hargon saw

gday I found a hargon saw stashed away on the in laws farm.it has a BSA motor hasn't run for 30 years. does anyone have any experience (or horror stories)handling one of these beasts.

Used one for years with no problems other than hard to push around on rough ground, sold ours for $360 at clearing sale 2006


You could turn the blade horizontal [see turntable on the top arm] to cut down trees then hope they fell where you thought.
Borrowed photo to educate you lot

Colin

Id be finding out what size and what model that motor is first might be worth a nice dollar,

Normally 500cc side valve, engine I think engine number starting with BM20. Industrial engine, similar to WW2 army engine WM20. It will have different (compared to bike) oil connection tappings in crankcase for different mounting angle

Paul

A Hargan saw ???I was incredulous when a 68 year builder mate of mine was telling me about these danger man machines that were basically a wheel barrow with a Petrol engine and a large circular saw blade that one just pushed into a log to cut it up. Crikey , WorkCover would have a Heart attack if they saw someone operating one of these today.

I got the remains of that type of thing years ago - it had a Howard-8 motor on it. Bloke reckoned his mate put his kids through uni with it doing firewood. Engine is still in my shed.
ASW.

Isnt that what is normally called a swing saw ? Have seen a lot with small car motors on them or others with a big arch so you can cut real big logs up to five feet always looked a bit scary to me maybe Im just chicken
Paul

Hi Paul, yeah sometimes known as a swing saw. Hargans was one manufacturer, Mobilco another.

Here is a ad, taken from Power Farming, for a Hargans on ebay.

tinyurl.com/m3c9znh

Paul

Yeah Paul I think swing saw is just a term always look real dangerous but there plenty of them around sleeper cutters used to use them I think a lot of the home made ones had VW motors on them as they were using big blades and were men on a misson later ones used subaru motors same type of flat 4 motor still not my cup of tea I'll leave them for people smarter than me
Paul

my father in law told me a yarn about a fella he knew was using one. the blade jammed, tossed him up and over the bars, landed on the blade ripped him from arsehole to breakfast.