Fun with chainsaws.

[Bill Douglas]

I bought a Husqvarna 137 chainsaw a while a go to chop up a wind fallen Bluegum tree and I've become a bit obsessed with chainsawing.

The 137 is just a little fella but the amount of work it can do is phenomenal. My Mom made me promise I wouldn't ever use a chainsaw without doing a safety course first so I honored this agreement by doing a 2-day use and safety course. This was excellent and we used Stihl 260 chainsaws as part of our training. These machines have an excellent power to weight ratio and can work all day.

I bought a super efficient woodburner for the house and went in search of firewood. Although there is a beach 20 meters from home, beach driftwood is not good as salt deposits rust out the fireboxes. So instead of that I chopped up various logs that had washed down a river and dried out on the banks. I love trees so wouldn't actually cut one down but anything already down is fair game. The City employees have thinned out domestic pine forest trees next to a golf course so I've been chopping up the felled trees. No trouble with Police arriving as it's a fairly discrete spot and I suspect everyone thinks I'm a City employee.

What sort of chainsaw have you got and what sort of work are you doing with it?

[Dueller]

Be careful burning a lot of pine ...creosote buildup can cause chimney fires.

[Bill Douglas]

Pine huh, my GF said to get a chimney sweep in every year. I'll keep an eye on the build up. Most of my firewood being odd logs that have washed down a river or dead trees on the farm I have a real mixture.

[3.2 CAB]

Pine is easy to cut, but it is not a recommended firewood. Try to stick with hardwoods. I personally don't use firewood, but other members in the family do have optional wood heating, so I cut wood for them. I have several different saws. The smallest is my Stihl 020AV, the largest is a 20"bar Mac. Hey, "you could put an eye out with that"

[on2wheels52]

Just don't get into the wood business, "cutting firewood'll make an old man out of you" a neighbor at my first house here used to say.
Taking in used chainsaws is a part of my business, I'm partial to the european ones myself.
Jim

[FastCarFan]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

My Mom made me promise I wouldn't ever use a chainsaw without doing a safety course first so I honored this agreement by doing a 2-day use and safety course.

+1 on the safety course. Your Mom was right (again).

Years ago I was working with several people to clear some brush. One guy was using a chainsaw. As he was walking away from the brush area he looked down because his boot had come untied & was really loose. He discovered that he had cut through all of the laces on his boot & most of the leather. Good thing he had good leather boots on, but he still should have been more careful.

[rcecale]

Of course, if you need some extra cash, you can always use your new chainsaw to start a promising music career...



Randy

[pwd72s]

Thse days, whenever I need a big tree taken out? I just call a long time friend...a real life cutter...an axman, if you will.

[LakeCleElum]

Stihl 031 - Use wood heat in all 3 homes I have. Best burning around here is Douglas Fir....I burn alder, pine and even cottonwood if I have to. After 28 years of splitting by hand, 3 of us neighbors went in on a wood-splitter. Life is better now....

[masraum]

I've got one of these (j/k)

[3.2 CAB]

OK Steve, we get it! You have one of those!

[masraum]

I'm sure I don't know what you mean.

[vash]

haha. i bought an ECHO 045. (?i think that is it). i got a small bar, backed with an oversized engine! i am talking about the chainsaw! everytime a neighbor needs some destruction, i am all over it. boots, safety glasses, heavy pants. it is crazy the size of some trees/branches that i have dropped. i refuse to loan it out. nobody you lend it to has taken the safety class. mine was a 4 hours course. i smoked a contractor talking smack about his stihl. side by side my saw cut faster. but i totally think it is because i showed up with a brand new chain. he makes a living with his, and i am sure it was worn. it is by far my favorite tool.

[livi]

Glad to see you are using a Swedish top quality product!

Husqvarna is a little town just two hours from me.

[kang]

Some people have TOO much fun with chainsaws...

[looneybin]

kang, what are the handcuffs on the peg board for???

[kang]

Originally Posted by looneybin

kang, what are the handcuffs on the peg board for???

In case you were worried, that’s not me….


http://www.theonion.com/content/news/area_mans_quirky_hobby_kills_27

[looneybin]

WOW that guy's a real nut job - glad that's not you
I do have the same model of Husky chain saw though

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by looneybin

WOW that guy's a real nut job - glad that's not you
I do have the same model of Husky chain saw though

Hee hee, are you SURE that's not you.

Yup, nice chainsaw. The guy running the safety course said firemen use that single handed (one hand on top) type so they can wrestle with roofing iron etc at the same time. Good for climbing and topping tall trees too I guess.

Near Husqvarna town. Wow. I like to think my chainsaw was put together by a bunch of absolutley beautiful blond girls, sitting around naked putting together chainsaws and drinking massive amounts of vodka. I suspect reality is a bit different but it works for me.

Echo's are a bit of a beast. Hee hee a friend has a tiny line trimmer that's an Echo and it almost custs down small trees.

A wood splitter sounds good. I've been sawing my rounds into about 200mm sections so I can just feed them straight into the woodburner. The best wood I've got is some 50 year old plus Australian Jarrah (sp). Admittedly it bluntens the chain every 20 cuts because the stuff is like iron. One chunk of Jarrah burnt for 23 hours in the woodburner.

I think using a chainsaw without a prior safety course would be frightening.

[RWebb]

OK, chainsawers - here's a little trick fer ya --

take a big chainsaw & put a small bar on it. Sucka will last forever and cut real well.

This is approved by the Orygun Wood Whackers League...