Pioneer chainsaws

[propliner]

Jerry, great minds think alike!

 

[pioneerguy600]

Jerry, great minds think alike!

Yes, but you beat me to it, I type too slow.LOL
Pioneerguy600

 

[cleaf30]

gas cap

I just found a pioneer 610 sitting in my grandfather's old garage but the gas cap was on there to tight and broke when i took the vice grips to it. however I poured gas in the carburateur and she still runs. Does anyone have a gas cap to a pioneer 600 series or know where i could possibly get one?

 

[cjcocn]

I just found a pioneer 610 sitting in my grandfather's old garage but the gas cap was on there to tight and broke when i took the vice grips to it. however I poured gas in the carburateur and she still runs. Does anyone have a gas cap to a pioneer 600 series or know where i could possibly get one?

If you don't find one for a while, then send me a PM. All of my saws are currently heaped into a pile while I figure out some things. I should have a spare in there somewhere, but it won't be for a few weeks.

HTH

 

[Arrowhead]

Gasket

Brendon, Those are beautiful saws, the P62 western is my "dream" saw. Finding one is like winning the lottery, then when you do find one you need to win the lottery to afford it.

I have a gasket question. Can I make my own cylinder gasket on the P50. The old one did not seem to be reinforced in any way. I bought the best quality felpro gasket material the shop had. It says its safe for gas-oil exposure. It appears to be the same thickness as the old one. If anybody knows for sure, please let me know.

 

[cjcocn]

Brendon, Those are beautiful saws, the P62 western is my "dream" saw. Finding one is like winning the lottery, then when you do find one you need to win the lottery to afford it.

I have a gasket question. Can I make my own cylinder gasket on the P50. The old one did not seem to be reinforced in any way. I bought the best quality felpro gasket material the shop had. It says its safe for gas-oil exposure. It appears to be the same thickness as the old one. If anybody knows for sure, please let me know.

Sure, make your own gaskets. Many guys do that for the NLA gaskets.

 

[propliner]

I agree, making your own gaskets is no trouble, and they work fine. Basic gasket material will work well. A set of hole punches helps a lot.

Ed, if I could keep only one saw, it would be that P62, hands down.

Brendon.

 

[Arrowhead]

Thanks again for the help guys. On the average how often do the P60 series saws (complete) show up on e-bay and average price? I understand it varies all the time. Just an average.

 

[propliner]

ebay

On average, you might see 2 Pioneers, 2 Pioneer/Partners and 2 Poulan Pro 655's in decent shape.

 

[RobShelton]

Model suffix

From what I can tell, the "S" suffix indicates "Safety" and has the chain brake locking mechanism. I see some other suffixes in the manual - "S, F and H" seem to indicate S= Safety, F=full wrap handlebar, H= half wrap bars. There are some other suffixes on the IPL's -"R,G,S and W." I'm thinking R=regular, G=guard. I base this on the IPL's illustration showing a hand guard without a chain brake mechanism for the G model. It looks like a large piece of plastic with a couple of rectangular holes in the guard. And of course the S-safety and W-Western. The manual shows combination's too! "FS" and "SH" are listed. "HP" saws have a higher maximum rpm listed but if I remember correctly its only faster by 500 -1000 rpm. I read that on Acres site. I'd bet there are some material differences on the HP models. Probably have stronger flywheels and higher governed speed carbs, and maybe more. Anybody know for sure?

Hi im new at this but what are the options that these P saws came with I have a P51 and a P41s What does s stand for? Whats a western? some saws had high performance on them? or is it all the same saw

 

[propliner]

Rob, I think you probably got most of those suffixes correct. It would sure be nice to have someone shed some light who worked in engineering or even on the assembly line. There must be a few people around whose knowledge could help answer some questions, though I must admit that a large part of the attraction for me is solving certain mysteries related to these saws. So far, the majority of the information is to be found in the IPL's and service bulletins. For anyone serious about these saws, a Pioneer manual is a must for information and for now, filling in many of the other gaps comes by way of deduction.

 

[DroppedP51]

Pioneer what ever happened?

I can remember the P series new in our local chain saw shop Dad had a solo that never went any good ,so he bought a new P41 he had an amazing run out of it , I picked up a second hand P41 bout 4 years old that was also a good saw, I went back to the shop and asked who else had pioneer saws in the area Just happend an older guy down the road had one... Thats how i got my P51 and its a awesum saw Then bang just like that they were gone ? no more parts ? no more info?... so what happed to the company? what about there tooling or factory? all gone

 

[propliner]

... so what happed to the company? what about there tooling or factory? all gone

This may have been discussed earlier in the thread. Feel free to correct me guys, but here is how I remember it:
Pioneer merged with Partner around late 1984 or early 1985 and produced the Pioneer-designed saws (P42, P52, P62, P65) as well as their own for a couple of years. Electrolux bought up that company and branded the Pioneer-designed saws into their Poulan Pro line around late 1987. These are known as the 455, 525 and 655 Poulan Pros. I believe the line ended around 1992 or so and Poulan went on to make cheaper and more disposable homeowner type stuff. I'm not entirely sure but it looks to me like all of these Pioneer designed P-series saws were built in Peterborough, Ontario. When Electrolux shut down the plant, it was torn down and an airport was built on top of it. As for the tooling, it may have been destroyed. Rumor has it that the Pioneer saws were just too good but I suspect that the more modern lightweight plastic saws were becoming superior in many ways and that production costs for magnesium made them uncompetitive price-wise.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

This may have been discussed earlier in the thread. Feel free to correct me guys, but here is how I remember it:
Pioneer merged with Partner around late 1984 or early 1985 and produced the Pioneer-designed saws (P42, P52, P62, P65) as well as their own for a couple of years. Electrolux bought up that company and branded the Pioneer-designed saws into their Poulan Pro line around late 1987. These are known as the 455, 525 and 655 Poulan Pros. I believe the line ended around 1992 or so and Poulan went on to make cheaper and more disposable homeowner type stuff. I'm not entirely sure but it looks to me like all of these Pioneer designed P-series saws were built in Peterborough, Ontario. When Electrolux shut down the plant, it was torn down and an airport was built on top of it. As for the tooling, it may have been destroyed. Rumor has it that the Pioneer saws were just too good but I suspect that the more modern lightweight plastic saws were becoming superior in many ways and that production costs for magnesium made them uncompetitive price-wise.

Most of my friends here locally had never seen an RA before I got one. I've always wondered if they ever were a big seller here on the east coast.

 

[pioneerguy600]

Most of my friends here locally had never seen an RA before I got one. I've always wondered if they ever were a big seller here on the east coast.

They were one of the best selling saws of their time, they were sold world wide and but were manufactured in Vancouver B.C. so there was more of them bought/sold on the West coast. We had them on the farm around 1957 and was the first chainsaw that I started and ran, still have that one, it will never leave.
Pioneerguy600

 

[BSmitty]

Pioneer saws rule! Glad to find a few other people who think that way.
I just (about a 1/2 hour ago) fired my 650 for the first time. It's been a learning experience to say the least!

The saw belonged to my Grandpa on my Mom's side, and he hasn't been healthy enough to run a saw in many years, so it's sat in an old shed that should have fallen down 15 years ago. When the family started to go through and pull anything valuable out of the shed, they discovered this old saw under the work bench, and gave me a call. It was in sad shape, the bar was pure rust, the chain was so rusted you couldn't move it, and there was so much dust and dirt on it you could barely tell it was green. It wasn't stuck, so I took it home (wife wasn't too happy).

I pulled the head off to see if the top end was fried, and was shocked to find a pristine cylinder, no rust, no grooves, no scarring at all! So I started to look into the history of Pioneer, and trying to identify the model. Narrowed down the 600 series, and by the handle identified it as a 650 (the only 600 series I could find pics of where the handle didn't go across the sprocket cover). The more I learned about the saw, the more determined I became to fix it. Then came the disaster. The flywheel was so bound on the crank, I broke off a puller casting on attempt 1. Attempt 2 I cracked the outside edge with a 2-jaw puller. As a last ditch effort I drilled and tapped all 6 castings around the outside of the flywheel, and made a puller out of plate steel. The puller worked, but the flywheel wouldn't move, and it actually seperated just inside the fins. I decided to wait and see if I could find a used flywheel, and did about a month later on eBay, had it here for $27. Ground off the remnant with a die grinder, filed the points (the whole reason for pulling the flywheel in the first place), and put the flywheel on again. I had spark so I began working on the fuel system. Finally got the ol tilly freed up, got the filter bowl primed, and rough-tuned it this morning. What a saw! After at least 25 years of sitting in a run-down shed, the 650 lives! Glad there are a few Pioneer fans that can appreciate the story! Oh and FWIW, this is my first post on this forum (auto forum vet of many years tho). Thanks for listening, had to share the story of this amazing saw.

