kk, I see you have one too ! This is the same saw I referred to as the "Animal", in my earlier post. I'll have to dig mine out now, and get a pic of it to compare...
I hate chainsaws
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Pics as promised, needed to get out of the sun and my buggered up left arm let me down on getting the runway cleared today.
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I have an old Sears Craftsman which is nothing more than a Poulan 3400 with bucking teeth. Dad bought it in late 84 and left it with me and I have been using it ever since except for the last couple of years. Seems everyone puts the Poulan brand down but this thing has been a work horse. About 12-13 years old, it blew the jug/case gasket and fixed that and kept on going. I'm thinking it's been 2 years or more since using it as I just don't have a need for it anymore. Last time I let it sit it was hard to get started but it finally did and ran well. This thing has paid for itself many times over. Did I get something that was odd as it served me well? Lost count of trees cut down and cords of wood cut.
Detective D
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Poulan was as good as the price tag. You could get good ones, or bad ones. Depends on year and what the end use was intended to be.
John Deere uses Briggs and Stratton engines. Same thing, they spec higher quality, so they get it. Poulan was similar.
I grew up with a real beater of an undersized green poulan. Started BAD, ripped like a son of a gun once it got running though. Sassy little thing. I only got to use it once before Dad brought Grandpa's old Homelite home, then the green poulan sat in parts on the bench.
ESOXER
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Well got my saw running again. Was cutting again and ended up in the ER last Monday. Not from the saw, but an allergic reaction. I was covered in a rash and my eye was swollen shut. I've never been effected by poison ivy or oak. Blood tests were good, so they have no idea but said probably sumac, don't have that on my property sooo. Bark mulch at work? It sucks being on steroids for another two weeks, I don't sleep for **** every after taking melatonin and two Benadryl every night.
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Wow lol....my saw always started up fairly easily....the only thing about it is that it never idled very well and would die if the throttle wasn't finagled just right from an idle. Took me awhile to get that right but got it down pat in short order.
I have one that does and an older Homelite that pulls so hard, I messed my back up last time I tried. It needs a compression release or someone else needs to own it.
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Had a dirt bike some years ago that had a compression release and it NEEDED it lol
Sharpen your chain in less than five minutes with this. Works great and I used to drop my chains off to be sharpened, this works as well
Curiousyellow71
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Growing up a neighbor had a old chain saw that sounded like a slow running Harley. I think it was a 4 stroke? It think it had a 24" bar and must have been about 75lbs. I don't recall what brand..its nickname I remember. He called it the Kenworth!
Dad had a 70's vintage stihl that he used for many years to heat our home. He would get my brother and I out every week in the cold to get wood to heat the house. We never had much cut before winter so we ended up many times in the bitter cold and the 2 wheel drive pickup we'd often have to carry the wood a good distance or it would get stuck in the snow. Sometimes the tractor was the only way to get out there.
A memorable event with Dad's Stihl was when a enormous cottonwood tree that grew out of a small creek blew over... root and all into the field. Dad first tried cutting the stump, quickly realizing a 20" bar wasn't going to cut a 6' diameter tree! So he went out about 30' and still had to cut from both sides to get it cut. The tree had a giant heavy rootball...and as we watched Dad almost finish the cut...CRACK!!
The stump and lower 30' of the tree stood back up. Anything left on the tree was slung like a slingshot. Thankfully it wasn't any of us! I can still visualize it.. even though it was 40 years ago!
Sorry no pictures of the tree or the old chain saws.Lol
Dad had a 70's vintage stihl that he used for many years to heat our home. He would get my brother and I out every week in the cold to get wood to heat the house. We never had much cut before winter so we ended up many times in the bitter cold and the 2 wheel drive pickup we'd often have to carry the wood a good distance or it would get stuck in the snow. Sometimes the tractor was the only way to get out there.
A memorable event with Dad's Stihl was when a enormous cottonwood tree that grew out of a small creek blew over... root and all into the field. Dad first tried cutting the stump, quickly realizing a 20" bar wasn't going to cut a 6' diameter tree! So he went out about 30' and still had to cut from both sides to get it cut. The tree had a giant heavy rootball...and as we watched Dad almost finish the cut...CRACK!!
The stump and lower 30' of the tree stood back up. Anything left on the tree was slung like a slingshot. Thankfully it wasn't any of us! I can still visualize it.. even though it was 40 years ago!
Sorry no pictures of the tree or the old chain saws.Lol
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It seams like a lot of chainsaws, weed eaters, and lawn mowers have finicky glitches. I have a snowblower that is a beast 12HP but it has a crappy idle up and down.. I just learned to live with it.
Detective D
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To be fair, I am pretty sure the poor green poulan was completely worn out when it got retired. Poor farmers use the tools they have, not necessarily the tool they need, if that makes sense. That poulan was tasked with cutting up an ancient box elder with it's 14" bar. When I say Ancient, I mean the trunk was 6 feet across at the base. It came down in a storm on the edge of our field where an old farmstead was(burned in the 1940's) and that was the saw we had. The old Pioneer had gone on to greener pastures by then too. So, poor poulan got to cut wedge sections for hours on end until we got the root ball separated from the rest of the tree so we could drag it away. I really don't know what model poulan it was either, I only got to use it once that I recall.
Part of why I spent up for my giant saw I have now. Sort of a "making up for the past" type thing in a way, I didn't want to burn up any more saws doing "big" work. Aaaaaand then I did anyway with that little Stihl. Guess I won't learn
khryslerkid
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I use ethanol fuel. (don't have a fuel
source for the straight stuff).
I drain or pour the mix back in a can
and run the engine 'ill it dies. Most
gas powered tools I have now are
some years old and still running fine.
Letting that fuel sit in the carbs will
eat the rubber parts in short order.
Unkle Krusty
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I bought a new Stihl about twenty years ago. 58cc or there about, 18 inch bar. Adjust the chain now and then, and sharpen it. Always runs, even after sitting a while. Do not use it much these days. Also have a Stihl weed whacker. Same story. Had to buy a new gas cap tho. Use it with a blade, about two times per year. Last year I bought an electric Stihl weed whacker. Sweet. While I am at it, I inherited a lawn mower from dearly departed Larry. It runs fine.
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