Thread: vintage chainsaw.. McCulloch Mac 15

And here's my main runner.. a McCulloch Pro Mac 55. A nice hard working 55cc saw from the 1970s. I like the accessibility, exposed cooling fins (I don't understand cooling fins tucked under a plastic shell), ease of use and compression valve for easier starting.
Since getting interested in these old saws, I have started taking them out after storms and tornados to help people stuck with a tree in their yards etc.. maybe some good karma.

You might not get much feed back about these old saws on this forum.
It might be worth posting on something like this website http://www.arboristsite.com/communit...ors-corner.94/

Right you are, thanks : )

I should say, however, it was on this site that I first saw and realized that people collect vintage chainsaws : )

I am no expert on chainsaws, but I would imagine that the shell helps to direct airflow over the fins.

I've heard several people say "i'll run the saw apart, but I'm not going to run it too hard without the cover".

if a motor comes with fins and a cover, i'd examine how the air is flowing before I'd ditch the cover. The cover may be aiding rather than hindering.

That does make sense.. certainly quite a bit of money and know-how go into the modern designs.
Maybe my gut reaction/statement was not very thought out.

These two old Macs though, are as they were designed, with open or exposed fins. I've had a few Husqvarna modern saws though.. at one point I was thinking of drilling holes in the plastic cowling to aid in cooling.. maybe that would have been a dumb thing to do.
(I tend to learn things the hard way) : )

Originally Posted by ObairLaimhe

That does make sense.. certainly quite a bit of money and know-how go into the modern designs.
Maybe my gut reaction/statement was not very thought out.

These two old Macs though, are as they were designed, with open or exposed fins. I've had a few Husqvarna modern saws though.. at one point I was thinking of drilling holes in the plastic cowling to aid in cooling.. maybe that would have been a dumb thing to do.
(I tend to learn things the hard way) : )

Hard way, me too!! I don't think your assessment was unreasonable, it's the trivial things about designs that we don't know unless someone else says something. I only brought it up because I've seen someone else mention it, I'm certainly not smart enough to figure it out on my own.

Far as the saws go, when I was a kid, we felled, bucked and split 12 cords of wood per year. Not a lot compared to what some do, but plenty. We had two pro mac chainsaws. Now I rarely cut anything, but I do have a husky saw. The modern saws are marvels, only a little more than half the weight of our pro macs and faster cutting. I do have a soft spot for the pro macs, but I remember having a sore back and numb hands.

Same with the splitting maul. I LOVE to swing a maul and split woods, but at the start of day two (we split all of our wood over a period of a few days) had hands starting feeling like they were bruised.

My dad's almost 70 now. We stopped cutting and splitting wood right around when I went to college. Dad still lives in the woods and has clean up work to do from time to time, and he still has his pro macs, but he also got a small husky mid range saw. He loves it.