joeymt33
I bleed YELLOW!
Cool, randy and I share the same birth day. Not the same birth date though, as I was born in '80
McCulloch Chain Saws
- Thread starter Bruce Hopf
- Start date
Help Support Arborist Forum:
Eccentric
Mister Wizard
I went to HS with a friend who's birthday was the same as yours and Randy's. Same year as mine (so he is three whole days younger than me). 1973.....
Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
Lookie what followed me to work today - really clean 250. Cost me less than a bottle of good whiskey.
Compression is real good, will check the rest out this weekend.
Compression is real good, will check the rest out this weekend.
Warped5
WingNut
joeymt33
I bleed YELLOW!
Thanks fellers, i'd crack some old jokes on y'all but since y'all are more "experienced", you probably got better young jokes.
Joey
Joey
:agree2: Ron
I'm old and slow. Joey, your post slipped in on me. Happy Birthday. Ron
I'm old and slow. Joey, your post slipped in on me. Happy Birthday. Ron
RandyMac
Stiff Member
Lookie what followed me to work today - really clean 250. Cost me less than a bottle of good whiskey.
Compression is real good, will check the rest out this weekend.
Good deal, everyone needs to have at least one 250.
Happy birthday Joey!
Our house went into escrow today, looks like we will be moving by September.
promac850
formerly promac610
Joey, Happy Birthday! Hope you got something you wanted. 
Ron, the 700 I have wears a 20" bar. I think I'll leave it right where it is. Chain still has plenty of life left yet as well...
Randy, you're right about the 250, everyone needs at least one... good old almost 5 cuber.
Ron, the 700 I have wears a 20" bar. I think I'll leave it right where it is. Chain still has plenty of life left yet as well...
Randy, you're right about the 250, everyone needs at least one... good old almost 5 cuber.
I have children older than many of you...and saws older than me!
Mark
Mark
RandyMac
Stiff Member
It's good to hear your saws are older than you Mark.
Can you tell much difference between a 250 and a good running 1-42? It looks like the specs are similar...
McCulloch worked a bit of their magic into the 250, not like the Super 250 but definitely a 250 in good condition is a notch or two above the other 80 cc saws. Even the 200 is rather pale compared to the 250.
The 300, 380, 1-52, and 1-53 were all 87 cc saws with a bit more torque but the 250 was a very strong runner and could certainly compete with the bigger saws using the 19" bars that were so common at the time.
Early 80 cc saws like the 1-40, 1-41, and 1-42 were not really intended for lots of hard continuous use. In the piston end of the connecting rod they simply used a bushing rather than needle bearings like later models. I don't know exactly where they drew the line, but many of the "tame" 80 cc saws only had two of the three exhaust port holes opened up.
A good number of the 1-41 and 1-42 saws did not have the lower brace on the rear handle, I don't know if they were trying to take a page from the Remington syle guide but without the brace, some strong arm users could actually start to lift the air box off the crank case, not good for the saw in any case.
My first saw was a 300 that I ran until it absolutely quit. The next up was a 200 that was really a step down from the 300, bit of a disappointment really but I could not be too choosey in those days as cash was quite limited. Compared to the neighbors 250 neither of them was really impressive, always sort of wondered if the 250 had been worked over as it seemed to be that much better but the chances are it was just in much better shape overall.
Besides all that, the 250 has that sleek top cover that just makes the saw look faster...
Mark
The 300, 380, 1-52, and 1-53 were all 87 cc saws with a bit more torque but the 250 was a very strong runner and could certainly compete with the bigger saws using the 19" bars that were so common at the time.
Early 80 cc saws like the 1-40, 1-41, and 1-42 were not really intended for lots of hard continuous use. In the piston end of the connecting rod they simply used a bushing rather than needle bearings like later models. I don't know exactly where they drew the line, but many of the "tame" 80 cc saws only had two of the three exhaust port holes opened up.
A good number of the 1-41 and 1-42 saws did not have the lower brace on the rear handle, I don't know if they were trying to take a page from the Remington syle guide but without the brace, some strong arm users could actually start to lift the air box off the crank case, not good for the saw in any case.
My first saw was a 300 that I ran until it absolutely quit. The next up was a 200 that was really a step down from the 300, bit of a disappointment really but I could not be too choosey in those days as cash was quite limited. Compared to the neighbors 250 neither of them was really impressive, always sort of wondered if the 250 had been worked over as it seemed to be that much better but the chances are it was just in much better shape overall.
Besides all that, the 250 has that sleek top cover that just makes the saw look faster...
