# Carrying saw on your shoulder?



## burroak (Feb 3, 2010)

I was wondering if anyone else carries their chainsaw over their shoulder when they have a walk a long ways to where their cutting with it? It seems like an easier way to carry the saw, but whenever I do the saw will "dig" into my shoulder or hand. (of course the saw is turned off, lol!) So I was wonder if there is a trick to swinging it onto your shoulder and off?


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## Meadow Beaver (Feb 3, 2010)

I do if I have to walk a good distance with a 32" bar, but otherwise if you plan on carrying a saw on your shoulder, set the power head on your shoulder with the bar facing back.


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## logging22 (Feb 3, 2010)

Get the cool leather strap that goes on your shoulder.


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## clearance (Feb 3, 2010)

Worked with a guy who told me this-He had a 394 with a long bar and big dogs (of course, it was in the PNW) walking an old growth sidehill. He stumbled and fell, the dogs drove into his neck. He bled real bad, almost over.  Something to think about.


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## Meadow Beaver (Feb 3, 2010)

I've got one, very compfterable, but I never use it.


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## 056 kid (Feb 4, 2010)

Its nice when you have a good distance to go, like down a road. but when your trompeling through the hills, carrying the saw by the handle bar is best. You want a low center of gravity when your in the hills. otherwise you can go tumbling like a vat of lard with a sharp ass saw looking you in the face...

i think shouldering a saw came from our fathers & Grand pappys that ran 30 lb powerheads attached to 35 lbs of bar & chain. you cannot carry a homie 990g with a 72'' bar hangin from your hand with out digging a trench. & if I was falling & bucking 120'' dbh reds all day, Ide try & keep my cutting tool as clean & sharp as I could, & that means NO DIRT CONTACT.

Just my take. . .




MM, When you gonna answer my question dude?? ?? ?? ??


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## mile9socounty (Feb 4, 2010)

I carry my saw over my shoulder damn near every time I have to pack it more than 100ft. Just easier for me. You can do the bar over you shoulder or reverse it and set the power head on your should. Makes no difference to me. Just learn how to ditch the saw when you go over. I know there is no way in hell I'm going to carry the saw by the forward handle 3/4 of a mile up a 75% slope hill.


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## Dayto (Feb 4, 2010)

In the PNW/Westcoast most fallers do carry on shoulder (we have 30+ bars ,90cc Powerheads) and some guys will have the old style strap shoulder pad in the states , but you rarelly see them on the Coast of B.C I just stick my extra glove on the side under the bar I carry on (I run Leather Husky gloves) On steep ground I never shoulder a saw like "056" said DANGEROUS I carry the handel with one arm and bar facing back.

The most of a shoulder pad I see sometimes Is guys will get the Slip on bar covers made by stihl,oregon,etc . Cut the end off slide them up the bar to the contact point were it sits on the shoulder so the chain dont rip up are Stanfields


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## oregoncutter (Feb 4, 2010)

*Is there others out there???*



burroak said:


> I was wondering if anyone else carries their chainsaw over their shoulder when they have a walk a long ways to where their cutting with it? It seems like an easier way to carry the saw, but whenever I do the saw will "dig" into my shoulder or hand. (of course the saw is turned off, lol!) So I was wonder if there is a trick to swinging it onto your shoulder and off?



Most everyone I know including myself carry the saw over their shoulder, sometimes I wear a pad on my suspenders sometimes I don't. Out of logging for over 13 years I have yet to seriously injure myself packing a saw that way with the bar in front of me. I have packed alot worse things on my shoulder like 100+lbs of riggin blocks, spiked tree plates and etc all on steep and brushy ground. My advice would be don't trip and fall, if You feel like you might fall simply toss the saw away from You with the hand touching the end of the bar. If You don't feel comfortable about it or have concerns of being hurt don't pack it that way. I don't mean to sound rude but You might just have to practice and practice til You figure out how to get a saw on You're shoulder.


