Stihl Contra Info Sharing Thread

[sawbones]

contra lightning S AV 137cc

 

[sawbones]

a page from the contra book

 

[sawbones]

 

[sawbones]

some adverts from OZ

 

[sawbones]

optional helper handle as shown on the contra GS

 

[sawbones]

 

[sawbones]

original warning tag and warranty card for lightning. also some dealer window stickers from 1959

 

[sawbones]

contra S 137 on left. 106cc on right in all pics.

 

[Gumnuts]

nice collection you saw hog

Thanks Ric for sharing your wealth of long lost information ....interesting reading.....guess you ebayed one of those adverts from Australia....Days and sons are still going in regional Victoria.....and they are sitting on some nice, hands off, clunkers too.
Have been told the GSsss were only imported privately to Australia...not brought in by Stihl.
Will try and push Andrew aka AS - Contra' ,to post some stuff......he's
as full-on as you.
-


Graeme

 

[7oaks]

:agree2:

Graeme hit the nail on the head. What a great treasure trove of Contra/Lightning information. From my point of view you are one of the greatest assets here on AS.

Many thanks...Carl

P.S. It's going to take me some time to digest all that you posted.

 

[sawbones]

:agree2:

Graeme hit the nail on the head. What a great treasure trove of Contra/Lightning information. From my point of view you are one of the greatest assets here on AS.

Many thanks...Carl

P.S. It's going to take me some time to digest all that you posted.

Shoot carl, just got started:hmm3grin2orange:

3 years ago I only knew saws by there color. I had never really worked on any either.

I bought a saw shop that closed that had been selling saws since 1960. He was also a contract cutter and I found recipts for contras he bought in 1960.

I think the power head was about $167 for him because he was also a dealer that sold homelite so he got a discount.

Thats how I got the first dealer pack with all the good stickers and tags from 1959. It was given to him from the dealer in Hood River OR. Sam did not start selling Stihls until the 70's.

As I cleaned out the buildings at the shop I would take the complete saws and put them in a truck. Most of the loose parts if I did not recognize them went into a 3 yard dumpster I brought for metal..

I took the dumpster home and there it sat. My neighbor Bryce came by one day and found a new set of cases for the contra in it and a few other goodies. I gave those to him cause at the time it was still greek to me.

as the time went on and I learned more about the saws I would tip the dumpster and look for parts..

I had tossed an almost complete lightning G in there but by that time I had sold the good stuff off so it was not fixible by then..

The gear cover and drive gear went to germany to guy that is now a good freind , Manfred.. Also Manfred got the contra G muffler on a trade..

I built my contra GS clone from a piston cylinder set I found in that shop too.

I had sold the NOS cylinder and it went to MN. then back to bryce, then back to me..

Its been fun. As long as I can still lift them

 

[sawbones]

Contra Lightning S AV in action. Roseburg OR. 1966 LOGGERS WORLD.

 

[dave k]

Thanks to AS member Jamie 101 I added this Contra to my others a week ago.
The previous owner to Jamie had done a paint job with household gloss paint which I managed to remove with fair results.
The saw runs well and has a nice original bar dated 1964.
Thanks Jamie.
I followed the instructions to get pics to show and it would appear I didn't do it correctly !

 

[7oaks]

Thanks to AS member Jamie 101 I added this Contra to my others a week ago.
The previous owner to Jamie had done a paint job with household gloss paint which I managed to remove with fair results.
The saw runs well and has a nice original bar dated 1964.
Thanks Jamie.
I followed the instructions to get pics to show and it would appear I didn't do it correctly !

Dave...


Here they are:

I was hoping you'd post pics of your new baby. Looks real nice the bonnet is real clean/in good shape. I note it has the manual oiler and air vent on the gas tank. We'll have to see which Contras have either or both. My most recent one has the manual oiler but not the vented gas tank. My first doesn't have a manual oiler but has the vented gas tank. I need to compare their serial numbers but the one w/o the manual oiler is (I assume) the older because of the old gas cap and roller on the recoil cover.

 

[harrygrey382]

Thanks to AS member Jamie 101 I added this Contra to my others a week ago.
The previous owner to Jamie had done a paint job with household gloss paint which I managed to remove with fair results.
The saw runs well and has a nice original bar dated 1964.
Thanks Jamie.
I followed the instructions to get pics to show and it would appear I didn't do it correctly !

beauty mate, as always...

 

[dave k]

Just added another Contra 1106 it came with a 25" bar and in good condition. Stihl made these saws so well it's almost impossible to find a really bad one ? or is it just that due to thier cost when new they were just better looked after ?

 

[7oaks]

:jawdrop:WOW....That's purdy! Can't have but a few hours on it. You just keep finding them.

 

[dave k]

I thought this old soldier deserved a good home and found this had arrived when I got home this evening. Bar is stamped 4/66 and looking under the clutch cover it hasn't done too much.

 

[7oaks]

I thought this old soldier deserved a good home and found this had arrived when I got home this evening. Bar is stamped 4/66 and looking under the clutch cover it hasn't done too much.

Congrats ... It does look nearly new especially if was used by the military. You'll have to upload a pic of all your Contras together.
:chainsawguy::chainsawguy:

 

[dave k]

Finaly got around to getting all my Contra's out and getting the serial # in a hope that anyone with Contra's can try to work out build dates.
Im happy enough that the S was built in 12-64 as it was bought at the begining of 65 in Kentucky. The AV # 1120737 but came without original bar so hopfully another one will give us more to go on.
Starting with the ex army model #378879 bar 4-66 then going left #373556 bar 12-64, 208362 bar 11-62 and last 188587 bar 2-62