Homelite history

Press, 1 July 1983, Page 18

Homelite history

“Homelite” is an unusual name for a chainsaw. The American company that produces this brand had its beginnings in the 1920 s and at that time manufactured generators and lighting plants for homes without electricity, hence the Homelite name. The company specialised in producing high quality two stroke motors and water pumps and during the Second World War made an important contribution to Allied defence. The United States Government commissioned Homelite to make auxiliary motors for aircraft, particularly the Flying Fortress bomber. Tail gun turrets on these bombers were usually turned by pneumatic power from the main engines but if the air line was ruptured by gunfire, the rear-gunner was left a sitting duck to any fighter coming in from the rear. In this event the Homelite auxiliary motor could be started by the gunner so he could revolve the turret and protect the aeroplane. The motor was also fitted to Sherman tanks to serve the same purpose since if the main motor of the tank failed it was left defenceless, with the gun turret unable to turn. The large Government contract gave Homelite sufficient funds to develop a very reliable motor and after the war the company’s expertise was turned towards developing a chainsaw.

In 1950 the first Homelite chainsaw, a belt driven seven cubic inch model weighing 12kg, was marketed. This was followed two years later by the first gear driven chainsaw and in 1954 the larget saw ever manufactured by Homelite was released. This model weighed nearly 14kg. In 1954 the company was

bought out by the huge Textron Corporation and in 1956 the first direct drive chainsaw was produced.

It was not until 1963 that the first truly light-weight chainsaw was developed. While competitors’ lightest efforts weighed in at more than Bkg, the Homelite weighed only 5.6 kg. More than a million of these chainsaws have been sold and Homelite is still producing the same model after 20 years. No other manufacturer is believed to have produced so large a quantity of a single model. It is interesting to compare the relative prices of chainsaws from these early days to the present. When the Cable Price Corporation first imported Homelite chainsaws to New Zealand in 1953 they sold for £245 ($490) and represented 61 weeks gross pay for a bushman. Today a bushman’s gross pay covers the cost of a chainsaw in just two weeks. The lengths to which the Homelite manufacturers will go to test their products is demonstrated by the fact that when the new 240 model was due for release, 16 months ago, it had undergone three years development at a cost of SI.SM. The chainsaw was tested in Scandinavia in the winter of 1981 and icing problems were found in the carburetion. By the time the problems had been overcome the winter was over in the Northern Hemisphere so Homelite sent an engineer to New Zealand for the southern winter. Cable Price took the engineer and the modified chainsaw to the 2100 m level on Mt Ruapehu and, with the approval of the Park Ranger, tested the saw for icing. The tests proved successful and the saw is now marketed in Scandinavia,