McCulloch Chain Saws

[edju1958]

Yes,I believe it's rubber,or a real close synthetic.We had them on the farm over 60 yrs.ago & my grandpa had them yrs.ago too.They were a real pain to keep clean.The thing that worries me is if they still have them here,everything has gone to either pipeline,or parlor automation around here.There are very few dairy farmers left who use the old style milking machines anymore.
Ed

 

[Jethro 2t sniffer]

Would love to see that old shed now Ed.
The still have to use rubber lines on modern stuff.
The stuff I used is thinner walled than actual milk line it's for the auto drains. In the centre of the rotary it's a low point so after the wash gone through it needs to be drained so theres a nipple and a short section of hose that goes through a vacuum cut off diaphragm. As soon as the vacuum is shut down the hose is un kinked at let's it all go.

 

[PogoInTheWoods]

1/2" pitch were normally color coded green, 7/16" pitch were color coded red.

View attachment 695689

Mark

That explains it a lot better!

 

[edju1958]

Jethro,in the "old days" we had the rubber hoses that hooked onto a petcock that was run by vacuum.The hoses were about 2 m.kong & from the petcock they hooked onto what was caller a pulsator.The pulsator had 4 smaller rubber tubes coming off it & went to the teat cups.The teat cups mimicked the hand milking the cow's teats.The milk drained into a stainless steel "pail" that was totally enclosed.You had to squat next to the cow & pinch the teat cups to tell when no more milk was coming out.This was a very intricate process & was very rough on your knees.The equipment now is all antique.
Ed

 

[Jethro 2t sniffer]

Well the basic mechanics of it haven't really changed its just a million times faster and easier is all. You have a very good memory of it how many were you guys milking? We have a couple loaner machines on a trolley for farmers to use on a sick cow in a barn or when she's calved really early and don't want to fire up the big shed for 1 or 2 cows.

 

[edju1958]

We had a really small time dairy operation,only milked about 30 cows,but we had hogs too & did a lot of cash crops.At one point I think we were farming somewhere between 250-300 acres.That was back in the mid '70's to mid '80's.
Ed

 

[edju1958]

Well gents,I almost got the E.B.2014 finished today.On a better note,I got the flywheel off the 380 today to check the points out.The gap is supposed to be .018,it was more like .009.I had to quit for the day before I could file the points & gap them.I also want to check the condenser to make sure it's good as well.I don't know how readily available a condenser is if it needs a new one.I hate like hell to use a chip if I don't have to.Maybe I'll get lucky & the condenser is still good after 55 yrs.
Ed

 

[PogoInTheWoods]

I don't know how readily available a condenser is if it needs a new one.

An 85358 from a Mini-Mac should work if you have one handy. It's common to many of the points Macs even though the 380 lists a 50074. Could still well be the same condenser, just with a different length lead and a different part number because of it.

 

[fossil]

The capacitance value is very close on almost all of them.

 

[edju1958]

I do in fact have two mini Macs,but if I steal the condenser from it then the mini Mac will be without one.Maybe the condenser is good anyway,I'll know more tomorrow.Thanks for the info Pogo!
I just did some research & found a site that has replacement condensers for McCulloch saws Standard Magneto Sales Co.in Chicago,Il.The only problem is that they don't give the replacement # like they do for Homelite saws.
Ed

 

[fossil]

Oooh,that saw is gonna be really bad-ass! I can't wait to see the finished product.I do have a band saw,but it's set up for wood.I'm sure if I had a metal blade it'd work OK.What about using a jig saw,or a 4 1/2 in.angle grinder?
Ed

The steel is a bit hard for a jig saw and I can cut it faster with a hack saw. I used an angle grinder to cut the spine today and will rough out the mounting plate with it.

 

[edju1958]

I'm sure that by taking your time it'll turn out great.
Ed

 

[edju1958]

I've got a question here relating to the points on the 380.Isn't there supposed to be a piece of felt held by a little fork for the lubrication on the crankshaft?The set of points that are in the saw doesn't have the little fork to hold the felt.Everything in the point box is dry as a bone in the desert,of course it's probably been many yrs.since anyone has been in the point box anyway.
Another thing I noticed was the condenser wire had been taped.When I removed the tape the wire had a bare spot on it,apparently it had worn through in one spot from vibration.I also noticed that there were numbers on the end of the condenser - 913.That's the same condenser that was used on the 2-10 & 10-10 saws,in which case,I have a brand new one here to put on the saw.I filed the points,I hope they'll be OK,there was a high spot on one side & I filed it till it was even.When I put the new condenser on I'll split a small fuel line & put it over the wire to act as a thicker insulation.It'll take many a yr.to vibrate through that!
Ed

 

[edju1958]

OK,apparently the felt isn't held by a little fork,like in Homeys.Correct me if I'm wrong,but I believe the felt goes in the "well" on the left of tha crankshaft?

 

[Brian Thacker]

Yes, that is where it goes.

Brian

 

[edju1958]

Thanks Brian.Apparently I have a 380A which upon doing some reading up on the saw,was not sold in the U.S.This saw migrated down from Canada.It has no manual oiler as a back up.I hope the auto-oiler works OK.
Ed

 

[heimannm]

I am continuing my 300 Series run, here is a PM365 I have going back together currently. I need to find a choke shutter as this one was missing.



I worked on a Mac Cat for my brother last week, and went through a PM310 after that, then this 365. I have a few more in the attic that I will try to go through and get cleaned up and ready for display.

Mark

 

[edju1958]

How many saws do you figure you have for your museum at this point?
Ed

 

[heimannm]

The 380A was also available in the US and included a manual oiler to accompany the automatic oil pump. The automatic oil pump in the 380A was unique from the other front tank saws with an automatic oil pump (Super 250, 450, 450) as the automatic pump in the 380A was built in to the back side of the fuel tank rather than being a separate device that was actually mounted in the fuel tank.

Mark

 

[heimannm]

I have perhaps 300 on hand that would or could be prepared for display and another 50 to 75 that are only parts saws. I expect I will start out with around 200 out and add more as I have a chance to clean some up and make them presentable.

Mark