Beaird-Poulan, a tradition since 1946
Beaird-Poulan has established a
solid reputation by building the
highest quality products available.
Pictured at left is (a) Model 2400,
Poulan’s first saw. It was Claude
Poulan’s invention, the bow guide,
and required two men to operate it:
(b) the Model A was Poulan’s first
one-man saw; (c) the B100 was
Poulan’s first chain saw; (d) the
F100 featured Reduction Drive;
(e) the K100 was powerful enough
for the professional but was the first
practical saw for the casual user;
(f) the Poulan Micro XXV chain saw
sold for well under $100 and continued revolutionizing the industry, and
(g) the Model 3400, Poulan’s new
mid-priced chain saw has many features of the professional saws.
In 1944, with World War II at its height,
a young Louisiana lumberman, Claude
Poulan made a discovery which would
eventually lead to the founding of a major
American company, and the expansion
and growth of a worldwide industry. As
Poulan supervised German prisoners of
war cutting down pulpwood trees in the
lush forests of East Texas, he noted that an
extra man was required to operate twoman chain saws,. The third man used a
pry pole to keep the chain from pinching
or binding as it cut through the trees.
Realizing the need for a device to eliminate the extra man, Poulan took an old
truck fender, hammered out a piece of it
into a curved attachment which he called a
bow guide. This simple innovation was
the first step toward the founding of the
company which still bears his name today:
Beaird-Poulan.
When the war ended, Poulan moved to
the small town of Alto, Texas, where he
continued to produce bow attachments for
major chain saw manufacturers including
Mall, Disston and others. In 1946, Poulan
moved his business to Marshall, Texas.
After several months of operating in Marshall, Poulan took $4,000 and, using rented equipment, moved to a tiny 20 by 20
foot shed in Shreveport, Louisiana, where
he formally established the Poulan Chain
Saw Company. Using engines purchased
from Homelite, he began producing the
first Poulan Chain Saw, the Model 2400.
Although Homelite was not in the saw
business, they quickly became aware of
this new industry’s potential and entered
the market Poulan, however, was able to
negotiate for the tool rights and began
producing his own engine components for
the Model 2400 two-man chain saw.
James M. Conly, Jr. joined Poulan in
1948 as chief accountant and office manager of the budding new company.
Throughout the company’s history, Mr.
Conly has played a key role in its development. Also joining the Poulan firm in
1948 was Ernest Garrett, whose
Claude Poulan and James Conly, Jr.
were driving forces behind the
development of Poulan chain saws.
The first Poulan manufacturing
plant, constructed in 1951, is still
used today for warehousing and
equipment maintenance.
knowledge of assembly procedures and
chain saw design, helped set up Poulan’s
first plant producing complete chain saws.
Poulan then brought his two brothers, Harry and Fletcher into the company in key
positions. Harry took over sales and developed the forerunner of the distributor-dealer system still in use today. Fletcher
became vice-president of production.
Together, these men produced eight Poulan
chain saw models, and gave the company a
solid foundation on which to build the
future.
Today, that company has grown to be
one of the largest manufacturers of chain
saws in the world.
In 1951, the company purchased a 12acre site in Shreveport and constructed a
new building which would eventually
grow o 55,000 square feet of manufacturing space. At the same time, the firm introduced its second two-man saw which used
components built in the company’s
foundry and plant, and carburetion and
ignition parts purchased from an outside
supplier.
Also in 1951, Poulan introduced its first
chain saw manufactured completely within the company, the Model 5200. This
clearly established the company as a
major force in the chain saw industry.
Claude and his brothers inspect one of
their early saws. Shown (left to right) are
Harry Poulan, Chief Engineer Ernest
Garrett, Claude and Fletcher Poulan.
The Model A (top) was Poulan’s
first one-man bow saw offering
Reduction Drive. The Model
B100 (bottom) featured Gear
Drive and let to dramatic
growth of the company.
In addition to establishing Poulan’s
reputation for quality, the B100 led to
dramatic growth in the company's two-step
distributor/dealer sales system.
Poulan again influenced the market with
the introduction of the F100 Reduction
Drive chain saw. It was a highly efficient
and very popular unit with professional
loggers.
