Wowzers its cool to learn from others with similar intrests, you could ask a 1000 people about the fine details of a contra and they'd have nomideawhat your talking about. The one I found may be a 'sand cast' as l just thought the paint had worn off due to its age. The felling spikes have some of the deep red color though. So was there a sand cast version that had no paint?
Stihl Contra Info Sharing Thread
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Eddy_t
ArboristSite Operative
The sand casts are the earliest models, the paint has worn off. Regarding fine details, each saw has its own fingerprint, as there were so many variable parts
Steffen
Collect old Stihls. Contra, 07, 08...
Can you show us some pictures of you Contra??
I love the sandcast Stihls. I dont have a Contra, but was lucky to find the 07 prototype. It is build up by handmade sandcast parts and is very different from the production 07.
welsh wood
New Member
I have a Contra 1106 #
1125544 and on the bar 1106/63 this saw is in the UK so I don't know if it's any help.
Here's a few pic's to keep the thread active.
An S model.....Nice
Yep, an S, I've haven't seen many of these later versions of the S with the six shoe clutch here in Oz.
I have since come to realise my contra is not a sand cast but just a well used Contra with lots of paint worn off. It runs strong and is mechanically sound.
Well used - I got one like that as well...
Steffen
Collect old Stihls. Contra, 07, 08...
Nope, thats not a sandcast. It also has the manual oiler, that came after a year of production.Well used - I got one like that as well...
I didn't say it's a sandcast - just well used...
Steffen
Collect old Stihls. Contra, 07, 08...
I just got the book about Stihl, and there is some very interesting things about the Contra in it.
The sandcast Contra is known to many as a form of prototype or advertising model of the Contra. The book tells another story... And i have compared it with some other documents.
This is the result:
The Contra was not named Contra at the start, its was under the name Model D24. The name was then change to Contra in Europe and Lightning in the USA for maketing reasons.
The saw had a lot of problems at the start of the production. Most of the problems was with the crankshaft and connectionrod that was not strong enough. The production of these parts was also very difficult.
24.05.1959 with serial nr. 83.602 the conectionrod was changed and again at 24.06.1959 with serial nr. 84.832.
The most interesting thing is that the production of the sandcast crankcase was also stopped 24.06.1959 with serial nr. 84.832. The reason for this is not that it was a prototype or an advertising model. The crankcase simple broke, it was not strong enough and Stihl switch to diecast crankcase, the sandcast crankcase was not produced by Stihl, but another supplier and Stihl startet there own production of diecast crankcases.
There is also mentioned that a successor to the Contra was developed and testet, but there were so many problems with the design that the saw was scrapped and never put in production.
The sandcast model is rare like... Its not because it was a prototype and made in limitet numbers, it just broke down and most was scrapped back in 1959.
I hope you all like my little investigation in the sandcast Contra...
The sandcast Contra is known to many as a form of prototype or advertising model of the Contra. The book tells another story... And i have compared it with some other documents.
This is the result:
The Contra was not named Contra at the start, its was under the name Model D24. The name was then change to Contra in Europe and Lightning in the USA for maketing reasons.
The saw had a lot of problems at the start of the production. Most of the problems was with the crankshaft and connectionrod that was not strong enough. The production of these parts was also very difficult.
24.05.1959 with serial nr. 83.602 the conectionrod was changed and again at 24.06.1959 with serial nr. 84.832.
The most interesting thing is that the production of the sandcast crankcase was also stopped 24.06.1959 with serial nr. 84.832. The reason for this is not that it was a prototype or an advertising model. The crankcase simple broke, it was not strong enough and Stihl switch to diecast crankcase, the sandcast crankcase was not produced by Stihl, but another supplier and Stihl startet there own production of diecast crankcases.
There is also mentioned that a successor to the Contra was developed and testet, but there were so many problems with the design that the saw was scrapped and never put in production.
The sandcast model is rare like... Its not because it was a prototype and made in limitet numbers, it just broke down and most was scrapped back in 1959.
I hope you all like my little investigation in the sandcast Contra...
sawbones
Addicted to ArboristSite
1958 ad announcing the new Lightning.
The early 070 was also referred to as a Lightning.
The early 070 was also referred to as a Lightning.
sawbones
Addicted to ArboristSite
The D24 was also called a D24 "Super" for the 66mm saw.
Interesting!....That's the first mention I've seen of the 070 referred to as a 'Lightning' in print..... Always thought Lightning was a strange choice of name for a German built saw, let alone Blitz!......Given the war had only ended thirteen years prior.
sawbones
Addicted to ArboristSite
Guess they got over it. Heard some very interesting stories about Mr Mall ( a german American), helping get Andreas released from the internment camps for the industrial leaders.
Andreas then shared some info with Mr Mall and when you look at the Mall post war saws you can see the Stihl (KS 43) influence in them. Mall 5 6 and then 7.
Also to note is that the Lightning Contra was a copy of the West Coast IEL Pioneer saws. Pioneer made them first and Stihl made a copy.
Same as when Seattle Mill and Mine were selling Stihl saws before WW2 and when the war broke they started making their own copy of the B2Z.
http://www.acresinternet.com/cscc.n...6c2b993925e51e4888256ba2000b55e7?OpenDocument
We know them as Titans Twins.
Andreas then shared some info with Mr Mall and when you look at the Mall post war saws you can see the Stihl (KS 43) influence in them. Mall 5 6 and then 7.
Also to note is that the Lightning Contra was a copy of the West Coast IEL Pioneer saws. Pioneer made them first and Stihl made a copy.
Same as when Seattle Mill and Mine were selling Stihl saws before WW2 and when the war broke they started making their own copy of the B2Z.
http://www.acresinternet.com/cscc.n...6c2b993925e51e4888256ba2000b55e7?OpenDocument
We know them as Titans Twins.
I have an old friend and former employer that was a Pioneer dealer for many years, he's 90 now and still takes great pleasure in pointing out the fact that the Contra was copied from a Pioneer.
