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Poulan chainsaw history: dated facts from three Norwegian museum catalogue records for saws made in Shreveport, Louisiana

Dated facts about Poulan chainsaws from 1973 to 1982, drawn from three Norwegian museum catalogue records of saws made in Shreveport, Louisiana, and two Swedish design archive records of an undated Husqvarna Poulan Pro drawing and sketch.

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 museum catalogue records side by side, and nothing here ranks one maker against another. The Norwegian texts are in Norwegian: the wording here is our own summary of them.

Dated facts

Poulan chainsaw facts in date order, with the page that dates each one
DateWhat the source says
1973 to 1982A Norwegian forestry museum record catalogues a Jo-Bu SL 3 saw made by Poulan (Beaird-Poulan) in Shreveport, Louisiana, and gives 1973 to 1982 as the period. The record counts the model among hobby saws, suited to felling and cutting small trees and not to timber felling, and often used at the cabin and in the garden. It notes a short narrow bar, low weight, a left hand guard on the front handle bar and a label on the petrol tank with seven numbered user instructions. Source: DigitaltMuseum record SJF.13856.
1974A second record catalogues a hobby saw for firewood, named "Jo-Bu sl3", made by Poulan (Beaird-Poulan) in Shreveport in 1974. It says this model has no chain brake or kickback guard and no vibration damping. It takes a 12 or 14 inch bar and this one has a 12 inch bar with 3/8 pitch chain. It has automatic chain oiling and a two-stroke engine of 32.8 cm3. Source: DigitaltMuseum record SJF.12738.
1982A third record catalogues a small saw made by the Poulan Saw Company in Shreveport in 1982. The record reads it as built for light crosscutting for craft work more than for felling timber. It has a brake lever in front of the left hand handle bar that the user's hand trips if the bar kicks upward, a muffler cased in black hard plastic, and a bar 37.5 cm long and 8 cm wide, both measures including the chain. An instruction booklet in many languages came with it. Source: DigitaltMuseum record SJF.12181.
Not datedA Swedish design archive holds a printed digital drawing and a presentation sketch, both titled "Husqvarna Poulan Pro", of a motor saw profiled for Husqvarna. The records give no year. Sources: DigitaltMuseum record DA2019.3.10 and DA2019.3.11.

Two of the three Shreveport records show the change between the 1974 saw with no brake and the 1982 saw with a brake lever. How regulators describe such brakes is on the page about chainsaw kickback and chain brakes. The same JO-BU SL3 model name also appears in the museum records on the page about Dolmar chainsaw history.

To correct or remove an entry, write to the address at the foot of this page.

Sources