Mitty

Good evening.
Quick question about poulan...
Somebody told me that poulan 42 cc have a magneto mounted on the plastic case.
Is there a way to go other then electronic ignition?Say if i want to keep original magneto?
Though will ask before i buy the saw

Thanks.
Mitty

afranc

The 42cc Poulan has the mount for the magneto coil on the case of the saw. There is no practical way of monting the coil to the engine head. I converted mine to an electronic ignition and it runs great

Armand

plasticmaster

Did anyone ever figure out a way to use the magneto ignition on the Poulan 42cc? Perhaps a portion of the case could be left intact for the purpose of holding the coil like in its intended configuration. I had a couple of these engines given to me and would love to find a way of using them in a plane without having to buy an electronic ignition.

rangerfredbob

My Feedback: (13)

av8tor1977 has one running on gas/glow, cheaper than electric ignition and easy to work with apparently, i'm sure he'll chime in.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

Yep, Poulan 42cc on Gas/Glow on my Giant Stik. Has a smoke system, plenty of vertical. You can haul it straight up after a short take off roll. Many fun flights with it.

AV8TOR

plasticmaster

What's the thread size of the crankshaft on this Poulan 42cc? If I went with the gas/glow route, I would remove the flywheel and then what kind of prop adapter would I need? I know I would need the glow plug adapter and the fuel mixture. Am I overlooking anything to get it going this way?

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

Sorry but I don't remember what the thread size was on mine.

You can either make a glow plug adapter out of an old spark plug, or you can buy them for around 10 bucks or less from either Horizon Hobby or CH Igntions. You need a prop hub for use with electronic ignition. Another way is to take a hole saw and cut the center of the magneto out. You can then use this center piece, and a prop hub meant for use with a magneto. CH-Ignitions and others sell the prop hubs.

AV8TOR

captinjohn

Av8TOR: Do you use on-board glow on that plane? Capt,n

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

No. Out of my five airplanes running Gas/Glow, I only put onboard glow on the Super Tiger .90. I'm thinking about putting a normal size carb on that engine instead of the huge one I put on it at first, and taking out the onboard glow. The engine makes really good power with the big carb on it, but it won't idle as slow as I want, even with the butterfly completely closed.

AV8TOR

tim220225

My Feedback: (4)

Hey Av8tor, what is your gas/glow mix formula? I have a guy locally that wants an engine to run like that. I have a 23.6cc Echo for him. What carb do you run and what are the tuning issues? By the way have you done the twin yet?

Tim

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

Hi Tim,

It's two parts of high test gasoline to one part of 10% oil, 10% nitro glow fuel. The trick is finding the glow fuel, even though all the major manufacturers make it. It's often called Glow Fuel for Large Super Tiger Engines. The Echo 23.6cc seems to run particularly nice on it. In very few cases, one needs to raise the lever in the fuel regulator just a touch to increase fuel flow. Other than that, you just open the needles about a half turn or so more than normal, and then fine tune as normal. The engine will like the idle mix a touch richer than we normally set the gassers.

Funny you should mention the twin. I built it some time ago, and it runs great. But just a couple of days ago I pulled the Gas/Glow Poulan 42cc off my Giant Stik and installed the twin. Test flight as soon as I can get around to it..... Man, that engine runs as smooth as glass. If you set a glass of "liquid refreshment" on the test stand with it running, it doesn't even shake the beer... whoops, I mean liquid. I also have it set up on Gas/Glow.

AV8TOR

captinjohn

No engine shakes on a fairly heavy test stand. When you get same engine on a fuse with no wing...then you can really tell how smooth a engine is! Capt,n

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

Well, it doesn't shake on the airplane either. It's much smoother than the 42cc single that was on the plane, and I thought it was pretty smooth for a "thumper".

Tim, just happened to think you might have been referring to the 62cc twin. I've looked it over and made plans several times, but I still haven't gotten around to finishing that one. One of these days soon I hope...

AV8TOR

tim220225

My Feedback: (4)

Yep that is the one I was talking about. As for the different engines having the shakes, any engine of good size will shake when the fuselage has no wings. I have seen many times someone start up their giant scale plane without wings. Amazing how a single or twin engine can violently shake the fuselage around. Put the wings on and it is very smooth. Just my .02.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

Yeah, it's really not recommended, nor a good idea to start a plane without the wings. Puts the whole fuselage and everything on it/in it under a lot of stress.

AV8TOR

JohnF

Bought an 18" Poulan chainsaw with a 40cc engine. Does anyone know if there is a big difference between the 40cc and 42cc engine? Doesn't make sense to me that they would build a new engine for 2cc's. Thanks.

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

Not sure enough to say John, but I have a Poulan 36cc that is externally virtually identical to my 42cc.

Incidentally, the 46cc is a little harder to convert because of it's intake manifold configuration, but it's a lighter and more powerful engine. Something to keep in mind when shopping Poulans... Having said that, I've still gotten very good use out of my Poulan 42cc.

AV8TOR

KI8FR

What does a Poulans come in. I have been looking for one for some time now with no luck.

and What twin are you talking about and how hard are they to come by?

Paul

av8tor1977

My Feedback: (6)

The Poulans we've mentioned come in Poulan Chain Saws. I'm not sure if they are used in other branded equipment or not.

The twin I spoke of is one I made using a crankcase that Keith at BME engines was selling. They are no longer available. The other twin is a 62cc model out of an Echo Chain saw. No longer made and very difficult to find.

AV8TOR

KI8FR

Well that would be my luck. I want a twin. jus for fun

ellas1

My Feedback: (2)

hi, im in the middle of making magneeto adapters for all poulan engines that dont have the ignition on the engine itself.

plasticmaster

Ellas1, could you please show how you make the adapter for the magneto? Thanks.

ellas1

My Feedback: (2)

sur but not ready to send pics yet, almost there, i will send you once it is complete. its experimental once its on my engine and it runs (which it will) i will send you pics.
happy holidays.
john.

captinjohn

You can find Poulan engines in sears chain saws. Lots of them! Captr,n

plasticmaster

Here's my attempt at converting this Poulan 42cc using a portion of the saw case. This way, I keep the engine, flywheel, and magneto in it's proper position. I still have to get a prop hub and mount it to some sort of test stand. I think more trimming can be done to the case near the "chain oil" portion of the saw case under the magneto. However, I won't do any more trimming until I actually get it running with a prop. I'm not sure how much I can trim away around where the magneto mounts, because I'm afraid of weakening this area. I'm not concerned with saving every last ounce of weight on this engine right now. My goal is to simply convert it to an airplane engine using the original ignition. If anyone has ideas or comments on my approach to this conversion, please let me know.