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## joesawer (Feb 4, 2010)

The trick is cotton or nylon fallers gloves, and a leather pad.
If you are using a short bar put the bottom or the starter cover on your shoulder with the bar behind you. It will have some uncomfortable pressure points, but just move the saw a little every now and then.
With a long bar put the bar on you shoulder and the power head behind your shoulder. This starts to balance nice for me with a 32" bar. I have never cut myself or stabbed myself with the dogs this way but have singed my shoulder blade pretty good with the muffler. If it is hot just carry it with the power head up.


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## 056 kid (Feb 4, 2010)

oregoncutter said:


> Most everyone I know including myself carry the saw over their shoulder, sometimes I wear a pad on my suspenders sometimes I don't. Out of logging for over 13 years I have yet to seriously injure myself packing a saw that way with the bar in front of me. I have packed alot worse things on my shoulder like 100+lbs of riggin blocks, spiked tree plates and etc all on steep and brushy ground. My advice would be don't trip and fall, if You feel like you might fall simply toss the saw away from You with the hand touching the end of the bar. If You don't feel comfortable about it or have concerns of being hurt don't pack it that way. I don't mean to sound rude but You might just have to practice and practice til You figure out how to get a saw on You're shoulder.



When you are side hilling & your up hill hand drags on the ground, carrying the 660 seems to work better when you keep her near the deck...

I have gone face up, tumbling down thoes steep hills, having a saw 6 inches from my head is just somthing I dont need to deal with. .


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## oregoncutter (Feb 4, 2010)

*To each their own*



056 kid said:


> When you are side hilling & your up hill hand drags on the ground, carrying the 660 seems to work better when you keep her near the deck...
> 
> I have gone face up, tumbling down thoes steep hills, having a saw 6 inches from my head is just somthing I dont need to deal with. .



Yeah, I have fell a time or two myself. Over the shoulder with the bar in front is how i've carried one since day one. There has been times I have carried em by the handle, and times the ground was so steep and slick I,ve had to find brush or a flat spot on the ground above me to set my saw and jugs so I could use all four to crawl up the hill. I guess in the end carry in a manner that makes the most sense to ya depending on the situation.


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## 056 kid (Feb 4, 2010)

Exactly, I have cut so many trees that where under 3' in diameter, but Sawing the face I had the saw extended over my lid, then finishing up the back cut I am squatting & digging out an area for my powerhead to go. . .

If you drop your saw , you will find her at the bottom of the mountain type stuff. I showed my bosses brother how to get te butt of a big red oak to contact the deck quick with a wide kirf full face dutchman. I explained to him how the face would work before i let her go, & when I let her go his 62 year old face lit up. he congadulated me on my work which was very motivating.


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## RandyMac (Feb 4, 2010)

I have carried big saws on my shoulder, powerhead forward, mostly, getting a spike in the back of the neck never appealed to me. I used a big thick felt pad and cotton gloves to cushion and cover the pointy things. Nothing like getting a spreading bar oil spill on your shirt and covering it with chips.


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## 056 kid (Feb 4, 2010)

Ya the bar oil + saw chips will turn your summer wear into extra winter wear kinda quick. I used to rat around under loaders & such in the mornings, getting covered in greasey fluids just to go out & cut timber for the day, Il say its allmost as bad as having a crotch levle hole in your left pant leg in the summer. Then again, I spent most days dealing with both. Used to run "seemless" boots as well. had to empty them of dirt & wood several times a day.

As I have said 20.00$ is alot to me. . . . .


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## slowp (Feb 4, 2010)

I don't usually go off the road much. I have packed in to work on trail clearing. I'm a klutz, and a weak girly woman. I only pack it on my shoulder when on a trail and it looks like I won't trip. There would be a Hell of paperwork if I jabbed myself with the little dogs on Twinkle or The Barbie Saw. A true Hell. 

My solution? Since my shoulders get tired from packing it that way, I switch back and forth. I made a scabbard pad out of a sleeping pad and of course, colorful Duck Tape. That way, I can switch shoulders. The pad is made for backpacking so it is very light. Here's a picture. It has slipped down a bit in the picture, but you'll get the idea. Then, when you need to sit or kneel in the woods, you can use the pad to keep you off the wet ground. 







I haven't done much of trail clearing, but since the last time, I made a pack out of an Alice Pack? frame to carry the saw in. Packing it for a mile on the shoulder is too much for me. That, plus cutting makes for a long soak in the hot tub afterwards. Hmmm, there needs to be an emoticon for being tired and whiney.


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## Gologit (Feb 4, 2010)

burroak said:


> So I was wonder if there is a trick to swinging it onto your shoulder and off?



Try grabbing the side handle with your right hand, the tip of the bar with your left hand and just swinging it up onto your shoulder in one smooth motion. After a few times it will feel natural and you won't think about it. Watch out for the dawgs. Wear gloves.

I agree with most of the replies so far. A shoulder pad is good for long carries and if the ground is rough or steep you might want to just hand carry it.

And all that oil that drips on you? Wear the same clothes long enough without washing them and you'll be waterproof when the rainy season arrives. Plus, when you stop at the 7-11 on your way home nobody stands too close to you in line.


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## mile9socounty (Feb 4, 2010)

I know the cheapest bar covers I have ever laid my hands on was from the Canyonville Fire Department. 3" rubber inner, cotton outer fire hose. Just cut it to the length of your bar. Bam! There you go.


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## Greystoke (Feb 4, 2010)

056 kid said:


> Ya the bar oil + saw chips will turn your summer wear into extra winter wear kinda quick. I used to rat around under loaders & such in the mornings, getting covered in greasey fluids just to go out & cut timber for the day, Il say its allmost as bad as having a crotch levle hole in your left pant leg in the summer. Then again, I spent most days dealing with both. Used to run "seemless" boots as well. had to empty them of dirt & wood several times a day.
> 
> As I have said 20.00$ is alot to me. . . . .



The bar oil down your back sucks, but it is better than gassing up your saw...forgetting to screw your caps back down...picking up saw with gas tank right at crotch level...feeling like you wet your pants...short while later feeling like you are on fire down there...wanting to go home and scrub in the shower, but not wanting to explain to the bull-buck why you have to go home. Don't ask me how I know.


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## John Ellison (Feb 4, 2010)

On the shoulder is the only way I could ever carry a ready to go saw for any distance. You have to be ready to get rid of it at all times without thinking about it. I seen a guy have a rigging fit while packing a saw. He levered it off his shoulder and the dogs caught in his collar, the bar kind of spun around his neck. Nothing serious, but a lot of blood and hollering and floping. We had a good laugh.


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## John Ellison (Feb 4, 2010)

Hahaha yea TarzanT I have done the same thing, but I was lucky and had a creek nearby.


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## Meadow Beaver (Feb 4, 2010)

056 kid said:


> Its nice when you have a good distance to go, like down a road. but when your trompeling through the hills, carrying the saw by the handle bar is best. You want a low center of gravity when your in the hills. otherwise you can go tumbling like a vat of lard with a sharp ass saw looking you in the face...
> 
> i think shouldering a saw came from our fathers & Grand pappys that ran 30 lb powerheads attached to 35 lbs of bar & chain. you cannot carry a homie 990g with a 72'' bar hangin from your hand with out digging a trench. & if I was falling & bucking 120'' dbh reds all day, Ide try & keep my cutting tool as clean & sharp as I could, & that means NO DIRT CONTACT.
> 
> ...



Not enough,that's why I'll be either working for a gas company in the spring or I'll be working doing masonry and supervising the work.


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## M.R. (Feb 4, 2010)

Although not on the shoulder for the thick stuff where one is making like a gopher. In the saw box I believe a still have the mule tape/rope & a piece of tubing/5/8" garden hose.
This makes a loop on the handle for the Left forearm to go thru to the elbow to grab the trigger handle when needed, & with large dogs on the saw, it's akin to a mountain climber using a ice axe the climb with.


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## Curlycherry1 (Feb 4, 2010)

Probably not the best way but I grab the top bar and swing it up onto my shoulder with powerhead down, blade pointing up and back of my hand resting on my shoulder. Easy to let go if trouble starts, but hard to get under low limbs, but most of all no pointy things by my neck. Add me to the list of folks that have been stuck in the neck by felling dogs.


