Another green BUZ that still buzzes!

[mineralman2]

I recently added the Homelite BUZ to my collection! It's a Terry green saw from Canada, and it seems to be mostly complete. The serial number is 965526. I believe it's from 1959. This thing is so cool!

I'm pleasantly surprised that the saw still runs with no carburetor work, so it may have been rebuilt (relatively) recently before it sat for a number of years. It had a tough time first getting started because the diaphragms were probably bone dry, but now that the carburetor has been full of fresh fuel mix the saw seems to have its life back. It will idle all day long. The acceleration is a bit slow when I throttle it up and it smokes like a chimney, so it seems to be trying to choke itself out. It revs up though and it seems to have decent power once the smoke clears. It'll be great at parties to keep the mosquitoes away! A cold compression test yields 120 psi. It has the Tillotson carburetor and the high speed needle is only open 3/8 of a turn. 

The Fairbanks Morse auto-rewind starter also seems rather worn out but it still functions. I took the assembly apart and removed a bit of grease from the friction washers and brake levers, and it functions much better now though still not perfect. The starter cup is also pretty worn too, so that may be part of the issue. Also, the oil plunger is held in place with a wire wrap. Probably someone's old coat hanger! The IPL shows a metal bracket which would've held the plunger in place. Whoever wired it back in place certainly did the best they could. The plunger still functions and it's not uncomfortable to use. 

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you and your families enjoy the holidays safely and comfortably! I'll be making some noise this season for sure!

Best,
Joe

[ronaldt]

That's a nice one! It's hard to find a decent one (in my area anyway).

[sparky]

The bar looks to be 14-16"? Must have sat in a dry environment all that time.

[mineralman2]

I measured the bar at just a hair over 12" starting at the clutch cover mount, which I think is the shortest bar supplied with this saw. The chain is a monster! I measured 14/16" between 3 rivets, which divided by 2 yields 7/16" pitch. I haven't measured the gauge yet but I'm told it's 063. It's got the chipper-style teeth. It has 44 drive links, and "43-C3" is etched into the drive links. The chain has a lot of tooth left on it and it cuts very well! I can see why they call it a chipper! Not sure who makes a chain with "43-C3" on the links, so any info you all can supply would be quite helpful!

I haven't found a replacement chain for sale online. I've checked Frawley's, Leon's Chainsaw Parts & Repair, Sawzilla, eBay, and my local saw shop in Palmer, MA. They seem to be quite scarce, and when they do pop up for sale they go for insane amounts of money.

[blythkd]

I think 7/16 chain is almost a thing of the past so if you have a good one, better take good care of it!

[mineralman2]

Well I haven't run the BUZ in a few weeks so I figured I'd take it outside today and give it some exercise. It's a sunny day near 60 degrees Fahrenheit here in MA, so why spend it indoors? It took about 15 pulls to get it started but it didn't want to stay running unless I choked it at least halfway. I opened the high speed screw to 3/4 turn from its original setting of 3/8 turn and it picked right up for about 30 seconds until it leaned out on me again and quit altogether.

Another one for Occam's Razor. The fuel tank was almost empty, with maybe 1/3 of a cup left. The fuel level was barely above the base of that little fuel filter screen that sticks up from the bottom of the tank. I added about a half-tank of fuel mix and it started up right away but it smoked like crazy and wouldn't develop enough power to spin the chain. I reset the high speed to its original setting (by closing the needle back to 3/8) and I was off and running! Happy Saturday, folks!

[onlyhomelites]

Love those easy fixes!