Australian Made Chainsaws ... the myth ..... the truth .....

Hi Bob,

I have been having a look at your website and it is great that someone is recording the various saws in Australian history.

I have a small collection of Blue Streak chain saws and am also trying to piece together their history. I believe that your statements that they were largely only assembled from imported parts is a bit harsh and I would in deed call them Australian made.

The following is an extract from an article of 1953, titled "A New Australian Industry is Born - The Story of the "Blue Streak" Chain Saw":

"Ellerkers became large-scale importers of Canadian saws in 1947, not long after arranging for local manufacture of the entire units, even including engines.

This called for engineering skill and facilities for research and development of the highest order. In this they were fortunate to arose the interest of CC Engineering Ltd., Sydney, which firm from the outset made a signal success of the Australian-built saw.

At first, manufacture was confined to an exact reproduction under licence of an overseas make of saw; but as time went by the Ellerker/CC alliance became convinced that the peculiarities of Australian timbers and operating conditions, needed-in fact, demanded-a range of saws expressly built to handle these factors.

After this decision, the midnight oil could very often be seen burning in the offices of the design experts at CC while a team of the most highly experienced professional loggers that could be found, tested time and again, each new idea. Thus, the true Australian saw was born.

The range which has been named "Blue Streak" is claimed to be the only line of power chain saws wholly made in Australia."

This article supports my understanding that initially for Blue Streak production, the tooling was purchased from IEL rather than parts. This tooling was then used to manufacture the reproductions, not assembly of imported parts. This is supported by the production dates of Blue Streaks compared to IEL saws, with Blue Streak production starting around the time when IEL stopped producing the equivalent models, and Blue Streak production continued well after IEL had moved to producing its Pioneer Twin saws.

At the time of the Blue Streaks ceasing to be built, another Australian saw superseded them and was produced under another name by the manufacturers. I am compiling information on this saw and will forward details when I have them. This saw was produced from around 1954-55 and does not seem to have relied on any overseas design.

Regards

Neil Allen

The History of "TIMBER CHAMP CHAINSAWS"

By

Brian McRae

Timber Champ chainsaws were built by Motor Mower Repair Service in Bunbury WA in the early 1960’s.

The above business was started by Ray Trebley in about 1962 and as the name suggests, was primarily engaged in repairing lawn mowers.

The scope of the business expanded quickly into all aspects of small engines including chainsaws, outboard motors and motor cycles.

I began work for Ray as a 17 year old around 1963/64 and we began manufacturing the Timber Champ saws a year or two later.

At that time chainsaws were becoming popular with home firewood cutters, and we were by then engaged in the sales and repairs of many of the larger chain saws used by timber faller’s and sawmill’s in the district.

Ray had taken on the dealership for HOMELITE chainsaws which were an excellent machine and sold well to professional fallers and timber mills, with the smaller models being popular with farmers and weekend firewood sellers.

The Mobilco Workmate entered the market around this time as a cheaper line of saw aimed at the home woodcutter, and we were faced with not being able to supply a similar model from the HOMELITE range.

With Ray’s previous experience building and racing go-karts, it was not a difficult move to build some chainsaws.

My own activities, already having built a 12 foot boat as a 14 year old, and also now building and racing go-karts and dabbling with motor cycles ensured my part in the venture.

The decision was made to design and manufacture a similar design of chainsaw to the Mobilco Workmate and a few of the other simpler machines appearing on the market, but using a more powerful engine.

We built them at Ray’s workshop which was at that time situated behind his home at Jubilee Road, Glen Iris, just out of Bunbury.

The power unit used was a Tecumseh KAH 58 2 stroke fitted with a centrifugal clutch and driving a 7/16th chain on a 21inch cutter bar.

The 7/16th chain was chosen, as the saws were expected to be used mostly for cutting dry firewood, and the .404 pitch chain then in use on the more expensive smaller chain saws did not last well in our hard dry local timber, and the more robust chain proved more durable in this type of use.

The frame of the saw was cut from 1/8th steel plate with the spike bar as part of the frame and the main handle and rear grip formed from 1" tubing and were braised to the main frame.

The first batch of ten were cut at the workshop by free hand using oxy/acetylene, however after that production run the rest were cut on a profile cutter at a local engineering works.

The bottom support plate was bent at right angles from the main frame, and the clutch housing was recessed into the frame using a short piece of 4" pipe with a hole cut in the frame for the same and the removed disk welded to its inner edge to provide the mounting plate for the engine.

The chain guard was a piece of 2’’ x1/8th flat bar formed to shape and also welded to the main frame.

The saw cutter bar mounting bolts were fitted through drilled holes and welded to the main frame, and the bar mounting plates and adjusters were cast in aluminum at a local foundry.

The fuel/oil tank was manufactured by a Perth sheet metal fabricator and the chain oil pump was also bought in, but all other bits and pieces were manufactured in house.

The first saws were painted red with the handles painted metallic blue, the engine fan housing red and the starter wrinkle finish black.

Ray hand painted the name on the first batch and the later saws had transfers for the name with the H/P hand painted under the transfer .

Later on all saws were painted metallic blue.

The saws were made in batches of fives, ten, and twenty and the serial numbers had four digits.

The first two digits were the year of manufacture and the second the chronological amount of machines produced.

The saw which I own is numbered 6626 which tells me it was made in 1966 and was the 26th to be made.

I cannot remember the actual amount produced, however it would be less than one hundred in total, making these examples fairly rare.

A couple of years on, Ray decided to design a new (lay down) design similar in appearance to the HOMELITE C5 and other American manufactured saws appearing on the market.

The first prototype used a Tecumseh KAH 52 engine with a more powerful model planned on the same frame using (I think a KAH 64 engine)?

These models were cast at a local foundry in several pieces: main frame, air cleaner/carby box/rear handle, air cleaner cover, fuel/oil tank.

The first proto type fuel/oil tank on this later model was a complicated sheet metal affair which I still have, but the few which were sold had the cast tanks.

I also still have a couple of new unused engines from these models however I have no idea what become of the finished saws.

This article is written from memory from over forty years ago, and as Ray is no longer living and the business gobbled up by others many years ago, this will probably be the only reference to a bold bid by a small local business many years ago where possibly the only chainsaws were ever manufactured in Western Australia.