Poulan moved quickly in the development of a direct drive unit and in August
1957, the H100 was introduced. It was followed a year by the streamlined Model
F200, a more powerful version of the
F100. The F200 pushed Poulan sales in the
professional market to record levels. Its
innovative design and dependability made
it very popular with the professional, so
popular in fact, that demands for the unit
continued for four years after the F200 was
discontinued.
A time of development
Through the mid-1950’s Poulan contin-
ued to be an innovator in the chain saw
field. It was during this period that Poulan
recognized the evolution of “one-man”
operation and introduced the Model A
reduction drive saw. This model was
untested and troublesome and Conly
remembers the valuable lesson learned
from it: “The salesmen would go out and
put a modified part on the saw at the dealer’s place of business. Two weeks later
another salesman might follow up and take
off that modification and install a new one.
It was
a time of testing and learning for the
company.
While the Model A unit was setting new
sales records, an even more progressive
model, the B100 Gear Drive unit was coming on line. The B100 was faster and more
versatile than the Model A and put Poulan
into the thick of the business.
The F100 Reduction Drive
chain saw was a highly efficient
and very popular unit with professional loggers.
With the need for a lightweight chain
saw becoming apparent, Poulan introduced the Model K100 which was not
only powerful enough for the professional but was the first practical saw
for the farmer and causal user.
A time of development
1958 was also a year in which Poulan
recognized the need for lighter weight
saws. Poulan met this challenge with its
Model K100, which was powerful enough
for professional use and was the first practical chain saw for the casual user. In April,
1959, Poulan brought the KD100, a direct
drive companion to the K100, onto the
market.
Thus, through its first 12 years of existence, the Poulan company had grown and
prospered, and found itself capable of
meeting the challenges of the marketplace
and not only able to compete with other
manufacturers but to outdo them.
In 1971, Charles Beaird (see inset)
set Poulan on a new era of growth
with the move to new manufacturing
facilities. The new plant had
117,000 square feet compared to the
old plant’s 54,000 square feet.
In 1959, Louisiana industrialist, Charles
T. Beaird, who had been an executive with
a Shreveport steel fabricating company,
sought new investment opportunities in the
Red River city. He found the Poulan Saw
Company a solid investment, and pur-
chased the firm from the Poulan family.
Beaird assumed presidency of the compa-
ny and renamed it Beaird-Poulan Compa-
ny.
He began an extensive program of
expansion, increasing the Shreveport plant
by 18,000 square feet and introducing several new models. Also, Beaird branched
out into the manufacturing of go-cart
engines and other related products.
Streamlining saw models, Beaird felt
would move the Beaird-Poulan Company
even further into the rapidly growing chain
saw market. And he was right. They
revised the basic product and streamlined
the old open carburetion and crude-looking housings. this led to the introduction
of the FD100 direct drive and its companion, the F3100 reduction drive in 1960.
Both were extremely sophisticated for the
time and well-received in the marketplace.
Beard, in realizing the need for a more
versatile and complete line of chain saws,
expanded the Poulan line to six models,
ranging in cost from $200 to $500. The
company instituted new sales promotion
techniques including advertising and
descriptive literature which appealed to a
broader market. Beaird-Poulan’s customer
was no longer just the rough woodcutter
of the United States forest lands, but the
general public as well.
To appeal to the new consumer market,
Beaird-Poulan also completely changed
the appearance of their saws with new
paint selections, making them more colorful.
Through superior design and aggressive
marketing, Beaird-Poulan set the pace for
the industry, and new models increased
penetration into the farm segment, casual
user segment and lightweight professional
segment. In 1965, Poulan passed another
milestone with the construction of a series
Charles Beaird
The company gains a new leader
Beaird-Poulan has become a multinational company because of the
quality of its products. Poulan uses
only the finest materials and many
of the parts are made or tooled at
Poulan facilities
of lightweight magnesium chain saws.
Models 360, 400 and 450 were introduced
in the summer of 1965, and signaled a
turning point in Poulan’s history with a
trend toward the manufacture of lightweight but durable chain saws.
In 1966, Beaird-Poulan acquired the
Wright Saw Division of Thomas Industries,
Inc. which expanded their market even further. A year later, the expansion of the
Shreveport plant, which added another
9,000 square feet of manufacturing space,
allowed the transfer of the Wright Saws
production lines to the main plant.
Beaird-Poulan technological advancements continued to lead the industry. By
1968, Beaird-Poulan was represented by 57
distributors in the United States and 94 distributors in Europe, Africa, the Pacific, the
Far East and Latin America. Poulan and
Wright saws were available from more
than 4,000 dealers .
In 10 years, Charles Beaird had brought
the company through 51 models of saw
development and opened the market of
most of the world to the Louisiana built
chain saw. The company still manufacturers its original saw attachment, the bow
guide, but the sizes and weighs of the
saws had radically changed, as well as
streamlined and lightened to fit virtually
any demand. Among the innovations
which Poulan introduced during this era
were the “push-button” sharpening chain
saw, and the Super 68, designed to boost
production for the professional pulpwood
and saw logger. Also new on the model
list was the Poulan Super 33, which at
$129.95, was billed as “the world’s greatest chain saw bargain.” The Super 33 was
perfect for farmers, sportsmen, homeowners or anyone who had limited use for
chain saws.
In 1969, Thomas Lindley joined Beaird-
The people (top) at Beaird-Poulan
are also a big factor in the success
of the company. The Beaird-Poulan
manufacturing facilities are the
most modern in the world.
Poulan as its first consumer marketing
director. Lindley recognized the casual
chain saw user as a virtually untapped
market. His organizational skills and
knowledge of the consumer set BeairdPoulan on a new era of growth.
In 1971, Beaird-Poulan began this new
period of growth with the move from the
manufacturing facilities at Greenwood
road with 54,000 square feet, to a 117,000
square foot building on Flournoy Lucas.
This helped relieve the cramped conditions of the old plant as well as increase
production.
In 1971, the company’s 25th Anniversary was observed with the introduction of
the Model XXV, a lightweight saw
designed for the casual user. Because of
the saw’s state-of-the-art design, and
Poulan’s consumer marketing know-how,
the Model XXV took the industry by
storm.
The Model XXV, designed by Lloyd
Tuggle who had joined Beaird-Poulan in
1969 as chief design engineer, gained
wide acceptance as the consumer market
grew for Poulan. Poulan products found
their way into hundreds of chain saw dealers’ showcases, and were sold through
hardware stores, engine shops, lawn and
garden stores, farm equipment suppliers
and rental outlets. The lightweight saw
combined excellent power to weight ratio,
good balance and an easy starting reedvalve engine design which made the
Model XXV the most efficient as well as
the most economical chain saw on the
market
After more than a decade, the BeairdPoulan firm had introduced 59 different
models of saws, and acquired the reputation of being an innovative and aggressive
manufacturer not willing to sacrifice the
quality of their products.
The Poulan Super XXV CounterVibe made the company an
innovator in the casual user
market
In February, 1973, James M. Conly, Jr.,
who had joined the Poulan brothers back
in 1948, became president of the company
succeeding Charles T. Beaird. A month later; Beaird, who was now chairman of the
firm, announced the acquisition of BeairdPoulan by Emerson Electric Co., St. Louis,
Missouri. Emerson, then a $764 million
manufacturing giant, traded stock for
Beaird-Poulan, and the company entered a
new and exciting phase in its development.
“The new owner is one of the nation’s
largest and most dynamic business organizations,” Beaird told the news media after
the acquisition was announced. “As a division of Emerson Electric, we will receive
financial backing necessary to insure our
plans for growth, yet retain our individual
identity, management and employee
policies.”
Ownership of the company had just
changed hands, when the Poulan Model
XX was introduced. The new saw, which
astonished industry experts, came on the
market with a tremendous appeal to the
casual user. “This little jewel is to our
industry what the transistor was to the
electronics world,” commented Lindley,
now vice president of sales.
The Model XX also surprised the industry by breaking the $100 price barrier, and
became the industry standard for lightweight saws. But, Beaird-Poulan, innovative throughout its history, refused to stop
here.
