Homelite SXL 925

[Mike mandry]

Picked up a nice looking SXL 925 from a guy I work with today for $20

Fires right up & seems to run good.

The compression seems a little low, I noticed some blow by around the rings. The piston & cyl look in great shape though.

I have never seen anything with such thin piston rings

Anyone know anything about these saws????

 

[eyolf]

Yeah, they're worthless junk. I might be willing to do you a favor and save you the trouble of disposing of it as hazardous waste...

 

[sproston]

I thought it had a hemi head and they were good buildible. never seen one

 

[Mike mandry]

???? Yeah, they're worthless junk. I might be willing to do you a favor and save you the trouble of disposing of it as hazardous waste...



I suppose for $20, I would be better off getting a Poulan from Home depot ??

I realize that these are not top of the line saws. IMO they are superior to the typical junk available today.

I have several old SXl's that are over 30 years old & still going strong. I would not trade them for anything out there today in the non-pro class.

Sure, I would love to have a new 036, or 044, but for what I do (mostly- 75% firewood & the ocasional helping out a neighbor/friend job) they do just fine.

 

[Bill G]

I wish I could find a 925 for $20. I am not positive but I think they are in the 80-90cc class. You should check out Mike's web site more specifics. I have a ton of Homelites but no 925's. A guy up the road had a 650 with a 42" bar. He wanted something like $375 for it. I saw it on ebay a week or so ago. I forgot about it and I think it brought a little over $200. Heck I thouht that was a deal but far from $20.

GREAT FIND, congrats

Bill

 

[Mike mandry]

Bill, It is 82cc & he had a 20" bar on it.

I thought that the compression "Felt" low. I broke out my gauge & got over 130# so something must be right. Heck, my xl's only put out 125# or so.

The only other big saw i have is an old 700G with a 28" next down are my Xl-12's & SXL 12's

The guy who i got it from is the original owner (bought new in '78)

He bought an 036 & hasnt used this much since then.

Mike

 

[shoot501]

Got to use a SXL 925 about 20 yrs ago. Quite a jump up in power from the promac 10-10 I had. Wish I could find one for $20. The only problem we had with the saw was the electronic ignition would go out every few months if used hard. That old 925 was a powerful beast, pretty sure it would match up with my 372 at least, might even outdo it!

 

[oakman]

mike, the 925's are well built, good runners. 130# compression is a tad low, but it should run fine. like i've said before, only time will tell if the saws they build today will still be around and running like these old timers. will all that plastic really hold up for 30 or 40 years? even though i have a few modern saws, 066, 088, a few small echo's and poulans, i believe i could buy enough servicable vintage saws to run the rest of my life for half the price of a stihl or husky, although huskies have come down alot. yea they are a few pounds heavier, but what the heck, logging and tree work in general ain't for the faint hearted, is it. i realize you pro loggers and arborists don't have time to fool around with older saws. time is money, i know that very well after being in business for 20 years as a carpenter. so i am referring to all those who have an interest in vintage saws. when i mill, or remove a tree or something like that for money, i always take my newer ones, and a couple old ones to play with. but i sure don't wanna stand out there in the cold and fool with a saw that don't wanna run! anyways, in my opinion, you got a great saw for almost nuthin. 925's you don't see everyday anymore. keep it clean and tuned, and it will likely out run you!

 

[Beavergirl]

Mike,

My dad has one, and he loves it. He bought it about 1975ish to cut the burnt scrub oak in the Angeles Forest in So Cal. After a fire they'de allow firewood cutting.

He has a 24" bar on his. I used to run it as a kid sometimes and although heavy it does perform well.

BTW Mike, eyolf was kidding. After all, this is the same guy who cringed when I said I was going to allow a 770G to just rot away on a stump for decoration. And BTW eyolf, it's still there. Tell you what, if you pay for the shipping, I'll give it to you, or do I have to pay you to take it?

C-

 

[John in MA]

The SXL-925 is one of the great saws from the 1970s. Very powerful for the weight at the time, very rugged. Used a hemi-head jug. It's still worth over $100 in good shape on eBay.

I got one at a yard sale for $10 a couple years ago. It's like new and the compression will nearly take your hand off. I've found that 3/8" on a 24" bar is a good match.

Most parts are still available because the long-running XL-98 series of demo saw used the same powerhead. New rings are cheap and plentiful. A local Homelite dealer or guys like BillW should be able to get almost anthing you need for it.

