Homelite XL-12 & XL Automatic with Chain Brakes!

[onlyhomelites]

There are a number of old threads out on the web questioning whether Homelite ever installed a chain brake on the Xl-12 family of saws. They did and I'm fortunate enough to have just added an XL-12 SL to the collection to go with my XL Automatic SL that I've had for a while now. I added the 3/4 wrap handle to the XL Automatic...thought it would be cool, but it's otherwise as it should be.

XL-12:
Homelite XL-12 SL (a) by Leon Crouch, on Flickr

Homelite XL-12 SL (d) by Leon Crouch, on Flickr

Homelite XL-12 SL (g) by Leon Crouch, on Flickr

XL Automatic:
Homelite Super XL-SL (b) by Leon Crouch, on Flickr

Homelite Super XL-SL (d) by Leon Crouch, on Flickr

Homelite Super XL-SL (g) by Leon Crouch, on Flickr

[undee70ss]

Wow, that saw is in nice shape. I've never seen one in person with a brake. Could it be because they were required in Canada many yrs before the U.S. required them?

[onlyhomelites]

That's the most likely scenario. The funny thing is I see Terry built saws from the same era that have just he hand guard, so I don't know. Other "peculiarities" on these saws that I've noticed: the air filter covers are metal long after they went to plastic in the US and the XL-12 is a pyramid reed setup. I new that they changed over to the 4-reed setup and even had a conversion kit, I've just never seen a saw with it factory installed.

[sweepleader]

Nice saws!

My speculation on the brake issue: Quebec may have had its own rules requiring brakes, they have lots of rules that are different from the rest of the country. If that were true, they would build brake saws for home sales and non-brake (read cheaper) saws for export to the other provinces. Just my guess.

[onlyhomelites]

Interesting! I don't know much about Canadian regulations, but that would be logical.

[Brian VT]

I had a Super Mini SL with chain brake. I'm pretty sure it was from Canada.

[onlyhomelites]

Brian that saw is pristine...they don't get better than that!

[undee70ss]

Ha. Thanks for posting the pic Brian. I was going to post some pics today asking what these clutch covers might fit, they sure do look like they fit a Super Mini. Have 2 different kinds.

[undee70ss]

The other one

[onlyhomelites]

Nice! Now you need some saws to put them on!

[sawnami]

[onlyhomelites]

For the fun of it, here's a shot of the chain brake mechanisms....an engineering nightmare!

Homelite XL-12 SL (h) by Leon Crouch, on Flickr

[undee70ss]

Jan 3, 2017 10:37:53 GMT -5 onlyhomelites said:

For the fun of it, here's a shot of the chain brake mechanisms....an engineering nightmare!

Maybe because the saw was never designed for a brake, and it was added after the fact. Those are rare at least in the US.