How little some know about chainsaws.

[newforest]

I wasn’t sure if it was the Aspen wood itself or my desire to cut stumps very flush for highest quality regen. The closer to the ground, the more grit is in the bark from rain splash, in sandy terrain esp., and I know cutting low will cost me in losing sharpness. But I cut the same style in other species mixes and only sharpen once a day. Could be that Aspen bark holds more grit maybe?


There is one place I do like saw “noobs” - @ the saw shop. The guys are so happy to get a break from those customers, that anyone running ‘pro’ grade stuff gets quick enthusiastic service. Imo.

 

[Brent Nowell]

Great story Shawn.
Thank you for sharing.

I agree thank you shawn

 

[sb47]

In this area, there's frequent dust storms lately... A friend of mine was removing trees for an ag dealership, and he said that just felling a tree was enough to cause him to have to sharpen his saw each time. Went through a bunch of chains due to that. Now, I have no idea if he actually knows how to use a saw or not.

You should try cutting trees located next to or near an old dusty dirt road. You know what I mean, where the dust is hanging on all the vegetation from vehicles traveling up and down the dirt road. Talk about dulling a chain real quick.
If someone offers me to cut wood on the side of a dirt road gets quickly turned down. I ain't messing with that.

 

[mudfly]

Ok - I’ll step up to the plate and admit ignorance at at least one time in my life.

When I turned 18 I bought my own chainsaw, J-red 2050. Needed it for cutting some firewood for my grandparents and clearing trails etc. First off, I bought a Jred 2050 because the only thing I knew was that I didn’t want to spend too much and I knew not to buy anything under 3.0 cu in. That was most of my knowledge about chainsaws. I had been around them all my life but no one ever really explained chain or pro vs homeowner saws, etc.

I knew how to keep them oiled, put mixed gas in, and that they need to be regularly sharpened. I had witnessed all of these things but never did them myself.

I managed to learn a lot by hard knocks. Ruined a couple of chains because I didn’t know how to sharpen or used the wrong sized files. Bought new chains, but didn’t understand pitch or gauge, so those were wrong. Burned up a bar using 0.050 instead of 0.058. Wrecked the spur sprocket by trying to run .375 on a 0.325, etc.

But I eventually learned and really let’s call it 4 or 5 chains, half a dozen files, a bar, and a spur sprocket. Maybe $150 bill to learn, what I was doing wrong. Not horrible, but could have been avoided.

That saw has actually served me well over the years and still runs out great, but is very much retired for better quality saws.

 

[woodyman]

When I first started cutting pulp wood back in the day I thought my saw would cut that soft pine faster if I filed the rakers way down.My saw stopped as soon as it hit the wood.I also heard a story about a guy that brought his saw back to the dealer because the chain would not move and the engine would not rev.He had a kickback and the dealer pushed the handle back for no charge.

 

[Shawn.54]

That would be cool to resurrect

After he threw it down into the woods I started to go get it he told me to let it so I did until later in the day went back on my motorcycle and it was gone never saw it again but I think he went back and got it after we went our separate ways in the afternoon. I must say he was never dull to be around. One year for Christmas he bought a 038 super wrapped it and tagged it to my grandma and put it under the tree. That Christmas had more fireworks than July 4th I later found out that he gave grandma a second gift after everyone had left it was a six pack of stihl 2 stroke oil with a pearl necklace that she had been looking at in the local jewelry store. He made her promise not to tell on him and she didn’t for over 30 years.
Shawn

 

[Sam R]

Ok - I’ll step up to the plate and admit ignorance at at least one time in my life.

When I turned 18 I bought my own chainsaw, J-red 2050. Needed it for cutting some firewood for my grandparents and clearing trails etc. First off, I bought a Jred 2050 because the only thing I knew was that I didn’t want to spend too much and I knew not to buy anything under 3.0 cu in. That was most of my knowledge about chainsaws. I had been around them all my life but no one ever really explained chain or pro vs homeowner saws, etc.

