Logging with an early power-driven 2-man saw — 8/1/1944-8/2/1944 — #21115_1
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Photograph Copyright Anderson & Middleton Company
United States — Washington (State)
Harbor Plywood Corporation
This is the earliest photo on this website that shows loggers using a powersaw rather than falling axes and crosscut hand saws.
Thanks to Alain Lemoth, who identifies the saw as a: “Titan model B which first appeared in 1942 and is now very rare. It was built in Seattle for two-man operation with a twin-cylinder horizontally-opposed engine and sand cast aluminum construction.”
Thanks also to Wayne Sutton who adds: “The Titan Type B chainsaw was built in Seattle by the Mill and Mine Supply Company. The saw, produced in limited numbers, was the second generation of big two cylinder chainsaws that Mill and Mine produced. I have one in my collection and they are quite difficult to locate. These big twins were based on the earlier STIHL B2Z which had been distributed by Mill and Mine in the 1930's.
The history of chainsaws is for the most part unexplored. They were conceived many years ago and there are accounts of one-off machines that were built by industrious inventors around 1900. Patents for part or entire saws were granted all through the late 1800's and early 1900's. Several patents were granted to Charles Wolf of Vancouver, Washington; he actually had some success marketing his Link Saw design beginning in about 1920. In 1926, Andreas STIHL in Germany developed and began selling his machines. Then things began to move much more rapidly and as the Second World War approached there were a number of folks testing the waters. Many of them, like Mill and Mine, had been distributors for STIHL and since they were finding it difficult to get the German-built machines as the war approached, they went into production for themselves. This is one of the reasons you might hear Andreas STIHL said to be the father of the modern chainsaw, since most of the machines and companies have some traceable ancestry back to STIHL.”
The 1942 Polk's Directory for Seattle has this entry for the Mill Engineering and Supply Company: "Carl S. Sundbom Pres, Joseph A. Lagoe Treas, A. Halvor Lundberg Sec, Sawmill and Wallboard Machinery, Cranes, Electro-Lifts, High Speed Log Gangsaws, 3311 1st Av S, Tel SEneca 1034”
