McCulloch Chain Saws

[edju1958]

I've just got to share this with you folks,it's just too damn funny,but it does kinda aggravate the hell out of me.Last week I bought what I thought was a "nice little runner"as the seller put it PM310.I got it in the mail the other day & right away I knew I had some issues.The chain brake was broke & flopped completely forward,there definitely was no safety factor there.Then I noticed a wire hanging out the back & kinda figured it was being used as a kill switch.Also,there's supposed to be a spacer between the rear handle & the saw with springs inside.I contacted the seller & asked him what kind of shenanigans he was trying to pull with me.Of course he denied the chain brake being broke (it could've possibly happened during shipping).He said he put the wire on to ground out the saw in place of the switch.I asked him why he didn't just replace the switch while he had the saw apart to rebuild the carb (it was in the description that he rebuilt the carb,gapped the plug,& gapped the coil).He said he didn't know if the switch worked or not,he just put the kill wire on for his own convenience. (yeah,right) Now I'm willing to work with people,so I told him that if he'd refund $22 to me for the cost of a new chain brake,then I'd overlook the other stuff provided the saw would actually run.He agreed to those terms.I went out today & put fuel in this little PITA saw,gave it a few pulls & it fired right up & ran great.I put the saw on the bench to attach the bar & chain & had the saw tipped on it's side so as not to lose the bar nuts when I noticed a very strong smell of fuel.I saw there was wet around the cap & around the side of the saw.I tipped it over again & saw the fuel leaking around the fuel cap & thought maybe I had the cap cross threaded,or maybe the gasket was missing.Upon closer inspection I found a crack running down the threads on the filler cap area.Apparently he had over tightened the cap & caused a crack.Now I'm looking at a tank replacement?I don;t think so.That was the straw that broke this camel's back.The saw is going back,even though he doesn't accept returns.
Ed

 

[edju1958]

OK guys,I can't do much with my big boys till I get some parts.I have a handle ordered for my 7-10.I took the carb for the 7-10 apart this a.m. & it was clean as a whistle,gaskets & diaphragms looked good too,waiting on a new fuel line as well.I have a bar plate & a chain tensioner ordered with Bob.
I only have about a half dozen saws torn down waiting on parts.Waiting on the felt for the points box on the 380A.I got a little bored after trying to take a 3816 apart to have a look at the oiler in it,so I went out to the back shed & brought in a couple of PM 510's.I've almost run out of Macs to work on.Lol The 310 that gave me so much trouble is on it's way back to the seller,but I found another one last night & bought it for less money & it's in better shape.It might need a carb rebuild,but I'm hoping that'll be the extent of that saw's repairs.
Ed

 

[Jethro 2t sniffer]

Sounds like you're getting on top of those yellow beasts Ed.

I cut some firewood today 2 tanks each on the 700 and 7-10 went out with a mate he is an older bloke and gives me hell bout my old stuff he's happy to use a modern saw now. Well any way pulled out the Mac's and he said the arc was built with those Haha he runs a ms310 and well he stopped giving me s##t after a couple cuts no more get a real saw no more lemons are yellow. I had a wee go with the 310 and yes its light and.... that's about it to be honest as soon as it went a touch dull towards the end of the tank it just fell on its bum. The Mac's just dig in and pull that nasty chain through.

Yes I should stop and touch up the chain but when there's just a little bit to go and the rain is coming that little "feature" and the oiler button is rather nice.

 

[edju1958]

Jethro,I always thought your country to be "tropical" in nature.How cold does your "winter" get there?
Ed

 

[Jethro 2t sniffer]

Jethro,I always thought your country to be "tropical" in nature.How cold does your "winter" get there?
Ed

Hahaha hell no man 30c summers and frost every morning winters sometimes snow here n there definitely snow inland. Up north is warm but still almost freezes. Some places inland will stay perma frost for 2 months. Kind of like the UK a bit but it's a fair bit more diverse with rain forests and deserts and alps lots of lakes no deadly animals. Its a awesome country come down for a beer sometime

 

[rwoods]

NorthEast Tennessee Saturday MAC Report

Brian and I cut a little Ash today. The MACs ran fine, but one of us should have just stayed home for the morning. My brain is tired. Forgot my suspenders so had the added distraction of trying to keep my pants up. The mental fog mixed with a possible dose of over-confidence from my last Ash outing was a recipe for disaster. Concentrating on putting all down in a row, I failed to consider the height of a forked top. It brushed and took out the top of a small Walnut the LO wanted to save. My troubles didn't end there. The larger trees along the creek all had the lower trunk going one way and upper stem and the limb load the other way. I went with the limb load on one. The tree went with the lower trunk. Sat down too hard to wedge. So I attempted to fall it where it wanted to go. Just one more pull of the trigger to finish the new face - the tree didn't wait and pinched my 800. No way to remove it, so I resolved myself that I was going to witness my 800's death. I borrowed Brian's 800 when he wasn't looking and gingerly with intermittent trigger pulls thinned the hinge. As the tree began its fall, I stood back expecting to watch my 800 being crushed. But Someone intervened, the tree spit out my 800. It landed on its bottom and the stem stayed on the stump. The fall was not without consequence as the top hit one of the small cedars the LO wanted saved. Strike two. We bucked to dump trailer length a few of those we felled and called it a day before I could do any more damage.

