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Post by onlyhomelites on May 29, 2017 20:18:21 GMT -5
The work has finally begun...I started with two carcass saws with the intent to make one good one. I'm gonna be short a coil (big surprise) and I'll be sourcing chain brake guts when they come available, but everything else is coming together okay. There's still few stripped holes that will be getting helicoils. The camera does a good job of hiding the parts that got repainted...they aren't super obvious in real life, but any closer than 3 feet and you can tell. There aren't too many NOS parts for these things, so you make do!  Homelite 8800 (a) by Leon Crouch, on Flickr  Homelite 8800 (b) by Leon Crouch, on Flickr  Homelite 8800 (c) by Leon Crouch, on Flickr |
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Post by sweepleader on May 29, 2017 20:20:52 GMT -5
Nice.
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Post by undee70ss on May 29, 2017 21:54:46 GMT -5
There aren't too many NOS parts for these things, so you make do! Nice. You are right, NOS parts, even used parts are hard to come by. |
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Post by onlyhomelites on Feb 27, 2018 22:19:22 GMT -5
Well it's been almost a year, but I've finally got a complete running 8800! More pics to come once I finish some cosmetics!  Homelite 8800 (d) by Leon Crouch, on Flickr |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2018 22:54:36 GMT -5
Nice job Leon! I've got that 540,which is comparable I guess.Even those NOS parts are hard to come by,I guess I got lucky when I got the piston kit for $56 earlier this month.I've got a good source for NOS parts if anyone is interested.He says he's got a whole shelf of SEZ's though that the engines are all burned up.The saws are like new,but engines are shot,go figure.
Anyway,congratulations Leon!
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Post by onlyhomelites on Feb 27, 2018 23:08:41 GMT -5
Thanks Ed! This one was a challenge...finally figured out that I had a bad flywheel, not the coil like I originally thought. Based on other damaged areas on the saw, I think someone smacked the flywheel hard enough that it partially demagnetized. I didn't even know that was possible, but I was talking with my dad last night and he explained it. Turns out you can re-magnetize these too...but the old wheel had other problems, so it's headed to the landfill now. Anyhow, a few more cosmetic cleanups and this saw is ready to go.
You'll enjoy your 540 when you get it running. They are very similar in lots of ways. Biggest difference is the open transfer ports in the cylinder and the plastic fuel tank. The 8800's went to closed ports, metal tanks and used a foam insulation kit to direct airflow to the cylinder for better cooling.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2018 0:23:17 GMT -5
Yeah Leon,I'd heard the the 540 & 545 had problems with overheating.I also believe that on your 8800 they changed the style of the fins as well.All in all,the 8800 as I understand it is a redesigned 540/545.I worry that once I get the 540 going that it might have this overheating problem,of course I usually do my cutting in the spring or fall due to the fact that I'm in farm country & I've got to go by the farmers schedules to cut wood - it's either cut before planting,or cut after harvest.
Have fun with your 8800!
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Post by tjthechainsawmech on Feb 28, 2018 0:57:41 GMT -5
Nice!!!!
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Post by onlyhomelites on Feb 28, 2018 5:41:04 GMT -5
Ed I doubt that you'll have to worry too much about your 540...unless you use it to run a mill or hog it at maximum cutting capacity. Loggers in the PNW were the market for a lot of those (what didn't get shipped to South America for rainforest removal) and the hot summers combined with heavy use was where the trouble tended to occur. As you noted, your firewood cutting times are in cooler weather anyhow and I'm guessing you won't be running the max 43" bar!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2018 8:11:07 GMT -5
Nice saw!! I guess it comes with being new to this but where do ya’ll find the patience?! Lol I am quite sure I have overpaid for a part or two just because I couldn’t wait. Ordered several parts before the first came in not knowing if the first would fix it and not even need the others. Got a few saws to work on now and then when I have time yet find myself up at midnight in the week and 4 a.m. on weekends in the garage working away lol. I’m getting better though among all the knowledge of working on a saw I am learning patience too
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2018 8:43:51 GMT -5
Me too John,but there's still those newly invented cuss words that pop out every now & then.Lol
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2018 9:07:16 GMT -5
