I could use a snowblower like that here in the Great White North LOL. That is believable and funny.

Hi Canguy and others.

There is no fiction in the snow blower story believe me.
We had some real fun while I was working at Vita.
This one should give you a laugh also.

We had a number of Dynamometer rooms for testing "Prototype" and Preproduction engines, these rooms were around 12 Ft square with a Vertical shaft Dyno for the lawnmower a bench come desk for the instrumentation and a chair for the operator.
The Dyno also had a 2 Hp electric motor for starting the engine on test.
On this particular occasion there was a new prototype motor on the Dyno and for some reason, which escapes me now, it had no cover or shroud over the motor and fly wheel.

There was a lot of interest in this motor and so there were 10 or 11 people crammed into the room to watch the test. Yours truly, being one of them.

The operator fired up the electric motor and when the engine coughed into life, he turned the motor off but before he could load up the Dyno the thing turned into a real screamer and immediately shot up to around 7,000 plus RPM at which point the crankshaft broke between the Crank Case and the Fly Wheel, Now the Fly Wheel is also a fan and so it majestically rose into the air above the motor much like a Helicopter. It then slowly drifted off to one side where it hit the wall and then began to ricochet off all the walls in the room. At this stage you had 10 guys all trying to exit the room simultaneously through one single standard sized door.
Yours truly, seeing no point in joining them headed for the floor under the bench where I got down on my Elbows and Knees put my hands over my head. and tried to wriggle myself lower into the concrete floor as if it was just soft dirt.

The whole incident didn't last long but at the time it seemed like a lifetime, but fortunately no one was injured, not by the errant fly wheel at least, though I can't account for injuries sustained in attempting to get out the door. I believe only two actually made it out, the rest just jamming themselves in the door way.

On looking back at the whole thing, all these people (One included the Managing Director.) trying to get out of the room, was hilarious. Especially from my vantage point where I was able to watch the whole thing in relative safety.

On reflection I must have looked a sight also, hiding under the bench with my derrière stuck up in the air.

Regards
Dock

PS, Maybe I should write a book.

HOHOHOHOHO. I am having a hard time typing, I am laughing so hard. That must have been priceless. Did you get any pics?

Hi Guys.

Nostalgia time again.
When I worked at Victa, the factory complex etc was built on around 30 Acres of old market garden and the surrounding areas were largely small fields overgrown with grass.
Part of the Test Department consisted of a brick building with lousy ventilation were motors were run through a predetermined cycle till destruction. The Air in the small building was pretty lousy with the poor ventilation and so many motors pumping out 2 stroke fumes. It was probably a lousy testing environment as the Oxygen levels were lowered by the exhaust fumes causing the engines to run rich.

One of our draughtsmen was a gent called Ted Sykes. Ted was always immaculately dressed usually in white shoes, long socks shorts and an immaculately pressed shirt and Tie. He also spoke with a slight lisp and English accent. He was a real Gent in the real sense of the word.

Well one day Ted had a task to check something in the test house which was across the car park from the Drawing Office.

On the way out of the Test Room Ted almost tripped over an old Snorkel lying on the floor. (A snorkel on a Victa is a rubber tube around 1.5 inches in Dia which runs from the Carby to the Air filter which is situated at the top of the handles.

Being a Tidy man Ted picked up the snorkel with the intent of putting it away somewhere. About half way across the Car park he decided there was something different about this snorkel which he was holding in his right hand and slightly away from his body as he did not want to gat any oil or grease on his attire. It was at this point that he discovered that what he had in his hand was not a length of rubber snorkel, but a black snake.

He obviously dropped the dammed thing which was probably groggy from all the exhaust fumes just like Ted probably was, but from that point Teds haze lifted and I don't think his feet touched the ground again till he all but collapsed into his chair back in the drawing office.

Ted was rather shaken and being an elderly gentleman the Nurse was summonsed up from the first aid station but fortunately by then he had all but regained his composure, but from memory he then had the rest of the day off.

You must think by now we are a lot of country bumpkins over here. In reality we are not. But I believe that I have been blessed with a number of funny incidents in my working life and the ability to recognise and tell them. There are some even better ones I could tell from when I was employed by the Department of Defence but I am afraid they are off limits.

Best regards
Dock.

PS. Message for the GUYS WHO RUN THIS FORUM. Perhaps you should start a "Funny Stories section."

i would love to have a Victa. too bad i would hav eot pay to ship it here...

Rangers

Heh heh , great thread Dock and all. I used to use Mac 1010A s at work. They are the main reason I bought a Stihl for my own use. 28 yrs later it still runs like a top. Its not a fluke because a buddy of mine has one thats even older. Ive heard the newer ones arent that good though. but I dont think I'll ever find out :)

Final Reminiscences from working at Victa.

I am really proud to have worked for this organisation.
Thank who ever, that you guys can not currently purchase these mowers in Canada and the USA or the last series of these stories may have been ruled inadmissible due to commercial considerations.
But back to the plot.
When I worked there we had a large Design and Development Department which was continually probing for better ways to cut and catch grass and lawn, another aspect of the Department being reducing costs. CanGuy you may think that our mowers were over built or as we would put it over designed. The culture in Victa was to produce the best lawnmower at the best cost. We saw ourselves as producing the Rolls Royce of mowers at a Ford Mustang price. (I'm not sure I got that right but you will at least get the idea.)

We were always trying to push the boundaries.

We were doing noise and Vibration tests before anyone else, likewise we were doing Emission Testing before anyone else.

