Red and White blues...

belgian · May 17, 2008

I had a few days off this week and was able finally to tinker on some red and white saws in my collection, and here's the result : 4 excellent runners out of 5 saws, the Stihl Contra.

The Contra is a real Stihl Classic and was a hot seller in the sixties, and put Stihl really in pole position as producer of one man saws. This saw is very well built, pretty undestructable and still running fine after 50 years of use, heck they still fire up after a few pulls...

The Contra has 106cc and pulls the .404 chain with ease, and has an impressive barking sound. They came standard with either a 20" or 24" bar in our area.

There were quite some changes in the design of the contra, such as

-different starter assembly
-3 or 2 point muffler fixation
-manual oiler or not
-Contra or Contra Lightning logo
-different cylinder shape
- different gas caps

Yes, I got the Red & White blues this week, you may say I like this saw.... :givebeer:

metalspec · May 17, 2008

Nice Contras!

harrygrey382 · May 17, 2008

belgian said:
I had a few days off this week and was able finally to tinker on some red and white saws in my collection, and here's the result : 4 excellent runners out of 5 saws, the Stihl Contra.

The Contra is a real Stihl Classic and was a hot seller in the sixties, and put Stihl really in pole position as producer of one man saws. This saw is very well built, pretty undestructable and still running fine after 50 years of use, heck they still fire up after a few pulls...

The Contra has 106cc and pulls the .404 chain with ease, and has an impressive barking sound. They came standard with either a 20" or 24" bar in our area.

There were quite some changes in the design of the contra, such as

-different starter assembly
-3 or 2 point muffler fixation
-manual oiler or not
-Contra or Contra Lightning logo
-different cylinder shape

Yes, I got the Red & White blues this week, you may say I like this saw....

Awesome. I'm out of rep though...

Nitroman · May 17, 2008

Very nice lineup.

skid row · May 17, 2008

Nice looking collection.. :cheers:

Gologit · May 17, 2008

Very nice. You're keeping history alive and having fun at the same time. It doesn't get much better than that.

blsnelling · May 17, 2008

Beatiful collection there. Most of us would be happy to have only one of those.

Bill G · May 18, 2008

Nice line of Contras. Today (Saturday) you could have added a Contra G to the collection.

Bill

Urbicide · May 18, 2008

blsnelling said:
Beatiful collection there. Most of us would be happy to have only one of those.

I know someone who would be. Hey Roland, ol buddy!

Lakeside53 · May 18, 2008

damn!

belgian · May 18, 2008

Bill G said:
Nice line of Contras. Today (Saturday) you could have added a Contra G to the collection.

Bill

I know whatcha mean :censored: The Contra is a saw that still is fairly much around in europe. As others (Bill G, rxe,..) have already discussed in detail, the Contra had a big brother, called the Contra super (137 cc) and another gear drive brother, the Contra G. Both saws are pretty difficult to find and many Stihlheads are desperate to have one. This week, one Contra G turned up on german ebay and closed for the astronomical amount of 2502 Euro or some 3000 USD :dizzy:

Here's the link : http://cgi.ebay.de:80/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180240460127&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:DE:1123

I have fun collecting oldies but such prices spoil the fun really. That being said, I seldom buy on ebay. All of my saws come from private firewood people who are content their saws ends up with someone who really takes good care of their saw. And the value remains reasonable every time.

belgian · May 18, 2008

Gologit said:
Very nice. You're keeping history alive and having fun at the same time. It doesn't get much better than that.

That's very true, Bob.
Meeting the previous owners sometimes is more fun than buying the saw.
The last Contra I got was from a guy that I would loved to have met for example....

He called me a few weeks ago that he had an ole 6 hp Stihl that he would like to sell. He lived quite a distance from my home so I told him it could take a couple of weeks before I would visit him. He said " I don't know if I can't wait that long, but it's OK" . Not sure what he meant with that...

When I was in the area last week I did give a call and a woman said it's ok to come by. Turned out the guy had lethal cancer and passed away only a week or so ago. His wife told me that he wished his Contra to end up with a guy that would really take good care of it. It was in very good shape and came with spare new chain, spare sprocket drum, original tool set, spark plugs, and some stihl catalogues from the eighthies.
This owner had CAD just like the rest of us, a true soulmate... too bad I did not have a chance to talk to him.
I see it as my duty now to watch over his Contra... :Eye:

Here she is

Nitroman · May 18, 2008

belgian said:
That's very true, Bob.
Meeting the previous owners sometimes is more fun than buying the saw.
The last Contra I got was from a guy that I would loved to have met for example....

He called me a few weeks ago that he had an ole 6 hp Stihl that he would like to sell. He lived quite a distance from my home so I told him it could take a couple of weeks before I would visit him. He said " I don't know if I can't wait that long, but it's OK" . Not sure what he meant with that...

When I was in the area last week I did give a call and a woman said it's ok to come by. Turned out the guy had lethal cancer and passed away only a week or so ago. His wife told me that he wished his Contra to end up with a guy that would really take good care of it. It was in very good shape and came with spare new chain, spare sprocket drum, original tool set, spark plugs, and some stihl catalogues from the eighthies.
This owner had CAD just like the rest of us, a true soulmate... too bad I did not have a chance to talk to him.
I see it as my duty now to watch over his Contra... :Eye:

Here she is

That is a sad tale. But at least it has a good ending, with you taking care of his saw.

Yasha · May 18, 2008

Wow!!!!!

