MCCULLOCH The official McCulloch thread

[Al Smith]

That must be one strong table!

Since you mentioned it indeed it is .I revamped that thing by using the drive wheel for the top from a horse drawn hay rake I used as a teenager .Some expanded metal,a little shot of Rust-Oleum hunter green and there you have it .

 

[heimannm]

I spent an inordinate amount of time finishing up the 160S today. The decal transfer was pretty easy with Steve's reminder to use some heat. I have some spray adhesive that sort of worked but one corner still wants to lift.

I used some carburetor cleaner though the carburetor and noticed the metering lever adjustment changed??? As it turns out, the old metering needle was damaged and the carburetor cleaner caused it to swell and so the saw could not draw fuel so it all had to come back apart...

I thought I should use a McCulloch bar on this one so I found a suitable 10" sprocket nose candidate in the attic. It starts, idles, accelerates, and oils as it should. Almost a shame to leave it on the shelf but I don't want to take a chance and mess it up since it is the only 160S I have.








Mark

 

[heimannm]

I still found time to go over the Orange Mini Mac today. Again I like to take them down for cleaning and inspection, thought I'd see if this one needed rings...


guess not...

This saw had been used pretty hard and had been "fixed" a time or two with non-standard repairs. One of the case screws had been replaced...



I went all out on the repair, set the case up in the mill/drill and used an end mill to straighten out the hole, tapped it 3/8-16 and then drilled and tapped a 3/8 bolt with the correct 12-24 threads. I think this will hold.



This one went back together without any drama. I did go through the carburetor with a good cleaning, replaced the metering gasket and diaphragm, made sure the automatic oil pump was working, and another one done and ready for display. Once again, starts easily, idles, accelerates, and oils just as it should but again I don't want to take a chance as I have never seen another Orange Mini Mac.



Mark

 

[heimannm]

 

[Al Smith]

I went all out on the repair, set the case up in the mill/drill and used an end mill to straighten out the hole, tapped it 3/8-16 and then drilled and tapped a 3/8 bolt with the correct 12-24 threads. I think this will hold.

Now you're going to find this hard to believe but one of my 125's had the flywheel with 12-24 threads which is odd size any way .Way too small to pull that heavy of a flywheel .I punched them out to 5/16"-18

 

[FergusonTO35]

I spent an inordinate amount of time finishing up the 160S today. The decal transfer was pretty easy with Steve's reminder to use some heat. I have some spray adhesive that sort of worked but one corner still wants to lift.

I used some carburetor cleaner though the carburetor and noticed the metering lever adjustment changed??? As it turns out, the old metering needle was damaged and the carburetor cleaner caused it to swell and so the saw could not draw fuel so it all had to come back apart...

I thought I should use a McCulloch bar on this one so I found a suitable 10" sprocket nose candidate in the attic. It starts, idles, accelerates, and oils as it should. Almost a shame to leave it on the shelf but I don't want to take a chance and mess it up since it is the only 160S I have.

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Mark

You done me proud Mark. That's interesting about the carb, as I redid it with a new kit a few years ago and it always ran great. Mebbe I fat fingered the installation, I dont know.

As to the orange one, I wonder if it was a store brand? I notice the spot on the label that normally has the Mcculloch name and address is blank. I think Monkey Ward's sold some orange Macs back in the day. They didn't plaster their Power Kraft brand all over saws like Crapsman did either, normally it was in small letters on one place.

 

[Steve]

You done me proud Mark. That's interesting about the carb, as I redid it with a new kit a few years ago and it always ran great. Mebbe I fat fingered the installation, I dont know.

As to the orange one, I wonder if it was a store brand? I notice the spot on the label that normally has the Mcculloch name and address is blank. I think Monkey Ward's sold some orange Macs back in the day. They didn't plaster their Power Kraft brand all over saws like Crapsman did either, normally it was in small letters on one place.

I seen that MW also sold a 600 series in Orange too.

 

[Al Smith]

PM 610's dressed up like a pumpkin .

 

[FergusonTO35]

I think that it is often better for a retailer to keep the original name and styling of a product than to insist on making it their own. For example, McCulloch was a well known and respected name back in the day. It would make more sense to me for Monkey Ward to keep the Mac name since it is much more well known than their own Power Kraft name. They could do co-promotions with Mac that would be beneficial to both companies.

Store branding seems to be on it's way out nowadays, and one of the most famous store brands of all, Craftsman tools, doesn't even belong to Sears anymore-a good thing for them! I looked at some Craftsman boxes at Lowe's the other day and was impressed. Made in the USA and seemed to be really good quality for the price.

 

[Steve]

I have laughed at the quality of Craftsman tool the last 10 years or so. Seems they have fallen into the trap of cheaper product at a higher price will get you out of financial problems. I have found kobalt from Lowe's is both cheaper and higher quality than the Craftsman brand.

Now that Craftsman has broken from Sears maybe they can be turned around to the days when you could brag about owning a Craftsman tool.

