I have been working on a cedar playhouse for my daughter. I planned on only using lumber I could mill myself out of the many cedars located on my property (I have hundreds of cedars). I have two junk poulan saws, an older I believe to be 42cc craftsman, a 70's model blue homelite and an old super XL orange homelite. I use the craftsman to fell the trees and limb them but I feel like its hard on the saw trying to rip post out of the cedar. The blue saw I believe would handle it better but i hate to do that to an antique. I have been looking for a decent saw for around $150 and may have found one, it is a stihl 029 super that the seller is asking $160 for. Says it starts and runs good but we shall see. I am going tomorrow to check it out. Anything specific to this saw I should look at before I decide to buy it? And would this get me by for very lite milling of 6x6 post from cedar? It will be a firewood saw after this project. Thank you all very much in advance.
Looking at getting my first big name saw tomorrow
- Thread starter Whelan43
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Welcome, the first I would do is watch this video if everything checks out your good
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On my way to pick up the stihl last night I had to drop my daughter off at my in-laws (don't trust craigslist strangers) and my father in-law gave me another poulan saw. Its a woodshark?
But I'm sure no one here really cares about the poulan lol so on to the real saw... Got to the guys house and he had it outside already, saw was not warm so I cold see how it started when cold. visually the saw looked great other than one small crack in the chain cover? Had a new chain and bar was not blue or discolored. Slow pulled the rope and had great compression. So on to starting, the choke switch is a little loose (not sure if that is common) so its a little hard to get it to line up where you want it. Thought I had it full choke/ locked throttle and pulled several times with no roar of the motor. Then rechecked switch and pushed it a tad further and first pull it let out a grunt, then half choke it came to life. Let it idle for a few minutes reving it occasionally. It did die at idle after about 3-4 min. But fired right back up. Guy was nice and asked what I was using the saw for, told him it was for building my daughter's playhouse and he said it was mine for $140. So I added two saws to my collection yesterday.
But I'm sure no one here really cares about the poulan lol so on to the real saw... Got to the guys house and he had it outside already, saw was not warm so I cold see how it started when cold. visually the saw looked great other than one small crack in the chain cover? Had a new chain and bar was not blue or discolored. Slow pulled the rope and had great compression. So on to starting, the choke switch is a little loose (not sure if that is common) so its a little hard to get it to line up where you want it. Thought I had it full choke/ locked throttle and pulled several times with no roar of the motor. Then rechecked switch and pushed it a tad further and first pull it let out a grunt, then half choke it came to life. Let it idle for a few minutes reving it occasionally. It did die at idle after about 3-4 min. But fired right back up. Guy was nice and asked what I was using the saw for, told him it was for building my daughter's playhouse and he said it was mine for $140. So I added two saws to my collection yesterday.
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029 a good saw not too many issues so should be a handy addition enjoy
note,, the choke master switch needs throttle depressed at same time or pushed too hard it can force off mechanism from cradle..
chain looks good condition & I not sure but that model looks like orange screw fuel caps pre flipy cap yay
note,, the choke master switch needs throttle depressed at same time or pushed too hard it can force off mechanism from cradle..
chain looks good condition & I not sure but that model looks like orange screw fuel caps pre flipy cap yay
Welcome to AS @Whelan43. Sounds like a good deal on the 29 super. I thinks the choke switch gets a little worn over time and gets a little sloppy. I would buy a new spark plug and maybe a new air filter (not aftermarket) I usually take any used saw i get apart and give it a good cleaning. Good luck with the new saw.
Thanks guys, seems like a good runner so far. Feels like I'm finally getting something done on my daughter's playhouse after using cheap homeowner saws.
The guy had a new in the box filter so I just went ahead and put it on, I will have to get a new plug though @farmer steve it seems to be the correct color though when I checked it. Muffler is pretty rusty, would it benefit me to get a whole muffler? And yes it has the screw on caps @derwoodii .
I am not a chainsaw mechanic by any means but did race and ride atv/dirtbikes for a bit so I'm still trying to figure out these small engines. After sawing today even my wife noticed how much faster it cuts lol also, would you guys like me to keep you updated on the cedar playhouse? Not sure if y'all are into that kind of stuff. Thanks again everyone
The guy had a new in the box filter so I just went ahead and put it on, I will have to get a new plug though @farmer steve it seems to be the correct color though when I checked it. Muffler is pretty rusty, would it benefit me to get a whole muffler? And yes it has the screw on caps @derwoodii .