We had guys in the test department who would go out and mow 10 acres of grass or lawn a day just to test the design and quality.

Unfortunately, today price has become the prime arbiter and while the quality has not slipped there certainly are not the same features on the Victa mower of yesteryear.

Story No 1
Concerns one of the Guys in the Test Department, "Graham." We had just produced a rugged 25" cut industrial mower and Graham was out mowing some 10" or so high grass and blackberries with one of the Prototypes. Suddenly a Black snake appeared between Graham and the Mower. Fortunately Graham had the presence of mind after overcoming the initial shock to do the reverse back two step which meant that the snake then came out the side chute in 1" pieces Chopped Snake (Suie?)

Story No 2
Concerns an inspection of the design department by the original owner Mervyn Victor Richardson. During an inspection of the drawing office it was noticed that one of the Draughtsmen was asleep at his Board/ Desk (It being a hot and humid afternoon.) The question was asked, "shall I wake him Mr Richardson?" The reply in typical Richardson fashion was, "No, at least while he is asleep he still has a Job."

Story 3.
On the winding up of the Aircraft division (Victa also once made aircraft, this division was sold to a New Zealand Company who still makes them to this day and sells them back to the Australian Air force as Training Aircraft.) The head of the division Len Alexander, who had degrees in both Engineering and Economics was the most perfect gentleman and one of the most unassuming men I have ever met, became the Director in charge of Design. He was a born leader because of his Knowledge, Humility, and ability to lead with his unassuming nature.

Us Plebs in the Design Department were branded by others in the company as Alexanders Rag Time Band due to his Surname. A badge we wore proudly.

This sets the screen for what is to follow. The Building that was used by the whole Design department including the Drawing office was originally a separate building from the main complex. Now every few weeks a set of tremors or vibrations went through the building which was most unsettling Not like an earth quake or anything just a number of, sort of unsettling vibration of short duration. It was quite weird.
A number of people came up with several theories many of which were just as weird.

Len however on good scientific principles believed the problem was some sort of resonance in the building and had a number of changes made to it including some complex though scientifically designed vents installed in the internal walls.
Yet with all this investigation going on the problem persisted for some considerable time.
Eventually through the old mates club and a bit of sleuthing the real culprit was found.
Our next door neighbour was James Kirby Industries, The local Distributor and Manufacturer under licence of Tecumseh engines.
It transpired that every few weeks the furnace in their foundry needed to be shut down for maintenances. Part of this maintenance consisted of a couple of enterprising gents using charges of Dynamite to break-up and dislodge the slag in the Furnace casing. What no one realised was the furnace was sitting on one end of a floating rock shelf and the Victa Design Building about a hundred yards away on the other end of the same rock shelf and the resulting vibrations from the explosions traversed the shelf and manifested themselves as these weird occurrences in the design building. So much for all the fancy theories.

It may seem HO HUM now but at the time it was a quite serious problem. It really un-nerved everyone working in the building.

Best regards
Dock.

Hey great stories, Dock!!

I noticed that you've mentioned Black snakes twice recently. Are they some sort of Australian super snake, to be feared like the Funnel Web spiders or other nasties that Oz seems to have their over abundant share of?

GG

Thanks for the stories Dock. This is really entertaining.
Victa truly was the RR of mowers at the time. Sunbeam seems to have disappeared except for small appliances at the box retailer and I am not sure those are still available in Canada.

Hi Goosebery guy.
Black Snakes are not all that uncommon in the Australian bush but are seen mainly in the urban scrub or bush interface.
From my experience there are two types. The white bellied black and the red bellied black. The red bellied black is particularly venomous. In general they are bits of cowards, leave them alone and they will leave you alone. But get one cornered or angry and its a different kettle of fish.
Personally I find it best to stand back, get them a little angry so they poke their head up then inject a supersonic dose of lead poisoning. A .22 rifle loaded with rat shot works just fine a 410 shotgun is even better. But it must be in the head.
I came across one curled up sunning itself on a path one day while rabbit shooting I got such a shock I put 28, .22 rounds into it, each round going through several coils and the dammed thing got up and took off, probably to die latter.

CanGuy.
Sunbeam Australia tried to get into the mower market in Australia and was spectacularly unsuccessful, so in about 1968 they bought Victa. They then went through a series of management problems and to sort things out they poached new managers from Victa, which for them worked well. Around the early 80's they became the target of a series of Corporate raiders and finally a management buy out.
Today they are owned by GUD Holdings. GUD make a range of products mainly for the Automotive trade. They are dammed fine Manufacturers and look after their people.
Sunbeam products in OZ are mainly sourced from China these days but the Victa is still proudly made here. It is still the best dammed mower and Engine on the market but has been badly hurt by junky and cheap Chinese imports. Unfortunately our stores tend to be staffed by order takers these days instead of sales people and so goods tend to be sold on price at the expense of performance.
I got angry with one such order taker a few months back as he extolled the virtues of an opposition product so I told him he didnt have a clue what he was talking about. He really got to me when he told his audience not to hose the mower down and especially not to get the electrics wet. I replied that, that was complete nonsense as the underside of the mower should be cleaned regularly preferably with a hose to remove the build up of gunk which reduced performance and held moisture promoting corrosion of the base plate and in any case the electrics had for the last 20 years or so been encapsulated in epoxy and would still work in a bucket of water. The group of people standing around then turned to me for advice. I didnt do any selling just plainly pointed out the differences of the Mowers on the Floor as they asked questions. Out of the Group one bought the opposition product 2 placed orders for Victas (which they didnt have in stock) and four customers walked down the street to the nearest specialist shop to buy Victa Mowers.
When I was working at Victa we did some pretty good engineering work. We toyed with Rotary engines and even produced prototype Sarich Orbital Engines. We also had a design for a four stroke in the closet in case it was needed.
But the Victa 2 Stroke motor is still by far the best engine on the market for cutting grass, lawn or even blackberries and a bit of scrub.