The following year, Beaird-Poulan produced the Super XXV Counter-Vibe Automatic; a lightweight saw which reduced
vibration by 78 percent. Chief engineer
Tuggle explained the new XXV reduced
engine vibration through a counter-balanced crankshaft and for vibration isolators. The 12-pound saw was an instant hit
in the market, and could rip through an
eight-inch log in four seconds.
That same year the Shreveport plant
expanded to 250,000 square feet, and the
number of employees rose to almost 600
to meet the rising demand for Poulan’s
Beaird-Poulan becomes a
division of Emerson Electric
The Poulan Micro XXV (top) is the
standard of the casual user market
today and is one of the main reasons for Poulan’s phenomenal
growth in the 1970’s. Poulan is continuing its innovative tradition in
the 1980’s with the introduction of
the Model 3400 (bottom) which
offers many of the features of a professional saw at a greatly reduced
cost. Over 96,000 man hours and
millions were invested in the development of this saw
new line of consumer saws.
While the XXV and XX models reached
the casual user market, Poulan had not forgotten the professionals. The Poulan Models 4200, 5200 and 6000, all with the farm
and logging industry. Of particular importance was the Model 5200, which was
designed for the professional logger who
used the saw daily for long hours.
In 1975, Poulan entered a new phase
when the company added a line of lightweight, self-priming centrifugal water
pumps with the capacity to pump water in
5,000, 8,000 and 10,000 gallons per hour
quantities.
In 1976, D. Seals moved from another
Emerson Division to become President of
Beaird-Poulan. Conly became chairman of
the board and Beaird assumed an executive consultant position.
1977 brought further developments and
changes for Beaird-Poulan. The first
development was the introduction of the
Poulan Micro XXV, an nine-pound chain
saw selling for only $79.95. the 10-inch
saw was the result of three years of
research and millions of dollars in
advanced manufacturing procedures. Said
Tuggle, “Poulan is able to offer more quality for less cost than any other chain saw
manufacturer in the world.”
A broad statement, but true nevertheless.
The Micro XXV had features which made
the saw easier to use. Among the innovations was a larger handle spread for better
leverage and control, a guard link chain to
minimize the effect of kickback and a kill
switch, located close to the trigger finger to
make operation shutdown easier, even with
two hands on the saw.
A sister model, the Deluxe Micro XXV,
offered the same features, with a 12-inch
sprocket nose bar rather than the 10-inch
bar. The other major development in 1977
was the opening of Beaird-Poulan’s
100,000 square foot plant in Nashville, AR,
The Poulan Micro XXV (top) is the
standard of the casual user market
today and is one of the main reasons for Poulan’s phenomenal
growth in the 1970’s. Poulan is continuing its innovative tradition in
the 1980’s with the introduction of
the Model 3400 (bottom) which
offers many of the features of a professional saw at a greatly reduced
cost. Over 96,000 man hours and
millions were invested in the development of this saw
where the new Micro XXV models are
now made. The Plant was the company’s
first operation outside of Shreveport’s. It
has now been expanded to over 200,000
square feet.
In 1978, Poulan introduced a new line
of grass and weed trimmers, further
expanding its product line. The market for
such gardening equipment had mushroomed in a very short time, and as with
all of Poulan’s history, the company is
moving to a leadership position in the field
as well.
In 1978, the company opened its first
plant in Canada. Located in Markham,
Ontario, this plant made it possible for
Poulan to meet the growing demand in
Canada. Poulan’s expansion has extended
worldwide with the opening of Poulan’s
first European sales office and warehouse
in Bussels, Belgium. Poulan chain saws
and accessories are now sold in every
major market in the world.
Because of Poulan’s innovative engineering and aggressive marketing, it is one
of the largest chain saw manufacturers in
the world and has experienced the greatest
growth of any chain saw manufacturer
over the past 10 years.
The Future
Beaird-Poulan has enjoyed tremendous
success since its humble beginnings in
1946. In a short period of time, BeairdPoulan has emerged as one of the most
respected and trusted manufacturers of
chain saws and other fine products. It is the
goal of the company to continue its program of developing innovative and reliable
products for the future while at th same
time maintain its historic trend of solid
growth. Beaird Poulan is definitely a company of the future.
Beaird-Poulan Division
Emerson Electric Company
Shreveport, LA
Loading...