I could have sworn I replied to this thread before, but I just read through this whole thread and nope (BTW some of you guys have crazy collections). There must have been another I replied to.
Well I just doubled the number of "collector" saws I own.
Soon after getting married and buying a house I bought a used Stihl 041G in 2000, to use for cutting firewood. We didn't have a lot of money to buy a saw and found an older guy who was giving up on cutting his own firewood so sold the saw to us.
I bought it to run it, but being of an older generation of saw it isn't the most ergonomic saw to run. Heavy, loud, awkward operating position, no chain brake and no vibration dampening.
It was fine when we just burned 1 cord a year, but a few years later we moved and were cutting 3-5 cords, plus we were doing a little better financially so upgraded to a new Stihl 390. I ran Husky 372s, Stihl 360s or 440s at work, but I couldn't justify the cost of a pro saw for cutting firewood. The 390 has been great.
The 041G was too neat to get rid of so that was the beginning of my small collection.
We don't have a fireplace in our current house, so the 390 got downgraded to doing occasional yard work. Overkill, but I have it and it still works great. I bought a small Ryobi cordless saw (12" bar) a few years ago, no mixed fuel to mess with, and it does fine for most of the yardwork which is mostly pruning or cutting up the occasional downed tree limb. About the only time the 390 comes out anymore is the rare occasion I need to take down a small tree.
I have an old fire engine (1958 Dodge W500) and have been wanting to get a period correct saw for a 1960s brush truck. Although I have the Stihl 041G, that is way to exotic for the 1960s American fire service, so I've been looking mostly for Homelite or McCullough. Primarily I've been looking for an early Homelite XL-12 since they were so common and generally fairly cheap. The early blue painted ones are less common though, and that would be the most accurate.
In my searching I ran across a Homelite Super Wiz 66. It was in decent condition, the price was right and it just looks neat. Plus SUPER WIZ.
It is a gear drive, and came with a 36" bar on it so it looks rather impressive and will be a nice piece on the engine. Also kind of a nice example of how far saws have come since the 1960s. It is basically the size and weight of a Stihl 661 with the displacement of a 461 and the power of a 362. Granted the gear drive should give it some pretty good torque for the horsepower generated.
In nice shape, but the seller said it hasn't been run in some time. Everything moves freely and the dirt and grease doesn't look ancient, so I'm hopeful a little cleaning and some fresh fuel will be all it takes to get it running.
Stihl 041G, 61cc with a 24" bar. In production from 1969 to 1975 and one of the few gear drive saws Stihl offered.
The newest arrival, the Homelite Super Wiz 66, 77cc with a 36" bar. In production from 1965-1983. Also a gear drive and it runs on 16-1 fuel mix so I expect it will be a smoky guy when I get it running.