As the Remington guy said, he liked the product so much he bought the company. My pockets are no where that deep, But when GUD bought Victa I bought shares in GUD against the advice of my broker and I have done quite nicely out of them thank you.
If you are interested you can go to the Victa Web site WWW.Victa.com.au or the GUD website WWW.GUD.com.au

Regards
Dock

2-stroke lawnmowers still available in Oz? I am envious. The EPA would have a fit lol

Hi Canguy

You have to put things into perspective.
Australia is bigger than the United States but only has a population of around 21 Million.
Translate that into 2 Stroke mowers and its not going to make that bigger foot print in a country this size.

The Motor Vehicle section of our EPA used the same exhaust emission gear as we had at Victa but they were having problems with it or more precisely the people who used it.

My boss was asked and agreed for me to go over and sort out their gear and operators. While sorting out their equipment the head of the department and I went and cut some grass and found that the action of cutting the grass, especially with blunt blades and the after effects of the cutting released more hydrocarbons than came out of the exhaust. So why bother, We could always replace the mowers with cows or sheep but think of the methane that would release.

But on another or more serious note.
Some of the earlier remarks about tuning a chainsaw and that it not really being required often dont quite ring true to me.
Our fuel seems to vary quite a bit. We have our own refineries but we also import refined fuel mainly from other refineries in Asia. This does not matter a great deal with modern cars as they have Oxygen sensors and computer controlled injection systems. You could just about put anything in their tank and the system compensates.

We have an old Ford Cortina built in Australia with a Ford Australia 250 Cu Inch six cylinder motor, it has a carburettor not Fuel Injection. We have to be careful what fuel we put in it otherwise it plays up a treat, detonation being the biggest problem. There is one major world wide brand of fuel here whose product I would not even put in my lawnmower.

It is a while since I was close enough to know the various constituents of the different fuels that our "Fuel Companies" produce but they used to, and maybe still do put out two blends.
A winter blend which had an increase in the number of highly volatile "factions or constituents with a low boiling point to aid cold starting and running.
And a summer blend in which such constituents are reduced to prevent Vapour locks etc.

We were once having Vapour locks and detonation problems at Victa so I did a fuel analysis and was surprised to find the first boiling point to be 45Deg "F". I hope that was a winter blend but in reality do not really know.

In our Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade (Now known as the "Rural Fire Service") I always had a small screw drivers stowed with the Saw because you never knew how old the fuel you were about to use was or where it came from and the last thing you needed was if the saw went off song while you were trying to cut a fire break and you could not adjust the jets to compensate. These are often life and death situations and you cant afford to muck about. I wonder if Electrolux Australia have taken this into consideration in their policy of who they supply their tune up tools to.
I also wonder if you have the same potential problems and differences in your part of the world?

We could in part at least, be talking about two different situations.

Regards
Dock.

I know this is really a late post and I do not know anything about McCulloch chain saws, but here is a thought.

Couldn't you just purchase a piece of plastic tubing and push it over the adjustment screws?

Just a thought.

Hi genesii

A piece of nylon tube if available in the right size may have been sufficient.

However these screws are pretty tight to prevent vibration etc changing the adjustment. I don't know if this solution would have worked.

Regards Dock.

mcculloch saw not start.

I purchased a brand new 1635 model gas saw from HomeDepot last winter but did not bother to fire it up until today. It just won't start. Does anyone know any tricks or hidden switches for the first fire up? I can't find the instruction book either.

Thanks.

jin

Did it have gas in it all this time? If so, it will need a fuel system o/h. If not, move the switch to on, pull the choke and pull the rope till it fires ONCE and quits. May take quite a few to get the carb primed the first time. If it has a primer bulb, use that to prime the carb. You won't flood it. Once it burps, open the choke without touching the throttle and pull again till it starts. Let it warm up on high idle for a few seconds then blip the throttle to kick down the idle.

I've had too lean mixtures on a couple of 2-stroke products I've bought over the last couple of years and ran into the capped or splined needles in the Walbro carbs. I did similar things so that I could set the mixture properly.

Hi Canguy and Airbeama.

Thats good advice.
Its my experience that items like chainsaws tend to go out of tune easily due to a range of factors. This situation is becoming increasingly worse as manufacturers try to comply with emission regulations and to get better fuel economy out of their saws.
Changing formulations of fuel at the refinery for Emission Standards or any other reason such as a different supply of feedstock (Crude Oil) do not help. Also the age of the fuel and the amount of oil in it can have an effect.
Another issue I found in the Bush Fire brigade was Altitude. A saw may run well at sea level but take it up into the mountains and it is a different thing in the Brigade that is critical, your life could depend on it. I guess this experience as much as anything else made me cranky with Electrolux and their ridiculous policy which is why I will never purchase another item from this company.

A final piece of advice for Yxjin.
Have you got the right fuel in the saw?
It probably takes a 50:1 Fuel Oil ratio, Perhaps Canguy can confirm this.
We carried out some experiments with Fuel oil mixtures some years ago and found that with less oil in the fuel the motor ran richer due to the change in viscosity and so it tended to compensate on the lubrication as more fuel was consumed. The opposite was the case if you put too much oil in.
However that was working from a base of a 25:1 Mixture At 50:1 you probably will not get quite the same effect.
But don't bet on this unless you work for an engine manufacturer and can afford to waste a couple of engines.
Also from experience with 2 stroke motors stick to the same brand of fuel and oil.
If there is any concern about the fuel in your saw, empty the tank and slosh it out really well with some neat gasoline. But do not attempt to start it or touch the primer while the neat gas is in the tank. Then empty the tank and put some new fuel in it with the correct Fuel Oil mixture. Finally give it a really good prime to flush out the lines before attempting to start it.

Hey Dock,
I read your rant posted on Aug 5, you're right, it's bad here and getting worse with each election. I hate to hear it's almost the same down there,
Heck I was thinking AUS would be a good place flee to when it gets unbearable here. Do you guys have many of us "yanks" living down there? How do the aussies take to americans moving in?

Hey John.
I have had a lot to do with you guys during my working life. Some of my best friends have been Yanks.

Essentially Aussies dont mind Yanks but they tend to split them up in to two categories. There is the loud mouth who complains and thinks he is always right along with every thing his country does. And there is the genuine all round guy who for the most part you can't pick from an ozzie except for the accent and some of the terminology. We call Gas or Gasoline, Petrol and the hood on a car, the bonnet, you call the boot of a car the trunk.

These days the former seems to be in the vast minority and the latter in the Majority.
Our troops have fought together in just about every war since 1916 so there is a lot of tolerance and trust both ways. In fact on a per capita basis we had more troops in Vietnam than you guys.

I reckon you might just find this place just like home only a bit easier going.

If you are employed in Manufacturing Forget it. We now import most things manufactured.

It has gotten to the point where I have been looking at employment in Iraq, I have the management and engineering expertise they need to get the country going again. I dont mind people shooting at me but they had better be pretty good as they won't get a second chance. It's the indiscriminate car bombs I dont like.

Funny you should raise this as I once saw my salvation in immigrating to the States.

From what I read and see on TV we have not gone down hill as much as you yet, so yeah I think you might like it.

Let me know when you arrive and I will buy you a beer, but be warned our beer has a lot more alcohol in it than yours and we tend to drink Scotch instead of Bourbon.

And if you are into Golf, we have more Golf courses per capita than you but they are for the most part not as pretty, but they are a lot cheaper to play on. Also the Fishing is not bad either. Also depending on where you go our climate is more moderate and except for what we call the top end, we dont have any Cyclones or Tornadoes.

Regards
Dock.

Dock,

Thanks for the info. I've looked into the history of our countries we have been through a lot together over the years.

As luck would have it I'm not in the manufacturing sector,but in the service sector (electrical construction/maintance ) management end of it as I'v aged.

As for Iraq, there's already alot of us yanks working in construction over there and in Afganistan also. Don't know if it's that bad yet here that I'd think seriously about that, but I heard stories of the money being made there.

I don't play golf, but I like the looks of all that open space for riding my motorcycles.

Moving to the other side of the globe would be drastic no doubt, but if things keep going the way they have lately, the government is killing us with taxes, the muslims are are pissed at us, we're pissed at each other, just too much turmoil, you know what I mean you got TV there.It's getting old.

If it comes to it we'll sure enough have that beer.

I guess I'd get used to it being hot at Christmas time, and cold in july

hey, i got friends down under. in fact, to this day they are always asking me to move down. may take them up on it. my pops lived in eastern Oz for a while before he was my pops. sydney, gold coast, makay, he got around. still tries to talk my mom into moving back. hot at christmas can't be that bad. at least you would still have christmas. with the way the politically correct government is here, we already don't have christmas in schools... might just be taken out of society as well.

Rangers

Hi Ranger.
Christmas here in Sydney aint that bad, Christmas Day you can sit around the table and have a sort of slap up formal dinner with all the trimmings inside or have a barbie outside beside the pool in the back yard. Some people also pack a cold lunch in the Esky or Cool Box and head for the beach. These days we usually have a traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings then go and jump in the pool and whoop it up with the grand kids. Boxing day I used to go to the beach and surf but these days its usually off to Blackheath in the Blue Mountains (which is a mountain range about 60 miles west of Sydney and runs the length of the eat coast. They are called Blue because of a blue haze over them caused by hydrocarbon emissions from the Gum or Eucalyptus trees.) for a game of golf with some friends, Its the same group each year and has become a bit of a tradition. We get finished just before lunch and meet the women and kids in the club house for another great dinner. Actually I must be getting old as the Kids are now tending to be out on the course with us. Its also a shock when some good looking young girl comes up to you when you arrive, and gives you a big hug and a kiss. You then realise how old you are becoming because you then realise its your mates daughter who you havent seen since last year and all of a sudden she is all grown up. You then remember changing her diapers while babysitting her as a baby and it seems like yesterday. What really hurts is when she out hits you on the fairway and comes in with a lower score.

Summer holidays here usually begin a week before Christmas and the schools shut down for five to six weeks and industry (whats left of it) closes for around three to four weeks.

I get absolutely fed up with our Government too and have thought of moving but I don't know where else I could go. I have a Swiss Daughter in Law who has been out here for 10 years now. Except for holidays she would not go home, in fact we seem to have regular visitors from Switzerland (Family and friends) visiting us most Christmases these days. So warm sunny Christmases cant be all that bad.

Talk about being politically correct, every so often we have some dammed do-gooder or other wanting to tone down Christmas or Easter in our schools so as not to upset the non Christians. What a load of garbage, most of the people in the other religions I know have a ball. They celebrate Christmas with us then when their time comes they go off and do their own thing. In effect they have two celebrations to our one.

Man, Ive been in Pittsburgh and Chicago in mid January and I dont know how you guys put up with the cold, the snow and the ice. But I got to admit it sure does look pretty when you get out into the countryside.
Dock.

HUMMM, golf and swimming on Christmas day. I could get used to that concept and I don't golf. -30C gets to be a drag.

Rangers:

Removing the limiter caps off a carb is even worse than tearing off that "Warning Tag" from your mattress! This is big time serious stuff!!!!

Do want to spend the rest of your life behind bars? Earth IS in the balance! You'll get us all killed dead!!

Hi Guys.
Someone has just E-Mailed me direct, the address of a company that sells the Carby adjusting tool for these Chain Saws. Their web site is: http://www.hobbyshopper.com/shop/home.php?cat=257

For you guys looking forward to a cold winter its starting to get balmy here in Sydney Australia. The last few days have been around 25 to 26 degrees C, or 77 Degrees F. In fact the last couple of months its been great in the (Solar Heated) pool with the Grand Kids. The surf is still a little cold but not bad just the same. Even the waves have been around the right size for an old bloke like me.
Ive got to admit though I will have to come over one Christmas just so I can experience a White Christmas.

Regards
Dock.

Hi Dock

Saw your post on the McCulloch. Can you tell me which model it is? We're looking at buying a chainsaw and would prefer a non-Chinese model seeing that the Ryobi that we bought earlier had been returned, exchanged and returned because of faults. Any suggestions on a particular brand. We don't intend to use it for felling trees.

Ray

Hi Dodgyblue

I live in Australia and am not these days conversant with your market. Added to that it appears that my saw is a Poulan re-badged by Electrolux as a McCullouch and the original McCulloch is now made in China and sold as a Tallon, I understand something different to this is happening in North America. I got caught and would not recommend my Poulan / McCulloch.
I would suggest you ask CanGuy as he works for a Chainsaw Distributor in your part of the world.

Talking of Chinese made the following letter appeared in the "Letters To The Editor" column one of our Daily News Papers today.

We dig up our minerals Iron ore, Bauxite, Coal, and LPG etc
We ship them to China where they are turned into cheap goods for our shops putting Australians out of a job.
We buy these goods use them once or twice they then break or fail we throw them into the garbage.
The garbage is land fill so they are buried back on Australian soil completing the cycle.
The main achievement of this cycle has been to Export Jobs, Skills and Wealth
It does not make sense.

Regards
Dock

Hi Dock

I live in Melbourne, Victoria.. y'know the Garden State? So you are saying the McCulloch they sell in Bunnings is actually a rebadged Poulan? And you reckon it's a lemon then?

Ray

Hi Dodgyblue

I would not say the saw is a lemon but I would say that you get what you pay for. I would also say that if I had my time over I would not have purchased this saw.
For me there are better saws on the market and I do not like the thought of taking it to a dealer every time it goes out of tune. Especially as he is entitled to charge for it once the thing is out of warranty, not to mention the convenience factor. If you are out in a storm and need to cut up a felled tree in the middle of the night and the thing is sick, you cant just duck up to the nearest dealer for a quick tune up.
A lot depends on your ability with these things, if you are competent to look after the saw yourself you will find keeping it in tip top condition no problem. If you are not conversant with such things you may need to take it to a dealer.
I do not know your abilities or what you want to do with the saw or how bigger saw you require, but if I was buying a saw again I would go for a Sthil. If this is too expensive for you I would recommend you go to a specialist store who can advise you on what you need. Just make sure the store keeps a range of saws and not just one brand so that you have a good choice. What ever you do, do not buy on price and unless you are conversant with these things, do not go anywhere but a specialist store as they are conversant with each saws capabilities and can advise you correctly. Finally get a saw that is easy to start and does not require a great rigmarole to fire it up. Also check that it does not require special tools for everyday maintenance.

Dock.

"I would suggest you ask CanGuy as he works for a Chainsaw Distributor in your part of the world"
LOL, I lived in Victoria for a few years but it sure was not in Australia. A trip Down Under is on my list of "to do's" though.
Are Stihl and Husqvarna priced out of the market there? I know your import duties are high. The 300 series Husky's are made in Sweden and are fine products. The Stihl consumer and smaller professional saws we get are built in the U.S. and are very good too.

Hey Dock,

Hot enough for down there!!!! We had a small ice storm today, Ice storms this far south are rare and a pain in the a$$. Its good to see this thread is still alive and kickin.

Hey John.

Yeah I thought I was just asking a simple question but the thing seems to have got a life of its own.
As for the Saw, It is a bit of a disappointment, it goes alright but does not start anywhere near as easily as a Sthil or Husky, requiring around four pulls to start even when it is warm, it does not have the same grunt either. A Sthil would start on one pull under such conditions. Its a pain at ground level and a real nuisance when you are up a tree.
I have had open heart surgery so my rib cage is not as strong as it should be so mucking around pulling cords is no fun so the least I have to do so the better.

As I said at the beginning of all this I was in a bind and had to buy a saw so I purchased the best one I could under the circumstances. But I would have had a lot less grief and really not lost anything if I had waited till the next morning and purchased a decent saw, even if it cost me twice as much. I normally buy quality power tools as I not only find it more economical to do so, but also they dont let you down when you need them.