Just one picture from me, my 800 where it fell.


Ron



This valuable report is provided through the the generous support of MacNuts like you and Blind Squirrel Falling, one of America's greatest imaginary businesses.

 

[Brian Thacker]

Ron, you are too hard on yourself. You fell several trees without incident. It was very cold and also windy. We were on a ridge and the wind was whipping up. Just going to be days like this. Just got to keep forward and go on.

Brian

 

[Jethro 2t sniffer]

Well the saws ok and you two are ok and lessons for you guys and us too. It's like the cat that nearly got cleaned up crossing the road gets to take away some extra knowledge.

 

[rwoods]

Well the saws ok and you two are ok and lessons for you guys and us too. It's like the cat that nearly got cleaned up crossing the road gets to take away some extra knowledge.

The take away for me is that in addition to a sharp chain, one needs a sharp mind. Ron

 

[Jethro 2t sniffer]

The take away for me is that in addition to a sharp chain, one needs a sharp mind. Ron

It's not easy with big limbs on a tree a tall straight tree really is child's play in comparison

 

[Jethro 2t sniffer]

Has anyone heard from Poge?

 

[Brian Thacker]

A video from drone of todays cut. Not the best quality as the wind was blowing and gusting.



Brian

 

[Jethro 2t sniffer]

Nice have you guys cut all those fresh stumps?

 

[Brian Thacker]

Ron has, I only dropped 2 today. I mainly just bucked.

Brian

 

[edju1958]

Hahaha hell no man 30c summers and frost every morning winters sometimes snow here n there definitely snow inland. Up north is warm but still almost freezes. Some places inland will stay perma frost for 2 months. Kind of like the UK a bit but it's a fair bit more diverse with rain forests and deserts and alps lots of lakes no deadly animals. Its a awesome country come down for a beer sometime

I'd love to come have a beer or two (or three) with you someday.I've been in a couple different places around this planet.I was in Uzbekistan in 2003 & went to the Philippines in 2016.I did manage to drink beer in each of those countries.Probably the worst tasting beer I ever drank in my life was on the plane on the way to Uzbekistan.For starters it was warm,& I should've known what was coming when I saw a pic of a camel on the bottle.I think it was bottled camel urine! Lol The guy with whom I had a beer with in the Philippines had studied to be a priest in his younger days.The name of that beer was San Miguel or Saint Michael.I said St.Michael the Archangel,the beer of the angels.He then asked me how many archangels there were,to which I replied 7.He said yes you are right.I then said OK name them,you studied to be a priest.He said he couldn't because he drank too much gin when he was in the seminary.Lol
Ed

 

[edju1958]

NorthEast Tennessee Saturday MAC Report

Brian and I cut a little Ash today. The MACs ran fine, but one of us should have just stayed home for the morning. My brain is tired. Forgot my suspenders so had the added distraction of trying to keep my pants up. The mental fog mixed with a possible dose of over-confidence from my last Ash outing was a recipe for disaster. Concentrating on putting all down in a row, I failed to consider the height of a forked top. It brushed and took out the top of a small Walnut the LO wanted to save. My troubles didn't end there. The larger trees along the creek all had the lower trunk going one way and upper stem and the limb load the other way. I went with the limb load on one. The tree went with the lower trunk. Sat down too hard to wedge. So I attempted to fall it where it wanted to go. Just one more pull of the trigger to finish the new face - the tree didn't wait and pinched my 800. No way to remove it, so I resolved myself that I was going to witness my 800's death. I borrowed Brian's 800 when he wasn't looking and gingerly with intermittent trigger pulls thinned the hinge. As the tree began its fall, I stood back expecting to watch my 800 being crushed. But Someone intervened, the tree spit out my 800. It landed on its bottom and the stem stayed on the stump. The fall was not without consequence as the top hit one of the small cedars the LO wanted saved. Strike two. We bucked to dump trailer length a few of those we felled and called it a day before I could do any more damage.

Just one picture from me, my 800 where it fell.
View attachment 699573

Ron
Ron,I've found that when you're either going out to cut wood,or work on a saw,it's best to have a clear head so you can concentrate on what you're doing.The worst thing in the world is being distracted in either one of those situations.Lumberjacking is one of the world's deadliest professions,right there with mining & farming.Just remember that you walked away from that without a scratch.Even if your saw would've been totaled you still walked away from that one.Also remember this - a material possession can always be replaced,but a human life cannot.
You're not the only person who has had some problems lately.Yesterday I should've known that my day wasn't going to go well when my cat decided to wake me at 5:30.I had a carb to take apart for my newest 7-10,so while having my morning coffee I started taking the screws out of the top cover (I do my carb work in the house in case I drop something I can just sweep the laminate floor & I find it) &wouldn't you know it,I dropped a screw.I never heard it hit the floor or table,so I thought it must've landed on the padding on my chair.I looked on the chair & nothing,I looked on the table & nothing.I figured I'd go get the squeegee & go over the floor,still nothing.I was racking my brain trying to figure out what had happened to the screw.As I was having my breakfast I thought that maybe it was possible that the screw fell into my coffee.No gulping down coffee today,I didn't want to swallow the screw.I figured I'd just get another screw off another carb for now,when I happened to look down at the table & there was the missing screw.I was so happy to find it.Now I had a Mac 3816 to pull apart to find out why it wasn't oiling.The saw ran like a champ,but no oil at the bar pad.Pulling that saw apart was a total nightmare,but I got it tore down.Of course I had to loser two torqx screws & the spring for the operator's saftey lever.I found that the line from the pump to the oil tank was gone.Now while I had the saw apart I was advised to check the plastic gear on the oil pump which was known to strip.I had to pull the flywheel to get to the pump,no problem,I've done this before.I got the oil; pump off & found that all was good.I put a new line in the tank & hooked it to the oiler.Now when the saw wants to come apart it comes apart more than what's necessary & the fuel tank came off tonce the fuel tank came off of course the fuel lines had to break from being brittle.I figured OK I'll put new fuel lines in tomorrow,so I began to put the handle assembly back on when I remembererd that I'd forgotten to put the flywheel back on,so now I had to take the handle assembly with half the saw's outer casing back apart to put the flywheel back on.OK,now it's together again (I'm getting pretty good at this now) & I didn't notice that there are two different style torx screws & I used one in the wrong place.I couldn't get that screw back out again if my life depended on it.Well,good news today - my son found the operator's lever spring & I found the two torx screws that I'd lost yesterday.I went to the local hardware store & bought some new ethanol resistant fuel line.I'm hoping tomorrow to mpull the handle apart,retrieve the screw that's stuck,put the operator's lever & spring back in,button it all up,& put new fuel lines in.Hopefully I'll have a fully operational saw.So you see,we all have bad days.
Ed


This valuable report is provided through the the generous support of MacNuts like you and Blind Squirrel Falling, one of America's greatest imaginary businesses.

 

[fossil]

Has anyone heard from Poge?

He was alive and well on Thursday.

 

[Jimp1970]

Hey there.i am jim from greece and you are my last hope to rebuild my pro mac 700.l don't know much about saws,i don't understand much of the terms you use,i don't know the language so well and the only reason i 'm here is that i want that yellow beast, resting in pieces in a box now to be alive again.i have bought a husqvarna 450e and it's fine for my needs (firewood for my mom) and everyone i know told me not to try fix that old saw but i had that mac since i was a kid and it's like my first girlfriend.i can't forget it.so i'll need a service manuai if somebody has one,a guidance with the parts and the procedure in general.i found an ipl and for example the ignition coil i need is number 92785.i found on ebay an mc 223875.is that suitable for my saw?my model is 12-600061b.thanks for your time,hope you can help me bring that mac to life.

 

[Jethro 2t sniffer]

Hey there.i am jim from greece and you are my last hope to rebuild my pro mac 700.l don't know much about saws,i don't understand much of the terms you use,i don't know the language so well and the only reason i 'm here is that i want that yellow beast, resting in pieces in a box now to be alive again.i have bought a husqvarna 450e and it's fine for my needs (firewood for my mom) and everyone i know told me not to try fix that old saw but i had that mac since i was a kid and it's like my first girlfriend.i can't forget it.so i'll need a service manuai if somebody has one,a guidance with the parts and the procedure in general.i found an ipl and for example the ignition coil i need is number 92785.i found on ebay an mc 223875.is that suitable for my saw?my model is 12-600061b.thanks for your time,hope you can help me bring that mac to life.

Start from the beginning mate you got spark? decent compression?

 

[Jimp1970]

Now it has nothing.it's pieces in a box.in the past it had a piston jummed but it was fixed by replacing the piston rings and maybe the piston (i'm not sure).it worked ok.some years later it didn't fire up i gave it to a mechanic and he told me it was the ignition coil's failure.i got it back in a terrible condition,everywear he had use plumbers silicone for sealant.i had to tear apart the saw to clean it and use a proper sealand