The Holy Grail!!! (for me anyway) Homelite 3100G gear drive beast

OK....Some might know that I'm mainly an old Mac guy,but like all vintage stuff & have several big old Homie's in the collection that occupy a special place.

And that the quite rare very elusive Homie 3100G is the missing jewel that I've been jonesing for many many years now...Only produced for just over a year from late 1970 to 1972 sometime others have told me.

Only seen 3 for sale on Feebay since 2010,no more than 2 elsewhere since then also.

Side note here,bear with me a minute I'll get to it lol. My employer who I've been with just over 3 yrs,celebrated a HUGE milestone in late July - 2 MILLION man-hours without a single lost-time injury or hospital/emergency clinic visit from 2008 to 2017.So they had a bit of a thing added to that company wide quarterly safety meeting we all had to attend on Friday 9/29 at noon -Paid everyone for the entire day once we left the various jobsites mid morning,catered lunch from a local award winning BBQ joint for roughly all 100 field & office personnel plus in a special bag had some swag also -2 custom made shirts for each of us,new hardhat sticker,envelope with cash also


Later that night at home for chits & giggles I checked Feebay for the first time in weeks & lo & behold one of my contacts out West had one listed - the nicest one I'd seen so far,its a very strong runner too,he stated in listing.

So I phoned him with a very fair offer,he accepted it & ended the listing soon afterwards.Split up in 2 payments then shipped to me afterwards. Has the standard 1/2" pitch Oregon No. 10 chain on a very nice 42" roller nose bar.Powerhead & bar will ship in separate boxes to save costs.

Here's the pics from listing

 

What's the restoration process like? Is everything painted and does it look factory new or do you just leave it in a used condition?

 

Pretty much all my saws are 70 to 90% original paint,I leave the cosmetics alone.Just give them a good cleaning to start with before any mechanical work.

All those ''battle scars'' tell a story of what they did & the men who used them. Plus all that dirt,grease,grime,pitch & sawdust acts as a preservative when they sit idle for several decades.Protects that aluminum/magnesium & any remaining paint.

Long as they're inside or protected from the outside weather that can really help the longevity too.
Any mechanical stuff that needs done like carb cleaning or rebuild,new fuel lines/filter,ignition/spark,replacing any broken/worn/missing parts,a bolt or two is taken care of. Basically simple stuff,I'm quite mechanically inclined but not experienced enough to tackle a complete & total engine rebuild from scratch


Like "Dirty" Harry Callahan said "A man's got to know his limitations.....

Except when I want to have a future spare parts donor for a certain model I don't buy any basket case,pile of junk or a saw that's seized.Much cheaper buying parts this way than one at a time,its a real time-saver & less hassle also.

Only saw I have that I repainted is the Mac 125C - before it arrived it had sat in some unknown barn or shed in southern Oregon for probably 30 years previous.Most all of its original paint was gone,what remained was some weirdazz butterscotch color that was applied by a previous owner.Looked pretty rough,barely would run,had redwood dust completely packed underneath & inside the cylinder fins,other places also.It was a mess,but after replacing a bunch of needed parts,a thorough cleaning,new paint,electronic ignition module upgrade to replace worn out breaker points/condenser (Nova II chip) it looks close to new & certainly performs like it.

 

Congrats thistle! Always love to hear about a patient collector finally connecting on a short-list saw.

 

Congrats thistle real nice to get some unexpected cash sometimes
What kinda power she got , CCs HP ?

 

7 cube,114cc.Dont know the actual HP as saw makers back then didn't always announce it.But its said to pull a 72" bar with 1/2" pitch skip tooth chain no problem.Supposed to be the most powerful & even fastest gear drive Homelite made.Most gear drives unless modified with a racing kart engine or other work done are slower than regular direct drives.They have much more torque however & wont bog down in anything.

 

Yahtzee!!! Can I hold it? Just for a second..... please? Nice find!!!

 

2 million hours?!?! Wow, that's quite a lot. A bunch of people are doing something right! Good on them for treating you all the way they should! That's getting rare these days.

Cool old beastie. That bar is sweeet!!

 

It would be funny if someone came from the past and heard the chainsaws of today screaming they would probably think they were going to explode

 

Model Profile: 3100-G

This Old Chainsaw | Home

 

He told me yesterday that of the 3 or 4 he's seen in past several years its the nicest one,bought it from original owner.Piston/cylinder look especially nice also.

Shipped this afternoon,should see it in a week or two.

 

Very cool saw Thistle. I also like the roller nose bar that is on it. Congrats on your find.

 

In hopes that I'd someday own one of these beasts - Several years ago I grabbed an original Illustrated Parts List on Feebay.You'll see them on there fairly often,usually around $12-15 max.Much more common than the saw itself,even certain spare parts (most are interchangeable with the 2000 Automatic,2100 & 2100 Super direct drives of same displacement & similar vintage) are readily available & not too expensive.

Also found this Dealer's product info sheet with more factory brochures/info packed in Dealer's notebook last winter...


I remember this selling on Feebay,went for more than I could afford at the time so I didn't even bid.....Probably the 2nd nicest one I've seen & only one that had a 2 man bar/helper handle included.....

 

Very unique and cool thistle. That's some power. Congratulations man!

 

Congrats on the find thistle! That one is definitely a holy grail in the homelite world. Maybe, just maybe I'll get my hands on one someday.

 

Arrived this afternoon....That sucker is LOUD!!!! fresh 40-1 mix,5 pulls & she was screaming.I'll try to get a short video soon,maybe even making a cut.Biggest stuff I have right now is a couple pieces of 22" Mulberry & some older White Oak that's close in size,so that'll be nothing for that beast.

42" rollernose & 1/2" chain for it on left of door....

 

Best I can do until I either borrow Dad's tripod from his old Super 8 camera or someone else puts on hearing protection & operates my camera.....


Even with ear plugs my ears were hurting a wee bit during idling etc.Need to adjust the carb a little,different elevation here than saw's previous home.

All in all I'm impressed with the beast,still runs pretty good already.