Chainsaw neglect

[Grizzly]

A friend of mine works p/t at a local hardware store / small engine shop. He says the typical saw that comes in is a homeowner Sears Poulan that has sat for 3 years with fuel in the tank and has a chain that was never sharpened. And they wonder why it won't start or won't cut.

because they are stupid, thay are retards when it comes to this kind of stuff. they don't know. Even though I get the same feeling of wanting to smack them when they cut down a tree and they have crap every were and the tree is half assed and in properly pruned. the thing I hear the most is, Oh my cheep saw busted and I don't want to buy another one, can you fix it. It takes twice the effort to clean it up and trim it only iff they would have hired you in the begining to do it, you would have been in and out and you would have to worry about all the broken stuff thats under the brush pile.

 

[turnkey4099]

I had a locust to remove for a farmer. Looked like I could put it down o.k. but there was a chance it would catch a power pole guy wire. Called the power company who sent out a truck to do the falling. He disconnected teh switch at the main line and went to ?cutting? lots of noise and smoke signifying nothing. He shut down to inspect his progress (very little). I looked at the chain. Worse rocked out chain I ever saw, teeth dull, some missint others with chips out of em. Handed him my johnyrd 625. He was amazed. Okay, his was a company saw, and as usual company equipment gets abused but for someone to go out to fall a tree without first inspecting the tools...

Harry K

 

[spike60]

I've got enough stories that I'd have to sit here all day and not open the store. Some people are just ignorant about saws, but many are ignorant about maintenance period. We have a nickname for them: SNOPES. It rhymes with dope, and it stands for Should Not Own Power Equipment. At least half the bars we sell are to people who can't be bothered to tighten the chain. Air cleaners that have never even been looked at. Chains that are so dull, they WOULD cut better if they were on backwards. 4-cycle stuff with more water than gas in the tank, and so little oil in the motor, you can't believe it hasn't blown up. We are starting to see the snowblowers with bad gas now. The first storm of the year is always fun. The phone rings until it melts with all of the no starts. Most people simply won't try to see if their blower will start until there is a foot of snow in the driveway. SNOPES!

 

[Grizzly]

Yet even the experienced chain saw operator may not know everything that needs continuous maintenance. I had to call stihl to figure out why my chainsaw sounded like there was a plug in the gas line. He said to clean the exaust filter also know as the spark screen. The spark sreen, why that? and the tech said that the carben builds up over time if you let your saw idol for a period of time; especially for tree saws. the stay on for many minutes at a time in order to get to the next cut.
Its a matter of liveing and learning.

 

[oldsaw]

I learned years ago not to loan out a chainsaw. So, I don't. Never. Then, I don't know anyone I trust to treat 'em right. If it's an ancient neighbor or good friend, I'll loan out myself and the saw unless it's an enormous job.

Heck, gotta worry that, besides the saw, someone gonna cut off a leg with MY saw.

I've got three guys that I will let use my saw if I am there. I don't loan them out. Did have the husband of my wife's friend ask to borrow my 066. My response? "ARE YOU NUTS!!!, You'd kill yourself". He was a bit miffed, but I then told him it was twice as big and over twice as powerful as a typical homeowner's saw. Told him he needed to start with a Cessna, not an F16.

Another kid once asked me to borrow my motorcycle to show off for his girlfriend. I told him he could...AFTER I "borrowed" his girlfriend for a while. He was offended...so was I.

Mark

 

[musch]

He obviously doesn't even care about himself much, given how much you think he was drinking.
Probably ought think about waiting till after the saw has stopped running.

 

[SRT-Tech]

people that dont respect their equipment drive me nuts......i'm the type of person that will buy a tool ONCE, and own/operate that tool all my life. My Husky 61 is 28 years old, It was well maintained by the original owner, and still runs as new. Yet my buddy has a brand new Stihl and its already ratbagged and busted up... :bang:

got another friend that NEVER buys new tools for his construction work, he goes to the pawn shops and buys up all their used drills, uses them up one by one until they die and then tosses them.

 

[Grizzly]

I've got three guys that I will let use my saw if I am there. I don't loan them out. Did have the husband of my wife's friend ask to borrow my 066. My response? "ARE YOU NUTS!!!, You'd kill yourself". He was a bit miffed, but I then told him it was twice as big and over twice as powerful as a typical homeowner's saw. Told him he needed to start with a Cessna, not an F16.

Another kid once asked me to borrow my motorcycle to show off for his girlfriend. I told him he could...AFTER I "borrowed" his girlfriend for a while. He was offended...so was I.

Mark

I have a Stihl MS660 with a 40" bar on it. I some times get nervous when hes runing it. I typicall use th 250 for most of my small jobs but when I fire up the 660, its like starting a race car for the first time and flooring it out of the drive way.

 

[zimmy]

just started a new job servicing mowers and chainsaws this guy asks me to service his saw took me one hour with degreaser to just clean it enough to inspect it chain stuffed bar stuffed sprocket stuffed filter clogged oiler toast still wants me to fix it even after telling him saw was not worth it suggested some mantinence would help saw life told me thats your job oh well 250$ for me expensive homelite for him

 

[maveric944]

this thread makes me feel much better, i will never borrow tools and have never loaned tools to others, as i noticed many years ago when i was an apprentice that borrowed tools are never treated with respect, basically because the people borrowing them haven't had to part with their own hard earned cash to buy them. Its this reasoning that introduced me to the delights of chainsaw ownership as i'd been cutting wood for over a year with just a Bow saw and an axe until a friend came round one day and gave me a hand with his husky 137, wow did that make light work of it, and right then and there i knew " I WANT ONE" so i bought my first old saw, found this site and in the space of a couple of months it has now increased to 4 saws, and still looking out for others. i know i gone off track a little but i just love saws and this site, and her indoors thinks i'm mad, but like she says to her mates, at least i know where he is at night out of trouble" in my workshop". Thanks to AS and all the folks on here that make it special, like one big family.

mav