I've been working on getting my old saw (Poulan CounterVibe 3700) back up and running the past couple weeks. It was originally my dads saw. I don't remember exactly when he bought it, but I was about 7 or 8, so that puts it around 1982 or 1983. He cut a lot of wood with it up until he passed away in 1988. The saw sat for many years with a few exceptions, but has sat mostly idle for the past 10 years or so. I decided it was time to resurrect it. I replaced the fuel lines and filter, air filter, spark plug, went through the carb and gave it a good cleaning. The original bar was pretty worn down so I picked up a couple new bars and chains. I have an 18" and a 24". It's wearing the 24" in the attached pic. Yep, that's the high end of what a 61cc saw can run, but every now and again I could use a bigger bar. I'll run the 18" most of the time. I started it up tonight and finished off the stump of a birch tree I took down last weekend. The stump was three trunks about 22" in total diameter. It went right through it with no problems. I remembered two things about that saw - it's got a decent amount of nuts for the size engine it has, especially being 30 years old, and it's dang heavy. I've got a good sized ash tree on the ground to finish cutting up this fall or next spring. It'll get a good workout then. It's good to have the old saw going again. Lots of good memories of time spent with my dad in the woods when I was young.
Very cool. I've got an old Olympia that I use occasionally that was my dad's. Brings back good memories of a good man! Cheers!
That is a very nice specimen of an old Counter vibe. Prob one of the only ones that I would own (I like the 60cc-70cc range). 24" would be at the high end of its useful range, but if you threw a skip tooth on it? It may pull it a little better? And to have received it from the original owner? Even better!
Dad bought his 3400 in Spring 1981.I wasn't quite 18 & started using it a while later.Over the next 20 years that cut easily 300 p/u loads in all kinds of weather - from -15 in a snowstorm to 90+ in August.Never had a thing done to the engine,just worn out 6 bars (originally had the 18" banana nose,great for limbing & close-in work,but you couldn't flip them over to get even wear,it was replaced with 20" sprocket nose a year or so later& that's what we stayed with),2 spark plugs,3 air filters,2 clutch sprockets (spur type) & 25+ full chisel chains hand-filed to nothing. (When we started that's all that was available at the local farm supply store,saw shops & hardware stores.That safety chain with the folder over rakers wasn't sold yet) It was basically "retired" when I bought my new Super 380 in 2000.Sat for a few years but was used sporadically since then.In 2011 I bought another complete 3400 in good cosmetic & mechanical condition to have as a future "parts source.It runs pretty good too.Tuned up the carb on Dad's old beast last spring,new fuel lines & filter.Runs like new now - you just cant beat that throaty old school sound.Loads of torque for a 56cc saw.It will pull a 20" in White Oak or Hickory all day long.I really like the manual oiler override,same as with my older Macs.Really helps out with the tougher stuff,plus automatic oiler is adjustable also. I used it a couple weeks back to drop a smaller Hickory snag.Like to fire it up every once in a while to see the big grin on Dad's face.
I may end up getting a skip chain for the ash I have to go through. It's about 40" diameter, maybe a bit more where two of the trunks grew together. I've never run a skip chain on any of my saws, but now might be a good time to try it out. Thistle - good story and nice saw. My dad was a die hard Poulan man. The saw he had before the countervibe was a 306 I think, based off pics I've seen of that model saw and what little I remember from back then. The friend he cut with was an Echo fan. They'd constantly banter back and forth about who's saw was better, which one cut faster, you name it.
