Engines At Work

The drag-saw – a revolution in the timber recovery industry

- Patrick Knight

There can be little doubt that the development of the internal combustion engine played a major part in the improvement of everyday life for the working man. However, in reality, it must be the small petrol engine that has had the greatest effect on the average man in the street.

While it is true that the internal combustion engine had been around for a good many years, those early engines were extremely expensive to own and operate which meant that ownership was restricted to big business and ‘well to do’ people .

The development of the small petrol engine was quickly seen as something that could be adapted to provide the motive power for countless mundane tasks previously performed by man’s muscle power, leaving him free to undertake more productive tasks.

The timber recovery industry was quick to appreciate the advantages offered by the petrol engine, and when used to power a reciprocating saw represented a real step forward, and not just one of the useless oddities that was periodically placed on the market by unscrupulous dealers who were simply out to make a quick buck. In fact the motorised saw, commonly referred to as a drag-saw, would play a major role in the timber recovery industry for many years, before being replaced by the lightweight chainsaw which we are all familiar with today.

American-built

I think it would be fair to say that the Americans were the first to adopt the drag-saw in a big way, with such companies as Witte and Wade and others producing complete units. Witte and Wade saws were imported into the UK, and today examples can be seen on our rally fields.