technology: two-stroke cousins

I was cutting some firewood the other day using a Homelite 240. It has an air-cooled reed-valve 40cc two-stroke motor & it does a fine job with average sized trees, provided I keep the chain sharp. But I got to thinking, “how much more power would this thing make if the little tin box of an exhaust system was replaced with a tuned pipe?”
(Manufacturer Advertised Stock H.P.: 2.16 SAE @ 8,000 RPM)
As the little saw cut through another round of pine, I pictured a custom pipe protruding from the saw. Then in a visual flash of memory I recalled pictures of an Open-Class Chain-Saw competition I had seen somewhere. And those saws did in fact have tuned pipes. So during the remainder of the afternoon my little Homelite morphed into an imaginary, custom, “one-off”, air-cooled-KX125-engine driven, 30 horsepower saw. One log later I had incorporated a custom radiator back-pack, (the battery powered fan drawing cool air in through the space created by shoulder & hip pads & the hot air out the back of the pack, away from me), with braided steel hoses carrying the coolant to my new upgraded water-cooled 125cc saw making 40 cedar shredding horses. Yup, I was way ahead of the competition!
That night I got online to do a little research and find a picture or two to share. I was blown-away by what I found!
First of all, 125cc air-cooled chainsaws are ancient news. Chainsaw manufactures have been making them that big and bigger for almost 60 years now. Sure, they’ve come a long way in displacement vs. power, but 1/8 liter saws are old, old news.
Second, folks making custom open-class chainsaws, called “hotsaws” have taken the sport and their creations beyond the limits of reason for quite some time now. Here are a few of my findings.

My favorite, (favorite for vision, execution, and relative practicality), is Gary Walwrath’s “hotsaw” named The Iron Horse . Here’s part of what Gary has to say about his crazy creation;

“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...”

So it turns out that my imaginary water-cooled 125 wasn’t even close to par with Gary’s 90 horsepower beauty. I was in way over my head before I even began!

Then my research revealed the just plain silly:

Like this Harley engine chain saw. Harleys are certainly not known for their horsepower to weight ratios: something worth considering in a hand-held tool. And Harleys certainly are known for their vibration to power ratios: something worth considering in a hand-held tool. But my beloved grandmother always said that if you can’t say something nice then don’t say anything at all. Hmmm... Well... Harleys are competitive in flat-track... Oh, and “Chicks dig ‘em” (At least some do). Ok, moving on.

These guys from Washington felt that weight was no issue for real men, and anything under a couple hundred horses just wasn’t worth messing with.

So after warming up with a nitrous burning V6 that they yanked out of a Ford Ranger, they went on to create “the Predator”. (Yes, when you start naming your saws you know you’ve made the big time!).
The Predator, Aluminum block 215cid (3523cc) V8. Weighs in at 507lbs.

Ok, I’m out. Shut down before I even began. I guess I lack the back, the belly, and the balls to run with these guys. I’ll be out back with my 10 pound, 2 horse Homelite daydreaming about some other niche. Perhaps my girlfriend summed it up nicely; “Some people have too much time on their hands”...