When I was in the Bush Fire Brigade I made sure we had nothing substandard. Under these conditions your life could depend on your equipment. On a couple of occasions I was dropped into a valley in the Blue Mountains by Helio First thing you did was cut a landing pad for the Helio so you could be evacuated in a hurry. You then went forward to the fire and cut a break across the valley. Then fell back and cut another break and then you did it all over again. We had no water and just relied on the intensity of the fire being reduced every time it hit a break until it either went out or we could put it out by hand.
In these situations your life could depend on your saw, so you did not muck about with this cheep stuff. Also With each saw there was a screw driver, so if for what ever reason it went out of tune you could give it a tune up. There was none of this nonsense about only dealers being able to tune up a saw, in any case there were none in the valley to do it anyway. Frankly I found the whole thing insulting and thats why I will never purchase another Electrolux Product.

We have had a few days as high as 35 Deg C but most have been around 22 to 28 Deg C.
If things go according to plan Christmas looks to be around 30 to 32 Deg C.
Good weather for Rheumatism.
The pool has been Great and the surf likewise even for an oldie like me.
You have no idea of the Joy of getting into the pool with my two grand sons, One is about to turn 5 and his brother is 18 months old. We have a ball. With solar heating the water temp is 25 to 28 Deg C.
My lawn "Winter Green Couch" or Bermuda grass is going bananas and driving me mad having to mow it. A bit of moisture and a temperature of 25 Deg C and over and it just takes off.
I am pretty annoyed with both our Governments through not committing to doing anything concrete towards turning around Greenhouse gasses and global warming. The destructive storms we have been experiencing of late and your snow would seem to be symptomatic of the problem. We are also in the middle of a prolonged drought and have water restrictions. We need around three weeks of constant rain.
I do not care if the Jury is out on Global warming and its precursors, the conventional wisdom is that we have to follow what the science is telling us. Its too much of a gamble to do otherwise in case we wake up one day and its too late.

Best regards
Dock

Hi Guys.
Especially Canguy and John C

Just a short bragging note to get you guys jealous.
Christmas day in Sydney Australia was around 32 to 35 Deg C
The water in the pool was a nice 28 Deg C.
It was a lot of fun in the water with the Grand Kids.
I did not manage to hit the Golf course on Boxing Day this year as I am having trouble with my feet (Falling arches) and my rib cage (Broken Sternum), its a bugger getting old. My couch (Bermuda grass) Lawn is going bananas, growing like mad. It loves the heat.
I got a bike for Christmas (At age 62??? Or 63 as it will be after tomorrow.) to get exercising again and get a bit of weight off.
Ah well age is just in the mind.

Regards
Dock.

Remove the carb from the saw.
Remove the limiter caps.
Take a Dremel or other similar tool with a thin cut off wheel.
Cut a slot into the top of the adjuster screws that a thin flat jewelers type screw driver will fit into.
Reinstall the carb.
Adjust as needed.
Call a dealer and tell him that you will no longer need his services. For you found another dealer that offered a free life time carb tune up when needed.

Merry Christmas Dock !!!

Go ahead and rub it in, we'll see who's bragging come july LOL.

We've had a bit of a warm up this week, I'm off this week so my timing was good (for a change). I shot a couple rounds of skeet and clays day before yesterday, wound up in a t-shirt before it was all over, the high topped out around 16 or 17C and not many clouds.....nice!

Hi Hippy.

Thanks for the advice.
If you look up towards the top of this thread, I have already manufactured a tool to do the job. Plus I have found a company in the USA who as a result of this article now makes a tool to adjust this carby and sells it for around $20 including freight.
Also there are no limiter caps on the adjustment screws.
As far as cutting screw driver slots in the head of the screws. I do not believe that they are of a large enough diameter for there to be enough room to make any meaningful slots.
Who ever came up with this whole scheme needs to take a long cold look at themselves, as it really is totally impractical.
If McCulloch / Electrolux's marketing people read this they should be concerned and taking the issue up with their design people. Certainly If I was one of their marketing people (as an aside I have worked both in design and marketing areas) I would be doing just that.
There has to be a better solution. All the current design does is make people cranky and to look for work arounds which negates the original purpose.

I know of people in Oz who have kept their old cars because they did not have solid state ignitions and Computerised injection systems. The reason being that they can still work on the cars themselves and if the fail out in the scrub miles from anywhere they can get then going again with little more than a pair of pliers and a screwdriver..

Regards
Dock.

Weather Report.
All you guys who were wondering or enquiring about the weather in Sydney Aus, at Christmas. Here is what happened this year.

Christmas day was great around 32 Deg "C".
As usual we had a great spread for lunch including Ham, Lobster and King Prawns, Not to mention all the other trimmings, Plum Pudding and the best Christmas cake I have tasted.
Afterwards it was into the pool with the kids.

From there on things got hotter, December 30 (My Birthday) it was around the high thirties so it was off to the beach for a lunch of some great fish and chips washed down with a bottle of Semillon Chardonnay and a bit of gentle surfing, the waves were only around five feet. (I must be getting old, they did not have girls with Bikinis around like that when I was growing up.)

New Years day was a Stinker 45 Deg C the hottest day on record in Sydney. So it was either stay in the pool or inside in the Aircon'.

I was given a push bike for Christmas as my exercise regime has gone down hill over the last couple of years due to falling arches in my feet (No more half marathons) and since I have had Cardiac surgery "Exercise" is almost mandatory.

