Nope. I was basically handed a saw, shown how to start it, and was supposed to fail. I survived.
Did Anyone Else have to learn this way???
- Thread starter slowp
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hatchet in the back 40... parents didn't trust me with a saw alone until I was much older. Sometimes a shotgun was used.
But the kickback! Won't someone please think about the kickback?!
timberland ts
ArboristSite Operative
Me and some friends built a cabin in the woods i was probly 14. We had axes and bow saws to start untill someone brought one of there dads chainsaw. Amazing none of us got hurt.
North Star
ArboristSite Lurker
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Started with a hatchet when i was 7 or 8, then moved up to an axe. For instruction I would watch the settlers on shows like "Hawkeye", "Danial Boone", and "Davey Crocket". Wow, Google tells me that Davey Crocket was only ever a five part serial that aired over one year - how is that possible! It seems to me that I watched it for my entire childhood!
magictoad
ArboristSite Operative
I also started with a chopper (hatchet) at 6 or 7, still have the scares to prove it, but you learn painfully at times.
By 11 i had progressed to the big mans toys and was shown how to use a chainsaw correctly and without pain, not much in the way of PPE in them days, so if you cut yer leg, it fell off
, still got both.
By 11 i had progressed to the big mans toys and was shown how to use a chainsaw correctly and without pain, not much in the way of PPE in them days, so if you cut yer leg, it fell off
, still got both.magictoad
ArboristSite Operative
I'm all for PPE but the HSE has gone mad, whats the point in rapping people up so much that they then get exhausted from the PPE :bang:
Well, he did say be careful. And I got a pair of oil soaked chaps and safety gear. I already had a hardhat and boots and stuff.
The good thing is, none of the guys got to collect on their pool of how many hours until I quit.
Kickback is like getting elbowed by a woman.. with new saws at least...
No offence to slowp!
workshop
Addicted to ArboristSite
I cut firewood for the longest time with no ppe whatsoever. No I,m 56 so I decided to get all the gear,(actually had to convince my wife I needed this stuff) 15 minutes after putting on the chaps I looked down and there it was. The saw had nicked the chaps. Right on the front of my right leg. My brand new chaps! Showed my wife, now SHE makes sure I have ALL of it on.
Can we pleeeze not turn this into another I Always Wear PPE thread? Please? Pretty please? View attachment 287140
For the real timber falling its was mostly dragging axes and wedges behind my uncle, when I wasn't pulling chokers behind his cat... watch and learn is my motto, started when I was 11 or so
As far as PPE, shorts sandels and sun glasses are ppe right?
As far as PPE, shorts sandels and sun glasses are ppe right?
HuskStihl
Chairin'em for the sound
I learned to fall trees from my father when I was probably nine or ten years old when we were clearing some property near Alstead, NY. The good news is that it was a really good time, the bad news, my dad was really bad at falling trees. It was a blue chainsaw with a manual oiler. That's all I remember after 30+ years. I always/never wear PPE
AT sawyer
ArboristSite Operative
My parents trusted me WAY more with firearms than they did with a chainsaw. First tree I ever cut was with a crosscut saw. Dull old misery whip.......
roberte
Addicted to ArboristSite
yes on the hand tools, by family.
The chainsaws from a logger who was a family friend, and with that I had the privlege of packing saws and chokers for two summers before I could pull the rope.
OlympicYJ
ArboristSite Guru
I forget how old I was but my dad gave me an old hand forged double bit cruisers axe as my first. He let me kill alders to my hearts desire until it gained value as a species.
I think I was around 12 when he started letting me use his little 09 or is it 009 stihl. I used his big saw a few times but mostly just the little stihl until I was 19 when I bought my own saw.
I learned without PPE as well. I'll wear my hardhat when falling but just cutting firewood I don't worry about it too much.
I think I was around 12 when he started letting me use his little 09 or is it 009 stihl. I used his big saw a few times but mostly just the little stihl until I was 19 when I bought my own saw.
I learned without PPE as well. I'll wear my hardhat when falling but just cutting firewood I don't worry about it too much.
The first chainsaw I ever used was when I was 17 years old, but my parents never owned one. Before that, we cut everything with axes, bowsaws, and my grandfather's two-man crosscut. I really appreciate chainsaws!
Dusty Rhodes
ArboristSite Operative
I remember my Dad teaching my brother and I to sit like an indian on opposite sides of the tree. Dad would do the notch and us boys would run that cross cut saw. I remember it was hard work. Dont remember the wedge work or anything like that. Though I do remember Dad had wooden and steel wedges. Dont remember getting up and running when the tree fell either. Man, my dad must not cared a lick for us boys. Sounds like we had the dangerous job
I do remember learning to not fight each other in the cut. We would get into a rhythm and Dad kept that saw sharp and the teeth set just right. Funny, but I dont remember being scared about any of it. I remember running the two man bow saw too. But we only used that saw for bucking up the wood. Do not remember using it for felling any trees. I remember the smell of the sawdust. Isn't it funny what you do remember. It all seems so long ago and far away. Guess I am just remembering the good and not the bad. The pace was slower then. Dont think I stop to smell the chips when cutting with a chainsaw. Just move onto the next tree, in too big of a hurry these day I suppose. Sure miss Dad with his easy pace and calm presence. We gained something with the chainsaws, but we lost something too.
I do remember learning to not fight each other in the cut. We would get into a rhythm and Dad kept that saw sharp and the teeth set just right. Funny, but I dont remember being scared about any of it. I remember running the two man bow saw too. But we only used that saw for bucking up the wood. Do not remember using it for felling any trees. I remember the smell of the sawdust. Isn't it funny what you do remember. It all seems so long ago and far away. Guess I am just remembering the good and not the bad. The pace was slower then. Dont think I stop to smell the chips when cutting with a chainsaw. Just move onto the next tree, in too big of a hurry these day I suppose. Sure miss Dad with his easy pace and calm presence. We gained something with the chainsaws, but we lost something too.woodchuck357
Addicted to ArboristSite
The op sounds like he could be MY grandson,
We still pull a cross cut occasionally. When I was a kid one of my uncles and I would get almost as much cutting done in a day as another uncle and cousin did with their chain saw. I should keep my cross cut as sharp, set, and shinney as my uncles was. I also learned to use that two man saw by myself, never made my grandson do that, yet!
We still pull a cross cut occasionally. When I was a kid one of my uncles and I would get almost as much cutting done in a day as another uncle and cousin did with their chain saw. I should keep my cross cut as sharp, set, and shinney as my uncles was. I also learned to use that two man saw by myself, never made my grandson do that, yet!
