Chainsaws continued

I mentioned in my last blog that I had a Craftsman chainsaw that I purchased in the 70's. Well, let me tell you about it.

When I moved with my family from California to Illinois in 1973 I brought along an old Homelite saw that I had purchased used and which I had used only to build a corral from power poles. After a year or two of cutting firewood it began giving me some problems. I had a shop work on it but they didn't get the problem cured so I bought the new Craftsman 3.7A saw. I used it every year up until 1983 when we moved to a house were there was no provision for burning wood.

The saw had a 17" cutting bar. I've not seen or heard of a 17" bar since. In the 10+ years I sharpened saw chains I never received one to sharpen. After all of that usage the bar needed replacing and I hated to spend money on a saw I was no longer using, at least much. I obtained a little electric saw with a 12" bar and chain that was no longer working, I believe for about a dollar. Doing a bit of modification I was able to fit that little bar and chain onto the Craftsman saw and was able to use it to do some minor tree trimming.

Prior to making his move here to Kentucky Darryl set up to burn wood in his home in Bloomington, Illinois. He needed a chainsaw to use so I outfitted it with a new 16" bar and chain and let him use it. The recoil starter messed up on it and was still in that condition when we moved here.

I thought about getting that saw running rather than buying the new Husqvarna but Sears said that all parts for that 30+ year old saw were no longer available. (Imagine that!) I tried repairing it without success. Even after I bought the new saw I kind of wanted to get that old Craftsman running again. I started watching listings on Ebay. When something showed up it was generally a saw that was a "basket case" and was being sold just for parts. But, the shipping on an entire saw was more than I cared to spend for the starter and shipping.

Finally, earlier this year a listing showed up for just the recoil starter. I was successful in buying it for $10.00 plus a few dollars shipping. It bolted right on and the old saw runs like a champ. It uses a much richer oil/gas mixture than my new saw and seems to leave more fumes on my clothes. This bothers Connie and my granddaughter, Jessica. So, it probably won't get used much but it is there if I really need it.