Well since the New Year it has either rained or been too hot to ride the thing (Mainly Rain) so far I have only been for four rides. Seems like the "Drought" has broken, literally.

From what I am hearing the weather around the world has gone crazy. I just wish our Governments would get serious about "Climate Change" and do something constructive about it instead of squabbling about dollars, especially while we still have kids and Grand Kids who need to share this planet.

Hoping Santa was as generous to you guys and you all had a great Christmas and New Year. Looks like I had now better go out and mow the lawn again as it is going berserk in this weather. Well its out with the Victa now so I will sign off.

Best wishes for the New Year
Dock.

MTD owns McCulloch now.

Thanks, guys, for the entertainment, as well as the useful info.! You are too funny! But, helpful to this tomboy--and I won't have to ruin my manicure anymore, thanks to the tool I made to adjust my (argh!) Poulan. (I didn't know better when I bought it!)

Hi Cinzia01
Glad you liked the stories. I can assure you they are all true and not embellished in any way. They did not seem funny at the time but looking back, they are like a good wine, matured with age.
Actually you can now buy an aftermarket tool to tune up this saw.
Actually I have now come to hate this saw. A couple of weekends ago I offered to take down a rather large tree for a friend.
Problem number One
was that the saw kept stalling on idle, My best bet is that as I was using a new can of fuel and the Fuel formulation had changed, it took the best part of a turn of the slow idle jet adjustment to bring it back into tune.
So much for Electrolux's claim that this adjustment need not be touched or that I should take the dammed thing to a servicing dealer, yeah great at 10:00 AM Sunday morning with the tree part down?

Problem number two.
The exhaust for the saw comes out high up at the front of the saw and so when you are leaning over cutting a large log the gas hits the log and comes back into your face. It was a stinking hot day when I took this tree down and the exhaust gas combined with the heat took its toll and even with frequent breaks, I had to give up in the end.
Now I have had cardiac surgery and so I have a few clues, but the combination of heat and exhaust caused a pain in my chest. Fortunately I keep myself in pretty good nick and I knew it was not heart related though it was a little distressing just the same.

In the mean time a distant relative bought himself a Poulan leaf blower for Christmas and guess what he has the same problem though not as bad. So out came the Amex card and he also is now the proud owner of the same aftermarket tune up tool delivered from the good old USA by parcel post in just 5 days. So much for the manufacturers refusing to sell the tool, at the end of the day they are the looser.

As I said I have now come to hate this saw and my next saw which at the current rate will not be far away, will be a Stihl.
Dock.

"MTD owns McCulloch now."
It is not quite that simple. E-lux owns McCulloch of Italy which distributes through Europe and Australia. Asian interests build the Mac that is distributed in the U.S. by MTD as was pointed out earlier in this thread. As Dock discovered to his disgust, some Macs are made by Poulan/Weedeater which is also an E-lux subsidiary. FWIW, we are an MTD service dealer but cannot source MacCulloch parts through Power Sorce Canada. Only in the U.S. you say. Pity. LOL. Actually, we are quite happy to leave them alone.

As Canguy points out.
We have a lot of chain saw dealers around where I live on the outskirts of Sydney Australia and they will not even consider servicing McCulloch saws. In fact when I recently spoke to a local dealer and mentioned that I had a Poulan saw rebadged McCulloch he replied, "Lucky you, you have yourself a double whammy." I will not repeat what came next.
Dock.

Hi Guys.
Another Story.

At the ripe old age of 15 I put my age up so I could join the Bush Fire Brigade. Now known locally as the Rural Fire Service.
In those days we did things that today would be illegal under the Occupational Health and Safety legislation.
In 1958 from memory we had some pretty bad fires in the Blue Mountains which are situated just behind Sydney.
I had a Knapsack spray on my back for three days solid. At one stage I had just filled the Knapsack from a half dry creek using my cotton base ball cap as a scoop Just as I returned to the fire line we had a wind come up the valley causing the fire to jump our fire break.
Well it was every man for himself as we ran for our lives. I took off and in the smoke tripped over an old log and went face first into the mud in the creek bed only to have someone else land on top of me. Then as I disentangled myself and started to run I dumped the water from the Knapsack so I could run faster. I was about to ditch the Knapsack also but we were so short of equipment two guys came along each side and grabbed an arm each and pulled me along behind them. A couple of minutes later we reached the safety of Blackheath Golf Course and as we looked back the fire brought down a set of 66 kV power lines. Talk about Sh__ and cinders, as the lines hit the ground they made a sound like a rolling artillery barrage and sent clouds of ash and lightening skywards.
It was most spectacular and a little frightening especially as we were so close.
Things settled down on the Monday and so we had a bit of R&R and did maintenance. We had ageing WWII GMC Blitz wagons for tankers and they were never designed to carry the weight of water we put in the tanks and so they needed a lot of TLC. But they were bloody marvellous, in low range four wheel drive they would go up a vertical wall if gravity did not pull them off. We would go up the highway flat out at about 35 MPH with lights flashing but we never turned the siren on because it was too embarrassing as all the traffic streamed past at a prodigious rate. In retrospect it was just as well they did not go faster as there was no crew cab so we had to stand on something akin to a running board down the side of the tank and hang on to a hand rail.
But when you were too buggered to pull a hose off a reel you could sit on top of the tank hosing down the fire as the truck was driven through the bush, Anything that got in the way was just pushed over and rolled flat.
On the Tuesday we were called down to a lovely small township called Leura. When we got there the fire had gotten into the township and there were a number of buildings alight. We managed to save a number by going into the roof space and fighting the fire under the roof. The roof timbers were so hot most of us ended up with blisters on our hands and knees where we crawled across the timbers. Today you would not be allowed to do that. After about four hours we were urgently called back to Base at Blackheath as the fire was then threatening our own township.
That was a black day in the history of Leura. One in three buildings were lost including the Presbyterian church in the middle of town.
On another occasion I was down in the Jamison Valley near the Three Sisters (See following link. http://www.bluemts.com.au/tourist/thingsToDo/threeSisters.asp )
where there had been a fire which we managed to keep in the valley. Now the valley where we were consisted of Sand stone cliffs around several hundred feet high while the valley floor was a "V" shape which was about 150 feet deep with a creek in the bottom. About half way up one side of the "V" there was a walking trail and we had managed to keep the fire between the trail and the cliff face. I was down there with a Chain Saw mopping up after the fire when I was asked to take down a hollow tree about 2 Ft in diameter and thirty feet tall and which was alight up the middle. A bit like a fire cracker streaming sparks and stuff out the top. I wanted to drop the thing lengthwise with the valley so if it rolled down it would get caught on a rock, stump or tree trunk which would arrest it. But the Fire captain wanted it dropped up hill and he won the argument. So I had a young guy with a knapsack keep a stream of water on the chain bar and blade to keep them cool as I cut through the burning log and I got stuck into it. Well I dropped the thing exactly where he wanted it but as it bounced it took off lengthwise across the walking trail and down the valley where it had not been burnt, just like a run away freight train trailing behind it a stream of flames and sparks. In some ways you could say, it was a bit like a wingless FA18 with the afterburners going full blast. Well all hell broke loose the two way radios went into overdrive with everyone shouting over each other and people came running from miles away. Fortunately they managed to put the fire out below the walking trail pretty quickly and then rolled the log into the creek to put the fire out that was burning inside it.
Being involved it was pretty serious, but I later met some sight sears who had observed the whole thing from a look out at the top of the valley and they thought it was hilarious. As one guy said I dont know why you guys needed walkie talkies we could hear you yelling at each other up here without them.