I am not a chainsaw mechanic by any means but did race and ride atv/dirtbikes for a bit so I'm still trying to figure out these small engines. After sawing today even my wife noticed how much faster it cuts lol also, would you guys like me to keep you updated on the cedar playhouse? Not sure if y'all are into that kind of stuff. Thanks again everyone
The old air filter can possibly be cleaned and saved for a back-up. I like to use bosch or NGK plugs. Mufflers get rusty and shouldn't hurt how it runs. You may want to check the spark arrestor screen to make sure it's not clogged. Keep us updated with pics of the saw making playhouse parts.
Thats a 10-4 on NGK plugs, run them on just about everything growing up. I will make sure to keep that other filter too.
Thank you guys for all the help, this forum seems a lot less hostile than some of the motocross forums I have been on lol
As far as ripping cedar goes can I get by with the regular chisel tooth chain or should I be on the lookout for a ripping chain/skip tooth? I was thinking it should work for cedar. I still need to make my ripping jig to try it out though.
Thank you guys for all the help, this forum seems a lot less hostile than some of the motocross forums I have been on lol
As far as ripping cedar goes can I get by with the regular chisel tooth chain or should I be on the lookout for a ripping chain/skip tooth? I was thinking it should work for cedar. I still need to make my ripping jig to try it out though.
Well, as usual I'm late to the party. More info on the Blue Homelite would have been helpful. If it was Blue C5 it will pull a 30 inch bar through Cedar and ask for more. I gave one to a friend and he uses it for milling Oak counter top slabs. If it's a smaller XL12 it would pull a 20 inch bar and mill your post easy peasy too. I use a Homelite my Dad bought new in 1971-2, used in comercial work for 20 years, then i used it for 25 more years as my milling, big firewood saw. Good luck with the 029, it's a good one too.
@rareish383 the blue saw is a homelite super ez 40 something cc's I believe. Its late 60's or early 70's saw I think. It was my dads that he gave to me when we bought our property. He also has an old homelite 360 I hope to get off him one day.
This is what I came up with for my milling jig. I have a timber tough beam cutter that will ride on the top board. Logs will sit against the sideways V. Might be a bit before anymore progress, days are getting shorter on me so my time is very limited after work and I will be gone this weekend.Whelan43 here is some info on your Super EZ, http://www.acresinternet.com/cscc.n...0d87c5c0a885621988256c280063ca60?OpenDocument
I just restored a Super EZ AO and have another one to start on, They are very fun saws to run. Parts for them are pretty plentiful and https://www.leonschainsawpartsandrepair.com/store/c28/Homelite_Super_EZ_Automatic,_Super_XL-Mini_Chainsaw.html is where I get most of my parts from. He has a grommet you can buy that works great for converting it to Tygon fuel hose instead of the molded one, his Tygon wasn't the best in the kit he sells and I ended up using a different piece of hose, his allowed it to bend and pinch off the line as it came out of the fuel tank and the Tygon I got was a bit thicker in the wall of the tubing so it wouldn't do that.
There was two different ignitions (Wico and Phelon) so if you have to change points or condenser make sure to look at the side of the flywheel, it will be marked, and get the right ones that you need.
I just restored a Super EZ AO and have another one to start on, They are very fun saws to run. Parts for them are pretty plentiful and https://www.leonschainsawpartsandrepair.com/store/c28/Homelite_Super_EZ_Automatic,_Super_XL-Mini_Chainsaw.html is where I get most of my parts from. He has a grommet you can buy that works great for converting it to Tygon fuel hose instead of the molded one, his Tygon wasn't the best in the kit he sells and I ended up using a different piece of hose, his allowed it to bend and pinch off the line as it came out of the fuel tank and the Tygon I got was a bit thicker in the wall of the tubing so it wouldn't do that.
There was two different ignitions (Wico and Phelon) so if you have to change points or condenser make sure to look at the side of the flywheel, it will be marked, and get the right ones that you need.
Also the carb kits are Walbro K10-HDC, I recommend using the Walbro kit and not the Stens/Oregon kit. The Stens/Oregon kit on the diaphragm button are just a bit longer and will keep the inlet needle open if you set it by the book. It can be done but you have to lower the lever and use a pressure pump to get it to work so it's just easier to use the Walbro kit and not have to worry about it.
Chris moss
ArboristSite Member
I have a 029 super i traded a cheap drone for about 2 years ago, and other then the 044 i just picked it , it has cut 60 cords of wood in the past 2 years , pretty much out cutting with it everyday for a few hours , and its been a great firewood saw , no problems out of that old saw at all , still have not changed the plug or air filter since I had it , ofcourse blown it out with the air hose, you got a great deal on that one
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