What older model chainsaw has the most durable engine?

[HuskyShepherd2016]

When Poulan were quality products , Counter vibes were available all throughout Northern & Eastern Ontario & Quebec , often via Sears !

Speaking of Sears, I really like the D44 made by Roper! They are so unfairly overlooked! They are plenty powerful, have a great deal of torque, they are very well made too. There’s not one flimsy part in that saw! And the 77cc engines are iron sleeved too!

I doubt they will ever be much of a collector’s saw, but I’m very impressed with how solid they are made. But there’s only two drawbacks about them. The location of the carburetor screws are not very user friendly, and you’ll have to do your own drilling to install a set of felling dogs on one. If you can get past that, you’ve got an admirable saw!

 

[rocketnorton]

Now a Pro 655 full wrap & with a West coast air filter would Rock my World ! lol.

 

[North by Northwest]

View attachment 1082627

Yep , those two warm the cockles of my heart brother . My Dad had a 1982 Pioneer P61 , my Uncles 655 ate its breakfast , both wearing 36 " bars & semi skip Oregon chain !

 

[North by Northwest]

Speaking of Sears, I really like the D44 made by Roper! They are so unfairly overlooked! They are plenty powerful, have a great deal of torque, they are very well made too. There’s not one flimsy part in that saw! And the 77cc engines are iron sleeved too!

I doubt they will ever be much of a collector’s saw, but I’m very impressed with how solid they are made. But there’s only two drawbacks about them. The location of the carburetor screws are not very user friendly, and you’ll have to do your own drilling to install a set of felling dogs on one. If you can get past that, you’ve got an admirable saw!

David Bradley 650 geardrive is the only saw of that Vintage I recall . Heard of Roper , however never seen or held one . I can 't recall if Remington put out any geardrive models , they also were sold up North here via Sears-Roebuck back in the late 50 's ! The Roper sounds like a real stump puller of a saw .

 

[HuskyShepherd2016]

The Sears D-44 chainsaw

 

[tenner]

So far I've mainly had vintage Husqvarna and Stihl saws and my favourites are the 028/038, and pretty much any 2 series Husqvarna with a Walbro carb, in particular the 254XP.

The crank seals seem to age better on the Husqvarnas, and I like the way they have the impulse line built in to the intake manifold, and I think they're easier to work on in general, but I've not had any saw which starts as easily as a 028.
Can leave my 028s for months and they start with literally one or two pulls and then sound and cut fantastic.

Seems loads of old saws were built well, to be fair. But I'm very happy with my 028s and 254s which have been going through the mid 80's, 90's, 00's, 10's, and still cutting wood in 2023!

 

[HuskyShepherd2016]

View attachment 1082646

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The Sears D-44 chainsaw

I’m going to see if I can find a set of spikes that will mount up to the clutch cover and bar bolts instead of drill holes on the white covered one.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Much as I like those saws, noodling is not their strong suite. That narrow mag clutch cover and the handle brace plugs up fast.

I got reminded of that just the other day when I had this 3700 out for testing and tried to noodle a round up. View attachment 1082476

I noticed that also. Noodles will plug it up rather easily. The brace underneath causes most of the problem. I do not see an easy fix for this. One of the owners 20 years ago cut the clutch cover in half, but that apparently did not work. He somehow fastened it back together.

 

[HuskyShepherd2016]

David Bradley 650 geardrive is the only saw of that Vintage I recall . Heard of Roper , however never seen or held one . I can 't recall if Remington put out any geardrive models , they also were sold up North here via Sears-Roebuck back in the late 50 's ! The Roper sounds like a real stump puller of a saw .

Below are my two D-44 Sears saws built by Roper. I’ve got one person interested in the one with the dogs.

 

[North by Northwest]

View attachment 1082646

View attachment 1082647View attachment 1082651View attachment 1082648View attachment 1082650
The Sears D-44 chainsaw

Classy looking vintages saws HS !

