Yeah, it was Dad for me. Neither grandfather was really into wood, nor so much tools either. My maternal grandpa died before I was born, and my paternal grandpa wasn't into much of anything. My father, on the other hand, was an outdoors kind of guy. We used to gather the wood as Dad cut it up and stack it, or throw it in the truck. I always wanted to run the "little saw" (what is now my 150), not even daring to ask about running the Wards (a whopping 80cc "monster"), and was even a bit scared of that one...which at 12 was probably a good thing. At the age of 14, Dad finally let me run the 150 to trim some branches on a tree he had just tipped. I remember being scared and excited at the same time. Dad watched me closely, but kept his distance. I didn't do anything stupid, but he did give me a couple of pointers when I got done. After that, it was kind of "my job" when I was going to gather limbs, but Dad's job when we were pressed for time. Note that the kids picked up branches. That night, he showed me how to sharpen a chain, and for almost a decade, I did the bulk of the sharpening. I didn't mind, especially when he noticed when the chunks coming off the chain were big, and it cut like butter. He'd tell me when I'd done a good job on a chain, and it made me feel good.
Flash forward 30 years, and now I own both the Homie 150 and the Wards/Mono, and I won't let Dad, at 71, run my 066 or 3120. He can run the Super XL, and I'd let him run a 70cc class saw, but the 066 is getting more than I'm comfortable with him handling. Funny how roles change. He's in good shape, just doesn't have any time behind a big saw, and the dynamics are different enough to give me the willies. But, I got most of my bad habits from him, and I'm thankful for it. My wife, not so much. But it was fun to show Dad my 3120, and see his eyes get big as saucers. He thought the 066 was big...
Mark
umpkin2:
