Poulan 361 Questions

[saxman]

I picked up a complete Poulan 361 at an engine show yesterday for $20. Looks to be in good shape and has compression but the spark plug boot is gone so I have not tried to start it yet. I looked on Acres site for the background on this saw and I noticed a comment near the picture that says " based on Homelite XL". I had already noticed how similar it was to XLs I have run and worked on in the past. Can some of you Poulan fans give me some more information on this? Is the 361 a copy of a XL? Does the 361 have any quirks that I should be aware of? Thanks for the help in advance.

Steve

 

[OhioGregg]

I picked up a complete Poulan 361 at an engine show yesterday for $20. Looks to be in good shape and has compression but the spark plug boot is gone so I have not tried to start it yet. I looked on Acres site for the background on this saw and I noticed a comment near the picture that says " based on Homelite XL". I had already noticed how similar it was to XLs I have run and worked on in the past. Can some of you Poulan fans give me some more information on this? Is the 361 a copy of a XL? Does the 361 have any quirks that I should be aware of? Thanks for the help in advance.

Steve

I couldn't tell ya if one was copied from the other or not. The 361 is 59cc. It is the earlier version of the 306. The 361 does not have anti-vibe features, and is a manual oiler saw. As far as I know, they all have a points style ignition. Where the newer 306 can be found with both points & electronic ign.


Gregg,

 

[67L36Driver]

Everybody and their brother made XL-12 and SXL clones back in the late '60's early '70's it seems. I have most of them covered in my sig..

The 361 is not that different. Even some of the small bits interchange. Wico magneto ignitions, Faribanks-Morse starters and Tillotson & Walbro carbs for example.

One small item; the fuel line uses a bulkhead fitting at the top of the tank making it a problem changing the in-tank pickup line.

 

[FATGUY]

Everybody and their brother made XL-12 and SXL clones back in the late '60's early '70's it seems. I have most of them covered in my sig..

The 361 is not that different. Even some of the small bits interchange. Wico magneto ignitions, Faribanks-Morse starters and Tillotson & Walbro carbs for example.

One small item; the fuel line uses a bulkhead fitting at the top of the tank making it a problem changing the in-tank pickup line.

:agree2:

 

[Modifiedmark]

I looked on Acres site for the background on this saw and I noticed a comment near the picture that says " based on Homelite XL". I had already noticed how similar it was to XLs I have run and worked on in the past. Can some of you Poulan fans give me some more information on this? Is the 361 a copy of a XL?

Steve

Steve, is the 361 a copy of a XL-12? I don't know but Mike Acres said it is so it must be right?

Seems like lots of people around here take everything from that site as gospel. Well I don't, it is a wonderfull informitive site and a valuable asset to saw collectors no doubt, but it has scattered wrong info and some opinons as well.

Please don't take this a a bashing of Mikes site, it is not meant that way and I really appreciate it but just giving my veiw.

Maybe the 361 was indeed patterened off the XL-12 and it dont really matter if it was but I have questions about who really copied who and like was said, there was a whole legion of other saws produced in that style. Who's to say that some other manufactures were not in the process of getting a saw of that style to market and Homelite just didn't beat them all to the punch? Good for them if they did, they put out a great product and it made them lots of money and really made that company as well.

The XL-12 from my info seems to agree with Acres and was introduced in 1964. The Poulan 361 was introduced in 1965 so that automatically means it was copied from the XL-12?

If Poulan got it copied, engineered, tooled up and on the market in only one year, that would seem to be a very large accomlishment back in 1965, at least I think it would have been. They had very little of the technology we have today to do that.

Like was already said, the 361 is very much like the XL-12 but other then ignitions I'm not sure of parts interchanging. Maybe a oiler line fitting or such but those were common off the shelf items. I think the top handle bracket may interchange.

The 361 was a 59cc 3.6CI saw compared to the 54cc of the XL-12 and they are a little stronger running because of it. There was also a 360 model at 3.6CI but I'm not sure what was different on them. That same platform was used to produce 4CI all the way to 4.5CI saws and even a 4CI with a auto oiler.

The 361 did have at least a 10 year production run being sold along side the early 200 series 3.6CI saws as well as the later 3.6CI 306A which to me were a superior design. The 361 was being more promoted as a ranch/farm saw in that lineup.

As far as quirks go, there pretty much straight foreward. Like was already mentioned, the fuel line bulkhead fitting is kinda a pain to get to and I have just decided the fastest and easiest way is to just go ahead and remove the carb and whole rear handle assy to get to it. Its really pretty easy to do that way.

You will need a small 5/16" ign style wrench to get the fitting out. The fuel line size that I use is a 1/8"id x 3/16"od for the in tank line and a 3/16"id x 5/16" od for the fitting to carb line.

The carb is a Tillotson HS and uses a RK-23HS kit and is a governed carb. Points are set at .015"

I have the service manual for it but it is too large to post here. PM me if you want it.

 

[67L36Driver]

I think all them chainsaw manufacturers played a lot of golf together.

What could be more logical than going down to the local hardware store and buying representative samples of the best sellers your competition had to offer?:msp_sneaky:

 

[saxman]

Thanks for the feedback Mark, I was hoping you would chime in. I am anxious to get the 361 going it seems like a well built very robust saw, like the old XLs. Maybe Poulan and Homelite both started with a clean sheet of paper when they started the design process for a sturdy all around saw and both arrived at similar solutions. I hope to start checking her over this afternoon if its not to hot. Thanks again to all for their input.

Steve

 

[Eccentric]

The XL12 was released late in 1963 as a 1964 saw from what I've gathered from a local dealer who was one of the first to sell 'em. I doubt the Poulan 361 is a direct copy, but they sure seem 'similar' to me. Pioneer, Poulan, Lombard, Remington, and others had 'similar' saws on the market shortly after the XL12 came around. Some had more displacement, and other features where they were an improvement. Why not make a saw that's like your competitor's offering, but just a bit 'better' so as to pull sales your way? Homelite's own increased displacement XL12/SXL style saws (XL400, XL500) were problematic unfortunately. I find it hard to believe that the other folk's saws could be so damn close in layout/looks to the XL12 without some 'inspiration' coming from the Homelites however. I do agree that a year or two is a short time to ge a 'clean sheet' copy on the market. Maybe Homelite had crappy security in their design department around 1961-1962....

 

[67L36Driver]

Homelite watching Roper or Roper looking at Homelite. After working on my Craftsman 917(ish) and then my latest XL-101 project it was same-old, same-old. Recessed flywheel, small flat recoil housing.

View attachment 191936View attachment 191937

The fuel tank vent/checks interchange.

 

[Modifiedmark]

The XL12 was released late in 1963 as a 1964 saw from what I've gathered from a local dealer who was one of the first to sell 'em. I doubt the Poulan 361 is a direct copy, but they sure seem 'similar' to me. Pioneer, Poulan, Lombard, Remington, and others had 'similar' saws on the market shortly after the XL12 came around. Some had more displacement, and other features where they were an improvement. Why not make a saw that's like your competitor's offering, but just a bit 'better' so as to pull sales your way? Homelite's own increased displacement XL12/SXL style saws (XL400, XL500) were problematic unfortunately. I find it hard to believe that the other folk's saws could be so damn close in layout/looks to the XL12 without some 'inspiration' coming from the Homelites however. I do agree that a year or two is a short time to ge a 'clean sheet' copy on the market. Maybe Homelite had crappy security in their design department around 1961-1962....

Good points Aaron, no doubt about it, there similar but there are lots that are different. The Pioneer 1110 and 1120 introduced in 1965 are also very similar so by Acres assement, should they have been listed as "Patterned after the XL-12" as well?

Like you and I both said, who knows what the deal was, but like we both agree, it would be hard to imagine cloneing something like that back then in only a year. If there was insperation from Homelite, then why not draw it from one of there best.

To be honest, I have a few of the 361 platform saws and have nothing against them, there built well, and run well also, but I never had much interest in them, years ago or today as I never considered them (or the XL-12 for that matter) as "modern saws" for the fact that they were manual oilers only. I know I never wanted to cut alot with them and no one I ever knew wanted to either if there was a auto oiler to be had instead.

I know that just the means and style of there construction that some would say that they were indeed the beginning of the true modern saws. I just never thought that.

As a Poulan guy, I never gave them much thought either as in just 3 years Poulan introduced the 200 series and saws like the 3.6ci 200, 201 and 201 were even more modern with better construction, auto oilers and the same or less weight.

Here are a couple of my Poulans in that series.

 

[Eccentric]

I guess Poulan never added the auto-oiler hardware (like Homelite did in 1965 with the XL12-Auto and later Super XL-Automatic saws in the series) on the 361 since they had the 200/220/306/245/etc saws in the works. One has to wonder what was happening with Poulan and the 361 vs the 200/306 family. That was a lot of time and development costs (getting the 361 in production), just to supercede it with the newer saws so soon. Had to be some parallel design development going on in Shreveport. They did get ten years out of the design though. I'd love to be able to spend some evenings picking the brains of the people that were 'in the know' at Homelite, Poulan, and McCulloch during the '60s and '70s.

 

[Modifiedmark]

I guess Poulan never added the auto-oiler hardware (like Homelite did in 1965 with the XL12-Auto and later Super XL-Automatic saws in the series) on the 361 since they had the 200/220/306/245/etc saws in the works. One has to wonder what was happening with Poulan and the 361 vs the 200/306 family. That was a lot of time and development costs (getting the 361 in production), just to supercede it with the newer saws so soon. Had to be some parallel design development going on in Shreveport. They did get ten years out of the design though. I'd love to be able to spend some evenings picking the brains of the people that were 'in the know' at Homelite, Poulan, and McCulloch during the '60s and '70s.

I would also like to set in with that coversation with those folks.

Poulan did indeed add a auto oiler to the 361 platform. The 400A was introduced the same year (I think) that the 361 was and it was a 4CI auto oiler. One of those is on my to get list, and I do have a Dayton version already in parts.

