So bought a chinese saw (holz g070)

[sliceoflife]

So I swear I couldn't find the part I needed for my echo cs-900evl muffler... but ereplacementparts has it in stock now... no clue how I missed it... so $25 later my replacement is en route.

And they just cancelled the order because it's discontinued.


edit: So I googled the part number immediately after getting this email notice and posting this... and an eBay listing that I somehow hadn't seen before came up... for a NOS OEM Muffler... Almost the same price as what I was paying ereplacementparts...

Fingers crossed it's actual stock and not just a dropship reseller who doesn't have it again.

 

[sliceoflife]

I've got a tracking number from the Ebay purchase... yay!

 

[sliceoflife]

Muffler body arrived. It is brand spanking new. Was still taped/stapled in the box with 30 year old tape. Perfect fit. And cost me half what I was expecting to pay to get the old part welded.

 

[sliceoflife]

So turns out the homelite 775d Piston is trashed. Amazingly the saw still runs pretty well, but it seized up once it got hot (a slab and a half into milling). Not the easiest piston/top end to find... basically I need to find a saw with the same top end that is being parted out and happens to have a good top end. So for the time being, back to the 070.

Bought a new (070) clutch and a rim-drive sprocket. Gonna hold off on the 090 clutch in hopes I can find an OEM one eventually... and the result is interesting.

First... the chain is a little noisy in the sprocket... With the bar not tightened down the chain can be pulled along smoothly, but once that wiggle is removed by tightening the bar nuts, it gets kind of clacky (and yes the chain is on the sprocket). I messed with it a bunch looking for a problem, thinking maybe the chain was rubbing on the bar guards or something and it seems like it's just a little hesitancy of the drivers to slot into the sprocket creating some noise and stiffness there. When I pull the chain along (as when sharpening)... it goes clack clack clack clack clack clack... which after looking for anything else that might be causing that sound... I assume is the drivers sticking at the top and and then slapping into the seats of the sprocket.


1. Chain no longer spins at 2k RPM...
2. But the saw also now doesn't stall at 1k RPM either. (Used to stall around 1.1-1.2k RPM).... which I find odd. was the clutch engaging @ 1k rpm before, but not enough to move the chain... creating enough resistance to bog down and stall the engine that will run @ that low RPM unloaded?

So I'm probably going to wind up with it idling around the same place it was before (~1200-1400 rpm), as long as it's not a struggle to get it started up there (if the saw has sat a week or two it seems it likes having idle throttle turned up to ~2k RPM to get started... if Im running daily it'll start @ 1200rpm idle just fine).

I'm not strapping it back into the mill just yet, so I've just been tinkering with Idle a bit to make sure the chain spins, and I'll put it in some wood next chance I get just to make sure the clutch is working; but looking like the stock clutch just had bad/weak springs. But it kind of feels like I may need to wholly readjust the carb settings... which I didn't expect having to do as the result of a clutch change... but it's definitely running differently (feels a lot leaner) after. Hopefully I didn't somehow create an air leak tapping the clutch into place.

 

[sliceoflife]

Found a 775G on facebook for $100, but 3 hrs away. In CT. Asked the seller for pics through the muffler anyway. He lets me know that he is out of town and will be back in 2 weeks.

When he's back he Shows me a picture of the cylinder; has some scuffing but not terrible. Says it's definitely not new, but it's in ok shape. But he's leaving for Florida again today. Shot in the dark I ask if he's driving it (I live less than an hr outside of the route by car)... sure enough he is.

Manage to negotiate meeting in New Castle, DE and it works out where I can leave work and meet him just after he crosses the bridge.

Hands me the saw and says his buddy used to fix saws and gave him this one 31 years ago and it's been sitting a long time but it's not junk.

Get it home and look inside... Piston looks pretty nice. I'm pretty sure those verticle lines are oil streaks, not deep scars. All in all Piston looks better than cylinder did. Saw seems to have compression. Most parts look to be in better shape than my running 775d.

Thing was still caked in old sawdust and had bar oil dripping out after the cap had gotten knocked loose on the drive home. Looks like the last time it was touched, it was used then it just sat until he decided to sell it to me.

Now I'm wondering if I can steal this top end or if I should learn how to restore this Gear drive saw... I don't think it'd take much... heck cleaning out the gas tank, replacing fuel line/filter, and sticking the carb off the 775D on there may do it... along with whatever additional upkeep/repairs the gear box necessitates (I assume removing, cleaning and replacing oil?)...

Alternately would it make more sense to go ahead and steal the top end, and sell the rest of it for parts?

 

[sean donato]

Wouldn't even worry about those scratches on the piston. Did you get lucky and get one equipped with .404 I stead of 1/2 pitch chain? My 7-19, "sears" and David bradley all have 1/2" pitch chain. It's expensive and very hard to find.

 

[sliceoflife]

My 775d Is .404... Now I'm wondering. I'll go look.


Measuring the chain links, looks like 1/2"


Chain is oregon with 10 on DL and 40 on the link. Neither of which is in their codes.

 

[sliceoflife]

So bar looks like it's the original and looks almost new.

Homelite Extra hard groove and Ultra Hard tip (or something like that) Stamped into the steel like my old (1950s) Mcculloch bar... not printed.
H-512-23

I'm assuming that means 23" bar... measures about 20-21" usable length.


Measuring chain and sprocket and bar groove suggests it's 1/2" and 0.063"

Sprocket is VERY worn... almost suspect they ran .404 in it at some point. it's chewed up in a way that is shocking... rest of the saw is dirty and old but shows very little evidence of use... sprocket is Demolished. The teeth have grooves almost cutting fully through.


Can I just replace it with a .404 sprocket? Are these hard to find? I see this one... but $50 for a little sprocket seems silly. Any other options?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/351906462724
I assume I just remove the gear cover and lock up the gears to remove the sprocket nut?

 

[Breckinridge Elkins]

Might be easier to break the nut loose with the chain on. If the bar is still good you should be able to run .404x0.063" with a different sprocket. At least that's my understanding asking the same question about an old Mac.
I can't comment on the compatibility of the sprocket you posted.

 

[sean donato]

So bar looks like it's the original and looks almost new.

Homelite Extra hard groove and Ultra Hard tip (or something like that) Stamped into the steel like my old (1950s) Mcculloch bar... not printed.
H-512-23

I'm assuming that means 23" bar... measures about 20-21" usable length.


Measuring chain and sprocket and bar groove suggests it's 1/2" and 0.063"

Sprocket is VERY worn... almost suspect they ran .404 in it at some point. it's chewed up in a way that is shocking... rest of the saw is dirty and old but shows very little evidence of use... sprocket is Demolished. The teeth have grooves almost cutting fully through.


Can I just replace it with a .404 sprocket? Are these hard to find? I see this one... but $50 for a little sprocket seems silly. Any other options?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/351906462724
I assume I just remove the gear cover and lock up the gears to remove the sprocket nut?

Yeah, ive been watching that nut ball on evilbay with those drive sprockets. Price is ridiculous, but kinda is what it is. Parts arnt the easiest to find for these old saws.

 

[sean donato]

Might be easier to break the nut loose with the chain on. If the bar is still good you should be able to run .404x0.063" with a different sprocket. At least that's my understanding asking the same question about an old Mac.
I can't comment on the compatibility of the sprocket you posted.

Yes, from what I understand you can do that so long as the kerf is wider then the bar, and you're running a hard nose bar. A mcculloch should have had quite a few options for bars and chains though, and easily obtainable as well. The older models were quite popular.

 

[sliceoflife]

When you say break the nut loose with chain on, you mean leave saw together, latch/snag the chain into some wood and then try and break the nut off? Basically use the chain to keep the sprocket from rotating.


And there's two of them selling at that price... both stockpiled them... One is $2 cheaper than the other.

Looks like WIZ uses the same sprockets as this... There's a guy selling what he claims is a Wiz rim drive setup that has seven teeth... costs the same as the .404 spur, but if I can convert this to a rim setup and buy whatever rim sprocket I want, that seems like a better option to me. Any idea if that will work; or were there WIZ models that didn't have the same sprocket connectivity?

 

[sean donato]

He's refuring to the nut on the drive sprocket. They can be a bit of a pain to get loose. I've found a chain wrench works quite well, but I supposed digging the chain into something could work as well.

 

[sliceoflife]

Ahh wrap a chainwrench around the sprocket itself? That's clever. Thanks.

 

[sliceoflife]

Seller was able to answer my questions and said yeah it (The WIZ rimdrive sprocket setup) will work with the 775g. $60 later (Tax and shipping), It's on its way and I can convert this sprocket to whatever rim drive I want.

Guess I'm restoring this 775G.
Tank didn't look bad at all, some sludge in the bottom of maybe 1/4 tank of old gas, but MUCH cleaner than the 775D was when it arrived... and it was running.

I think I may get away with just a carb rebuild on this saw as long as it's got spark.

So I'll clean the tank and get some fresh gas in her.
Anyone got some knowledge or a good resource on what restoration/maintenance I should plan for the gears before I try to start it up?

 

[sliceoflife]

So dumped the gas. Gas in there was NASTY. Jet black... but there was only about a quarter cup in it. The tank looks pretty clean. Some varnish/sludge buildup on the top and back of the tank and a little in some nooks and crannies that makes me think it was cleaned at some point (and that's what they couldn't get off), but most of the inside of the tank is shiny. Gas line and filter look new or almost new.