By the way The saw was a McCulloch Farm Boss. And they were a damed good saw. Pitty they don't still make them.

I would like to get off the chainsaw for a min and ask anyone if they ever heard of McColluch ever made cordless drills......I have 1 and heard it was 1 of the 1st they ever came out with.........it came with a light and a saw..........i love it and it has been very much worth the money.......but I have used up 1 of the batteries and want to purchase another.......I have charged it many many times and i know it has just had it........nobody seems to know how i can get ahold of Mccolluch........has anyone ever heard or know anything about the,m making cordless tools?......i would appreciate the help you people always seem to be very helpfull.......Thanks

Hey Dock,

From what I've seen on the TV you fellas are having trouble with the sharks down there this year, ouch!!! be careful

Oh, Dock,
Its your Montana gal, again. The Poulan carb adjust tool from Hobbyshopper is out of stock. It was -39 two nights ago(with the windchill factor) so I am getting desparate. Got any other leads for the same tool?

Hi Cinziao1
I sent you a follow up to this query but it does not seem to have been posted. I have also tried sending you an e-mail direct but it did not work.
Hope things are walming up
1. Keep on to hobby shopper.
2. See if you can make a tool like I originally did (See earlier postings)
3. Try a piece of Nylon or hard rubber tube and press it down over the screw.

However that is all dependant on if you know how to adjust the saw once you have the tool.
If not suggest you take it to a dealer for a tune up.

Sorry cant be much more help than that from this distance.

Let me know how you go.
E-Mail me direct if you like by clicking on "my page".

I tried Fishers idea of using an electrical "butt" connector and it works fine.
The one I used was a 4mm quick connect bullet socket.
I pushed it onto a wooden kebab skewer and stuck that into a wooden (file) handle that I had lying around.
A pack of 8 connectors from a local electronic hobby shop only cost AU$2.80.
(Link to: http://www1.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=PT4502&CATID=&keywords=pt4502&SPECIAL=&form=KEYWORD&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID= )

I bought a electrical McCulloch chainsaw on 17th July in Leroy Merlin Pescara (Italy) and used it for one day without any problems. Then when I switched on the saw on the second day it the motor started making strange noises. I took it back to the shop expecting a replacement or my money back. Instead I was told to take it to their repair shop several miles. I was a bit annoyed that they would not do that for me but nevertheless I took it there and was told that the motor was broken and it would take 10 days to find and fix the problem. As my sawing job was very urgent I bought another one a Bosch and asked for my money back from Leroy Merlin 2 weeks later. They had not contacted me to explain anything about the repair but when I went to their store they said that the machine could not be repaired and that I could not have my money back because it was either misused or there was a problem with my electricity supply!! I was absolutely flabbergasted and disgusted. I am an experienced chainsaw user for twenty years or more and know exactly how to use them and the correct oil to use. I now believe that my broken chainsaw has been thrown away along with the full container of oil.

It seems that a customer has to prove that they have not misused an electrical appliance or that their electricity supply is not at fault if their guarantee is to remain valid. I presume that all electrical items in this store are 100% reliable and so every problem is the customers fault. So if you do buy an electrical appliance from this store it seem that you would need a monitor for any power surges that might occur in your electricity supply and you must record by video every second that you use it.
I have tried to contact McCulloch but without any response. They too must believe that 100% of their saws are without fault and that the customer is always wrong unless they can prove that they are right.

Needless to say I will never visit Leroy Merlin again or ever buy a McCulloch product again.