Jonsered 70E

John Mc · January 20, 2010, 10:34:52 PM

Does anyone know anything about a Jonsered 70E chainsaw? The widow of an old friend of mine is selling some of his old tools. This is one of his chainsaws. Looks in great condition, may need carb work. Is the saw worth much, either to use or as a collector's saw? She doesn't know what she has here, and I'm not able to help much.

Ser # is 1603810. Can anyone give me an idea of when it was made?

John Mc

Rocky_J · January 20, 2010, 10:41:09 PM

Looks like it was one of the early electronic ignition saws. Introduced in 1979. Here's the info page from Mike Acre's site.
http://www.acresinternet.com/cscc.nsf/ed1d619968136da688256af40002b8f7/746133cbe7c59df388256d0a00051cc7?OpenDocument

John Mc · January 20, 2010, 10:49:30 PM

Thanks, Rocky. That was a quick reply. Looks like a useful web site as well.

Brucer · January 21, 2010, 12:46:50 AM

I bought mine in 1981. It was one of the first electronic ignition saws, and at 70 cc was intended for the professional market. Unfortunately the professionals didn't quite trust that new-fangled electronic stuff (at least in these parts) so it didn't sell very well.

I ran mine for 20 years, including a bunch of chainsaw milling. Didn't take too much maintenance -- change the plug once in a while, clean the filter, and rebuild the carb once a year :(. I never bought a carb kit -- just dismantled it carefully and soaked all the pieces in solvent to get rid of the wood dust.

The only reason I retired it was that parts were getting scarce in Canada. I actually bought a complete gasket set in 2000, intending to rebuild it, but decided to buy a 2171 to replace it instead.

John Mc · January 21, 2010, 01:17:08 PM

Is the 70E anything that might be of much interest to a collector? It does have an interesting look to it. From the styling, I would have guessed older than 1980-ish, not that I'm very familiar with chainsaws from that era.

It has been sitting idle for some time, with gas in the tank. I drained it and put in fresh gas and tried to start it with no luck. My attempts were probably on the feeble side, since I've got some elbow problems and can't pull on the starter very well (tennis elbow... or rather, firewood throwing elbow). Did not have time to look further.

John Mc

Brucer · January 21, 2010, 04:32:57 PM

Time to dismantle the carb :(. You might get away with removing it and soaking the whole thing in solvent for a few hours. Otherwise you'll need to take it right down to the little bits and soak them all in solvent.

Once the carb is cleaned, crank it with the choke full on until it fires and dies. Release the choke and crank it 8 times. It'll go.

Shetland Sheepdog · January 22, 2010, 10:25:05 PM

I have a 70E here that hasn't been started for 10 years or longer! It needs a new set of rubber mounts at the outer end of the throttle handle (no longer available)! I also have a complete 521 that is still older than the 70, if anyone is looking for parts! I would like to get the 70 back up and running, with a 24" bar, for the occasional big cut! Any help would be appreciated.
Dave

Lorax · January 23, 2010, 10:42:19 AM

I have a 70E that I bought on eBay back in the fall of 2001 for $105. It runs great. I use it to cut about 10 cords of firewood each year. Always starts on the first or second pull. Lately it doesn't seem to be getting enough oil on the bar (running a 20 inch bar). Does anyone know if there is a way to adjust the oiler? By the way, I did take it apart and cleaned the bar oiler area well which helped a little but I think it could still use more bar oil.

Brucer · January 23, 2010, 01:54:29 PM

Quote from: Lorax on January 23, 2010, 10:42:19 AM
Does anyone know if there is a way to adjust the oiler?

If you lay the saw on its side, as you would for refuelling, you'll see a deep hole on the bottom of the saw. It's a bit forward of the crankshaft centerline and about 1/4 of the way over from the drive side. Just put a screwdriver in and turn it counterclockwise to increase the oil flow.

Suggested setup procedure is to turn the screw clockwise until it stops (don't use a lot of force), and then open it 1-1/2 to 2 turns. From there, open or close to adjust the flow.

Lorax · January 23, 2010, 04:17:13 PM

Thanks for the info Brucer. A half turn and I'm back in business.

Brucer · January 23, 2010, 07:40:56 PM

Quote from: Lorax on January 23, 2010, 04:17:13 PM
A half turn and I'm back in business.

Shetland Sheepdog · March 27, 2010, 09:08:28 AM

I stopped in at the local chainsaw shop yesterday, and they had 3 70E's on the bench in various states of repair/salvage/parting out! Think I'll drop mine off, and see if it can be resurected! "Ran when parked" 10 years ago +/-!

chainsawr · April 04, 2010, 08:25:48 AM

The 70e is a common saw. But the coils, and flywheel fans are very hard to find in good condition. We always have all the other parts on hand here though. A nice saw when they run.

Shetland Sheepdog · May 08, 2010, 02:30:33 PM

Quote from: Shetland Sheepdog on March 27, 2010, 09:08:28 AM
I stopped in at the local chainsaw shop yesterday, and they had 3 70E's on the bench in various states of repair/salvage/parting out! Think I'll drop mine off, and see if it can be resurected! "Ran when parked" 10 years ago +/-!

Dropped it off at the repair shop, and they replaced the broken mount, put fresh gas, a new plug, air filter & gas filter in it. They also serviced the chain brake. Brought it home, and it starts & runs like a new saw! 10 year vacation musta been good for it!
It won't be my "go to" saw though, just too dang heavy, but it will be there when I need it!

forest.c · May 08, 2010, 06:34:54 PM

In the early 80s I ran a JR70E to 8ft aspen for two crews running 540B skidders about 250 cord a week very tough saw in its day also ran a JR49sp tu limb softwood with at times. we would cut the aspen and hard wood out of a block then go back with one man felling two limbing and two yarding the soft wood.

Shetland Sheepdog · May 14, 2010, 09:22:04 AM

8) Well, I've put a couple of tanks of gas through the 70 since it came back to life, and man! don't it make a pile of sawdust in a hurry! I bucked up those maple logs that I posted about a couple weeks ago, and the old 70 walked right through them in a hurry! ;D ;D

SawTroll · May 23, 2010, 09:38:15 AM

Quote from: John Mc on January 21, 2010, 01:17:08 PM
Is the 70E anything that might be of much interest to a collector? It does have an interesting look to it. From the styling, I would have guessed older than 1980-ish, not that I'm very familiar with chainsaws from that era.

.....

I am sceptical to the 1979 "dating" of the model as well - I suspect it is a bit older! ???

Regarding collectors interest; The 70E is by far the most common model in that "family" of saws (70, 66E and 70E), the 66E is the least common one.

Acres site date the 66E to 1976, the 70 to 1977 and the 70E to 1979 - that doesn't add up to me! ???

Rocky_J · May 23, 2010, 09:49:07 AM

Electronic ignition for small two cycle equipment came out in the late 70s. When I started working for a couple different landscape companies about 1980-81, a lot of the older equipment had points ignition and all the new stuff had electronic ignition. With that in mind, the 1976 date for the 66E sounds a bit early unless it was one of the very first saws to ever use electronic ignition.

SawTroll · May 23, 2010, 12:04:30 PM

Hmmmm ??? - AFAIK, Partner started using it in 1966, on the R14T - and Jonsereds in 1971, on the 52E?

Al_Smith · May 25, 2010, 06:04:36 AM

I've only seen maybe half a dozen J-reds and including the one I wrenched on last night ,have worked on three .

From what I see they seem to be powerfull rascals .The one last night was a model 525,49 cc little screamer .Needs a carb kit ,floods bad but runs good until it's shut off .Funky check valves .

I've been looking for a 3 cuber for a cookie cutter and that one has definate possibilities .