 

[pioneerguy600]

Pioneer saws rule! Glad to find a few other people who think that way.
I just (about a 1/2 hour ago) fired my 650 for the first time. It's been a learning experience to say the least!

The saw belonged to my Grandpa on my Mom's side, and he hasn't been healthy enough to run a saw in many years, so it's sat in an old shed that should have fallen down 15 years ago. When the family started to go through and pull anything valuable out of the shed, they discovered this old saw under the work bench, and gave me a call. It was in sad shape, the bar was pure rust, the chain was so rusted you couldn't move it, and there was so much dust and dirt on it you could barely tell it was green. It wasn't stuck, so I took it home (wife wasn't too happy).

I pulled the head off to see if the top end was fried, and was shocked to find a pristine cylinder, no rust, no grooves, no scarring at all! So I started to look into the history of Pioneer, and trying to identify the model. Narrowed down the 600 series, and by the handle identified it as a 650 (the only 600 series I could find pics of where the handle didn't go across the sprocket cover). The more I learned about the saw, the more determined I became to fix it. Then came the disaster. The flywheel was so bound on the crank, I broke off a puller casting on attempt 1. Attempt 2 I cracked the outside edge with a 2-jaw puller. As a last ditch effort I drilled and tapped all 6 castings around the outside of the flywheel, and made a puller out of plate steel. The puller worked, but the flywheel wouldn't move, and it actually seperated just inside the fins. I decided to wait and see if I could find a used flywheel, and did about a month later on eBay, had it here for $27. Ground off the remnant with a die grinder, filed the points (the whole reason for pulling the flywheel in the first place), and put the flywheel on again. I had spark so I began working on the fuel system. Finally got the ol tilly freed up, got the filter bowl primed, and rough-tuned it this morning. What a saw! After at least 25 years of sitting in a run-down shed, the 650 lives! Glad there are a few Pioneer fans that can appreciate the story! Oh and FWIW, this is my first post on this forum (auto forum vet of many years tho). Thanks for listening, had to share the story of this amazing saw.

Welcome to AS and thanks for posting this story, I think I am the only one on here that brings back old Pioneers from the dead and buried category.Sounds like you had quite a job on your hands. If you can post a pict , myself and others on here can identify your saw for you, full or half wrap handles could be on any of the 600 series Pioneers, the 650 also is the only 600 series saw to come with a green top cover. All of that series saws are pictured way back near the start of this thread so you could also look back and there should be a pict of your saw there. Good luck with your newly running Pioneer 600 series and hope you keep on posting on here.
Pioneerguy600

 

[mtfallsmikey]

Welcome to AS and thanks for posting this story, I think I am the only one on here that brings back old Pioneers from the dead and buried category.Sounds like you had quite a job on your hands. If you can post a pict , myself and others on here can identify your saw for you, full or half wrap handles could be on any of the 600 series Pioneers, the 650 also is the only 600 series saw to come with a green top cover. All of that series saws are pictured way back near the start of this thread so you could also look back and there should be a pict of your saw there. Good luck with your newly running Pioneer 600 series and hope you keep on posting on here.
Pioneerguy600

Speaking of the "buried" Pioneers, Jerry...what became of the one you posted the pic of that looked like it was buried at the bottom of a river?

 

[WesternSaw]

BSmitty

Welcome to the AS and the Pioneer thread.This thread has a great bunch of guys involved in with it,and most importantly No Attitudes!IF anyone knows the old Pioneer 600 series it's Pioneerguy600(Jerry).He has a wealth of knowledge concerning these saws!There are other Gurus on here as well who seem to have their special niche as far as the Pioneers go.hope you go out and find yourself some more Pioneers,you will you know because it is VERY ADDICTIVE LOL!
Thanks For Posting
Lawrence

 

[mtfallsmikey]

I think I need a P41, or something similar...nice looking saw!