Rare Chainsaws Honored In Canadian Museum

2010 - Volume #34, Issue #2, Page #24

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After hearing stories about a mysterious Russian diesel chainsaw from numerous readers, FARM SHOW discovered an unusual chainsaw museum in Quebec, Canada.

    The Russians never built a "diesel" saw, but Alain Lamothe, caretaker of the museum, has a Russian Druzba, with a strange handle resembling a bicycle seat and an optional hydraulic wedge.

    However, there is such a thing as a diesel chainsaw, Lamothe notes. Two models were manufactured in Sweden. They're among Lamothe's collection of 350 rare and unusual chainsaws.

    "The first diesel chainsaw was the Comet made by Como M.T. Bjerke in Stockholm in 1950," Lamothe says. "Total production was less than $1,000."

    The inventor was Rasmus Wiig, a Norwegian who didn't want any electrical parts - no spark plugs, points or condenser. That meant burning diesel, kerosene or distillate.

    "He injected propane into a pressurized stainless steel handle," Lamothe explains. "He opened the handle to release and ignite the propane to heat a glow plug. Hot air was created, then the saw was tilted to inject diesel in the engine. Crank it, and it would start. The danger was that you had to keep the front burner going with propane, and it could burst. The trick was to get just enough heat on the glow plug and shut off the propane gas. It was very complicated."

    The saw was amazingly fuel-efficient and could run an hour and a half on 32 oz. of fuel. It was so waterproof it could be dunked in a barrel of water and start right up. Made of sandcast magnesium it was 18.7 lbs., a typical weight for the time, and with 49 cc it had adequate power. However it was slow running because of gear reduction, and the chain had large cutting teeth that chewed through wood slowly.

    The saw was discontinued after three years, because of the safety issue and the complicated nature of starting it.

    In cooperation with Bjerke, Jonsered made its version of the diesel saw starting in 1954. Models exported to the U.S. had electrically heated glow plugs (two D cell batteries). If that failed, the saw could not be started. Because of that and the saw's limited power, the model was also discontinued.

    Lamothe appreciates the stories behind all saws. His collection is full of firsts, many of which he has fixed into working order. The retired communications technician runs a small chainsaw hobby repair shop next to the 1,000-sq. ft. museum where he displays his saws. His chainsaw obsession started in 2002 when he found a Clinton D 25 and a McCulloch Mac 10-10 automatic from the 60's and 70's.

    "I brought them back to life, and it kind of hit me like a disease. I call it CAD - Chainsaw Addiction Disease," Lamothe says.

    Mall, Solo, Bolens, Be-Bo, Hornet, Partner, Lancaster, Indian and Titan chainsaws line the shelves along with more familiar names - McCulloch, Poulan, Pioneer, Homelite and Stihl. Lamothe focuses on early production one-man and two-man models. He has the first motorized one-man bow saw, made by Precision in Montreal in 1945 and nicknamed "King of the Woods." He has two saws - a Bedford La Rapide and a Pioneer P35 - both of which are the only other saws of their kind known to exist.

    One of his most prized saws is a 1962 McCulloch BP1, with two balanced pistons that performed similar to a turbo with a jet-like vortex. "The engineering was 25 years ahead of its time with 12,000 rpm's with the governor at full speed," Lamothe notes. It was all enclosed and light, but with some plastic parts it proved to be dangerous. A failure in the governor assembly could result in an engine burst and injury to the operator. There was a major recall. Lamothe has one of the 13 BP1's known to still exist.

    The collector shares his saws and his knowledge through a blog filled with photos and details about each saw. He welcomes people to visit his museum.

    "What people like is that they have access to the saws and they can handle the saws," Lamothe says. "You can see that they remember having used that saw - maybe 40 years ago."

    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Alain Lamothe, 828 Des Saisons, Gatineau, Quebec J9J 3B7 Canada (ph 819 684-0122; http://vintagechainsawcollection.blogspot.com).

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Rare Chainsaws Honored In Canadian Museum AG WORLD Ag World After hearing stories about a mysterious Russian diesel chainsaw from numerous readers FARM SHOW discovered an unusual chainsaw museum in Quebec Canada
    The Russians never built a diesel saw but Alain Lamothe caretaker of the museum has a Russian Druzba with a strange handle resembling a bicycle seat and an optional hydraulic wedge
    However there is such a thing as a diesel chainsaw Lamothe notes Two models were manufactured in Sweden They re among Lamothe s collection of 350 rare and unusual chainsaws
     The first diesel chainsaw was the Comet made by Como M T Bjerke in Stockholm in 1950 Lamothe says Total production was less than $1 000
    The inventor was Rasmus Wiig a Norwegian who didn t want any electrical parts ù no spark plugs points or condenser That meant burning diesel kerosene or distillate
     He injected propane into a pressurized stainless steel handle Lamothe explains He opened the handle to release and ignite the propane to heat a glow plug Hot air was created then the saw was tilted to inject diesel in the engine Crank it and it would start The danger was that you had to keep the front burner going with propane and it could burst The trick was to get just enough heat on the glow plug and shut off the propane gas It was very complicated
    The saw was amazingly fuel-efficient and could run an hour and a half on 32 oz of fuel It was so waterproof it could be dunked in a barrel of water and start right up Made of sandcast magnesium it was 18 7 lbs a typical weight for the time and with 49 cc it had adequate power However it was slow running because of gear reduction and the chain had large cutting teeth that chewed through wood slowly
    The saw was discontinued after three years because of the safety issue and the complicated nature of starting it
    In cooperation with Bjerke Jonsered made its version of the diesel saw starting in 1954 Models exported to the U S had electrically heated glow plugs two D cell batteries If that failed the saw could not be started Because of that and the saw s limited power the model was also discontinued
    Lamothe appreciates the stories behind all saws His collection is full of firsts many of which he has fixed into working order The retired communications technician runs a small chainsaw hobby repair shop next to the 1 000-sq ft museum where he displays his saws His chainsaw obsession started in 2002 when he found a Clinton D 25 and a McCulloch Mac 10-10 automatic from the 60 s and 70 s
     I brought them back to life and it kind of hit me like a disease I call it CAD - Chainsaw Addiction Disease Lamothe says
    Mall Solo Bolens Be-Bo Hornet Partner Lancaster Indian and Titan chainsaws line the shelves along with more familiar names - McCulloch Poulan Pioneer Homelite and Stihl Lamothe focuses on early production one-man and two-man models He has the first motorized one-man bow saw made by Precision in Montreal in 1945 and nicknamed King of the Woods He has two saws - a Bedford La Rapide and a Pioneer P35 - both of which are the only other saws of their kind known to exist
    One of his most prized saws is a 1962 McCulloch BP1 with two balanced pistons that performed similar to a turbo with a jet-like vortex The engineering was 25 years ahead of its time with 12 000 rpm s with the governor at full speed Lamothe notes It was all enclosed and light but with some plastic parts it proved to be dangerous A failure in the governor assembly could result in an engine burst and injury to the operator There was a major recall Lamothe has one of the 13 BP1 s known to still exist
    The collector shares his saws and his knowledge through a blog filled with photos and details about each saw He welcomes people to visit his museum
     What people like is that they have access to the saws and they can handle the saws Lamothe says You can see that they remember having used that saw - maybe 40 years ago
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Alain Lamothe 828 Des Saisons Gatineau Quebec J9J 3B7 Canada ph 819 684-0122; http://vintagechainsawcollection blogspot com

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