McCulloch 250, maybe?

[snobdds]

So I have been on the lookout for a saw from times past.  I wanted a big, slow, heavy metal saw.  Well, in wyoming they are few and far between.  Every once and awhile I cruise craigslist and facebook marketplace looking for something. Well a listing came up for an old mcculloch chain saw with one picture.  The guy had no idea what it was and said it was his dads, he just wanted it gone.  So the price was right and I took a chance.  

Got it home and started looking it over.  Now, the only saws I own are stihl's, with the oldest being of a 361 vintage. I'm green with McCulloch's.  After hours of research and looking it over, I found the 250 on the bottom of the saw to confirm it is a 250, as the decals are gone and replaced with the name...Chet Flanagan.  However, after reading, I discovered there is a super 250 version.  So I looked to see if this might be a super 250.  That lead me to figuring out a 250 with a yellow top, black clutch / flywheel cover, tilotson carb, choke pull instead of a choke twist mechanism, and a 4 star clutch drum...is a Canadian built super 250.  

For the McCulloch experts, does this sound plausible?  If it's not a super 250, I'm still not bummed.  This saw is in great shape and it all there.  All linkages work and the manual oiler works well.  I am going to try and fire it up this weekend and see what happens. 



 


 


 


 

[Tacotodd]

Go to you tube and check out a "BuckinbillyRay" video. You can subscribe and then be able to email him, cause he is THE Mac Man regarding chainsaw usage and Mac popularity. 

[sawguy21]

Maybe @Al_Smith can shed some light, he is a Mac nut  err enthusiast.

[Brian_Rhoad]

There are several McCulloch groups on FaceBook.

[Al_Smith]

The top cover can be black or yellow .I can't tell if it's a 250 or a super from the picture .From what I've seen most 250's had a stub spark arrester and the supers had the round muffler .Which really doesn't solve much because they can interchange .I think I have 3 250 models .Two have Tillotson model HL carbs one has the infernal notorious Walbro/MAC flat back which I despise but it does or did run .
If I'm not mistaken they all came with .404 chain but if you can find it Oregon made a 50 thou slot hard nose bar and you can use 3/8" chain .If you go to Mike Acres site and look up this model on my saw it has 3/8" chain .If I'm not mistaken it's an 18" which because of being a wider  bar will take a 72 driver 20" loop just like Stihl and Husqvarna .With a 3/8" set up and chisel  it will cut a lot faster than the original .404 chipper chain .
Usually they had a spur drive clutch drum  but as luck would have it my saw had a rim drive with a 7 tooth rim so all it was was changing to an 8 tooth 3/8"
As  far as the saw I don't think you can wear one out, battle ship tough  .They aren't like lighting but they aren't a slug either .A lot of wood has been cut with those old duffers .
The numbers on the stuffer mean something but I really can't tell what is what myself from them .However if some how you can get a depth gauge through the plug hole you might determine if it's a super or not by measuring the stroke .

[Al_Smith]

I might add I had a Stihl 32" bar on one of the 250's  by using adapters and believe it of not it pulled it amazingly well .Reed valve Macs are torquers not race horses .

[snobdds]

The top cover can be black or yellow .I can't tell if it's a 250 or a super from the picture .From what I've seen most 250's had a stub spark arrester and the supers had the round muffler .Which really doesn't solve much because they can interchange .I think I have 3 250 models .Two have Tillotson model HL carbs one has the infernal notorious Walbro/MAC flat back which I despise but it does or did run .
If I'm not mistaken they all came with .404 chain but if you can find it Oregon made a 50 thou slot hard nose bar and you can use 3/8" chain .If you go to Mike Acres site and look up this model on my saw it has 3/8" chain .If I'm not mistaken it's an 18" which because of being a wider  bar will take a 72 driver 20" loop just like Stihl and Husqvarna .With a 3/8" set up and chisel  it will cut a lot faster than the original .404 chipper chain .
Usually they had a spur drive clutch drum  but as luck would have it my saw had a rim drive with a 7 tooth rim so all it was was changing to an 8 tooth 3/8"
As  far as the saw I don't think you can wear one out, battle ship tough  .They aren't like lighting but they aren't a slug either .A lot of wood has been cut with those old duffers .
The numbers on the stuffer mean something but I really can't tell what is what myself from them .However if some how you can get a depth gauge through the plug hole you might determine if it's a super or not by measuring the stroke .

Some good information here.  I guess I will just leave it a mystery as to if it is a 250 or super 250.  I did read, now who knows how accurate this is, but owners of super 250 took off the labeling back in the 70's so the cart racers would not steal the saw to put in their carts.  ???
The chain is the next thing I have to deal with.  The saw did come with a bar, it looks to be a 18 or 20 inch.  I thought that seemed small at first, but after reading more, it sounds like that is what they came with original.  It is a roller nose bar, I just don't know if it's .50, .58, or .63...let alone if it's 3/8 or 404.  I would love to change it to a 72 drive link 3/8, .50 as I have a lot of stihl chain in that flavor.  This saw has a rim sproket, 7 drive links.  I think a 8 drive would work better.  
This is basically a learning saw for me.  I had no idea about McCulloch a week ago, now I could at least understand a conversation between to McCulloch experts and not be totally lost.  Still lots to learn yet, though. 

