Andraes Stihl.

Andraes Stihl was a Swiss-born engineer and is often said to be the “father of chainsaws”.

After serving during WW1, he studied mechanical engineering in Eisenach and later founded the Andreas Stihl Company.

Then in 1926, Stihl patented the “Cutoff Chainsaw for Electric Power” which was the world’s first electric chainsaw. But it weighed a hefty 64 kilograms with its one-inch gauge chain and handles at either end. Due to its bulk, it required two people to operate.

In 1928, Stihl’s former business partner, Emil Lerp, built and patented the first petrol chainsaw, known as the Dolmar.

A year later, in 1929, Andreas introduced his own petrol version, a two-man saw called the “Baumfällmaschine Type A”.  Producing 6 horsepower and weighing 46 kilograms, the saw was marketed as a “portable tree-felling machine”.

The Sthil company continued to revolutionise and grow and, in 1931, became the first European company to export chainsaws to both the United States and the Soviet Union.

Following the Second World War, lighter materials, metal alloys and improved engine designs revolutionised chainsaws together with the logging and timber industry.  The first one-man chainsaw was produced in 1950 but was still heavy.

The Stihl Contra was launched in 1959 and set the design standard for modern chainsaws. The gearless one-man chainsaw produced 6Hp and weighed only 12 kg. It also featured a diaphragm carburettor capable of working in any position which offered flexibility without having to manually change settings.

Many other companies now manufacture chainsaws, but Stihl remains one of the world’s biggest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Stihl