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## bitzer (Feb 4, 2010)

tarzanstree said:


> The bar oil down your back sucks, but it is better than gassing up your saw...forgetting to screw your caps back down...picking up saw with gas tank right at crotch level...feeling like you wet your pants...short while later feeling like you are on fire down there...wanting to go home and scrub in the shower, but not wanting to explain to the bull-buck why you have to go home. Don't ask me how I know.



Ha. ha. The last time I did that it was 90 degrees out and man did it burn! After a while I dropped my drawers to see if I was having some kind of reaction and for a little breeze. I've made sure the caps are on good and tight after that!




For me a zip up hooded sweatshirt keeps the dawgs and chisels from poking. My work clothes are so damn full of oil and grease and what not I'm not too worried about tearing them up. 


And like Gologit said, In public looking all oily and ripped up keeps folks at a safe distance! The winter facial growth helps with that too!


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## oregoncutter (Feb 4, 2010)

tarzanstree said:


> The bar oil down your back sucks, but it is better than gassing up your saw...forgetting to screw your caps back down...picking up saw with gas tank right at crotch level...feeling like you wet your pants...short while later feeling like you are on fire down there...wanting to go home and scrub in the shower, but not wanting to explain to the bull-buck why you have to go home. Don't ask me how I know.



I've had the worst luck of that happening with the stihl flip type caps! The bar oil don't bug me that bad, But could do without the gas down my pants.


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## 056 kid (Feb 4, 2010)

tarzanstree said:


> The bar oil down your back sucks, but it is better than gassing up your saw...forgetting to screw your caps back down...picking up saw with gas tank right at crotch level...feeling like you wet your pants...short while later feeling like you are on fire down there...wanting to go home and scrub in the shower, but not wanting to explain to the bull-buck why you have to go home. Don't ask me how I know.



been there, its nice & cool then it starts to burn, then it feels like your skin is sluffing off


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## joesawer (Feb 5, 2010)

Say what you will, but Husky has way better gas caps than Stihl.
I haven't had a gas or oil spill since I switched unless I just left the cap off and picked it up.
My old 066 used to loose a gas cap just about every time I didn't crank it down with a bar wrench. If it wasn't the gas it was the oil. Then I had to keep some spares close cause I would poke holes through them.
The dang flippy caps on small saws even after I figured out how to make sure that I worked them right where likely to get flipped open or break.
I don't remember ever replacing a Husky cap.
There aint nothin like sneaking a smoke in a tinder dry forest with knee deep duff and realizing you saw is leaking gas. And that is not just sweat soaked into your shirt and dripped out behind you.
But no more smokes for me.


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## tramp bushler (Feb 5, 2010)

tarzanstree said:


> The bar oil down your back sucks, but it is better than gassing up your saw...forgetting to screw your caps back down...picking up saw with gas tank right at crotch level...feeling like you wet your pants...short while later feeling like you are on fire down there...wanting to go home and scrub in the shower, but not wanting to explain to the bull-buck why you have to go home. Don't ask me how I know.


.

.

.I,ve done this , way more than once . the worst is swinging the saw up on the shoulder ,having forgot to put the gas cap back on ,,,, the first cold wet feeling is the last time you will feel good all day !!!!!!!. 
. One time I had a hemlock top break out from under me , I had a 2100 Husky w/ 36" bar 404 52AJ hand chisel filed , Real sharp by yours truly ........I,m not exactly sure how it happened , but somehow I ended up upside down , head down feet straight up and the saws pistol grip was the first thing to land . ...2100s had real nice fallin dogs .nice and sharp too .. I can still feel the scar in the middle of my neck . Somehow the point of the dog hit a vertibra and not between them . I can still feel the scars on the side of my neck ...
.Sometimes , some people wonder why I prefer to stay on good terms with God !!!!It bled some , But it didn,t stop me from doing the fallin and notchin and packin haywire , and yes , pullin a thousand feet of haywire or so ... At the time I was pullin riggin in Rowan Bay ...We were makin a new layout at a new setting ... The hook tender had just walked up the same top with a block and a strap .. We knew it looked scary but it looked ok too .....guess it wasn,t .... But we got er anyway !!!!!!!! Gotta be tough to live in Alaska !!