I knew how to keep them oiled, put mixed gas in, and that they need to be regularly sharpened. I had witnessed all of these things but never did them myself.

I managed to learn a lot by hard knocks. Ruined a couple of chains because I didn’t know how to sharpen or used the wrong sized files. Bought new chains, but didn’t understand pitch or gauge, so those were wrong. Burned up a bar using 0.050 instead of 0.058. Wrecked the spur sprocket by trying to run .375 on a 0.325, etc.

But I eventually learned and really let’s call it 4 or 5 chains, half a dozen files, a bar, and a spur sprocket. Maybe $150 bill to learn, what I was doing wrong. Not horrible, but could have been avoided.

That saw has actually served me well over the years and still runs out great, but is very much retired for better quality saws.

I think anyone who has the ability to ask questions and the desire to learn is going to do well. I've said before I'm no sawyer but I am a saw mechanic and I can fix them all day. The customers I like the best are not necessarily the most knowledgeable but the ones who are most willing to learn. Education costs you something whether it's formal in a classroom or around teachers or in burned up chains and bars and saws.

 

[svk]

I think anyone who has the ability to ask questions and the desire to learn is going to do well. I've said before I'm no sawyer but I am a saw mechanic and I can fix them all day. The customers I like the best are not necessarily the most knowledgeable but the ones who are most willing to learn. Education costs you something whether it's formal in a classroom or around teachers or in burned up chains and bars and saws.

Agree and even sometimes the people who have a great deal of experience still do things the wrong way because they haven't learned the error of their ways *yet*.

 

[TRTermite]

I think anyone who has the ability to ask questions and the desire to learn is going to do well. I've said before I'm no sawyer but I am a saw mechanic and I can fix them all day. The customers I like the best are not necessarily the most knowledgeable but the ones who are most willing to learn. Education costs you something whether it's formal in a classroom or around teachers or in burned up chains and bars and saws.

Well phrased , I was Taking a planer out of a building and knew my brother was moving some vehicles off of some property on the back side of the building. Heard a chainsaw running (Still sawing) and sounded lke it was working on the same tree.. Friend helping me said I should go to the window and watch.. My brother had left long before but his helper kept chewing away. It was a small cluster of maple trees and he had 1 cutoff and halfway through another about 5" dia. the smoke was rolling . Long story short he was left with a dull saw and was clueless -- so he kept on working-- We went over and suggested he go get a file or tell my brother to sharpen it... later in the day my brother told me the saw wasn't worth sharpening and Don needed something to do..Still have that WTF going through my mind SIX YEARS LATER I cringe loaning my brother a saw as they get effed up every time We keep a poulan around now and read a lil riot act each time he uses it. My brother owns a repair shop and has 4 employees and is a certified mechanic and was raised around a sawmill.
Logic is never where it is needed most.

 

[Sam R]

Agree and even sometimes the people who have a great deal of experience still do things the wrong way because they haven't learned the error of their ways *yet*.

Yep, just because someone has been operating a chainsaw for 20 years doesn't mean they've been doing it right for 20 years!

Well phrased , I was Taking a planer out of a building and knew my brother was moving some vehicles off of some property on the back side of the building. Heard a chainsaw running (Still sawing) and sounded lke it was working on the same tree.. Friend helping me said I should go to the window and watch.. My brother had left long before but his helper kept chewing away. It was a small cluster of maple trees and he had 1 cutoff and halfway through another about 5" dia. the smoke was rolling . Long story short he was left with a dull saw and was clueless -- so he kept on working-- We went over and suggested he go get a file or tell my brother to sharpen it... later in the day my brother told me the saw wasn't worth sharpening and Don needed something to do..Still have that WTF going through my mind SIX YEARS LATER I cringe loaning my brother a saw as they get effed up every time We keep a poulan around now and read a lil riot act each time he uses it. My brother owns a repair shop and has 4 employees and is a certified mechanic and was raised around a sawmill.
Logic is never where it is needed most.

"Wasn't worth sharpening!"
The only time that's the case, I'd say would be if the CHAINSAW DOESN'T RUN!

