MCCULLOCH McCulloch 797 help

[Scott Kelsey]

Saw together

 

[Al Smith]

Actual large mount McCulloch bars are getting harder to find .All my longer bars,32,36 and 48" came from e-bay .The roller nose which is still used by Canon on custom bars was supposed to be better for racing conditions .Weather that's true or not is debated .
On that 797 it wouldn't make a difference what you ran,a hard nose would work . Those old reeders would oil any length bar you could hang on them .
in a pinch the easiest bar to adapt in my opinion would be a Stihl mount using spacer bushings .Plentiful !Fact I have a 36" Stihl mount I can run with the same driver count on both a 2100S Homelite with an 8 tooth .404 or a 125 Mac with a 7 tooth .
What you'll find out with a big old classic like a 797 is you won't use it much after the novelty wears off .

 

[Scott Kelsey]

Al, great info. I understand the novelty. This saw is just a passion. I have a Stihl 661 Arctic and a Dolmar 6800i the father in law gave me for typical use. May I ask where these bushings are found?

 

[Scott Kelsey]

Been doing a lot of reading on bars, bushings, etc. Al. Starting to understand.

 

[Al Smith]

I couldn't find the picture but all they are is thick washers .The bar studs are 3/8" and the slot is something like 12 mm or a tad less than 1/2" .I turned mine on a metal lathe but I suppose you could use 1/2" round stock and file a couple of flats in it so it fits in the slot .
If memory serves I believe Kevin ( cut for fun ) filed down a couple of square nuts and got basically the same thing .
Baileys of whom I don't deal with any more used to sell adapters for 8mm studs like on a Husky to adapt to Stihl bars but I've never seen any sold to go on large mount Macs or Homelites .Now of course however it's done provisions have to be made so the tightening hole and the oil hole aligns .It's not that big of a deal .

 

[Scott Kelsey]

Thank you for all the help.

 

[Al Smith]

If you do a search using "chainsaw bar adapter " on E-bay you can see several examples of different types .

 

[Bigmac]

You can also use large mount husky bars and file the bar slot a little larger, that is what I have done several times

This is a 50” cannon husky mount, takes only a few minutes to modify

 

[Scott Kelsey]

Bigmac,

Thank you for the reply. Information is always great. Father in law has a machine which helps. Great looking saw and bar. What model saw? Can anyone tell me what the button on the left of the stop switch does on the 797? I have a disconnected hose that looks to running to it. Would this have been a primer button? Also, the button to the right of the stop switch seems to activate the choke. Can anyone tell me the proper procedure to utilize the choke and start these older saws?

Also, if this is alright to ask, if not I will delete it from this post, but does anyone reading have an extra grill cover screen that goes on the back of the air cleaner cover or know of someone that does? I sure could use one.

 

[Bigmac]

No problem, that saw is a sp125, I have a 797 as well. The left button is the manual override for the bar oil.
I start my 797 as fallows, have a tilly carb as well....
Make sure the saw is in the run position
Unbail the decomp/dsp
Make sure the bar is in a safe location and not in the dirt
Push the choke button, the pull over the motor slowly,( not too slow but not super hard either) I will do this until it pops, it all depends on how long it has been sitting
Then give a good pull choke off...when it’s running flip the dsp bail

The screen on the back of the air filter is hard to locate, would like one myself
And the hose that looks disconnected is the airbox drain

 

[Scott Kelsey]

Can anyone tell me what the part number may be for the reed pedal on a 797 is and a picture of possible? Also, can you interchange a reed pedal from another McCulloch and put it on the 797?

 

[Bigmac]

Can anyone tell me what the part number may be for the reed pedal on a 797 is and a picture of possible? Also, can you interchange a reed pedal from another McCulloch and put it on the 797?

Are yours bad?

 

[countryhog]

Thank you Al Smith for the information. I am curious if anyone makes bars these days that will fit on this saw. Also, looking on threads I see pictures of what's called a roller nose bar. Can anyone tell me the ins/outs of these? Just trying to learn. Also does the sprocket on these need to be changed for different chain sizes?

I started up the saw a short while ago, and it seemed to run very well. It won't idle on it's own so I will look into the carburetor and adjustment after the rebuild kit comes. I am hoping anyone here can help me with parts sources. Is there anyone out there that may have good used parts or NOS (engine, etc.)? I need a fuel tank cap as it is missing the center piece. Any and all help is and has been appreciated.

Why not try to adjust the carb before rebuild? If someone already swapped the carb it stands to reason they may also have kitted it. Good find

 

[Scott Kelsey]

I received a carburetor rebuild kit Monday. I plan to rebuild and test it Saturday in some wood if it's not to wet out. I honestly don't know if the reed is bad. I have been searching for a long time for a 797/125 and finally found one I like and enjoy. My plan is to collect parts for a rebuild/restore in the future and gain as much knowledge while just enjoying it as it is for now.

 

[Scott Kelsey]

I see things about "kits" in reference to McCullochs but what does this mean exactly?

 

[Bigmac]

I received a carburetor rebuild kit Monday. I plan to rebuild and test it Saturday in some wood if it's not to wet out. I honestly don't know if the reed is bad. I have been searching for a long time for a 797/125 and finally found one I like and enjoy. My plan is to collect parts for a rebuild/restore in the future and gain as much knowledge while just enjoying it as it is for now.

There are a lot of scarce part for these, do as much research before you tear it down, and sometimes if it ain’t broken don’t fix it, come to mind...if it is a good runner I wouldn’t mess with too much until you have a good parts inventory, otherwise it could be years before you get parts! In the sp125 I have been able to use mc49 kart reeds, same size and thickness, but I don’t know about the 797, I have one that is a good runner and I don’t have the parts yet to be able to do a cosmetic resto! I have a few 125’s waiting on parts as well! Prices on parts seem to keep going up!!!!!! I would like a tank gasket and lower handle

 

[Scott Kelsey]

Good advice if it's not broke dont fix it. Can anyone tell me if any other saws shared the same clutch and I see the Sp125 uses a similar clutch with no keyway. How close are these to one another?

 

[Al Smith]

I'd about have to cross reference the reeds to figure out which ones would fit .However I've been able to find both the black reeds and the amber/greenish reeds for the 105 and 125 from just surfing e-bay .Some times they are reasonably priced,sometimes they think they are gold .That's typical e-bay though .
Actually with all the reeders I have I've only had one failure and that was on a 125 with heaven only knows how many hours on it .That saw came from northern California and was probably used during the old growth era .If that saw isn't blowing back through the carb I wouldn't worry about it .

 

[Scott Kelsey]

Much appreciated Al. Thanks.

 

[cgraham1]

Way to go, complete 895's are hard to find as most tended to get used up. Those will pull a 72" bar with .404, no problem and likely a 60" with 1/2". I got one that had a 30" bar and 5/8 chisel.

I thought it was an 895, but I honestly can’t remember now... it’s been a couple years. I dumped gas in the carb and got it to fire, but I didn’t know much about these old saws, so I gave it to a buddy.



Got it with all this stuff here... I should’ve kept the 797, but it was in pretty rough shape.