Mark
There's a couple of 250 Macs down the street from me that I think are for sale..one of them I think is $30 with bar and chain and the other doesn't have a b/c, I guessing it's about $20 or so, neither are Supers as far as I know. I may run down and get one of them just for the heck of it. Those aren't the saws with the troublesome carburetors, are they?
All of the "regular" 250's came with a Tillotson HL. Parts, kits, and information on the HL are quite widely available. If you've spent a lot of time working on the cube style carburetors the HL will seem strange at first, but the are pretty simply once you start to look into them.
Most Super 250's came with the choke equipped flat back, many of the other, earlier saws with flat backs were primer models.
The McCulloch flat back carburetors are the ones many will tell you are trouble. I have had pretty good success with both, and a few failures with both as well. The McCulloch carburetors to seem to be a bit more touchy when it comes to making adjustments. The primers can be hard to find, but for a saw you will only run occasionally you can get by priming it manually to get started the first time.
Mark
Most Super 250's came with the choke equipped flat back, many of the other, earlier saws with flat backs were primer models.
The McCulloch flat back carburetors are the ones many will tell you are trouble. I have had pretty good success with both, and a few failures with both as well. The McCulloch carburetors to seem to be a bit more touchy when it comes to making adjustments. The primers can be hard to find, but for a saw you will only run occasionally you can get by priming it manually to get started the first time.
Mark
Last edited:
The HL carbs are no problem..I've rebuilt a few this year, just wondering about that flat back. I know both these saws have chokes on them so I guess that's a good sign. I took a peek under the air cleaner cover on one and it did appear to be a Tilly but I thought the Tilly and the Mac looked similar so I wasn't sure.
I just looked and it appears I have a spare Tillotson HL carb. Don't know about the fitment though, it came of an old Homelite C7.
I just looked and it appears I have a spare Tillotson HL carb. Don't know about the fitment though, it came of an old Homelite C7.
Last edited:
Warped5
WingNut
The magic HL carbs are HL-19 .. HL-63 and HL-109. I just don't know off the top of my head which ones fit which Macs the best. Aaron should be along overnight sometime and fill in the holes for me.
Made a little deal yesterday and got this nice gem as part of it, a PM10-10 from the original owner. Has never been to the repair shop and runs great ...
promac850
formerly promac610
palmer, buy both of those 250's... you won't regret it.
That price is a bargain for a good 80cc Mac.
I even paid a little bit more than that for mine and I don't regret it one bit, nor do I think I paid too much. It is worth what I paid.
That price is a bargain for a good 80cc Mac.
I even paid a little bit more than that for mine and I don't regret it one bit, nor do I think I paid too much. It is worth what I paid.
I believe I have said enough for one evening........
I know I have thread going already but just wanted to show it off some more.........
RandyMac
Stiff Member
I believe I have said enough for one evening........
I know I have thread going already but just wanted to show it off some more.........
Now everything else you might have is a lesser saw.
promac850
formerly promac610
All of the parts are painted... gaskets are cut out... waiting on the box of those 1/2" expansion plugs. They should be here early next week. Crank seals should also be in then as well, though the guy at the bearing supply shop said I should be able to use the ones that appear to have been installed the last time it was rebuilt.
They are in great shape, no cracks, still very supple and flexible. Bearings are smooth and roll well, so I did not order new ones.
Spare seals aren't a bad idea, however... might need them later for another big Mac rebuild... inventoried some of the left over parts from the 850 build, and will have more to inventory once the 790 is all together and complete.
Also got the new gasket for the 850 oil pump. Put it on, got her back together, and she barked like nothing ever happened. Compression is getting stronger every time I run it. Guess it wasn't (possibly still isn't) completely broken in quite yet...
Started first pull.
I just remembered I need to update the build thread. I'll have to do that tomorrow as well.
I'm both excited and nervous about the 790 being almost done... it's been making it hard for me to fall asleep the past couple of nights.
They are in great shape, no cracks, still very supple and flexible. Bearings are smooth and roll well, so I did not order new ones.
Spare seals aren't a bad idea, however... might need them later for another big Mac rebuild... inventoried some of the left over parts from the 850 build, and will have more to inventory once the 790 is all together and complete.
Also got the new gasket for the 850 oil pump. Put it on, got her back together, and she barked like nothing ever happened. Compression is getting stronger every time I run it. Guess it wasn't (possibly still isn't) completely broken in quite yet...
Started first pull.
I just remembered I need to update the build thread. I'll have to do that tomorrow as well.
I'm both excited and nervous about the 790 being almost done... it's been making it hard for me to fall asleep the past couple of nights.
Similar threads
Want to Sell
Vintage Collection Liquidation
