poulan chain saw FD.

So I just bought this chainsaw on ebay...

Poulan 2300 chainsaw rc hobby | eBay

I have used chainsaw before with not a lot of luck. So this time I want to try to do a better job with it. My problems have been mostly with the mounting of the saw I think. So I'm going to try to keep this one as much together and chainsaw looking as possible. I think I will even try to do the throttle cable through the trigger somehow to keep that whole thing in tack.

Now if anyone has any ideas how to mount that case to the bike pass them along.

When I checked it out on google it came at 38cc so I'm hoping it really is.... Is it really metal it looks plastic. If it's metal I'll try to be careful and see what I can do. I have some parts left over from the bumble bee that just might work with this to mount. Just have to wait and see. The saws are made to be held by the handle. Maybe the handle mount points will be strong enough to use.

oh darn lol.. And I thought I was so smart looking it up before I bid on it.

The mix up in size came from someone in a google entry calling it a 2.3ci. Which seemed logical to me since in the old days CI was how we measured engines. That converts to 37.+ CC. I guess the 23 in 23oo is for cc. which also makes sense. Oh well I have it now. Part of the learning curve of life lol.

Since that is the case I might just put it on an 18" bike my grandson thinks he has outgrown. Should be a cute little buzz toy for me. Good idea about the studs. I'm just going to have to give it a good once over when it gets here. I'm going to try to keep it looking like a chainsaw though.. If I remember right the rotation of the poulan if it like my last one requires that it be mounted rear toward the seat. I am just going to have to play with it. I just found out that it is a 16 to one oil mix. I can't believe a saw with that mix is still running. It had to be a really loose fit to require that much oil.

Actually I was looking for something to put on a road or mountain bike and just leave it alone as well. Only have one control for throttle and the lift lever. So I could use the front shifter cable for the throttle and have gears to help out on the hills with this one. If it bogs too much I can give it a little lift off the wheel. With the smooth metal roller I have been using it shouldn't put too much strain on the engine.

I was thinking about the fuel lines as well and the tank size. A couple of years ago I built a pourlan but bigger than this one. I got into making fuel tanks out of weird stuff. Someone had a fuel tank setup so that the top of a coke bottle was the connection and the fill up spot as well. I thought that would be kind of cool. All you really need is an o ring in the cap and a couple of holes and you can make a tank any size you want. So many cool things you can do with these home made bikes.

If the motor does mount backwards and I can keep the integrity of the handle on top, I might put it on a small 20" bmx type get a bar and hang a red flag on the end. It would look as though I was just carrying the chainsaw somewhere. Silly thought, but made me smile.

I am going to need a new bike platform for this build. Little does my wife know that after today's dog food and peanut butter run to Wally-mart it is off to visit the thrift shops looking for a suitable frame. The cute little 18" bike I had restored a little for my grandson wasn't suitable for my 220lb frame. I did get a new tire and installed a bigger wheel on the front for him. He will have a modified 18/20" bike to ride for the half hour at a time that he is here.

I have decided that since this is probably going to be a mini saw, I need a bike with gears so that I can help it as much as possible. Not gears for the power drive, gears for me to pedal. So I am seriously considering a front wheel drive again.

I'm not sure since the only decent brake is on the front of those geared bikes, I may just lose the rear brake and go back there with it. I could also build a huge frame for the rear and attached it behind the brake parts. I'm going to have to find the bike first then decide.

The difficult thing will be finding a small enough geared bike in the thrift stores. I am too short for a 26" bike. I'm pretty sure about that. With my balance issues I have had three of them throw me on the ground then jump on me. 24" wheels are about as tall as I can go comfortably. I can do twenty inches with a longer seat post, but most of those bikes are one speed BMX types. I like those but pedal assisting is hard.

The ebike I ride through the park is men's 26" frame with 24" wheels and a crank set from a 20" bmx type bike. It has a coaster rear wheel and that is the only brake. I like it but I know I could pedal more and use the engine even less with gears.