Ed I doubt that you'll have to worry too much about your 540...unless you use it to run a mill or hog it at maximum cutting capacity. Loggers in the PNW were the market for a lot of those (what didn't get shipped to South America for rainforest removal) and the hot summers combined with heavy use was where the trouble tended to occur. As you noted, your firewood cutting times are in cooler weather anyhow and I'm guessing you won't be running the max 43" bar! I don't know that I could even find a 43 in.bar.Since the saw is 88cc.I was thinking it could pull a 34 -36 in.without much of a problem? The bar that came with the saw is too puny in my opinion - only 20 in.I've found that saw dealers here & rental places as well,will not put anything bigger than a 20 in,bar on a saw,for the average Joe due to legal ramifications (like no damage can be done with a 20 in.bar & chain dropping a 40 in.tree?).Back in 1990 my local saw dealer loaned me his 36 in.bar & chain to put on my Olympik 254F that I'd bought from him a few yrs.earlier to cut through some Dutch elm that I'd gotten from a tree removal service.Those were some of the biggest logs I've cut to this day,I had to come from both sides to get through them.Then there was the job of splitting them - I found out in a hurry that you can't center Dutch elm on the splitter,you have to peel it off a little at a time .I remember my wife saying how the workers from the tree removal co.laughed after they'd dropped 3 loads of logs off at my house as they drove away,but in the end it was I that was laughing for 2 yrs.as I burned that Dutch elm - it's comparable to white oak - lots of heat! |
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Post by stillsawing on Feb 28, 2018 10:15:21 GMT -5
I viewed your video showing the 8800 a couple nights ago and felt your frustration with the ignition. My first thought was how do the magnets lose their properties? Maybe the professor of info, undee70ss, can recall a memo concerning the subject of magnetic loss. Terrific looking saw with the full red bar!
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Post by sweepleader on Feb 28, 2018 12:11:42 GMT -5
I worked for 5 years in the maintenance department of an outfit that had many CNC machines with DC motors on them. Those would sometimes lose torque and the guys would send them out to be re-magnetized. It was considered normal behavior for them to get weak. I know that heat or shock can demagnetize or in some cases magnetize steel. Maybe undee will have some more thoughts.
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Post by undee70ss on Feb 28, 2018 14:35:33 GMT -5
I viewed your video showing the 8800 a couple nights ago and felt your frustration with the ignition. My first thought was how do the magnets lose their properties? Maybe the professor of info, undee70ss, can recall a memo concerning the subject of magnetic loss. Terrific looking saw with the full red bar! There is a memo, I even posted about it before, but just can’t remember which memo it is. houseofhomelite.proboards.com/thread/5489/homelite-xl850-ignition-woesI guess my photographic memory ( as I was told by a member here) just isn’t working well at the moment. The test is to but a 1/2 nut on the magnet, if you can shake it off replace flywheel. It would be interesting if the other dead 540/8800 ignitions now work or not with the replaced flywheel. |
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Post by onlyhomelites on Feb 28, 2018 14:52:14 GMT -5
It would be interesting if the other dead 540/8800 ignitions now work or not with the replaced flywheel. I intend to find out! I'm guessing at least one is good. |
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Post by jerseyhighlander on Feb 28, 2018 16:02:53 GMT -5
I worked for 5 years in the maintenance department of an outfit that had many CNC machines with DC motors on them. Those would sometimes lose torque and the guys would send them out to be re-magnetized. It was considered normal behavior for them to get weak. I know that heat or shock can demagnetize or in some cases magnetize steel. Maybe undee will have some more thoughts. That was my first thought when I read this last night. Somebody probably put a torch to that flywheel trying to get it off and demagnatized it. In blacksmithing, another interest of mine, when tempering metal you bring it up to a point of heat where it becomes non-magnetic, a magnet won't stick to it, and that is the cue it's at the right temperature. Hopefully that doesn't mean the crank spindle has lost it's temper too. |
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Post by jerseyhighlander on Feb 28, 2018 16:17:30 GMT -5
While that is a very nice saw, wouldn't it be so much better if it had a metal top cover instead of plastic?
Curiousity... Is this saw too new to be on Mr. Acres site?
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Post by onlyhomelites on Feb 28, 2018 21:51:01 GMT -5
I hope the crank is okay...it certainly help up well to my puller and to the die touching up the threads. The plastic is obnoxious, but it was a sign of the times to come. I've never figured out why the 8800 wasn't listed on Acre's site. He's got the unicorn 545, which in most circles is thought to be the 8800.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2018 13:19:57 GMT -5
I'm curious Leon as to what they put in the 8800 for a carb.The 540 used a Walbro WJ23 or 24.Just wondering if they changed that when they changed the design.
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