Thats why I can't buy into the whole, Poulan copied Homelite stuff. I mean within a year they had a 3.6 and a 4.0 version and a year later a 4.5 version as well.

Just don't make that much sense when you think about it.

As far as the 200 series so soon? Who knows, but like you said lots of stuff could have been going on at that time. To me the 200 series was a improvement in several ways. There a better design but probably more costly to make and maybe thats why the 361 lived on as a more inexpensive farmer/rancher saw.

 

[Jason hopper]

MArk, I am looking to pick up two of these, could/will you please send me the service manuals for these. [email protected]. Thanks

 

[46 Poulan]

I think the Poulan 361 is about the best looking saw ever--May be the Green gets me>>> I have a few. Also like the old XL 12 with a bow>>> David

 

[Jason hopper]

Gorgeous saws! Works of art.

 

[46 Poulan]

Thanks--I like old machinery and stuff. Don't get me started--I might get carried away...

 

[Jason hopper]

That’s great looking. Got some older stuff also. Picked this little gem up for $15. Still working on getting it running. Weirdest thing though, the points are located under the clutch. First one I’ve seen like that. Just found a guy that is selling a boatload of chainsaws for $15 bucks apiece. Gonna check hem out this weekend. Looked like he had some good ones in there.

 

[Benjie Duke]

Steve, is the 361 a copy of a XL-12? I don't know but Mike Acres said it is so it must be right?

Seems like lots of people around here take everything from that site as gospel. Well I don't, it is a wonderfull informitive site and a valuable asset to saw collectors no doubt, but it has scattered wrong info and some opinons as well.

Please don't take this a a bashing of Mikes site, it is not meant that way and I really appreciate it but just giving my veiw.

Maybe the 361 was indeed patterened off the XL-12 and it dont really matter if it was but I have questions about who really copied who and like was said, there was a whole legion of other saws produced in that style. Who's to say that some other manufactures were not in the process of getting a saw of that style to market and Homelite just didn't beat them all to the punch? Good for them if they did, they put out a great product and it made them lots of money and really made that company as well.

The XL-12 from my info seems to agree with Acres and was introduced in 1964. The Poulan 361 was introduced in 1965 so that automatically means it was copied from the XL-12?

If Poulan got it copied, engineered, tooled up and on the market in only one year, that would seem to be a very large accomlishment back in 1965, at least I think it would have been. They had very little of the technology we have today to do that.

Like was already said, the 361 is very much like the XL-12 but other then ignitions I'm not sure of parts interchanging. Maybe a oiler line fitting or such but those were common off the shelf items. I think the top handle bracket may interchange.

The 361 was a 59cc 3.6CI saw compared to the 54cc of the XL-12 and they are a little stronger running because of it. There was also a 360 model at 3.6CI but I'm not sure what was different on them. That same platform was used to produce 4CI all the way to 4.5CI saws and even a 4CI with a auto oiler.

The 361 did have at least a 10 year production run being sold along side the early 200 series 3.6CI saws as well as the later 3.6CI 306A which to me were a superior design. The 361 was being more promoted as a ranch/farm saw in that lineup.

As far as quirks go, there pretty much straight foreward. Like was already mentioned, the fuel line bulkhead fitting is kinda a pain to get to and I have just decided the fastest and easiest way is to just go ahead and remove the carb and whole rear handle assy to get to it. Its really pretty easy to do that way.

You will need a small 5/16" ign style wrench to get the fitting out. The fuel line size that I use is a 1/8"id x 3/16"od for the in tank line and a 3/16"id x 5/16" od for the fitting to carb line.

The carb is a Tillotson HS and uses a RK-23HS kit and is a governed carb. Points are set at .015"

I have the service manual for it but it is too large to post here. PM me if you want it.

The truth of the matter, the 361 and XL are no more similar than today's poulan and Homelite. I have a Sears Sportster that is similar to both. I've just gotten a 361 which my dad had one in the early 70s. Neighbor borrowed it, 361 bow, put him in the hospital, something like 200 stitches. At that time in the southeast, a chainsaw with a straight bar on it was a top handle. Anyway I have a couple of wore out xl12s. They seem to be alike because they have Reed valves. The xl has only one, where the 361 and Sears have four positioned in a wedge shaped. Which makes a huge difference in there performance. That Sears will rev up quick from idle to 4000 rpm right now and has torque. But it is a pile of junk. The Sears is in standard inches. The xl is metric.

 

[Jason hopper]

 

[Jason hopper]

Found this one the other day. Next project. Here’s some of the specs.
Model: 917.60005

MANUFACTURED BY:

CRAFTSMAN (SEARS ROEBUCK & CO.)

CHICAGO, IL U.S.A.
SERIES OR ASSEMBLY NUMBER:

917.60005
YEAR INTRODUCED:

1956
YEAR DISCONTINUED:

ENGINE DISPLACEMENT:

7.98 cu. in. (130.7cc)

MANUFACTURER ADVERTISED H.P.:

8
WEIGHT:

31 lbs. with 20 in. bar & chain