 

[TRTermite]

"Wasn't worth sharpening!"
The only time that's the case, I'd say would be if the CHAINSAW DOESN'T RUN!

I would prefer a sharp chainsaw any day especially if I had to use it as a hand saw after it ran out of fuel.

 

[Sam R]

I would prefer a sharp chainsaw any day especially if I had to use it as a hand saw after it ran out of fuel.

To hear some guys on here tell it, some people do that when it's still running!

 

[cuinrearview]

To hear some guys on here tell it, some people do that when it's still running!

Look around YouTube, and you'll be one of the ones "telling it" too

 

[SamT1]

In this area, there's frequent dust storms lately... A friend of mine was removing trees for an ag dealership, and he said that just felling a tree was enough to cause him to have to sharpen his saw each time. Went through a bunch of chains due to that. Now, I have no idea if he actually knows how to use a saw or not.

I took out 25 or so big pines for a guy one time that had been killed by a hail storm. Nice 50’ wind break trees. I sawed them as close to the ground as I could. For some reason felling them the bar would get hot and smoke extremely bad. I ended up squirting wd40 at the chain the whole time and still smoked a bar and had to swap chains every 5 trees or so. Must have had tons of dirt in them or something.

 

[Huskybill]

I had the forest ranger with me in my truck we were going through we’re the home owner firewood permits were given out. Everyone had there own area to cut by the color of the paint on there trees. Well one guy had a tall skinny 12” diameter oak tree hung up. I couldn’t drive by. I got out my 266 and took it down in five foot sections.
The ranger just shook his head. I was invited to help with a seminar on how to fell trees and what to look for and watch out out for about 25 years ago. I’m no expert but felling trees in the middle of the forest can be dangerous. Btw we were driving in to look at tops to be cut.

My truck had over 400hp and a built th400 tranny with the extra low first gear. With dual super swampers in the rear with swamper in the front with locking differentials.
The ranger was with me again. Going to look at my next job. While driving in a field my right front tire sunk up to the differential housing. My hubs were locked and I put it in reverse I hit a under ground spring. The dirt was frozen but not enough to hold the weight of the one ton truck. In reverse the tire climbed straight up out of the hole. The ranger was impressed that I didn’t tear up the land. The lockers front and rear were well worth the money. Good thing he didn’t send one of the home owner cutters down there.

Experience comes with learning. Mistakes do happen.

 

[SteveH]

I have people tell me all the time "I bought me a 18" chainsaw. Or whatever length. I don't correct them, figure no use. Anyhow, was over at my brother-in-law's when his neighbor stopped by. Said he was heading to a store to get himself a 20" saw, had a tree his other saws were too small for. After he left, brother-in-law told me, with a little smile, that the guy had two saws already, about the same displacement, one with a 14" bar and one with a 16". Said, trust me, neighbor's coming home from the store with another same-size saw but with a longer bar.

 

[rmh3481]

Great thread. Lack of practical knowledge shows up every day. I notice this with our youth. Kids today dont even know how to change the brakes on a car? Schools today dont teach practical things, they instead teach theory. Gone are the wood and metal shop classes that I took. I also dont see any small engine, auto body or auto mechanical classes offered either.

If any of you have children. make certain to impart practical application to them. Teach them about carbs, and ignitions and brakes. This all may seem redundant to you, but to a young boy its golden. I remember my Dad bringing home an old Wisconsin engine. When I asked what was this about, my Dad asked me if I could take it apart and put it back together again so it would run? I was handed a shop manual and given access to the tool chest. This was back in the lawnmower powered mini bike era. As time went on my Dad taught me that engine inside and out.. This gave me the basic curiosity about mechanical things as well as the mental ability to approach the problems associated with them.

Even to this day, when I take a box of old chainsaw parts and put it all back together to where it runs and works well, I get a buzz. A feeling of accomplishment!

Here is what I ended up with when I was about 10 or 11 years old -
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/57367-1970-jc-penney-eltigre-mini-bike

 

[Brent Adams]

Very nice Bob! