The Beaver chainsaw, Cox's most interesting product

The second one arrived today. If I thought the first was well boxed, well this fellow went overboard. The Mona Lisa should be shipped as well. Double wrapped with instructions.




Always exciting to see whats missing and what has been messed with. Some heat on the flywheel, a cloth buffer and a tap with a substantial hammer and drop the engine onto a soft place.



Ah, points. That and a carburator we are most of the way home.




Most Cox engines are numbered, some are not. This one is. Motor mostly locked up, but I'm not forcing it. Complete disassembly next. I love this stuff.

Hey guys,all this reminds me of my childhood in the late 60s. My dad built me and my brother a 16"solid tire bike.i don't think it was the chainsaw version,I think it had a tickler on bottom of carb for priming and a red rubber kill switch.very fun as a young kid,got burnt many times on that little bugger

049kid wrote:Hey guys,all this reminds me  of my childhood in the late 60s. My dad built me and my brother a 16"solid tire bike.i don't think it was the chainsaw version,I think it had a tickler on bottom of carb for priming and a red rubber kill switch.very fun as a young kid,got burnt many times on that little bugger

Yes, red kill switch. Check where the spark plug lead comes out from the saws body. Press to stop.

I got around to tearing down the most likey salvagable parts chainsaw.  Disappointing surprises.  One of the reeds is missing, might as well be both of them.  No workie without two.  Lone reed visable far left.  



Second surprise is the way the handle attaches. (Above picture) - On this one it looks like it's attached only by a press fit on posts.  All the others are attached by nuts and bolts.




More disappointments.  The PO broke off the fuel tubing nipple on the carburator and tried a brass fitting fix.  I wish that novices would just leave things they know nothing about alone.  A little heat on the tubing and it would have just popped off with a screwdriver pry on the open end.  

PO ..........Well lets see.........I'll just pull it straight off.......Duh??? Well maybe a little side-to side motion..........PO "Oh, Oh"..... Upsets me because this is otherwise a workable and very rare carburator that some dolt ruined. Whoops...Bob is venting.



and...........this PO just could not win.  He stripped the torx fitting on the chain drives clutch.  Again.  I bet that he used no heat when he tried to unscrew it.  Been there on others.  I have to drill some out and pry it off.  Thankfully I have replacements for those specialized screws.  




Chainsaws, around here not just another pretty face.

Yesterday.




Last Spring





They get worked to the tune of many replacement chains.  Sometimes we get them resharpened at $5 each.  But new Chinese chains which last much longer than those resharpened are available on-line @ two for $20 shipped.

Bob wrote:More disappointments.  The PO broke off the fuel tubing nipple on the carburator and tried a brass fitting fix.  I wish that novices would just leave things they know nothing about alone.  A little heat on the tubing and it would have just popped off with a screwdriver pry on the open end. ...

Bob, I enjoy your comments, telling it like it is.

A previous owner adds new meaning to why a plumber in town has a slogan on the back of his tool truck, "We fix your husband's plumbing repairs."

The value of experiential knowledge is gained through age and experience, plus a knack for working on things.

I've got a K&B .35 Torpedo bought used with a hacked off piston skirt very poorly done to create SPI, but gap is extreme and very roughly done.

Ruined a good engine otherwise.

GallopingGhostler wrote:

Bob wrote:More disappointments.  The PO broke off the fuel tubing nipple on the carburator and tried a brass fitting fix.  I wish that novices would just leave things they know nothing about alone.  A little heat on the tubing and it would have just popped off with a screwdriver pry on the open end. ...

Bob, I enjoy your comments, telling it like it is.

A previous owner adds new meaning to why a plumber in town has a slogan on the back of his tool truck, "We fix your husband's plumbing repairs."

The value of experiential knowledge is gained through age and experience, plus a knack for working on things.

I've got a K&B .35 Torpedo bought used with a hacked off piston skirt very poorly done to create SPI, but gap is extreme and very roughly done.

Ruined a good engine otherwise.

I have it's McCoy look-a-like George. I bought it years ago for next to nothing as it was a castor locked mess. But it had a curious glow plug extension that caught my eye.



Today I found another on ebay for way to much money with another curious extension. Not a customer.



I may be able to save that carburator. The PO's brass replacement tube is threaded and a SO square drive screws it in. I think a little Blue Lock-tite or JB Weld on the threads may fix it. PO just smeared some type of cement around it that just flipped off. A 20 minute soak in Berrymans cleaned it up and everything else seems Ok.

Bob, if anyone can save that carburetor, I know you can. I've watched you refurbish electric motors, solenoids, valves, switch assemblies, and etc.

You manage to carve out a way where there's none.

And yes, some people want way too much money for their dysfunctional stuff. I just pass them up until I find something worthwhile to bid on or buy. Sometimes those buys are pleasant finds, just need a little cleaning and tweaking.

Did you see this on ebay George..

No, haven't seen that one, Bob. They really butched that one, remnants of an earlier Testors .35 Red Head. Don't know what possessed one to do that.

Something new with this Cox chainsaw, the chain drive is cogged unlike all my other Cox chaninsaws which are slotted.  








I finally got the stuck clutch off.  It took a lot of drilling of the stripped hex drive screws head.  I finally had to grind down the conical end of my three legged gear puller to the diameter of the screw to get it off.  The clutch is toast but I have a replacement.  After I got it off I could unscrew the bitter end of the screw by hand.  Somehow it's the tapered part of the machine screw that gets stuck, not the threads.  



Not many chainsaw fans here.  I share as sometime in the future some person may stumble on one and look to the CEF for guidance.

Some of my old Stihl .015 chainsaws clutches are like that probably a universal / will fit replacement , I like the sprocket ones better easier to replace less parts to break.

getback wrote:Some of my old Stihl .015 chainsaws clutches are like that probably a universal / will fit replacement , I like the sprocket ones better easier to replace less parts to break.

The cogged drive is probably milled out of solid stock steel, much more expensive to manufacture that the pressed/stamped steel of the other drive.  That, and it's bushed with a brass pin replacing the Woodruff.  Curious as the shaft is milled for the Woodruff not the round brass pin which is staked in place.  If it wasn't for the clutch which is cogged I would think a customer mode or a one-off.  

By far a hair puller.  Wow.  Heat, hammer, gear puller, an Amazon supplied index of fresh high speed metal cutters, vices, drill press, even a crow bar and nothing was going to remove the clutch.  I even but Mark on it, a guy that can solve most anything.  It took heat and the modified gear puller to remove it.  Crack, crack as it let loose.  

Berrymans, and hot water, dish detergent and it's kitchen sink clean now.  



But the engine, proving to be as troublesome as the clutch.  Locked up solid and I'm not forcing anything.  Usually, I have no trouble with these.



Kroil, what I consider to be the best penetrating oil ever.  Heat gun heat and let it sit for a day or two.







Cox  - Made in USA

Ok, this thing is putting me to the test!  Kroil, heat and the piston still wouldn't move.  I left it until this morning.  Cold, I tapped on the piston with a block of wood and got movement, a little more and I got the piston out.  Why?  Dissimilar metals?  With heat the piston, probably aluminum expanded more than the steel liner?  

Gross in there.

You couldn't kill that saw.

I hope the same holds true for this Cox engined model Ken.  But, despite having seven I've yet to run one.  I don't see the need outside of curisoity as I have others.  But I will gas/oil one up someday and run it.

This engine perhaps the worst of the bunch.  Water in the gas, neglect or both it's rusty in there.  My brake hone cleaned up the cylinders bore and the sandblaster did the rest.







Piston rings are stuck, routine for these.  A carefully applied pick loosens them and penetrating oil and a pick gets them out.  Simple Green or MMO in the groove and a toothbrush cleans them.  Carefully slide them over the piston back in place.  Getting both back in the cylinder...slots positioned 180 out takes fingernais and patience.  

she looks pretty rough all that rust never good , How are the roller bearings always bad about wear and flat siding.
Looks alot better after the cleaning though.

getback wrote:she looks pretty rough all that rust never good , How are the roller bearings always bad about wear and flat siding.
Looks alot better after the cleaning though.  

The bearings are fine but drove me nutz cleaning them up.  A Berrymans soak, a round brush, hot water rinse didn't clean the impacted goo out of them.  More Berrymans, hot water the same.  Simple green, hot water and I started to see some improvement.  A final soak in alcohol more round brush, MMOil and more brush.  A final hot soapy water clean up and rinse got them moving.  More MMOil, replaced the shafts on the bearings and hand spun them CC and CCW.  Smooth rotation now.  

Internally this thing was a mess.  Clean now but painful.



My right hand is worse.   Results from cleaning up all those screws and machine screws on the wire wheel.  





BTW - My shop clock/weather station gave up.  I took it apart to find the # of the Quatz Young Town replacement. $5.65 on ebay which I ordered.  But in the housing I found a fellow traveller, a scorpion from our Florida days. At the time we unpacked I found a couple of them in our TV sets.  We had a pool and a fish pond there, and they love water.  Not unusual to find one in bed with you but we never got stung.  CB knows.

I'd shake your hand anytime.. and hope to someday...

roddie wrote:

I'd shake your hand anytime.. and hope to someday...

Thanks roddie. For a guy that doesn't like to get his hands dirty I do so on a daily basis. ....But I clean up well.

rsv1cox wrote:Something new with this Cox chainsaw, the chain drive is cogged unlike all my other Cox chaninsaws which are slotted.  

Poking through the parts manual for the Beaver, they show a cogged sprocket.



I was searching the various parts numbers to see if there is any trace of these parts out there online.

Thanks for that Jacob.  It verifies that it was factory not some customer mod.  The piece #4 is one unit, the spot welds have come apart.  I'm not sure how to fix that.

Bob

PS............You gotta find one.  I need some company in my Cox chainsaw miseries.  

I've never owned a chain-saw.. ... but if were to find a RTR or ARTR Cox "Beaver".. that would obviously be the one I'd want. I need to find a little wood-stove first..

Another nasty, rainy, drizzle day here in WV with a temperture of 59 degrees.  So its an inside day for me giving me the chance to work on the chainsaw.  

Tedious, sinking those two compression rings back into the cylinder.  One at a time.  Remove the top ring so you can see the bottom one then hope.  Fingernails work but a pick rotated around the perimeter while holding one end in works best.  Got it.  Push the cylinder down a bit and rotate the removed top ring back on and seat, then repeat using the pick.

Both rings were stuck when I removed the piston.  A little heat, MMO and a careful pick at the open end freed them.  Simple Green cleaned them up.





The crank pin has to be aligned with the slot in the PTO's shaft, a little like balancing an egg on one end.  



Worst part of the cylinder, but the hone cleaned it up really well.............and - we have compression, pretty good too.



New lock washers, sure why not....




Big guy, little guy.



Difficult part done, now to assemble all those newly cleaned parts.  Robert has a replacement reed on the way.  Easy install then bolt on the pistol gripped carburator assembly.