Old Homelite Bow Saw

[pantheraba]

Here are some pictures of a saw that Randall, a friend, gave to me about a week ago. I have recently done some tree work for him and he is going to paint my chipper for me (he is a pro body man). I guess the saw is a bonus. He didn't know how special this saw is for me. Randall was given this saw recently by a widow lady at his hunting club...her husband had died and wanted Randall to have the saw.

This is exactly how I remember the first chainsaw I ever used, back around 1968. My father had bought my Grandfather's two old saws from the Farm in S. GA...a McCullock and a Homelite bow saw.

I had no clue how to run it. My buddy, Ricky, both of us 16 and with no idea how to run saws, got the saws cranked...he used the Mac and I used the bow saw to cut up some trees at his house.

I was using it to cut a small tree that was laying on the ground and the chain must have hit a rock.

The chain broke and flew off down the hill, through the woods with a whispering sound...I always think of that as the sound of death. We could not find the chain. As I understand it, this is one of the most dangerous types of chainsaws to run.

I plan to get a local saw fixer upper to see if he can get it running properly...have not tried to crank it yet. Randall said he put fresh gas in it and it did snort a time or two.

 

[Jomo]

Nice Pantheraba!

Thanks for sharing.

My first big Homelite was a 70's era XL925.

Jomo

 

[FireFighterZero]

Oh, geeze thats cool!

 

[sawman]

Wallhanger!!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Those bastards cut like a laser.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Cool old school score

 

[Al Smith]

Just so you know as a general rule bow bars had a guard that covered the top portion of the bar .Originally build for jobs such as pulp wood cutting ,they are also very prone to kick back so be very careful if you use one .

 

[woodworkingboy]

Cool, Gary. Like Al mentions, that's my recollection about bow saws, not that I have experienced it myself, but warnings about kickback all over the place. Like they might have once printed right on the box, use at your own risk.

 

[Limbrat]

I still see a few in use here by local loggers. Al is right about the kickback

 

[squisher]

That's cool and dangerous looking.........I can see why you love it!

 

[No_Bivy]

carry into tree to blow young minds

 

[pantheraba]

hahaha...that would be worth some pictures...my new tree saw.

 

[rskybiz]

Use that bow to cut firewood and you will never want to do so with standard setup. Or should I say your back will

 

[Cut4fun]

I ran a friends 372 with a bow bar set up. Not for me.

 

[Cut4fun]

Pics in this thread with history and info http://chainsawrepair.createaforum.com/chain/bow-bars-4337/

 

[Altissimus]

...seems a dangerous hobby as they are no longer sold in US. Have fun but carefully.

 

[Cut4fun]

Couple places you can buy bow bars at in US.

Think listed in the thread too.

 

[MasterBlaster]

They sure cut, though!!!

 

[Cut4fun]

Just noticed if not signed in you cant see the embedded still pics unless outside hosted. Videos and info shows up to guest though.

 

[Cut4fun]

They sure cut, though!!!

The 372 with bow scared the crap out of me bucking with it. I didnt have a clue on running a bow and it was all happening so fast.

Something about cutting with the tip bucking just dont set well with me.

 

[Al Smith]

Because it's basically running in a sort of a circle there's less chain drag for one thing .Add to that because of the arched factor of the bar it's presenting more of the tooth to the wood which is why they cut like a maniac .

I've made mention several times of my cousin and I cutting thousands of osage orange fence posts using a McCulloch 250 with a bow bar .That was some time 1964-65 and the saw was brand new .