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We are often asked about GB bars – how long they have been around, where do they originate from, who is behind them? Here’s some answers.
Griffiths & Beerens [Hence GB] was established by Tom’s father and his business partner Jack Griffiths in 1959, manufacturing chainsaw guide bars and associated products. Tom took full ownership of the business in 2005, at which time the factory in Melbourne employed 120 people producing 300,000 bars a year.
However the company went through a rough patch, being hounded by the banks and despite Tom taking the banks to court and successfully suing them – it was enough to close the factory and stop production. But that did not stop Tom..
China, with its reduced costs, offered hope of a way forward, but rather than simply outsource production and risk a drop in quality, Tom decided to move out there himself and establish a new manufacturing facility.
“In 2010 I got a piece of land and built my own factory, from the foundations up,” said Tom. “In 2015 we finally opened for production. It took that to get a decent product.”
That product was the Titanium-XV bar, designed with an ultra-high-strength titanium alloy body and promoted as the hardest bar available in the market. GB’s customers agreed, doubling sales in its first year. Our > Extra Long GB Bars are based on the same production methods as this harvester bar – harvester bar strength and longevity – in a chainsaw bar.
“I’m an industrial engineer. I was in the factory, drilling holes in chainsaw bars at 10 years old. My entire life has been spent making bars. This is what I do. I know how to make things and I know a hell of a lot about bars.’
This also goes for our > GB ProTop Bars – they may perhaps not be as sexy as the Japenese equivalents but pricing is more competitive and as Tom puts it when asked ‘what’s so good about a GB ProTop Bar, why should I buy one?’
“To get the best use out of a chainsaw bar you need to sharpen the chain correctly, reduce the depth gauges, clean and dress the bar, remove any burrs as they form, change the drive rim regularly, ensure the chains is oiling correctly, observe correct cutting procedure – but if you are not quite as good as you should – a GB bar will be more forgiving compared to other guide bars’.
This certainly holds out given the very few warranty issues we experience with these bars.
> GB Lo Pro Bars – For the last few years we have been expanding the range of lo pro cutting options for our chainsaw mills. GB Bars has the ability through Tom to get custom guidebars designed and built and it has changed many of the bars we now use when milling. GB provides us not only with lo pro guidebars for most large chainsaws – but also with custom guidebars with slots and holes to mount the Panther chainsaw mills. These bars are lightweight and allow for maximum cutting speed and minimum kerf wastage. They also allow you to mount a longer bar on the same powerhead.
Tom has now moved to Scotland and is now basing his R&D here while continuing to produce at his factory in China. We will continue to harass him for new custom bars as the market for GB Bars develops as he is one of the very few people who have the know how and the drive to put new ideas on the end of your chainsaw.
