Ultimate Junkyard Dog Saw!

Awhile back I had the opportunity to play "kid in a candy store" at an old saw shop that's been around since the late 70's. They were looking to get rid of a bunch of stuff in order to make room and try to get better organized. The experience I had and bounty I walked away with is a whole story in itself!

This story revolves a box we came across that was full of junk (i.e. a completely disassembled saw a customer brought in for repair and ended up abandoning . . . many years ago). The guy tells me it's an 044, but not many good parts left. I quickly peeked in the box and virtually every part I looked at was damaged and/or had a redneck repair. The shroud was cracked and caked with grime. The wrap handle was broken on the PTO side and had been repaired with a couple of straps of metal. The front of the case had a JB weld repair. The tank housing was badly busted in the rear and the handle was repaired with another strap of metal and some electrical tape. I asked how much. He says $75 and I quickly said I'll pass. Later in visit we circled back around into that room and he started talking up the box of junk again. In order to entertain him I dug through it a bit more and noticed an angled fin KS cylinder. I looked inside and sure enough it looked clean. That prompted me to check the serial number on the case and sure enough - a 10mm 044. The piston was lightly scored, but I started to consider making the purchase for the cylinder alone. I had been quiet during my discovery and when I was just about to tell him I'd take it he says, $50. I agreed and try to make it sound reluctant.

When I got home I dug through the box and decided I was clearly going to build the saw. I LOVE saws that are rough-as-a-cobb . . . especially when they're solid runners!

I dug through my boxes of parts and accumulated almost everything I needed to finish the saw. The rest I sourced used. The only "high dollar" item I had to buy was a used crank for $32 - turned out the one in the bottom end was broken. So, here you have the crappiest freshly rebuilt saw possibly ever! It has the following new OEM bits: seals, bearings, gaskets, impulse line, fuel line, fuel filter, air filter. I Scotch-Brighted the piston and threw on a new set of Caber rings. The only part I left off was the base gasket.

It's going to be my stumper/loaner/chitty job saw. From some horse trading I did awhile back I had a lightly used carbide chain, so I fitted the saw with that on a 20" Duromatic bar. PERFECT!!!

 

More pics...

 

For the record, I did not write the words "spare saw" on the air filter cover. But I think it really brings the project together!!

 

That's awesome! Nice work getting it all together - would be fun to see a vid of it running. Cheers!

 

Outstanding!
Nice to have a strong saw that you don't have to worry about.
What kind of chain is on it?

 

I'll try to work on a video soon. I'm currently having an issue with the oil pump worm and an interference somewhere as it has a lot of resistence. Something's going on with the fit between the oil pump, bearings spacer, washer and clutch. For some reason it's pinching the worm a bit when I tighten the clutch. Runs great, but I need to get that figured out...

 

It's a Stihl carbide chain - "Oilomatic Duro" - 36RD-72

 

That shiny 044 tag on top is a problem. You need to take it off, put it face-down on a sidewalk, and mash it with a hammer a few times.

 

Nice.

 

Nice thrasher! It's fun building up a saw from bins full of parts.

 

That saw has definitely been through the paces. All the little repairs and the wear marks make the story so much better.

 

Great job!

Does the bottom of the case have "cancer" from sitting on a cement floor, hence the JB Weld?

 

Looks awesome... I love my shiny saws, but is also nice to have a "government mule" to beat on now and then, and not worry about it.

On a side note, the very industrial look of the cinder block wall, florescent lighting, and scratched up bench top add to the bad a$$ness of the saw... way to go!

 

Nope, the bottom is just heavily worn - probably from riding in the back of a truck for years - no "concrete rot".

The JB weld intrigues me. When I had the case apart I looked closely and there does not appear to be any cracking or damage visible from the inside where the 'weld' is. Interestingly enough (considering the installed crank was broken) there was another broken crank in the box with it.

The best I can figure is that the saw may have leaked oil past the case gasket in the front and somebody decided to stop the leak with JB weld. After the first crank broke they obviously had to split the case which separated the weld material to make it look like you see in the photo. If that's true my new question is how often does one owner break TWO cranks on the SAME SAW?!?!

 

My fixer-upper 044 leaked oil from the front of the case when I first got it. I don't know whether it was deformed by a single impact or just decades of hard use. Didn't matter, though, because I had to replace the whole case for other reasons.

 

Nice saw man , from the compression seem that the saw have only some cosmetics problems that you can fix if you want with little money.
for example you can repair the case with TIG welding . or find some aftermarket parts , anyway its your saw you decide
hope you enjoy it.

 

From the picture i can say that two things maybe hapend.
1 ) something hit the saw
2 ) the owner try to open the crankcase maybe he dont have splitter and try with home methods then he put a screwdriver or something similar for separate the cases in the place that sometimes the parts stuck, the tool that he used break the two cases and the bar oil start leaking, then the cheap epoxy method came to solve the problem

 

Awesome saw

 

Good suggestions . . . but it's perfect. I can't find a single part I would like to replace.