[Al_Smith]

If  it's an open roller nose both 3/8 " and .404 will work .I'm not exactly certain which kart engine a 250 super might be related to   but it's 87 cc's .IMO the best of the reed valve Mac saws .That engine with variants I own 3 or 4 ..One is a super 44A which I think morphed into the MC 10 kart engine .
I've got another which is regular 44A at 80 cc's which is stuck .I've never seen any engine yet I could not unstick but I suppose it could be the first .If and when I get around to it .Just as a big kids toy I may turn that into an antique cookie cutter with a slide pipe exhaust .Poor thing looks like somebody dropped a rail road track rail on it .--Perhaps somebody got mad and beaned in with an 8 pound splitting maul .

[snobdds]

Well last night I had time to start looking it over.  The first order of business was addressing why the air filter cover would not screw on with the air filter in.  Looking closer I found some JB weld where the screw to hold down the air filter resides.  It appears it's too short and does not allow enough threads on the air filter to catch.  Is there any harm with just breaking the screw lose and adjusting the height, or was this screw formed into the carb and the JB welds indicates a past break?

Then while looking at this, I found more JB weld right by the throttle linkage on the round looking part on the carb.  Why would they have to do that?  I looked at the choke lever and the linkage is clearly homemade, but works really well.  The end of the wire shows it was cut with a pair of side cutters and not a flush cut. This explains why the normal choke turn mechanism is not there, but a pull type is.  It appears someone probably switched out the flat back carb for a tilotsen setup.  

It looks like everything was done well, but obviously it's not a stock saw anymore.  Which is not biggie, I would rather have the tillotson carb.



 

[Al_Smith]

I have no idea when they changed from the Tilley to the flat back but the linkage is different and some flatties  had chokes and some just in essence used a primer .I also have no idea why they ever used the flatty in the first place . ??? They probably knew some 50 years in the future it would drive collectors nuts .They were correct  >:( 

[fossil]

The US made Super 250's were 87cc and had an auto as well as a manual oiler.

The yellow top Canadian Super 250's were 80 cc and had a manual oiler only.

[snobdds]

The US made Super 250's were 87cc and had an auto as well as a manual oiler.

The yellow top Canadian Super 250's were 80 cc and had a manual oiler only.

Good info, thank you.  

[snobdds]

Well after our snow bomb finished dumping 40 inches of wet heavy concrete on us, I was able to work on the saw a little. 

I took off the muffler to make sure nothing was in the exhaust side of things.  Took the spark plug out and it looked good.  Put some Motomix in and dumped a little into the carb.  Ten pulls and she fired up.  It idles good and had good throttle response. I was stoked. 

I set it down for awhile and came back to notice fuel in the air filter housing. I have a fuel leak either in the carb or the fuel line.  The fuel line is hard, but i didn't see any cracks.  

I ordered up a tilotsen carb kit and a new fuel line.  Will try those two things next to see if that fixes the issues.  

She's a runner though...

[donbj]

So I have been on the lookout for a saw from times past.  I wanted a big, slow, heavy metal saw.  Well, in wyoming they are few and far between.  Every once and awhile I cruise craigslist and facebook marketplace looking for something. Well a listing came up for an old mcculloch chain saw with one picture.  The guy had no idea what it was and said it was his dads, he just wanted it gone.  So the price was right and I took a chance.  

Got it home and started looking it over.  Now, the only saws I own are stihl's, with the oldest being of a 361 vintage. I'm green with McCulloch's.  After hours of research and looking it over, I found the 250 on the bottom of the saw to confirm it is a 250, as the decals are gone and replaced with the name...Chet Flanagan.  However, after reading, I discovered there is a super 250 version.  So I looked to see if this might be a super 250.  That lead me to figuring out a 250 with a yellow top, black clutch / flywheel cover, tilotson carb, choke pull instead of a choke twist mechanism, and a 4 star clutch drum...is a Canadian built super 250.  

For the McCulloch experts, does this sound plausible?  If it's not a super 250, I'm still not bummed.  This saw is in great shape and it all there.  All linkages work and the manual oiler works well.  I am going to try and fire it up this weekend and see what happens.



 


 


 

I have 6 of these in various condition. Two have Super 250 covers and the four spur clutch. One with the 250 cover has a different clutch, two weights. I also have an I-43 and an I-50,51. Both of these are 80 cc and have the same 4 spur clutch as the Super 250's. So I'm not sure if the 4-spur clutch defines a Super 250 vs the regular 250, maybe it does. Mine are different. If you want I can put some pictures up this evening showing these.