Ideally I guess would be a 24" mountain bike or even road bike with five speeds at least. Most likely it will be at least ten speeds. That okay because I plan to use the chain ring shifter as the throttle for the chainsaw. I will probably change sides with the shifters so that the throttle ends up on the right and the rear wheel shifter on the left. Add a lever lift mechanism for the clutch and it should be good to go.

It will be interesting to see what I come up with. It always is a challenge starting from this point on. Adapt to and then overcome the obstacles. That's the fun part for me. Trying to outwit the bike. usually I lose lol.

Well today has been busy so far. Its lunch time and I took a break. I went to the thrift store and as we drove by looked at the bike area. My eyes were drawn to a bubble gum pink bike. Only a junk builder would even look at it.

The bike turned out to be a ten speed 24inch model with side pull brakes. I was impressed enough to buy it on sale for $12.50. Surprisingly enough the shifters work fine. The front brakes squeak terrible, but I'm trying to fix that now. If it works I'll let you know what I did to them. I expect they are just crystallized. I got the handlebars twisted and raised to help with the knee bump problem. I can pedal it pretty well so I'm happy.

The motor just came and it is small for sure. There is a lot of plastic so it's going to be difficult to figure out how to mount it. That is the next project after I am sure that the motor will run that is..

I ran the chainsaw motor and it does run. I found a way to get an angle bar on it so I'm getting closer. I was surprised that the carb has only one fuel line. Since the sprocke for the chain was an inny, I welded a 3/4 x 2.5" pipe nipple onto the nut and replaced it on the drive shaft. I started the motor again and it still runs so now I need to hang it on the front wheel I think. I believe I am going to do away with the front brakes even though they are the best. The rear side pull brakes work well enough, and as cannonball said the motor is small and the bike will just slow down from the drag if I don't lift it.

I will probably use the cable from the front brakes as the lift mechanism for the engine. Since it is one of those that goes through the handle bars it will be no problem to rig as a lift. I still need to build a frame for the engine I think. I have it on one rail but It is usually better for me to build a frame with rails on each side of the wheel to keep the engine from twisting too much. That's tomorrow's project.

Oh I discovered tapping threads a few weeks ago and I was able to tap treads into the broke stud hole and use it as one of the mount points. Of course the 3/8 tap was expensive since I have bought them one at a time as I needed them. I never thought I would use a full set, but it looks like I will have a full set soon. But I never regret buying tools just that they cost too much one wrench at a time.

To be honest I know I am not going to stop building until I am physically prevented so I need to learn to build with Chainsaws since they are the easiest engines of any size to find used.

this one still have five working gears back there on the 24" wheel. I am looking forward to seeing how the gears and the little motor work together. I should be interesting for sure. I still have to work out how to mount this engine but I think it will be pretty simple now that I have made the decision not to save the front brakes. live dangerously no back up brake system.

I just want a set for the test ride lol. Then I get serious about them. Still it's hard to go oh my goodness... my motor mount is where the brake should be lol. been there done that.

I have taken a good look at the chainsaw now and I am already expecting the pull start to fail.early on. I don't have any real clues that it is going south, it just seems to be a weaker element in the motor. Since I am going to build a lift or gravity clutch into the bike, I can always drag start it I suppose.

Like the man said, this is probably a 25cc chainsaw. I think when dealing with the poulan the first two numbers of the model number is the CC of the engine. That would make it much easier to figure which ones to look for on Ebay or Craig's list.

From back in the days I built with the 31cc Ryobi, I know that can buy reverse thread nuts from Auto Fasteners, I would think that with a couple of those you could attach a sprocket to this saw. Of course you would lose the clutch. This particular one is not suitable for the wheel on wheel application, but I think a larger one might be.

Anyway today I am going to finish building the frame for the mount, then get it on the bike. When I do, I will shoot some images of it