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## tramp bushler (Feb 5, 2010)

John Ellison said:


> On the shoulder is the only way I could ever carry a ready to go saw for any distance. You have to be ready to get rid of it at all times without thinking about it. I seen a guy have a rigging fit while packing a saw. He levered it off his shoulder and the dogs caught in his collar, the bar kind of spun around his neck. Nothing serious, but a lot of blood and hollering and floping. We had a good laugh.


:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:


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## tramp bushler (Feb 5, 2010)

Curlycherry1 said:


> Probably not the best way but I grab the top bar and swing it up onto my shoulder with powerhead down, blade pointing up and back of my hand resting on my shoulder. Easy to let go if trouble starts, but hard to get under low limbs, Add me to the list of folks that have been stuck in the neck by felling dogs.


. . 

. I do this all the time .. Save the bushlin arm as much as I can ....Bar pointing up ...The wrap part of the handle bar sits on the shoulder carring the weight of the saw ..


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## Burvol (Feb 5, 2010)

I drag my saw by the pistol grip a lot when walking back down logs, or away from the stump. I have a big pad on my rigigng sack for the pack in and out, and a small one on my suspenders for the field.


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## Curlycherry1 (Feb 5, 2010)

tramp bushler said:


> . .
> 
> . I do this all the time .. Save the bushlin arm as much as I can ....Bar pointing up ...The wrap part of the handle bar sits on the shoulder carring the weight of the saw ..



I thought once about having a welder put an extra loop of handle up over the top handle that would rest on my shoulder and give me more protection for the top of my hand when cutting. Just a crazy idea I noodled once or twice.


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## slowp (Feb 5, 2010)

A little day pack will help support the saw head when doing the shoulder carry.

It will also absorb or divert some of the oil.


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## tramp bushler (Feb 6, 2010)

Burvol said:


> I drag my saw by the pistol grip a lot when walking back down logs, or away from the stump. I have a big pad on my rigigng sack for the pack in and out, and a small one on my suspenders for the field.


. When I get tired I drag mine around . I usually don,t admit that , but since you already did ..
I use it to pull me back up the tree to the butt pretty often ... But only when I have at least a 32" bar on ...


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## John Ellison (Feb 6, 2010)

Do yever (I think that might be a southern word) walk the bar tip up the log ahead of you while you goose the throttle? You can always tell when somebody has by the trail it leaves.


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## tramp bushler (Feb 6, 2010)

I call it pulling me up the log , but I do it on the flat also ......Some guys I,ve heard call it walking the dog .....


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## Gypo Logger (Feb 6, 2010)

tramp bushler said:


> .
> 
> .
> 
> ...


 Speaking of mishaps, I got a jagger corkscrewed thru my leather glove and into my hand. Ouch. Not that it was the first time, but this time it was a bad one. I was on the landing and the winch was on freespool so I walked with the mainline towards the toolbox on the tailgate, however, the mainline came up five feet short, leaving no other choice but to yank it out. Lol
It swelled up really fast!
Gypo


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## tramp bushler (Feb 6, 2010)

*That makes my hand hurt just reading it ..OOOWWWWWW*

... Ya . Hands are pretty special things .. one time I drove the tang of a 1/8th " round file from my palm into my wrist bone .. I was cleaning out the oiler screw hex heads on a 394 with the sharp tang of the file . I was in my saw shop and went to set the file up on the bench , I had the power head on the lower bin bench .. I had a 32" bar screwed to the face of the bench for fileo plating my riders ... The end of the file must of hit straight on and my arm stopped moving when the point of the tang hit one of the bones in my wrist .. I looked at it and thot , hhuummmm this ain,t good , weighed my options for a sec , grabbed the entd of the file in my left hand and pulled it out almost 3 " of it was wet from blood and fluid ....... I got mad then and went back to working on the oiler when the saw shop walls started closeing in and my knees got pretty shakey ..... I figured I better go sit down for a bit , so I did ... Worked the next day , Bad idea . Went on some pretty skookum anti biotics that night ......Hand healed up fine , but it was 2 years before I could make myself file without a handle on the tang of a round or 3 corner chisel bit file .............


