Wartime logging and some chainsaw history in the PNW.

   / Wartime logging and some chainsaw history in the PNW. #1  

bcp

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From:
A War, The Chainsaw And The 2nd Great Cutting Of The Northwest | KLCC

Tree cutting became far quicker and easier because the war helped push the most iconic symbol of modern logging the chainsaw into the hands of the Northwest logger.
It changed the industry forever.

...
The pre-WWII chainsaw wasn't exactly a grab-and-go piece of machinery. It took two men to use one. One man would grab the engine, and the other would take a hold of a handle attached to the chain end.


The early versions were designed to saw vertically for bucking cutting the fallen tree to the proper length for the mill. Tipping the saws would disrupt the fuel flow and kill the engine.


Loggers were wary about taking them on, University of Oregon historian Steven Beda says. One reason was fear the chainsaws would reduce the number of men needed to work in the woods. There were more practical unpleasantries as well.


The early chainsaws were loud, they were nasty, they spit oil, they spit gas, Beda says.


But World War II's demand for raw materials changed the dynamic.


The rhythmic thump of the ax and the sweet song of the hand saw gradually faded as Northwest forests filled with the harsh buzz of the two-man chainsaw.


That helped Northwest loggers cut so much lumber for the war effort that had it not been required for barracks, crates, and the like it could have framed 3.5 million modern houses.


Cheaper, Lighter, More Powerful



But the two-man saw wasn't long for the woods.


Manufacturing had improved rapidly during the war. Within a few years of V-J Day, the one-man chainsaws started to show up.


The fact that a chainsaw now becomes a lot cheaper and a lot more easy to manufacture has to do with this new industrial infrastructure created as a consequence of the war, Beda says.


Paul Skirvin remembers when the one-man chainsaw appeared at retailers in the Northwest.


We got our first power saw then, from Monkey Ward, I think it was, he remembers, referring to the department store Montgomery Ward.


The 60-pound one-man chainsaw meant Skirvin and his brother could work much faster.


After you got a power saw, man, just zip it a lot faster. Ten, five, eight times faster, Skirvin says.
 
   / Wartime logging and some chainsaw history in the PNW. #2  
Interesting...thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:
 
   / Wartime logging and some chainsaw history in the PNW. #3  
Yup- Thanks for posting this. As some of us get older, history, especially recent, as in our lifetime or just before, gets even more interesting. As a guy born right at the end of WWII, this stuff is meaningful.
 
   / Wartime logging and some chainsaw history in the PNW. #4  
When I was growing up my dad had an old Moloch chainsaw, I think it was probably a 1946 model, what a beast that thing was. The bar was about 26" and about 6-7" top to bottom. The chain cut a kerf about 3/8" wide. It was gear driven and very slow by today's standards, if there was a high tooth on the chain you could feel it every time it came around. To cut with it you would set the spurs into the log and pull up on the rear handle as hard as you could, you could not stall the thing!
That saw cut a lot of fire wood and cleared a lot of trees from my folks place over the years.
 
   / Wartime logging and some chainsaw history in the PNW. #5  
mill 10001.jpg


mill 10002.jpg

Pictures above of My GrandFathers mill The Family had in the Evans Creek area , circa late '30's / early '40's .



tree1.jpg tree2.jpg


Pictures above are of the spring board notches We found in a old logged area We Elk hunt here in Southern Oregon .

Fred H.
 
   / Wartime logging and some chainsaw history in the PNW. #6  
When I was growing up my dad had an old Moloch chainsaw, I think it was probably a 1946 model, what a beast that thing was. The bar was about 26" and about 6-7" top to bottom. The chain cut a kerf about 3/8" wide. It was gear driven and very slow by today's standards, if there was a high tooth on the chain you could feel it every time it came around. To cut with it you would set the spurs into the log and pull up on the rear handle as hard as you could, you could not stall the thing!
That saw cut a lot of fire wood and cleared a lot of trees from my folks place over the years.

I love auto correct NOT! That was a McCulloch chainsaw!
 
   / Wartime logging and some chainsaw history in the PNW. #7  
The skidder wheels / tripod behind the old cat was rebuilt a year or 2 after these photo's taken by a photographer from the pioneer town of Jacksonville , for the museum . We still have those wheels at My mom's .
One of these days , My Bro and me will load them onto our trailer and I will bring them home . My idea is to dig a hole , fill with cement and a piece of railroad iron , which would stick up about 14" or so , ( like it was being towed behind the cat ) . Will then take one of the old 1" chokers I have and weld the loop end to the iron and have it run up to the pulley then back down to a 6' or so , log of oak . Thus it will look like it is being skidded . That is the plan anyway :D

Fred H.
 
 
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