Thought I would post a few photos of a saw that arrived on the big brown truck today. Another collector and I have had many conversations regarding lost sleep over a piece of outdoor power equipment, and this particular saw is responsible for a lot of sleep loss since I became aware of its existence.
Very few people know about this particular version of the gear drive Lightning. This saw was built in a very small “test” or “prototype” batch of saws approximately 10-12 months prior to the full production run of the gear drive Lightnings. The serial numbers are approximately 580,000 saws behind documented numbers of G and GS production saws. The gear case side of these saws appear to have all been sandcast, the texture is eerily familiar to that of the early sandcast Lightnings. The gearcase side of this saw displays the very early version of the chaincase cover that has no ribs on the cover, the handlebar support was on the case on this early batch of saws instead of the cover like you see on the typical Contra G and 090G saws. The oil sight glass shows changes where the sight glass protruded from the surface on these vs being sunk in the cover later on. The bar cover for this early run of saws was different as well, it is smaller than what we have all became familiar with. This saw was covered in years of grinding dust from being in a room with a row of chain grinders in a Stihl dealership for decades. This particular saw is sporting the 1109 tag still intact and I have verified the serial number with Stihl.
The saw has seen very little use as witnessed from the lack of paint loss in the heaviest abused area of the saw, behind the chain sprocket. This saw does have the incorrect S style recoil starter and a much later stamped steel muffler. Presumably the parts from this saw were donated over the years to keep customer saws running and later replaced with what was on hand to make it whole. I would like to find the original style recoil and muffler, however the current incorrect parts serve to tell a story of a time when the customer was a priority. I’d like to hear any information someone may have about these saws along with any photos anyone has come across.
Very few people know about this particular version of the gear drive Lightning. This saw was built in a very small “test” or “prototype” batch of saws approximately 10-12 months prior to the full production run of the gear drive Lightnings. The serial numbers are approximately 580,000 saws behind documented numbers of G and GS production saws. The gear case side of these saws appear to have all been sandcast, the texture is eerily familiar to that of the early sandcast Lightnings. The gearcase side of this saw displays the very early version of the chaincase cover that has no ribs on the cover, the handlebar support was on the case on this early batch of saws instead of the cover like you see on the typical Contra G and 090G saws. The oil sight glass shows changes where the sight glass protruded from the surface on these vs being sunk in the cover later on. The bar cover for this early run of saws was different as well, it is smaller than what we have all became familiar with. This saw was covered in years of grinding dust from being in a room with a row of chain grinders in a Stihl dealership for decades. This particular saw is sporting the 1109 tag still intact and I have verified the serial number with Stihl.
The saw has seen very little use as witnessed from the lack of paint loss in the heaviest abused area of the saw, behind the chain sprocket. This saw does have the incorrect S style recoil starter and a much later stamped steel muffler. Presumably the parts from this saw were donated over the years to keep customer saws running and later replaced with what was on hand to make it whole. I would like to find the original style recoil and muffler, however the current incorrect parts serve to tell a story of a time when the customer was a priority. I’d like to hear any information someone may have about these saws along with any photos anyone has come across.
