# Vintage 2 man 6 foot chainsaw Craigslist



## waldtricki (Feb 16, 2010)

Never knew anything like this existed. 

http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/atq/1602876094.html

Ben


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## gemniii (Feb 16, 2010)

Finding chain may be a pain.


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## hermit (Feb 16, 2010)

I have used one of those with a 5' bar. They are gear drive and very slow and you can use the saw dust for wood. I often wondered what would happen to the guy on the end of the bar if the chain broke ? Also they have a lever to release the bar so it can swivel to cut trees down as the engine is a 4cycle and must stay upright.


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## igpoe (Feb 16, 2010)

hermit said:


> I have used one of those with a 5' bar. They are gear drive and very slow and you can use the saw dust for wood. I often wondered what would happen to the guy on the end of the bar if the chain broke ? Also they have a lever to release the bar so it can swivel to cut trees down as the engine is a 4cycle and must stay upright.



Hermit,
I've been cutting with these things for a few years now and luckily no chains have broken. The weight of the chain coupled with the low rpm of the gear reduction tranny would likely prevent a horrible accident. It might just flop straight down. The float-type carburetor means you can't turn it over on the side to make felling cuts,therefore the tranny swivels to allow for this action. But they are 2-strokes just like the one-man saws, but some are two cylinders. I get a lot of enjoyment running them at old-time machinery festivals. Kids love them,but they are NOT chick-magnets as was told to me.
Silly me!
Igpoe


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## Mike Van (Feb 16, 2010)

They must have been a step up from the "misery whip" 2 man crosscut.


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## Brmorgan (Feb 16, 2010)

hermit said:


> I have used one of those with a 5' bar. They are gear drive and very slow and you can use the saw dust for wood. *I often wondered what would happen to the guy on the end of the bar if the chain broke ?* Also they have a lever to release the bar so it can swivel to cut trees down as the engine is a 4cycle and must stay upright.



Well that's why they called the helper handle the "widowmaker". I guess more than a couple guys got killed when the chain broke and whipped them across the neck years ago. You wouldn't catch me running the helper end on one of those all day long!


The old guy I get saw parts from told me that his dad used to run a big 2-man like this back in the day down near Vancouver. He said that one time he had an old Native fella running the helper end for him cutting a big ~10' tree, and when the tree started to go over the guy panicked and ran, leaving his dad sitting there holding this huge hunk of metal all by himself, so his dad just chucked it and ran too.

Mike, here's the Canadian solution to the 2-man whipsaw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsC0v6QrH44

Vid wouldn't embed again for some reason. Wish youtube would figure their crap out with that.


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## gr8scott72 (Feb 16, 2010)

Brmorgan said:


> Vid wouldn't embed again for some reason. Wish youtube would figure their crap out with that.



Video not embedding is not a youtube problem It's because HTML code is "OFF" on this part of the server. (See very bottom of page.) I asked an admin about this and he said it's because someone tried hacking the server with it turned on.

HTML is "ON" only in the chainsaw forum.


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## BobL (Feb 16, 2010)

Brmorgan said:


> Well that's why they called the helper handle the "widowmaker". I guess more than a couple guys got killed when the chain broke and whipped them across the neck years ago. You wouldn't catch me running the helper end on one of those all day long!


My Dad had Teles Smith 2 man saw for many years but only used it for about 3 years. It was a 350cc with a 108" bar.





Here's a pic of my dad (on the right) and his falling buddy, Charlie, taken in Oct 1958. Charlie was the tough little southern Italian SOB that used to crawl into the scarf and chop a bit more wood out in the really big ones (12'+ diameter) when they still used axes and crosscuts before 1956. The two man saw was bought in 1956 and could bring down 4 Karri's a day compared to the 1.5 days per tree by axe/crosscut. The two man saw would only could cut for about 4 hours in an 8 hours shift, and the rest of the time was spent fixing and sharpening - it had quite a soft chain.

Just after this photo was taken they must have got their first one man McCullochs with the 42" blades - with these they could fall 8 trees a day each! My dad used to haul 2 42" macs plus fuel and oil and a bag of axes through the bush by himself.