 

[FergusonTO35]

According to the Craftsman website, they are trying to make more stuff in the USA so that is progress. Sears itself is a stumbling corpse with parts falling off that somehow stays one step ahead of the grave. Doesn't look like they will be able to do so for much longer though.

 

[Al Smith]

FWIW Kobalt ,Lowe's brand is all Chinese .Check it out some time .

 

[Steve]

FWIW Kobalt ,Lowe's brand is all Chinese .Check it out some time .

Yep, I don't buy stuff solely on the fact that it is made in America. If there is a tool made in China that is higher quality and cheaper than one made in the U.S. then I purchase it. I have a kobalt 20v impact driver that I have used for 4 years now everyday at the shop and it still keeps on going making me money. Best 99 dollars I ever spent on a cordless impact driver.

 

[FergusonTO35]

The original Kobalt tools were made by Williams in the USA and were excellent. I used their wrenches and 3/8 drive sockets on the job for several years and never had a problem out of them. When Lowe's decided to cheap them out I replaced them with Snappy in protest. I got more than my cost out of the old Kobalts on Fleabay.

 

[Steve]

I have alot of the original kobalt too but I use it to fill my boxes at home. I still have alot of the better older Craftsman at home too. My box at the shop is full of mostly Snap-on and Matco. Snap-ons hand tools are like works of art!

I guess my point is if it's a quality tool to complete the job efficiently and safely then I'm in. I won't hold it's birthplace against it. But generally most tools from China now are substandard.

 

[heimannm]

More Mini Mac's today. The Mini Mac 1 followed the Mini Mac 6 and features a removable starter. That alone makes working on the saw so much easier since you can easily slide the engine out of the housing & back in again with the starter removed. I tried to make this one as original as possible including the button on the manual oiler (no automatic oil pump on the MM1) and the Mac 6 hardnose bar in grey. Brakes were not offered on the early saws.





The black Mac is made from parts, I am not worried about damaging this one so it will be used when it's appropriate. I would like to find a black Pro Mac style clutch cover to cover the muffler and make use of the wrap about brake handle since this saw will be used primarily up in the trees/bucket.





The short clutch cover with the brake were standard on the Mini Mac 25, 30, and 35 models as well as the last of the PM6 models.



Time to take inventory of the Mini Mac saws and see which models are needed to fill out the collection. I think I have on hand now:

Mini Mac 6, Mini Mac 1, Mini Mac 35, Mini Mac 110, Mini Mac 120, Mini Mac 130, Mini Mac 140 AS, Mini Mac 160S, Mini Mac 165, SE2014, and the Orange Mini Mac. I still have a Mini Mac 2.0 in the attic that I haven't worked on yet, and may have a Mini Mac Eager Beaver too.

Mark

 

[Dub11]

I have laughed at the quality of Craftsman tool the last 10 years or so. Seems they have fallen into the trap of cheaper product at a higher price will get you out of financial problems. I have found kobalt from Lowe's is both cheaper and higher quality than the Craftsman brand.

Now that Craftsman has broken from Sears maybe they can be turned around to the days when you could brag about owning a Craftsman tool.

Yeah last time I bought some Craftsman wrenches they said made in china last time I searched them out.

 

[Al Smith]

IMO the demise of Sears and Roebuck was a long time in the making .They brought it on themselves .
One thing of many they did was replace long time full time employees with temporary because they could get them a lot cheaper .They got just about what they paid for .
There's an old adage that goes something like this .If you don't mind the store you won't have a store to mind .Case in point .

 

[Al Smith]

Having said the above I will say Sears wasn't a bad place to work at one time .In the late 60's while in the navy in New London Conn assigned to a missile submarine home ported in Rota Spain I had about 2 1/2 months of off time between patrol cycles .During that time I was a part time auto mechanic at Sears .They worked with me working around my time frame .Not too many would do that .

 

[J. Loe]

More Mini Mac's today. The Mini Mac 1 followed the Mini Mac 6 and features a removable starter. That alone makes working on the saw so much easier since you can easily slide the engine out of the housing & back in again with the starter removed. I tried to make this one as original as possible including the button on the manual oiler (no automatic oil pump on the MM1) and the Mac 6 hardnose bar in grey. Brakes were not offered on the early saws.

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The black Mac is made from parts, I am not worried about damaging this one so it will be used when it's appropriate. I would like to find a black Pro Mac style clutch cover to cover the muffler and make use of the wrap about brake handle since this saw will be used primarily up in the trees/bucket.

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The short clutch cover with the brake were standard on the Mini Mac 25, 30, and 35 models as well as the last of the PM6 models.

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Time to take inventory of the Mini Mac saws and see which models are needed to fill out the collection. I think I have on hand now:

Mini Mac 6, Mini Mac 1, Mini Mac 35, Mini Mac 110, Mini Mac 120, Mini Mac 130, Mini Mac 140 AS, Mini Mac 160S, Mini Mac 165, SE2014, and the Orange Mini Mac. I still have a Mini Mac 2.0 in the attic that I haven't worked on yet, and may have a Mini Mac Eager Beaver too.

Mark

Those look great.

What would you say if I asked how the minis compared to a 200t?