Hey guys! Got a newbie here and rank amateur chainsaw enthusiast. A little history on me: I recently took up chainsaws as a hobby and have dabbled with a few rebuilds just to teach myself the inner workings. Been cutting firewood since I was a kid but never learned much about the saws except how to use them. Grew up on a farm, and row crop farm for a living now. I've gone through a few small block chevy and fords and overhauled several diesel tractor engines. Also do all my own equipment repair so I have a little experience at figuring stuff out. Got an old O24 and an O28WB that I went through just to learn. Found both of them in the back of an old barn buried in a dirt floor by groundhogs. Owner said they had been there at least 20 years and didn't run when put there. Got both of them fixed up and running great.
My dad bought this O38 Magnum new in 1986. He was never real good at maintenance, just pick it up and use it. Any way 20 years later The thing still cut like mad, IF, you could get it started and then if it ever died not a chance it would restart. In 2008 he gave up messing with it, put it in the back of the shed, and bought a new MS390. 390 has been a good saw for him but he still talks about how that O38 magnum would cut. He loved that saw! Well last week I dug it out from under all the crap that has been piled around it the last 10 years and brought it home to fix it up for him for Christmas. Easy enough to just freshen it up but I want to get all I can out of it within reason. It's still going to be just a firewood saw. Falling trees and bucking them up. So, just looking for direction from you guys to really make this thing bite but still keep it manageable and reliable. Dad is 71 now but in great shape and can still work right alongside my brothers and I.
I didn't do a check but still seems to have good compression. It still ran very strong last it ran, just couldn't get it started and would not idle if it did start. From what I can see through the intake and exhaust ports the piston and cylinder are in great shape. Had good spark at the plug when I checked that. I'm betting new fuel line, filter, impulse line, and carb rebuild would get it going again but also thinking about doing some porting. Also thought about planing the cylinder down a little to raise compression but would need some input from you guys on that. I'm a machinist by trade and have access to use a local machine shop. I build some plastic injection molds for him once in a while and he lets me use his shop for my hobby and farm projects.WIN! He has a Haas CNC machining center in there that I'm familiar with. I did some mild porting on the O28 that I went through just as a learning experience. Not sure if I did it right or not but it sure seems to run strong for an O28?????
Anyway, not wanting to spend a bunch of money, just make this thing into a good stout saw for my dad and learn some stuff on the way. Any tips, pointers, info,or help you guys are willing to give would be greatly appreciated so let me hear what you have to say.
Thanks fellas
Joe
My dad bought this O38 Magnum new in 1986. He was never real good at maintenance, just pick it up and use it. Any way 20 years later The thing still cut like mad, IF, you could get it started and then if it ever died not a chance it would restart. In 2008 he gave up messing with it, put it in the back of the shed, and bought a new MS390. 390 has been a good saw for him but he still talks about how that O38 magnum would cut. He loved that saw! Well last week I dug it out from under all the crap that has been piled around it the last 10 years and brought it home to fix it up for him for Christmas. Easy enough to just freshen it up but I want to get all I can out of it within reason. It's still going to be just a firewood saw. Falling trees and bucking them up. So, just looking for direction from you guys to really make this thing bite but still keep it manageable and reliable. Dad is 71 now but in great shape and can still work right alongside my brothers and I.
I didn't do a check but still seems to have good compression. It still ran very strong last it ran, just couldn't get it started and would not idle if it did start. From what I can see through the intake and exhaust ports the piston and cylinder are in great shape. Had good spark at the plug when I checked that. I'm betting new fuel line, filter, impulse line, and carb rebuild would get it going again but also thinking about doing some porting. Also thought about planing the cylinder down a little to raise compression but would need some input from you guys on that. I'm a machinist by trade and have access to use a local machine shop. I build some plastic injection molds for him once in a while and he lets me use his shop for my hobby and farm projects.WIN! He has a Haas CNC machining center in there that I'm familiar with. I did some mild porting on the O28 that I went through just as a learning experience. Not sure if I did it right or not but it sure seems to run strong for an O28?????
Anyway, not wanting to spend a bunch of money, just make this thing into a good stout saw for my dad and learn some stuff on the way. Any tips, pointers, info,or help you guys are willing to give would be greatly appreciated so let me hear what you have to say.
Thanks fellas
Joe
