Chainsaws of the Future ?

[confused]

Bigger, Better, Faster right? With all the new materials used in the manufacturing process is there a saw on the horizon that has 6 hp that weighs 6lbs. What things do you all see as possibilities to the future portable gas powered beavers.

Feul injection?
Carbon Fiber, Graphite, Composites?
Light weight Diesel engine?
Turbine powered (35000+ RPM possible)?
Turbo charged?
Ceramics?

etc ...

Since there is so much about the saws of the past i though why not talk about the future.

 

[sonny]

The way I see it at least hear in So. Cal. we will be using hand saws & axes, with all the air regulations. But then they just pass the law to build more power plants. Go ahead and polute. I guess thats way the ole saying goes. $ talks the rest of you can take a hike.

 

[davefr]

Your forgetting 2 factors that will increasingly impede progress. EPA will insure new chainsaws don't run right and OSHA will insure they don't cut right.

If EPA and OSHA got together and designed their own chainsaw, I wonder what it would be like. (remember what the EOC approved "Hooter Girl" looked like!!!)

We might have seen the peak of chainsaw design a couple years ago.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

I agree with Dave. I am going to keep repairing my 55 forever because I am not too confident in the way things are progressing. New saws are going to be more sophisticated, more expensive, and harder to work on, just like everything else. The 55's and 026's and 372's and 046's may be some of the best saws ever avail as far as serviceability and performance and weight and simplicity.

 

[treeclimber165]

The 020T Stihl is a good example of future saws. Good saw when it is new and perfect but no high end carb adjustment, only 1/8 turn low end adjustment. If it isn't perfect out of the box, you are screwed out of $450+. I had one that got run over by a truck, minor damage to the handle. No big deal, I got the handle housing and tried to change it. 3 days later, I had to pay over $100 to get an entire handle assembly because there is virtually NO WAY for a human to put one back together! I'll stick with my cheapo Echo 3400 for a climbing saw. If it messes up enough that I can't fix it cheaply I can buy another.

 

[Treeman14]

I agree with you, Brian. I prefer to buy a less expensive saw and just replace it when it wears out. I tried the 020T and found it difficult to use in a tree. I just could not get used to the balance. I've been using the 009 as a climbing saw for a couple of years now and I am very happy with it. For under $200, you can't go wrong. Does anyone remember the old Jonsered climbing saw, I think it was the 25? I loved that saw.

 

[confused]

Hey guys your missing the point. What would you like to see as the saws of the future givin what you know now. Dont think about the gov. joy killers.

Personally i see ceramic or plastic motors with metal liners. Along with extremely light weight aluminum or other aloy pistons. Fed by an injection system. Titanium chain with carbide chisels. Carbon fibor or composite materials for handle and guards.

Guys this is all possible because as the techniques to make this stuff get more cost effective the saws will become cheaper.

O the plastic engine is completely feasible i used to work at a tool and die shop where we made a mold that made plastic exhaust manifolds. There are some plastics that have higher tolerances to heat then some steel aloys

Dare to dream fellas

 

[sonny]

I just hope im around when the lazor light cutting saws come out.Just e-mail a sattelite & it sends down a ray of light & removes the tree.

 

[confused]

Sonny your taking all the fun out of it. Best saw would be the STAR WARS Light Sabre

just swing the thing and the tree falls down then walk along the thing just hackin the wood up easy as pie

 

[sonny]

I have to agree w/ you. I was a hay bucker for a long while. I remember when that thing that scooped up the bails & threw them to the trailer, Darn that was so easy. Oh my mistake I was on the back of the trailer. Im so wrong, progress sucks!!!!!!!!I want that lazer that bails and stacks in the barn. But then I would be losing 30 cents per bail stacked
.

 

[Mike Acres]

Taking up on the topic of chain saws of the future I would like to deal with three categories and what has been done by manufacturers in the past.
Diesel powered chain saws.
These were introduced by manufacturers in Sweden in the early 1950's. I have in my collection a Comet chain saw that is diesel powered, weighs only 14 lbs. complete with bar and chain. Jonsered bought the company and produced the saw as their RAKET. No torque, runs extremely hot, (to the point of being dangerous in the woods in summer) starting problems particularly in cold weather.

