STIHL Contra chainsaw

What it is

The Contra was a petrol-powered chainsaw introduced in 1959 by STIHL, the Waiblingen company founded in 1926 by the engineer Andreas Stihl. It was STIHL's first gearless one-man chainsaw and weighed 12 kg, a significant step for a tool that in its early years required two people to operate.

How it works

Early chainsaws were heavy, two-person machines. Andreas Stihl's first saw was a 48 kg unit designed for cutting felled trees in timber yards, and it could only operate vertically. The Contra used a direct drive with no gearbox, connecting the engine to the chain. It also had a chipper-tooth chain and a diaphragm carburettor that worked in any position, so the saw could be tilted and turned freely during felling and limbing.

Why it stands out

The Contra was a milestone for the forestry industry. A lighter, more powerful machine that one person could handle made mechanised timber work far more productive and helped bring chainsaws into the mainstream. STIHL backed this with a distinctive distribution model: from the start, Andreas Stihl sold his machines only through specialist dealers who also provided service, an approach the company still follows. The family-owned group grew into one of the world's best-known makers of chainsaws and outdoor power tools.

Where you meet it

The Contra itself belongs to the museum now, but its descendants are everywhere: in forestry, among arborists and tree surgeons, in municipal parks departments and in the garages of homeowners. STIHL's orange and grey saws, and its wider range of hedge trimmers, blowers and brush cutters, are sold through specialist dealers worldwide.