Mall chainsaw history: dated facts from two United States patents and two museum catalogue records
Dated facts about chainsaws made by the Mall Tool Company of Chicago, drawn from United States patents 2,446,774 (application 1943, granted 1948) and 2,567,886 (application 1944, granted 1951), a Swedish technical museum catalogue record of a two-man Mall saw, and a Pennsylvania museum record of the Model 1MG made from 1953 to 1957.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It sets a patent record and museum catalogue records side by side, and nothing here ranks one maker against another. The Swedish record is in Swedish: the wording here is our own summary of it.
Dated facts
| Date | What the source says |
|---|---|
| November 15, 1943 to August 10, 1948 | The United States patent office printed patent 2,446,774, titled "Chain saw". It names Arthur W. Mall of Flossmoor, Illinois, as inventor, and the Mall Tool Company of Chicago, an Illinois corporation, as the party he assigned it to. The application is dated November 15, 1943, serial number 510,409, and the patent was granted on August 10, 1948. The text says the invention relates to wood cutting sawing machines and has as its general aim an improved cutting chain and driving sprocket, plus a new method for cutting logs. One stated object is a cutting chain with a gauge tooth that controls the cutting action, and another is cutting teeth spaced to leave room for chips. The patent also describes a hook for gripping a log while it is cut, and a locking means that stops the cutting teeth from kicking back about their pivots. It has 1 claim. Source: US patent 2,446,774. |
| Not dated | A Swedish technical museum catalogues a chainsaw made by Mall Tool Co of Chicago, Illinois. The record calls it a two-man chain saw in light metal with a two-stroke petrol engine, a cover with the fuel tank above, double handles at the engine and a single handle at the end of the blade. A separate light-metal guard rail for the blade goes with it. The markings read "Mall Gasoline Engine chain saw", number 18480, Model No 6, serial number 421417, and a plate shows a Swedish forestry company's name and a number. The record gives the engine part as 1000 mm long, 650 mm wide and 500 mm high, and the blade with its handle as 1450 mm long. The record gives no year. Source: DigitaltMuseum record TEKS0041101. |
| 1953 to 1957 | The Pennsylvania Lumber Museum, run by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, writes up a Mall Model 1MG chainsaw in its collection. It says the Mall Tool Company of Chicago produced the Model 1MG from 1953 to 1957, that the one cylinder engine gave 5 brake horse power and that the saw weighs 33 pounds. It says the first owner bought it new in the 1950s, that the first two owners used it around their properties, and that the son of the second owner used it in the late 1970s to start a tree service in Reading, Pennsylvania, for about a year before changing to a lighter saw. The saw came to the museum with its original instructions. Source: Pennsylvania Lumber Museum page on the Model 1MG. |
What the three records have in common and where they differ
The patent describes ideas about the chain, the sprocket and a log hook, and the two museum records describe finished saws. The patent text speaks of a power unit, a driving sprocket and a chain guiding plate, and it does not give an engine size. The Swedish record gives the make and measures of the saw but no engine output, and the Pennsylvania record gives 5 brake horse power and 33 pounds for the one-cylinder Model 1MG. A second United States patent, 2,567,886, applied for on September 18, 1944, and granted on September 11, 1951, names Arthur W. Mall and Walter L. Gordon as inventors and the Mall Tool Company as the party they assigned it to; one stated object is a removable auxiliary bumper bracket to assist in limbing.
The patent also names a locking means against the cutting teeth kicking back about their pivots. How regulators describe kickback and brakes is on the page about chainsaw kickback and chain brakes. A second United States chain saw patent, filed by a Philadelphia firm in 1945, is on the page about Disston chainsaw history, and the page about the chainsaw history timeline sets all of the makers in date order.
To correct or remove an entry, write to the address at the foot of this page.
Sources
- United States Patent Office, patent 2,446,774 Chain saw (Mall, assigned to Mall Tool Company, granted August 10, 1948), read October 9, 2026
- DigitaltMuseum, Swedish technical museum catalogue record TEKS0041101 Motorsåg, Mall Tool Co, read October 9, 2026
- Pennsylvania Lumber Museum, Mall Model 1MG Chainsaw, read October 9, 2026
- United States Patent Office, patent 2,567,886, Adjustable bumper attachment for chain saws (Mall and Gordon, assigned to Mall Tool Company, granted September 11, 1951), read October 9, 2026