 

[HuskyShepherd2016]

David Bradley 650 geardrive is the only saw of that Vintage I recall . Heard of Roper , however never seen or held one . I can 't recall if Remington put out any geardrive models , they also were sold up North here via Sears-Roebuck back in the late 50 's ! The Roper sounds like a real stump puller of a saw .

View attachment 1082646

View attachment 1082647View attachment 1082651View attachment 1082648View attachment 1082650
The Sears D-44 chainsaw

Who knows. Maybe these pictures might start increasing their interest and collector’s value over time! Lol! Not likely but you could imagine, right?

 

[North by Northwest]

Who knows. Maybe these pictures might start increasing their interest and collector’s value over time! Lol! Not likely but you could imagine, right?

Like my Pioneers , more sentimental interest , but fine representation of a great era in our history ! More 58 Chevys than 59 Edsels fortunately !

 

[Captain Bruce]

As with saws, so went the world - everything from refrigerators to pickup trucks is built with over-complicated, low-bidder garbage that was engineered by MORONS these days. Zero regard for those tasked with keeping them running. If I didn't know any better I'd say they're doing it on purpose, just to put small guys out of business, and put the product to scrap sooner, all in the name of the most $$$ as fast as possible. It's a hell of a time to be alive!

My line of thinking is, anything built before 1995 is guaranteed to be of better quality than ANYTHING you can buy new today. The older, the better ... to a point!

I concure with your final point. I'm sure puzzled by the opening rant; who is "they"? I want no part of supporting "they".......so went the world?

 

[HuskyShepherd2016]

“They” are the ones who take your money, your liberty, restrict the quality of, and the ownership of your possessions, and then try to gaslight us all into believing that we are doomed without their existence.

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

The most durable is the one you run enough oil, a sharp chain and a good tune. I’m not sure you can quantify durable without the above.

 

[HuskyShepherd2016]

Well, yes Without a doubt! Which would you say might possibly have had the heaviest built internal parts like the crankshafts from the 60’s & 70’s on average? Mcculloch maybe?

 

[North by Northwest]

Well, yes Without a doubt! Which would you say might possibly have had the heaviest built internal parts like the crankshafts from the 60’s & 70’s on average? Mcculloch maybe?

I would say the majority of old school saws had quality & similar build design criteria for their era . full caged ball , or tapered roller Torrington or Timkin design . Which Mac , Pioneer , Stihl , Homelite , Husquarna & Dolmar utilized . The normal wear components , such as points & condensors & coil , on / off switch along with carb diaphams were the most frequent failures of the day .

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

Well, yes Without a doubt! Which would you say might possibly have had the heaviest built internal parts like the crankshafts from the 60’s & 70’s on average? Mcculloch maybe?

I have no experience with anything other than Stihls of that age, but having had a number, they’re all very well (over) built. I’ve owned ran an 011, 020av, 032, 045, 056 super, 07, 08s, 076 Super and others I can’t remember. All are incredibly solid, but all very heavy by todays standards. I’d say the late 80’s and early 90’s were the golden era for stihl - 026 / 260, 034 super, 066 / 660 and so on. They combined the ease of repair of the older machines with the lightness of the more modern designs we see commonly today. Parts are plentiful and mostly affordable.

I have no doubt Husky saws of the same era would be just as good, they’re just not common in my area.

 

[Dave Ovington]

When saws were saws & men were men , those Super 440,s were not for the faint of heart . Your 1074 would run similar to my 11-60 nice balanced unit with a 20 " bar running semi skip !

Skip tooth is the only way to get it done !!! My dad was a faller and swore by them. I also had my first saw at 9yrs old . A little machulloch , abnoxiously loud little saw but it was alot of fun

 

[HuskyShepherd2016]

Skip tooth is the only way to get it done !!! My dad was a faller and swore by them. I also had my first saw at 9yrs old . A little machulloch , abnoxiously loud little saw but it was alot of fun

I love obnoxiously loud in a chainsaw! I can’t hear my in laws!