Gear oil is very low and very dark, but present. May dump it and replace and see if we're good to go with that. The threaded plug for that definitely needs some silicon tape on it... it has no stop, so it seems like it would be possible to overtighten it and have it fall right inside the gear cover... and I imagine it definitely will leak gear oil out of the top without tape there.

Gear oil view window is gunked up/stained enough to be useless. Probably will need to pull the gear cover and clean that up at some point.


The air filter was very dirty but after a quick clean looks really good. Air filter gasket was in good shape (the one on my 775D was falling apart).


In general the saw looks like it probably either ran recently or someone started to fix it up and gave up (newish looking fuel filter, cleaned out parts inside tank)... but the gas looked scary... so maybe they put some additive in there which turned it that dark... but the tank being that low makes me suspect that isn't it.

Compression on a couple light pulls at the cord feels much higher than on the 775D... Mostly looking like good news so far... but it's making me worry that there's a starter or seal issue with a hard to find part needing replaced, as I don't know what else would make someone give up on this saw after cleaning up the fuel tank/line given the condition it appears to be in otherwise.

Need to get some gear oil and replace that, then I might be able to just stick some fuel mix in there and pull it and see if it fires.


Any particular type of oil for gear oil on a gear driven saw? Should I use differential/gear oil (80W) or what?

 

[Breckinridge Elkins]

Jamming the chain into wood was what I had in mind.
I bet there's a Homelite sticky in the sub forum. Somebody over there might have a better part solution for the sprocket.

 

[sliceoflife]

Appreciate it. Think I've got the sprocket sorted... Got spendy and ordered a rimdrive replacement. Now I'm hoping to get the gearbox cleaned up, with fresh oil and see what else needs fixed before I have a runner.

 

[Captain Bruce]

So turns out the homelite 775d Piston is trashed. Amazingly the saw still runs pretty well, but it seized up once it got hot (a slab and a half into milling). Not the easiest piston/top end to find... basically I need to find a saw with the same top end that is being parted out and happens to have a good top end. So for the time being, back to the 070.

Bought a new (070) clutch and a rim-drive sprocket. Gonna hold off on the 090 clutch in hopes I can find an OEM one eventually... and the result is interesting.

First... the chain is a little noisy in the sprocket... With the bar not tightened down the chain can be pulled along smoothly, but once that wiggle is removed by tightening the bar nuts, it gets kind of clacky (and yes the chain is on the sprocket). I messed with it a bunch looking for a problem, thinking maybe the chain was rubbing on the bar guards or something and it seems like it's just a little hesitancy of the drivers to slot into the sprocket creating some noise and stiffness there. When I pull the chain along (as when sharpening)... it goes clack clack clack clack clack clack... which after looking for anything else that might be causing that sound... I assume is the drivers sticking at the top and and then slapping into the seats of the sprocket.


1. Chain no longer spins at 2k RPM...
2. But the saw also now doesn't stall at 1k RPM either. (Used to stall around 1.1-1.2k RPM).... which I find odd. was the clutch engaging @ 1k rpm before, but not enough to move the chain... creating enough resistance to bog down and stall the engine that will run @ that low RPM unloaded?

So I'm probably going to wind up with it idling around the same place it was before (~1200-1400 rpm), as long as it's not a struggle to get it started up there (if the saw has sat a week or two it seems it likes having idle throttle turned up to ~2k RPM to get started... if Im running daily it'll start @ 1200rpm idle just fine).

I'm not strapping it back into the mill just yet, so I've just been tinkering with Idle a bit to make sure the chain spins, and I'll put it in some wood next chance I get just to make sure the clutch is working; but looking like the stock clutch just had bad/weak springs. But it kind of feels like I may need to wholly readjust the carb settings... which I didn't expect having to do as the result of a clutch change... but it's definitely running differently (feels a lot leaner) after. Hopefully I didn't somehow create an air leak tapping the clutch into place.

So, I am satisfied you are a woodsman, and knows to raise the bar nose while tightening the bar nuts. Those nylon glides will grab the chain like a puppy with your new work boots.....

 

[sliceoflife]

I'm aware that its recommended, and I do it... just double checked and really held it up this time... almost lifting the chainsaw front end up.

No difference in the click clacking.


I am confused though what you are referring to by nylon glides... the slots in the sprocket? Is it really made of nylon? I just assumed steel, but didn't really pay attention.

Edit: do you mean the nose sprocket prongs by glides? I see them called that when I googled the term... Noise is definitely coming from clutch sprocket area, not nose.. and bar is the same as I was using before and didn't make this noise.