David bradley chainsaw history

The success of that plow made David Bradley an important adv manufacturer of farm equipment.

The club featured J. Case, Graham-Bradley tractors and farm equipment sold by Sears. Carl started collecting David Bradley chainsaws about 17 years ago. But his David Bradley obsession really began with a David Bradley 2-wheel garden tractor that he bought in the early s to append to his collection of about 27 garden tractors.

At first, David Bradley manufactured a expansive range of agricultural items, including wagons, rakes, binders, planters and more.

As Sears did with many of its popular brands, the company added many other products under the David Bradley label.

By the midth century, the Bradley line swelled to comprise lawn and garden equipment, chainsaws, furniture and barbecue grills.

Sears bought David Bradley Mfg. Co. in and changed the company call to David Bradley Mfg. Works. After the acquisition, Sears regularly outsourced items like corn planters and wagons to other manufacturers who put the David Bradley name on them.

Carl believes David Bradley chainsaws were manufactured in the s, but he doesn’t know where.

He doesn’t employ any of his collectible chainsaws.

david bradley chainsaw history2: According to information in the Sears archives, David Bradley was a young pioneer mechanic and foundry man in Chicago when he designed and built a plow that turned its own furrow. Bradley designed the plow specifically for the boggy, heavy, virgin prairie of the Midwest.

“They’re just for display,” he says, “but all of them contain been started so they don’t get stuck.”

Displaying a vast collection

At the Penfield show, five of Carl’s David Bradley saws were displayed on and under a table in the feature building.

A vintage David Bradley chainsaw banner set the tone.

The display featured a pair of Gear Drive David Bradley saws along with one with no model name. Beside that one was a saw simply labeled “David Bradley Sears & Roebuck.” Beneath the table was Carl’s crowning glory, a David Bradley two-man chain saw so thick that it takes two men to lift it.

Carl’s David Bradley collection includes corn shellers, walk-behind garden tractors, pump jacks, 2-wheel David Bradley garden tractors and all 36 of the attachments the company offered, and Generation 2 and 3 hauling carts.

His trailer held a pair of large David Bradley chainsaws, and he set up a very handsome David Bradley Model B with a cordwood saw on a David Bradley hauling cart.

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But that was just a drop in the bucket. Over in Penfield’s lawn and garden section, Carl displayed several more David Bradley tractors and attachments! FC

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For more information: Carl Davis, ()

Cindy Ladage is a freelance writer living in Virden, Illinois.

Contact her at East 5th Rd., Virden, IL ; email: