worn brushes are a common starter problem, if not the brushes then the big coipper cointact washer inside the solenoid may have arc marks around the perimeter, this will cause a mis contact and not allow current to flow through the solenoid to the starter brushes.

 

[zogger]

La Bomba! Quick, hop in your escort (if it starts) and blast down here and cut a few loads of monstah wood! hahahaha!

 

[leeha]

Thats a sweet 125 you got. I was watching it as well and was
surprized it didn't bring more than it did. Has the muff guard
and lower handle cover which are usually long gone.
Those lower mounts can be found. I would recommend replacing
it as it will put more stress on the front upper mount with that one
not doing it's job.
Good luck with it.



Lee

 

[Chris J.]

Congrats , Johhnie, the Mac SP125 is on a lot of wish lists around here!

Hijack alert:
Is your Escort a Ford Ford, or a Ford Mazda? At one time I was wanting a Protege, but my wife & I were tired of manual trans, and the auto in the Protege was way too "nervous & jumpy" IMO.

 

[little possum]

Nice! Looks like Halifax will be rumbling with 4 125s next year

 

[Stihlofadeal64]

That saw looks bad enough to scare trees onto the ground.

Translated into redneck woods jargon: "That saw looks bad enuff to skeer some trees plum down"
:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Ambull]

Nice saw Johnnie. If you replace the carb, try to find a Mac SDC20. The stock HS124B carb has a fixed H jet, and the SDC20 is a fully adjustable direct replacement.

 

[sachsmo]

Co-worker has had one for over 2 years, but has only made a handful of cuts with it.


me thinks he's skeerd of it.

I drop started it with 36" roller nose, he 'bout crapped himself.

 

[Roanoker494]

Very nice indeed Johnny, you will not be disappointed. Even has the muffler guard in tact, sweet looking rig.

While some poo poo the notion, I find using the compression release for starting is certainly easier on the starter gear, which includes my fingers by the way.

Brian is a good guy, he know's what his stuff is worth and treats you fairly.

Have fun with that one.

Mark

Just from pulling the saw over slowly I can tell that the decomp is going to be a "god send" on this saw, I am going to have to get a gauge on this saw to see just what it can pull.

When I first seen the auction I actually thought it was you that was selling it, his seller name is similar to your AS handle. It was after I noticed the sellers store name that I realized just who the seller was. I generally do not buy "running" saws on Ebay for the fear of being burnt and I certainly would not spend this type of money with just anyone on Ebay, but I have been known to disregard those feeling when it comes to well known AS members.

Welcome to the club!! +1 on using the compression release, the tendons in your arm will thank you. You may want to go over the AV mounts and make sure they are all tight. To much movement puts stress on the carb boot. I know when you drop it into big wood for the first time you will be grinning from ear to ear!

I already have issue with the tendons in my left arm because of the accident a few years ago, it seems to effect my thumb more than anything. All the mounts are solid, surprisingly even the one "engineered" mount feels good. I am already very well aware of the effect a 125 has on a persons adrenaline because of several other members here bringing them to GTGs and such. It wasn't but a few years ago I was completely content with my little 3314 for limbs, a Husqvarna 51 for firewood and a 272xp for "big stuff". Now I own 20+ saws, with the largest majority being 65cc and larger, and I just dropped a big load of cash on a 125C that probably will not get used but a few times a year.......

Nice find on the Mac, front mount should be an easy fix, looks good otherwise. On the starter motor I would check your front brushes, when the solenoid clicks into place the brushes need to be contacting the communitator snugly for the current to flow.Worn brushes are a common starter problem, if not the brushes then the big coipper cointact washer inside the solenoid may have arc marks around the perimeter, this will cause a mis contact and not allow current to flow through the solenoid to the starter brushes.

I torn that starter apart last night and cleaned everything up, I did not see anything apparent but who knows?? I put the starter back on today and it did the exact same thing when I turned the key. I then jumped the solenoid and it took off cranking the engine. After closer inspection I found that the positive battery cable has a large ball of electrical tape wrapped around it just below the battery box, after twisting that area around the car will now start. I am figuring that the cable has been spliced at some point, for whatever reason, and it is likely corroded or it was just poorly joined in the first place.

Thats a sweet 125 you got. I was watching it as well and was
surprized it didn't bring more than it did. Has the muff guard
and lower handle cover which are usually long gone.
Those lower mounts can be found. I would recommend replacing
it as it will put more stress on the front upper mount with that one
not doing it's job.
Good luck with it.



Lee

I was also very surprised that I got it for what I did, I put in my high bid in the last few seconds and fully expected to loose it to someone with a faster internet connection. A few things that I believe played in my favor is it was a short auction and it ended on the Sunday after the fourth of July, which is known as the biggest vacation week of the year. A lot of folks were just getting home, were still heading home or was already in bed resting up to get back to work on Monday.

Congrats , Johhnie, the Mac SP125 is on a lot of wish lists around here!

Hijack alert:
Is your Escort a Ford Ford, or a Ford Mazda? At one time I was wanting a Protege, but my wife & I were tired of manual trans, and the auto in the Protege was way too "nervous & jumpy" IMO.

Mine is a 93 LX wagon with the 1.9L 4cyl and auto trans, so it is a Ford Ford. Some of the other variants, like the ZX2, used the Mazda 1.8L twin cam engines. I have never owned one of the Mazda versions but I did drive a ZX2 5spd, when I worked for a local auto dealer, and I was very impressed with the power.

Nice! Looks like Halifax will be rumbling with 4 125s next year

"You can never have to many McCulloch SP125s in one place at one time..........."
-Abraham Lincoln-

Now prove that he didn't say it.........

Nice saw Johnnie. If you replace the carb, try to find a Mac SDC20. The stock HS124B carb has a fixed H jet, and the SDC20 is a fully adjustable direct replacement.

Dean, member Ipoge, was just telling me about the carbs this morning, this one does have the Tilly HS. The plan is to leave mine as-is until the Campbell County show so we can do a side by side with his 125 that has the Walbro SD, I believe his is also sporting a 42" so it should be a good one.

Co-worker has had one for over 2 years, but has only made a handful of cuts with it.


me thinks he's skeerd of it.

I drop started it with 36" roller nose, he 'bout crapped himself.

I have dropped starter Deans 125, it certainly takes some determination. Biggest problem I have found is with the long bars and high compression, the bar makes the saw front heavy enough that it wants to jump around.

IMO the trick is you can't half-ass it, you can't have "second thoughts", no hesitates and you have to drop/pull at the right times. Pull to late in the drop and you are left holding the handle with a nasty "pop back" coming because you did not get the saw all the way through the compression stroke, that is when you get the saw jumping around and the bar wants give you a big kiss. Pull to early and you end up with the saw at your waist and the rope wrapped around your head, now that is a bad place to be if you happen to get one of those nasty "pop backs".