We know that car companies sometimes install odd equipment in their products. Floors of Honda CR-Vs that turn into tables? It happened. A carry-away drink cooler and camping tent? We got both in one car (the Aztek). These features appeared to be as bizarre as they were rather un-car-like; there are far more that I’m just becoming aware of now.
In the seventies, Ford dealers offered an unlikely option for the “dentside” F-250 that had less to do with motor vehicles than it did forestry. Yes, this is the bizarre story of the Ford chain saw.
The Dearborn Chain Saw Mass Marketing
Over the years, Ford has been associated with building far more things than cars. The Ford Tri-Motor was an early foray into commercial aircraft, and Mercedes Streeter wrote about the years-long efforts by Ford to make headway into the semi-truck market. Tractors with the Blue Oval also roamed farms across America for years.
source: Ford
Still, the whole idea of Ford-branded chain saws seems like it was a stretch. Actually, that farm equipment seems to have been the impetus for Ford to start offering these power tools. It’s unlikely you were ever able to walk into an ACE Hardware or a similar store and purchase a chainsaw with FORD on it. Supposedly, these saws were primarily offered as dealer promotional items or bundled gifts with new tractors, during an era when Ford was struggling to get sales in agricultural equipment before ultimately abandoning the market. With their Ford-blue housings and big branding, they were a great, usable promotional piece.
source: eBay
Surprisingly, they weren’t the only car company with their name on chain saws. Honda has been known forever as a maker of essentially anything with an engine in it, from generators to motorcycles; chain saws are just one of the many gas-powered (and electric) tools they make and sell.
source: Honda
Hyundai also makes tree-cutters among their many products. I could swear that there were Mitsubishi-built saws as well, but I’m not finding them among the many non-car products they make.
source: Hyundai
However, Ford didn’t go to nearly the trouble that these Japanese brands went through; in fact, they didn’t actually manufacture these saws at all. Ford basically put their branding onto blue cases of saws made by Ohlsson & Rice. Examples of their “Challenger” products were renamed the “Eagle”, using a single-cylinder 2.0 cu. in. O&R engine that supposedly generated about 1.6 horsepower. There was also a smaller “Hawk” model with a 1.24 cubic inch motor; the “Hawk” I, II, and III models were all the same but had either a 12″, 14″, or 16″ bar. That’s likely more chain saw specifications than you expected or needed today.
source: Ford
Ford offered the saws from 1970 all the way up to around 1976, but somebody must have seen an opportunity to market the saws beyond just stand-alone giveaways. What if you could put one, Motocompo-style, into a heavy-duty Ford vehicle?
PS, PB, A/C, Saw
Today, the area under the hood of a pickup is often obscured with big plastic trim panels, or every surface is covered with some kind of sensors, emission equipment, or accessories. This wasn’t the case in the seventies, as there typically were acres of available space beneath the bonnet. Ford’s so-called “bumpside” 1967–72 and “dentside” 1973–79 pickups were no exception.