The two manner ended up in our shed and in 1967 the engine was sold to a guy who put it in a boat and years later it was still zooming around a local beach. That same year my dad was badly injured in a logging truck accident and never felled a tree after then. Charlie died working solo in 1976, found under a 3 ft diameter branch that was thrown back by a tree he had just fallen. The 8' bar was still hanging around dads house for many years and got thrown away some time in the 1980s when I was out of the country. 



> Vid wouldn't embed again for some reason. Wish youtube would figure their crap out with that.



That's not a youtube issue but a site issue - The admins have to allow embedding in a specific forum for it to embed. Not all the forums on AS have that feature. Maybe we could ask the admins to turn it on for us.


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## bulldoglover (Feb 16, 2010)

The Saw Crib in college had one of those hanging from the rafters. Makes you appreciate what we have now.


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## waldtricki (Feb 16, 2010)

*Bob's Story*

I am doing research on Storytelling right now (a small break of course) and one of the articles suggested for me to start noticing how there are stories all around me. I find it mildly humorous that the first thing I do after I get up is check my email, which of course takes me here, where you and others are sharing stories that this 2 man chainsaw thread has stirred about.

Being an aspiring storyteller myself, I will point a few things that made your story effective for me: 

1. The picture of your dad and his Buddy created a good start for my mind to have something to work with. I went to my version of the woods (the cascades) until you said Bush, then I jumped scenes in my mind, all a bit confusing there with the kangaroos and such.
2. I was educated 
3. I was entertained
4. It was real
5. I needed a DAMN break! =P

Keep em coming, trust me , I am going to need more breaks!

Ben


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## chuckwood (Feb 17, 2010)

*2 man saws*



waldtricki said:


> Never knew anything like this existed.
> http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/atq/1602876094.html
> Ben



When I was a little kid in the 50's, I and the rest of the urchins I ran around with were always fascinated by arborist/tree cutting activities that happened around the place from time to time. There were lots of big trees around very close to the house. Once a big oak came down during a storm and smashed the garage and destroyed a 54 plymouth that was inside. We always stopped whatever we were doing and had to watch the tree cutters/trimmers. We usually got too close to where the work was happening and got our butts beat a couple times when the tree guys had to stop work and complain to our parents that we wouldn't get out of the work area when told to. One thing that stands out in my mind in particular is an old two man chain saw these guys had. The machine looked old even then, I think it was yellow, and they always were having trouble starting the thing and keeping it running. I remember distinctly hearing the guys cussing it and complaining to the boss that it was a POS. It probably had a large displacement motor that was a beast to start. They also had one man saws, but in my childish mind, the two man saw with its long bar was the most interesting machine they had.


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## BobL (Feb 17, 2010)

waldtricki said:


> I am doing research on Storytelling right now (a small break of course) and one of the articles suggested for me to start noticing how there are stories all around me. I find it mildly humorous that the first thing I do after I get up is check my email, which of course takes me here, where you and others are sharing stories that this 2 man chainsaw thread has stirred about.
> 
> Being an aspiring storyteller myself, I will point a few things that made your story effective for me:
> 
> ...



Cheers Ben.
The "bush" where these trees were cut look something like this.








The tall trees on the left are Karri, the ones on the right are mostly Marri.


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## Brmorgan (Feb 17, 2010)

I forgot to mention that my uncle found a guy with a big red Mall (he didn't know the model) like that for sale way down some backroad last week. The guy said he turned down $800 and was looking for $1200. My uncle said it was in decent condition minus paint, so I think the guy's a bit on the optimistic side with his price. I'd like to go see it at any rate.


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## Andrew96 (Feb 17, 2010)

As for the stories....+1. I always try to talk to old guys...or guys with older equipment that I've never seen. The stories/history/adventures are totally amazing. One of the reasons I too come here to 'check my mail'. The photos set the stage..the but stories shared among friends are the real attraction.


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## rarefish383 (Feb 19, 2010)

I put more than a few hours on the handle of this old Disston when I was a kid. At first Dad would only let me run the triggers. I didn't notice if any one else responded to the rotating bar. The Disston bar and transmission rotate also and it's a 2 stroke. The carb has a float in it just like a car and can't be turned upside down, or on it's side, Joe.


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## BobL (Feb 19, 2010)

That's a nice little collection of old saws you have there - are they all runners?


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## Brmorgan (Feb 19, 2010)

I'd be willing to bet the saw in the foreground will start on the first pull every time, even cold!


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