 

[eyolf]

Sorry, Mike...I posted the smiley doodad hoping you'd know I was kidding.

I had an XL923 (very similar; points/magneto, no antivibe, manual oiler) and it was a hoss for power. After a long day lugging it around, you'd be tired, but everything else in that power range was a lunker too.

Beavergirl...I'll take you up on the offer, and even give you enough over frieght to handle packing. E-mail me through arborsite if you're serious.

 

[Mike mandry]

eyolf, Yeah, I figured you were kidding of sorts.

I have not had a chance to use it yet. I am going to fire it up today & drain the fuel out & run it dry. It will probably be springtime before i get a chance to use it. Do you guys think synthetic @ 32:1 will be Ok for this saw ?? That is wht I run in all my other ones.

Mke

 

[John in MA]

IIRC, the original specs called for 16:1 mix, but modern 32:1 should be all right.

 

[rhamm17]

I feel compelled to respond to this post on the Homelite XL925. This saw was a favorite of many tree service companies in the 1970's and is a dominant saw for the heaviest of cutting, particularly in hardwood. It has 5.01 cu. in. with a hemi-head combustion chamber. I bought one used in 1976, replaced the piston ring since it had seen a lot of continuous use at the time of purchase. The saw today is still running strong. I removed the detachable muffler baffle plate and the power output of this saw ranks with the best of the saws today.

I have used the saw for milling with an Alaskan mill with a 36" ripping chain and i have cut 1000's of board ft. of white ash and yellow poplar. Saw has cut several hundred cords of firewood since the re-ring job. Truly a great saw.

In the 1980's I frequently raced owners of Jonsereds 910's - 930's (the largest Jonsereds in the early 1980's) in 20+" diameter hard maple and white oak. Cuts generally were approx 2/3's the time of the big Jonsereds . The 925 has trememdous low end torque. Power head weights in the 16.7 lbs. area. I have the parts schematic and part numbers and replacement parts generally are available.

Since my purchase, this saw has never had any major service, always starts on the third pull and should last another 30 yrs. with appropriate maintenance.

It is my understanding that Homelite (Deere) continued production of this saw up until several yrs. ago through did not actively market it. The power head was used for their powerful cutoff saws.

The drawback of the saw is that it does not have vibration insulation. You got a GREAT deal for $20.

 

[Mike mandry]

Well, i just could not take it anymore. I had to fire it up this afternoon. After all it was 65 degrees in Jan. In St Louis. don't see days like this to often. Suposed to be 5 Friday night & well prob have a tornado tomorrow the way the weather goes around here.

That thing is a true beast. Most powerful saw i have ever used & then some. I had an old stump in the driveway that the wife has been begging me to get rid of for weeks. Aprox 17" hardwood of some type.

I put the 20" bar from my XL-12 on it with a semi - chisel & that thing screamed through it like i have never seen.

I ran a comp. test on it last night & got around 130# checked it again after i ran it & its just under 150# now.

I was thinking of selling it on ebay, but i thik is one is a keeper.

My only regret: I had a inition module that I just sold for $20 on ebay. I got it with a lot of parts for my XL-12 & thought "I'll never have a 925" that was 5 weeks ago.

I understand that the modules fail quite often ?? and are very expensive & hard to find ??

Mike

 

[John in MA]

This is the weird R.E. Phelon ignition with the module under the flywheel, right? My SXL-925 has points, but my old XL-98 has the Repco. No problems so far, and it's been under water.

 

[Mike mandry]

Yep, thats the one.

Mike

 

[Mike mandry]

RE: Homelite SXL 925

Anyone have any idea what the largest pratical bar is that could be run on this saw?? I used a 20" with a freshley filed semi chisel from my SXL & buried it in a piece of hardwood & it screamed through it like nothing. So, I imagine it could go quite a bit longer. Just curious if anyone has any suggestions/experience. I have a new 24' powermatch that has never been out of the box yet, but i imagine i could go bigger than that if need be??

Mike

 

[John in MA]

I run a 24" as it seems the best balance for the saw. One fellow here ran a 36" bar, but I think that wouldn't been good in hardwwoods.

Get an 8T sprocket if you feel it has extra power but you don't to want a drag around a huge bar. That's what I use on my 111S. Fast.