WOW!!!!!

Our next GTG needs to be in Belgium!

p.s. worth a LOT of rep!

p.p.s. I want one! two?

Yasha · May 18, 2008

We wish you could've met him too.

belgian said:
That's very true, Bob.
Meeting the previous owners sometimes is more fun than buying the saw.
The last Contra I got was from a guy that I would loved to have met for example....

He called me a few weeks ago that he had an ole 6 hp Stihl that he would like to sell. He lived quite a distance from my home so I told him it could take a couple of weeks before I would visit him. He said " I don't know if I can't wait that long, but it's OK" . Not sure what he meant with that...

When I was in the area last week I did give a call and a woman said it's ok to come by. Turned out the guy had lethal cancer and passed away only a week or so ago. His wife told me that he wished his Contra to end up with a guy that would really take good care of it. It was in very good shape and came with spare new chain, spare sprocket drum, original tool set, spark plugs, and some stihl catalogues from the eighthies.
This owner had CAD just like the rest of us, a true soulmate... too bad I did not have a chance to talk to him.
I see it as my duty now to watch over his Contra... :Eye:

Here she is

We wish you could've met him too.

Definitely a soul-mate.

THALL10326 · May 18, 2008

belgian said:
I had a few days off this week and was able finally to tinker on some red and white saws in my collection, and here's the result : 4 excellent runners out of 5 saws, the Stihl Contra.

The Contra is a real Stihl Classic and was a hot seller in the sixties, and put Stihl really in pole position as producer of one man saws. This saw is very well built, pretty undestructable and still running fine after 50 years of use, heck they still fire up after a few pulls...

The Contra has 106cc and pulls the .404 chain with ease, and has an impressive barking sound. They came standard with either a 20" or 24" bar in our area.

There were quite some changes in the design of the contra, such as

-different starter assembly
-3 or 2 point muffler fixation
-manual oiler or not
-Contra or Contra Lightning logo
-different cylinder shape
- different gas caps

Yes, I got the Red & White blues this week, you may say I like this saw....

I guess you will be bringing one of those for me when you come to get your like new 041 from me, correct?, haha. Just how many saws do you have Belgian?

You are correct about the history of that saw. Seems that one saw took the whole world by storm and put Stihl at the top of the heap and it hasn't stopped since, :cheers:

Bill G · May 18, 2008

Belgian,

I watched the Contra G through the auction. I knew it would go out of my price range but I did not think it would go as high as it did. The auction ended at about 1:30PM here Saturday. I happened to be home doing some roofing so I was able to check in on it. I left when it was around $1500 US. As you noted it ended at 2512Euro. Since our dollar is worth so little now compared to the Euro it actually was about $3916 US. The seller wanted $150 Euro or $233US for shipping. I would have really llike to get that saw but I will never give that amount for any saw.

Bill

belgian · May 19, 2008

THALL10326 said:
I guess you will be bringing one of those for me when you come to get your like new 041 from me, correct?, haha. Just how many saws do you have Belgian?

You are correct about the history of that saw. Seems that one saw took the whole world by storm and put Stihl at the top of the heap and it hasn't stopped since,

Heys you Master, where the heck have ya been... ?? I knew you would like my contra babies...they are a must for every Stihlhead. If shipping to the US was not so d@mn expensive, I would gladly get you one.
The problem is that once you add another to your collection, the CAD bug bites ya and it's so difficult to let them go :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:
tell ya what, if I find a nice one for a decent price, I will think of a way to get it to you, even if I have to bring it myself (wink)... :cheers:

The 041 is a nice saw but there a plenty over here, so no need to keep it for me.

THALL10326 · May 19, 2008

belgian said:
Heys you Master, where the heck have ya been... ?? I knew you would like my contra babies...they are a must for every Stihlhead. If shipping to the US was not so d@mn expensive, I would gladly get you one.
The problem is that once you add another to your collection, the CAD bug bites ya and it's so difficult to let them go :hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:
tell ya what, if I find a nice one for a decent price, I will think of a way to get it to you, even if I have to bring it myself (wink)...
The 041 is a nice saw but there a plenty over here, so no need to keep it for me.

Thanks for the reply but you left out the answer to my main question, how many saws do you have? Knowing you like I do I'm betting around a 100, am I close?

As for me I've been busy making sure there are thousands of Stihls out in the world for future collectors. Just think Belgian one fine day many years from now some future ole cat like you will grab up a old Stihl that was originally sold in Virginia by the one and only, yours truely. I've been thinking about having all the pro Stihl saws engraved "Sold by Thall" just to make them more valuable later on,LOLOLOL Can't you see it Belgian, a collector at a auction and the auctioneer goes wait a minute folks, this saw was originally sold by the one and only, its got the engraved sig on it, who will start the bidding at 2000.00. To make them even more valuable I might engrave the saws "Sold by Thall, Inspected by Lakeside. By Joe that will really drive the prices up, whatcha think? Ok I'm waking up now, man that was a nice dream,hahaha

Hugenpoet · May 19, 2008

Yasha said:
WOW!!!!!

Our next GTG needs to be in Belgium.

If we could get Belgium to host a GTG, you could count me in.

My wife and I have several very close friends in Brussels and make it an absolute requirement to visit Belgium at least once per year. Next scheduled arrival in Brussels is October 26 to gather for a trip to Burgundy with Belgian friends. Great food, great beer and wonderful people.

Red and White blues...

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