Chainsaw Repair
Husqvarna - Stihl - Poulan - Jonsered - Dolmar chainsaws and more => Dolmar Makita => Topic started by: w8ye on October 17, 2011, 09:55:11 pm
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This past spring I dropped by the local Dolmar Dealer. I had a Sachs 3.2 model airplane engine to show him. A polished out beauty.
He had me go back in the shop with him and he gave me an old Dolmar 111i which is a Sachs 3.2 chainsaw. I looked at the serial number and it was 1997. He said that it was a trade in. That it didn't run and had been under the work bench on the floor for years. That a few weeks back, his shop was flooded and the saw was partially submerged. It was complete.
Getting it home, it had been well used. It cleaned it up nice with few scratches. Surprisingly, there was no water damage. With new fuel and oil, the saw started right up. Ran fine. I checked the compression and it was at 150 lbs. I sharpened the chain and stuck the saw in a log and on the second cut it started acting up and running erratically. After reading around on the Internet about Tillotson carbs, I finally decided it was the check valve of the high speed nozzle in the Tillotson carb. I went back to the dealer a couple weeks later and told him what I thought the problem was. He said that he had never heard of one going bad. I got a diaphragm kit from him and put in the carb but that didn't change anything. A couple weeks later, there were several Dolmar things I needed so being as the saw was pretty nice except for the way it ran, I ordered a carb for it. The Tillotson cost more than the average Walbro. With the new carb, the saw ran perfect.
The Dolmar 111i comes with a 15" bar and this one was .325 pitch and .058" gauge with a 8 pin rim. But it had a worn out .050" Oregon chain on it. I had a like new .325 X 18" X .050" bar from a John Deere hanging on the wall and it fit perfect. I removed the John Deere stenciling.
This past week I had three yellow pine trees in the yard that needed to come down. So I decided to see how the Dolmar would hold up. I ran 3 gallons of fuel and one gallon of bar oil through it. The pines are all cut up into little chunks. The limbs are all burned but the trunk chunks are still in the yard. Except for touching up the chain a couple times, and having to add gas and oil, the saw ran perfect.
Today, I cleaned it up and put it away.
The pictures below were taken this past spring with the original B & C before I put the black 18" John Deere B & C on the saw.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/jamesirl/Dolmar111i1997.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/jamesirl/Dolmar111i.jpg)
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I was waiting on you to tell us, well me ;) what cc this 111 was.
I gave up and just looked it up. Is it really 52cc and 9.8lbs with 13" b+c? http://www.acresinternet.com/cscc.nsf/ed1d619968136da688256af40002b8f7/3acd707271d95c5588256b62005b16f2?OpenDocument
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I don't think that is right. I have a 540 (same basic saw) and it is about 11.5lbs PHO. I really like these saws. They are very comparable to a 260: a little heavier and a power comes on lower.
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I think the 11.5 lbs is more realistic for the Dolmar 111i.
My grandson and I cut down three yellow pine trees in the yard last week that were around 18" DBH and 60' high
He did all the lifting and carrying.
I did all the bucking and some of the limbing.
Being as the splitter was at my son's house, I decided to have the grandson noodle the chunks. He had been using a Mac 1432 MM'd plastic saw and I had been using a Stihl 025. But I had the Dolmar 111i out there to cut the very base of the stump off. Wasn't long before the grandson latched onto the Dolmar 111i for the noodling. He never went back to the other saws.
He couldn't start the Dolmar without the handle pulling out of his grip but he sure liked cutting with it. I think there is an electronic spark retard in the ignition module and if you are hesitant about pulling on the cord, the timing is advanced and it will kick on you? The Stihl 025 is somewhat like that too but not the Mac. He's 25 yrs old and skinny as a stick. He could drop start the Mac but not the other saws.
Now there is two big piles of noodles in the yard.
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I consider the Dolmar 111, 111i, 115i saws to be right in there with the best all time 50cc saws.
I have a newer Husky 350 and a Dolmar 5105 as well as a couple 45cc plastic Homelites. The plastic Homelite Timberman's are not in the league with the other saws but my 111i certainly is right up there with the best.
The "i" model Dolmars have Tilly carbs and the other Dolmar's in this series have Walbros.
The only difference between a 111 and a 115 is the clutch shoe design and the bar length. The 111 has the "U" shaped clutch springs and the 115 has a coil spring loop. The bell is the same. I'm running a 18" X .325 bar and the 111 type clutch pulls it just fine. It even has a 8 pin rim.
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Some day in the future I wouldnt mind testing the 111i and 5105 together. No hurry though, I'm just starting to catch up with stuff around here myself.
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I'm retired and serve no schedule except except to go to the doctor and to go fly back behind your house.
LMK when you want to run them and I will show up at your house
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I'm retired and serve no schedule except except to go to the doctor and to go fly back behind your house.
LMK when you want to run them and I will show up at your house
Thanks for stopping by with the dolmar 111 and 5105 and some new sticks to cut. The 111 was a sweet running and clean saw for it's age. But I really liked that 5105 with 5100 muffler ;D.
Hope you enjoyed the test runs with the woods ported 45cc 346, redmax 5000, 026 pro 44mm
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I enjoyed playing with all the different saws like a mini GTG
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I just looked up the 111i clutch tool in the IPL. http://www.barrettsmallengine.com/partslist/dolmarpartslist995700064-1.pdf
111 Looks like the 166 clutch tool on the left of IPL pic. I forgot all about the 166 clutch tool that Al Smith had made me. i bet it would have worked. If you want to try again another day.
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I went over to Chainsaw Repair's house yesterday and he used his 166 clutch tool that Al made to remove the clutch center. The original rim was worn beneath the witness marks.
There was some discussion between us at the time that maybe it would cut better with a .325 X 7 rim instead of the 8 pin I planned to install?
The original rim was a .325 X 8.
I installed the new .325 X 8 pin Oregon rim this morning and made a buried cut or two with the 18" bar into some silver maple.
While the 111i/115i Dolmar doesn't turn tremendous rpm like a Husky 346, it does have a lot of torque. The saw pulls the 8 pin rim sprocket just fine.
It was 42 degrees F outside and the saw started first pull and being the "i" version that it is, the saw just didn't burble once and quit, it started up and ran rich. I then reached down and pushed the choke off. This saw had not been run since Chainsaw Repair used it before Thanksgiving.
Pretty nice for what was originally a freebie 15 year old saw. However, the new carb, a different B&C, and a lot of elbow grease, sort of negates that free classification?
I also have a same age 6000i mate for it that is just as nice and it has heated handles.