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## mile9socounty (Feb 7, 2010)

Blah blah blah. Just pack the damn thing. Either way anyone chooses to pack it is the way they will. I pack it over my shoulder. You might pack it by the front handle bar.


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## hammerlogging (Jun 26, 2010)

About carrying your saw on your shoulder.....

Over the last 2 weeks, in short succession I nearly Van Goghed myself, I stepped on a dead piece hoping it would serve as a step on the final step of a trecherous gulley crossing heading over to Red's strip to cut him out, he'd gotten hung. The piece broke and down I went with the saw head first a pretty good spill about 15 feet down into the wash. Nearly tore off my earlobe with my freshly filed square ground. It'd just gotten pretty well healed up when last week I was walking up a steep slope and stumbled forward and the muffler slid forward and burned a square on my back, lastly I threw the saw on my shoulder after topping the last tree to go file the little bit dull chain and as I missed my shoulder pad a bit it literally burnt an imprint in my shoulder (bare skin contact through a hole in the fabric)

So the other night I was getting in the shower and the wife said "you have some sort of sore on your back". I said "no, that's where my muffler bumped into my back carrying my saw on my shoulder". Then i said "check out this little burn imprint of the chain on my shoulder- I just missed the pad a hair". She was not impressed and as she was already aware of the Van Gogh maneuver yet so recent, she said "maybe you shouldn't carry your saw on your shoulder" probably shaking her head a bit.

"Nah."


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## Rounder (Jun 29, 2010)

Always have carried it on my shoulder, saves some energy. Ain't a weenie either. That helps. Got some scars down the neck and arm for it. Like I said, Ain't a weenie-and I Ain't complaining. PS. steep as hell over here and over the shoulder seems to work best for my center of gravity hippy BS, fully organic, whatever the :censored:!, lol - Sam


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## slowp (Jun 29, 2010)

Go to Walmart. Go to sporting goods. Look for cheap blue colored foam sleeping pad. Buy it. Cut it down to appropriate size. Duck tape it or you could just slap it around the bar without tape to carry it. That would be faster in the woods. You also will have a nice pad to sit on for contemplation of deep topics like the center of your gravity, harmony, yin and yang, doo dah, etc., not to mention meditation. about when the fishing will be good.


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## forestryworks (Jun 29, 2010)

Packing it on your shoulder saves your arm!


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## hammerlogging (Jun 29, 2010)

can't imagine doing otherwise, although I need to try and identify those places a little too trecherous. Like Tarzan has said before, you can always spin your china off the bar if you have a good hike


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## chevytaHOE5674 (Jul 2, 2010)

For the long packs I have a true north bar cover that I use to keep the dogs from tearing my back up, it was like 50 bucks but well worth the investment.


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## floyd (Jul 3, 2010)

Interesting how many methods this has generated. 

I'm an arm's length guy. Haven't pulled the dogs out of my shoulder...yet.
-----------------------------
Walking the dog... some just have a hands that end in a chainsaw. You know who you are.


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## redprospector (Jul 3, 2010)

Haha. This makes me think of one of the old "drop starting" threads. 
Personally, I alway's carry the saw on my shoulder if I'm going more than several feet. Just what I learned in the beginning, and I ain't been convinced there's a better way.
In the late 80's the company I was falling for decided to make a rule that you couldn't carry a saw on your shoulder without a bar cover that went all the way to the clutch cover. We couldn't find any 32" bar covers so we had to make our own. This rule was the result of a new faller taking a tumble with his saw and putting a little gash in his neck. He filed workman's comp. and took a few weeks off. When he came back we fallers wanted to see the scar left by a saw nearly severing his head. When he pulled down his collar, one old faller looked and said "Hell boy, I've had worse than that on the end of my :censored: and never missed a stroke". 
The new guy didn't last long after he came back. 

Andy


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