The only chainsaw I own and use is the McCullock ProMac610 in my signature. She's been a beast for Dad first, and now me.......................... she's approaching 40 years old now........................Dad can't remember when he bought her. Anyhow; as much as I love this chainsaw, I hate breaking her apart to clean her. I guess "design" wasn't big in the late '70's!!!! But I get oily, dusty chips and dust into every nook and cranny in this saw. That includes the cooling fins of the head, around the exhaust port, under the air cleaner cover, and especially in and around the clutch/sprocket/oiling area!!!! Are newer saws any better in this regard???? Been looking for a smaller/limbing saw for a while now. Something in the 14" bar range.
I find the Husky 555 easier to clean than my older Stihl 026 but even that saw is not too bad. These days most brands run the cooling fan air passages such that you just don't see any real build up around the cooling fins. My 026 does get filthy around the chain and clutch area but it is a saw I bought back in the late 80s.
Newer saws are much better at keeping the schmoo outta the air filters and such. Most stay cleaner in the cooling fins too but all still get lots of grime accumulating on parts under the clutch cover.
She just keeps cutting!!! Used to have a 28" bar on her...............................wore that one away...............................I like the 24" on her much better. And you just cannot beat the sound of them old McCullocks!!
May not beat the sound, but the weight and av are definitely better in the newer stuff. This coming from a guy who started with a super pro 60 After running a modern saw on springs, I cleaned it up and it's just eye candy now. It was dad's saw and once in a blue moon I get it out for memories
Yea The new ones are faster lighter , better on fuel, many reasons new ones are as good or better. I'm in the camp or rarely cleaning my saws. They still don't look like some of the junk I have seen that people buy Though. But way worse than some of Thsee model saws folks have on here. But yea air cleaners stay clean for a long time and the fins don't get much accumulation over time
I had a PM610 that I was gonna refurb. They are super heavy duty in all respects. The problem with old saws may be parts availability and cost. Mine needed 2 thin rings and the best price I found was $30. Can't pay that on a saw that sells for $60 around here. Parted the saw out.
I have an old one with a 20 in. bar. I bought it new back in the mid 70's. While I don't run it, my son does. The saw is too heavy for me. We are not heavy users and we have a couple much lighter saws. Expect this one to be around a lot longer.
I found and bought lotsa parts for this saw on Ebay. Spent less than $150 for the lot of them. Heck, I may have bought them from you!!!!!
LOL. You may have. Every single part sold on ebay. Old saws bring more money parting out than selling as great runners. Now, I have a 41cc Homelite Super E-Z Auto halfway apart. I will rebuild the Walbro HDC carb and see if it's a great runner - I suspect it will be with the strong compression. But it will still bring more in part prices.
Heck brand new saws do too. How do you think there is all those brand new stihl parts on ebay? I talked to a guy and bought some parts from him who did that. He told me that year he bought $19k in saws from his stihl dealet to tear down and sell on ebay.
My 2nd one - $40 local Craigslist find in July 2013. First version 1978-84 with thin rings & wraparound chainbrake/hand guard.Also has both falling spikes which were optional on 2nd version & will normally cost you $25-30 for the pair when bought separately. Great compression (170+) ,my saw was very low hours,had spent previous 25 + yrs in dry storage,guessing only had 4-5 tanks of fuel through it before previous owner broke the starter rope & set it aside. My saw more use in the 48 hours after purchase than it did its entire life.One of the cleanest ones I've seen,only nicer were New Old Stock in original box with paperwork.Normally ones this nice are going for $150 -250 on feebay.Hell even non running ones bring around 50 bucks.... Have buried 24" bar/skip chain in Red/White Oak,Mulberry & Silver Maple,has loads of torque for a 60cc saw & is practically bulletproof.Though it can be a bit heavy after a day's cutting.....
I like saws up till the auto tune saws came out. Nothing against the system- love it in fact, but for some reason they all ended up with a fatter body than the previous gens did. I like narrower equipment. I was looking at a Stihl 362 comparing it to my older 361- I'll keep mine... Newer one needs a diet and some slim fast!