The fastest chainsaw in the North

Beau Topia guns a modified saw through a 300mm log while Carl Hansen, left, and Rex Taylor time the machine with their stopwatches. Photo / Mike Barrington

The high-pitched scream of a modified chainsaw motor is music to the ears of earthworks machinery operator Rex Taylor, petrolhead Carl Hansen and chainsaw ace Beau Topia.

They are tuning up a couple of saws they plan to use in the Stihl Hot Saw Race during the National Agricultural Fieldays at Mystery Creek on June 15-18, aiming to end Tokoroa dominance in the event and bring the pine log speed cutting title to Northland.

The trio put a saw through its paces behind industrial premises off Kioreroa Rd in Whangarei on Saturday afternoon, trying different fuel mixes to coax more muscle from the 122cc engine of a modified 084 Stihl saw with an exhaust chamber which already boosts the motor's stock eight horsepower to around 25.

The engineering specifications for the hot saw's modifications are more hush-hush than a Panama bank account, but Taylor and Hansen were optimistic their research was along the right lines as Topia made the mandatory three cuts through a pine log in under six seconds.

In hot saw racing, a competitor using a single-cylinder, single-motor power saw makes three vertical cuts - down, up and down - through a 300mm diameter pine log.

The contest is strictly against time. Chainsaws may be warmed up before the contest, but must be turned off before the contest begins.

Neither self starting nor impulse-type push button starters nor twin motors are allowed. A starter gives the countdown and on the signal competitors start their saws.

The contest ends when the third slice is severed.

Stihl Timber Sports world champion Jason Wynyard, formerly of Karetu but now living in Auckland, said Henry Hale of Tokoroa, held the New Zealand hot saw record, which he believed was around 4.8s.

"That's very quick," Wynyard said. "Having a good saw is just part of it. You need a very skilful operator to achieve a time that fast."

He competes in the open hot saw class in the United States using a machine powered with a 300cc snowmobile engine.

Beau Topia got Rex Taylor interested in hot saw modifications and the pair debuted with a runner-up performance one second behind the winner at the Northland Field Days in Dargaville last year and a third placing at the 2015 National Fieldays.

Things went awry when Topia was disqualified for cutting over a log mark during this year's Northland Field Days and the pressure is on him to ensure that doesn't happen again at Mystery Creek.

Carl Hansen is hands-on sponsor of the Northland hot saw team, involved with toolmaker Peter Sass in motor modifications, in consultation with Rex Taylor. Taylor also has his employer JSB Construction and Gough Cat on board as sponsors.

During the first two days of the National Fieldays some of New Zealand's best chainsaw carvers will compete for a share of the $3000 prize pool in the Waikato Challenge Carving Event. The public will then bid for their favourite carving in an auction at 3.30pm on Friday, June 17, with all proceeds will go to St Johns.

The Logging Skills Competition takes place on Saturday, June 18, with teams from around New Zealand competing for $3000 in prizes. Six-man teams will compete in a variety of chainsaw skill events and the Ladies Race will also be held.

The NZ National Agricultural Fieldays 2016 was officially launched last week with a function at Mystery Creek to celebrate collaboration in industry, centring on Fieldays' theme Collaborate to Accelerate Innovation which highlights and celebrates New Zealand's culture of working together in the rural sector in order to advance agriculture, both domestically and around the world.

Fieldays contributed $142million to Waikato's economy and $396million to the New Zealand economy last year.