Husky with outboard clutch

yomax4 · May 13, 2020

What In The World !!!. My turn to be dumb. Or dumber. The guy down the road asked if I would sharpen his chain on his saw. I said sure so he stopped by with it. It's a small Husqvarna with a 14" bar and he had taken the chain cover off. He said he had to pry it off. I looked at it and noticed the outboard clutch which I had never seen before due to only having Stihl saws. I sharpened the chain and degreased the quart of oil that was mixed with saw dust all over the saw, Filthy oil soaked saw. Anyway I can't get the cover back on. It looks like he had the chain brake on when he pried the cover off and I can't get the band to slide over the clutch drum. This will likely be controversial but what was Husq thinking with this design? So how do I get the brake released? I took the retainer off and took the brake all apart and it's a no go without the retainer on and there is no good way to release the break. I can see that if the brake was off when he took the cover off all would have been fine.What do you repair guys do in this situation?

RandyT · May 14, 2020

The outboard clutch is used on a lot of Poulan saws. I am assuming that this has the release handle as part of the saw and it interacts with a start shaped piece on the bar cover. I have used vice grips to grab one of the sides of the star and then rotate the star to release the brake.

yomax4 · May 14, 2020

FIX"D. Thanks.

crazyal · May 14, 2020

My Husky 357XP has an outboard clutch. It's kind of nice because you can see the clutch wear.

s219 · May 14, 2020

Many saws have this. It improves balance and can help make the saw narrower. I don't like it as much as inboard clutch. My Husky saws have always liked to fall over sideways when put down.

yomax4 · May 15, 2020

It's a little confusing on the outboards being narrower. The clutch has to be there so it seems they would be just as wide. In any event after working on one and understanding them it's probably a horse a piece. The only advantage I see to an OB clutch is it's easier to blow the grease and crap out of the clutch.

Skeans1 · May 15, 2020

An outboard design is normally a stronger design, run cooler, less like to come a part at the operator. From the 372’s to the 390’s have internal clutches both work just fine anymore my personal preference is an outboard.

s219 · May 15, 2020

yomax4 said:
It's a little confusing on the outboards being narrower. The clutch has to be there so it seems they would be just as wide. In any event after working on one and understanding them it's probably a horse a piece. The only advantage I see to an OB clutch is it's easier to blow the grease and crap out of the clutch.

Look at the clutch cover on a typical Stihl and typical Husky. Both covers are about the same depth. But the Husky also hides the clutch and brake within that depth, and Stihl does not. So the Husky main case can be that much narrower. We're only talking 1/2-3/4" or so, but it's noticeable. The other thing is balance, it puts the clutch weights farther away from the engine guts (again a small amount, but noticeable). Some people swear by the outboard clutch and claim it makes Husky saws superior. I am not one of them, but I do understand the potential benefits. But danged if the SOBs don't want to tip over so much easier!! That gets annoying.