[snobdds]

So I have been on the lookout for a saw from times past.  I wanted a big, slow, heavy metal saw.  Well, in wyoming they are few and far between.  Every once and awhile I cruise craigslist and facebook marketplace looking for something. Well a listing came up for an old mcculloch chain saw with one picture.  The guy had no idea what it was and said it was his dads, he just wanted it gone.  So the price was right and I took a chance.  

Got it home and started looking it over.  Now, the only saws I own are stihl's, with the oldest being of a 361 vintage. I'm green with McCulloch's.  After hours of research and looking it over, I found the 250 on the bottom of the saw to confirm it is a 250, as the decals are gone and replaced with the name...Chet Flanagan.  However, after reading, I discovered there is a super 250 version.  So I looked to see if this might be a super 250.  That lead me to figuring out a 250 with a yellow top, black clutch / flywheel cover, tilotson carb, choke pull instead of a choke twist mechanism, and a 4 star clutch drum...is a Canadian built super 250.  

For the McCulloch experts, does this sound plausible?  If it's not a super 250, I'm still not bummed.  This saw is in great shape and it all there.  All linkages work and the manual oiler works well.  I am going to try and fire it up this weekend and see what happens.



 


 


 

I have 6 of these in various condition. Two have Super 250 covers and the four spur clutch. One with the 250 cover has a different clutch, two weights. I also have an I-43 and an I-50,51. Both of these are 80 cc and have the same 4 spur clutch as the Super 250's. So I'm not sure if the 4-spur clutch defines a Super 250 vs the regular 250, maybe it does. Mine are different. If you want I can put some pictures up this evening showing these.

The one thing I have quickly found out, there is no standardization around mcculloch.  It's hard to nail down a model is defining chararactics.  
Yeah, I would love to see some similarities and differences between your saws and my saw.  It might shed some light on some changes over the years. 

[donbj]

Here's the bunch I have. The model is on the paper label with each. Only one turns out to be a Super 250. I did what Al suggested and checked the stroke with a curved welding rod. The covers on this series of saw interchange between each other. You can see the different style of covers in the photos. My I-43 cover will fit the 250's and vice versa. The D45 cover in there doesn't belong on any of them, it was on the I-50-51, numbers stamped on crankcase underneath

The saws are basically all the same except for slight changes that dictated model number changes I suppose. All 80cc except the Super 87cc. Looking at the styles of clutches, both the 250 and the Super can have the 4 spur clutch and one 250 as seen has a totally different style. Have they been changed at some point along the way? Who knows. Another variable is the mufflers. They have different styles too. I've had 3 of these running and that I-43 with the little stub for a muffler has one nasty sound!

Notice the different choke too, it just slides ahead and covers the carb opening, very simple.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You see the three black marks on the welding rod. Between the first two marks is the stroke for the 250, I-43, I-50-51. The distance between the first and third mark is the Super 250 stroke. 

[snobdds]

You weren't joking you had a pile of them.  I'm impressed.   That last picture is worth a thousand words.   When I get my parts in, I'll pull the spark plug to measure.   That will be definitive.   

You aren't kidding they have a distinct sound.  Its like a straight piped dirt bike.

[donbj]

You weren't joking you had a pile of them.  I'm impressed.   That last picture is worth a thousand words.   When I get my parts in, I'll pull the spark plug to measure.   That will be definitive.  

You aren't kidding they have a distinct sound.  Its like a straight piped dirt bike.

I just marked it where it sat against the hole in the cover where the plug goes at top and bottom of travel. Just make sure your rod/wire is curved enough that it doesn't move on the piston as best you can. You don't have another saw to compare too so if you need a measurement let me know. I'll measure my marks.

[Al_Smith]

Years ago here in the giant corn field it went something like this .John-Deere tractors or IH ,McCulloch or Homelite chainsaws, The 10-10 then took the place of the 250. .The 10-10 of course was much lighter and the 250's went on the shelf .McCulloch sold a lot of them .
Then came Stihl and at the same time came the PM 610 McCulloch which was half the price of the orange saws but maybe a tad bit slower depending .

[snobdds]

Well I was able to break out the ultrasonic cleaner and rebuild the carb this weekend.  It wasn't in too bad of shape, but it was good to clean it up and replace the old brittle gaskets and diaphragm.  Put a new OEM fuel line on it and new air filter.  

Went out to start it by dumping some gas down the carb and she did fire up.  I had the jets pretty close and she ran well.  I turned it off and noticed bubbles coming out from the stud for the air filter and cover. If you see the pictures above, you can see some JB weld was used.  I initially thought it was to hold a slightly stripped bolt.  Well, it might have been for that, but it was also to prevent the fuel leak.  Well, I hope this Tillotson HL carb is still good.  I was going to lay some aluminum welding rod, but it would require heating the carb body up and I don't want to warp things on such a precision piece.  So I guess I will get my gasket #2 stuff and try to seal it up. 

If anyone else has had this issue, how did you seal up the stud?  To be honest, I really don't think gas should be coming out of this hole, but it runs so well that it is baffling me...