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My Personal Background
30 Year Master tool and die maker and engineer.
From motorcycle Land Speed records to World Champion Hot Saw Titles.
In 1971 I set Three Land Speed records at Bonneville Salt Flats on a 500cc
Kawasaki mounted in a frame of my own design. All records were set in different classes.
1972 saw me working at Oregon Saw Chain as the World Wide Field Test
Engineer, where I met my partner Steve Ingalls. In 1982 after watching several logging show competitions running hot saws, Steve and I decided we could build a better hot saw. One that could blow the doors off the competition. Not only were the other saws slow, they were ugly. We wanted ours to look good and go fast, very fast...
Our first hot saw was a Yamaha 292cc snow mobile motor. This motor was a
factory built racer and made to order for the kind of chain speed we needed in a winning Hot Saw. It took Steve and I almost a year to fabricate and assemble everything into a working hot saw.
We entered competition in 1983 and after several events, won the first of
seven World Championships. The little 292cc Yamaha was a winner for several years until around 1986, when we started having to compete against saws with 500cc or more. That's when we started designing our own 500cc hot saw.
Over 600 hours of computer design time, and a year of fabrication, fitting,
assembling and testing, the (IRON HORSE) was ready to kick some butt.
We bought a brand new 500cc Husqvarna Desert Racer motorcycle.
Removed the motor, cut off the transmission, reversed the crank shaft, built new outer case covers, designed and built our own electrical system and a million other things. When it was all finished, the saw was a work of art. We had red anodize side plates, polished aluminum mounts, custom Handles etc., etc.
The fuel and bar oil, and coolant was pumped from a life support system
through plastic tubing that hooked to a manifold mounted on the saw. The life support system was mounted on a separate cart with wheels. The liquids were pumped using air pressure. The coolant used an electric water pump. The saw was started with a detachable 24 volt starter motor.
We ran on two continents since 1987 and were never defeated.
Since I'm no longer racing I have lots of the special ½ pitch chisel chain for
sale. Along with the drawings and specifications to build your own winning Hot Saw. |
