Bit back, talking with some buds at local land trust: "We've got something for you." Great, another batch of chains they've used for ditch-witching! Then the presentation of a blue 150 Homie (vintage '71-73) liberally coated with oil & sawdust. As guessed, case innards were much more thickly coated with same. Chain looked like it had been used for removing ice from walkway. (Seen the idiot on YouTube with a 150, who clears ice and proceeds to cut a "tree"- pitiful sapling?) After casually grinding/filing cutters back about 1/16", scraping/swabbing out about a pound of oily sawdust, replacing fuel tank duckbill, and inserting a spark-arrestor in the muffler, it runs great and has no trouble with big white oak, at least after a complete carb adjustment. Surprisingly moderate vibes, too. Those Homies are like the "timex-watch" of chainsaws- just about 120 db louder. Its secret to longevity: idiot(s) who couldn't differentiate stone from wood and had no clue about chain maintenance. At least they gave up on it before totally smoking it, and more than once. The pretty blue paint aint pretty any more, but it starts & runs well- spitting a nice stream of white oak chips ferinstance, and contains its fluids. At 9+ lbs PHO, it's getting its share of work already, just like my first 150 back in the late '70s. No chain brake, so you get real picky about safe procedures- no big deal. Another bud I freshened up a 150 for a couple years back, now wants a competition. What's the best place to buy a pint or two of model airplane fuel (nitromethane/methanol & syn-oil)? Just curious, about the smell, and others experience with blend ratios and survival of rubber parts. Surely someone's tried it.
Well, I'm old enough to know that anything that's loud enough, long enough, will do permanent hearing damage. Like when I go driving off, I feel nekkid without seat belt, if I'm ready to fire up a 2-stroke, I feel exposed without combo helmet on and muffs down. Most especially with that Homey, and with my Dolmar or Husqy. Some of those Homeys and Macs from the 60s and 70s will truly ring your bell. I'm still amazed by the (relatively) low vibes of the 150, compared to contemporary xl-12. Fellow who handed me the 150 was given an xl-12 shortly afterward. The muffler is a straight square-section tube with some big louvers at the end. Sounds kinda like an M-2 (.50-cal), and the vibes are serious. Those xl-12s were not for candy-azzes, nor musicians.