Turbo Charged. in 1963 Remington experimented with a saw series 880 direct drive and gear drive.
They took the air into the carburetor/air filter chamber right off the flywheel which produced a turbo effect. Jonsereds, Husky and Poulan has it in a somewhat similar version now. The 880 was a real performing saw with a 5.8 cu. in. engine. The turbo was definitely effective. Work for 3 days without cleaning the air filter too.

Turbine powered.
Dolmar built a saw in the 1960's with a Wankel type rotary engine and it would really go, only problem was no torque and heavy. How do you get gut wrenching torque from a 2-cycle motor?? Stroke and displacement thats how. Several manufacturers have produced twin cylinder chain saw units that would really scream but if you put anything more than a 15" bar on them they would not perform. Where I live the biggest selling bar size is 33". You have to have torque to get performance. Certainly in other parts of the world where a 15" bar is standard more RPM is desireable and small displacement engines will work. In 1963 McCulloch built a saw model BP-1 that was years ahead of it's time. It had two pistons, one doing the work and one that was a perfect balance of the other, absolutely no vibration, 14,000 RPM no problem, a gear box provided a workable chain speed. The chain was automatically sharpened and cut extremely well. It had fuel injection. It was light and well balanced.
My point is.... most things that are brought out as new have been tried at least once before. The idea might not have worked that well the first time around because of the state of technology at that time. Today with the cost of developing a new model of chain saw any manufacturer is going to have to go with proven technology and design features. The boldest venture around is Dolmar with their 50cc 4-cycle chain saw. Check their web site for details. The last time a chain saw was built with a 4-cycle engine was 1934 or so.........
Chain Saw Museum

 

[confused]

Well if its torque you want why not use a small torque converter. It might even double or possibly triple the torque of the motor. You dont need a whole transmission just a small converter between the crank and the actual drive sprocket.

Four strokes are going to be used because of the EPA concern with emissions. IF they are the future buy now

 

[Mike Acres]

A torque converter has been tried before. There was a chain saw built right here in Vancouver that had a torque converter in it. Admittedly it was a gear drive type saw but it used a torque converter. The saw was called a "Turbo-matic".
Weight and heat generated were problems and the saw did not catch on. This was early 1950's.

 

[homelite360]

confused-
do you mean a torque amplifyier casue a torque converter is used on an automatic transmission to act like a centrifical clutch. but if you went along with your theory why not just bring back the gear drive saws and invent a super chain that cuts like a bastard.

 

[confused]

Homlite360,

From what i understand about the torque converter is that as the motor bogs down the converter has a multiplying affect.

About the super Chain. instead of steel links we need something lighter but extremely strong (Titanium). Then for the chisels why not make then out of Carbide. I used to work at a Tool & Die shop and if carbide inserts can cut 60 RockWell Steel like butter then it should cut wood. Hell i dont know but it sound good

 

[confused]

Then Mike it seems that the things that have been tried in the past should be tried again with the materials and engineering techniques of the present. I think we could do wonders with a light weight feul injection system.

 

[hogluvr]

I guess it's cool to dream every so often, so I'll have at it....

Hmmm... lightweight composite body (carbon fiber? Kevlar?), even lighter high strength internals & crankcase (titanium?), super hot ignition, super charger coming off the flywheel to the carb (no fuel injection as that needs a computer), insane compression a la Keith Black Hypereutectic machined piston, all running on a mix of 110 octane CAM-2 @ a 100:1 synthetic mix.

We're talking about some serious horsepower & a hell of a bang when it explodes! Just imagine the pricetag & liability waiver.

Larry

 

[Steve]

The boldest venture around is Dolmar with their 50cc 4-cycle chain saw.

That Dolmar 4 Cycle is being help desiged by Porshe engineers!!!

 

[Darin]

When I was in Germany they were developing a saw that had digital readouts. Like the rpms would show on a digital readout so you could tune your saw better. I thought that was kind of cool.

 

[sonny]

Yes was that about or at least 8 yrs. ago ? Never could get it to work at a cost , cheaper than the saw was.