Smoking Saws

[junker]

I'm a new c/s user. I borrowed a small, 14" McCulloch saw, which I found was dull, to cut up some woodturning stock. I'm in the market for a saw for this purpose.

Now, on to my question. This little bugger smoked like Casey Jones' locomotive. Do all chainsaws smoke like this? My wife didn't even want to let me in the house! She wrinkled up her nose and said "You stink"!! I said " the wind musta blew the saw smoke back on me"!!

How do ya'll get around this?

 

[WRW]

I usually make a derogatory comment about the wife's mother and that takes care of it.
That McCulloch probably had stale gas in it. Saws with fresh fuel with the proper mixture of oil put off a very light haze.

 

[don]

Oil mixture and a smoking saw

Welcome to this site.

If you search the past posts of this site then you will see fuel mixture is talked about all thetime.

Just make sure to make the ratio at 50:1 to 32:1 and you will not have to be overly concerned all that smaoke is your pistons burning the cylinder wall.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

The chain oiler might be shot, putting oil in the cylinder. Just sell that saw on eBay and get something that is decent and wont kill you.

A nice little Husqvarna 141 or a Stihl 018 would smoke ) ) that Mac

 

[don]

Ddi you know how the saw ran before you borrowed it?

Hey guys do you think a ring or the walls are damaged prior to him using it?

 

[WRW]

Don,
I think HUSKYMAN described the highest probablilty for the smoking problem. I saw a chainsaw the other day that the gasoline had evaporated from, leaving behind the oil mix, and that was what I was thinking when I answered.

 

[John in MA]

All chainsaws will smoke a little, but even with a mix like 24:1 it's not very noticable. That McCulloch you borrowed could have one or all of the following problems:

1. Stale gas evaporated causing mix to richen.
2. Fuel mix was mixed too rich.
3. Carb mix was too rich.
4. Oiler diaphragm broke and leaked chain oil into the cranks case (common in cheap Macs).
5. Saw could be really worn out.

Something's wrong if you can see very much smoke.

 

[don]

Very good John in MA

Very good list of possible problems with the saw.

Good luck with the diagnosis

 

[spreaderman]

bar oil

maybe you put bar oil in the gas tank accidently??????

 

[junker]

I don't know how it ran before I borrowed it. Owner said he had not used it in about 2 years. He filled it when I picked it up, don't know what mixture.

Thanks.