Husqvarna 380 CD

'70's Husquvarna 380

Along came saws from overseas that were powerful, streamlined (for easy moving through the brush and sliding along the trunk when limbing), vibration-isolated for your hands, equipped with chain brake and electronic ignition, and were quiet besides. Stihl (from Germany) and Husqvarna, Jonsereds, and Partner (from Sweden) took over the market.

This 380 CD was the flagship in Husqvarna's line for a while. It was a saw that, Husqvarna said (1973), "...because of its compact design, is ideally suited for harvesting in heavy forests, with some limbing work."

With 77 cc (4.5 cu in.) it had the power (about 4.5 hp) to be a good northeastern sawlog saw. This particular saw may well be the first saw used on the East Coast with a chain brake, although the one shown was not the original brake -- it was replaced with the "Swede-O-matic" brake when it came out a couple of years later (a pin on the handle bar can trip the brake trigger by inertia alone). There was a chain-catcher in case the chain was thrown or broke, and a guard for the right hand. The "banana bar" came about when Oregon realized that the smaller the nose radius, the less the kick. Unfortunately, since it was not symmetrical you couldn't flip the bar over to equalize the wear. But it was a civilized saw at last -- even though only the top cover was plastic; the rest was all metal so it weighed about 18.7 pounds with bar and chain (about the same as the 1958 Mac D30!)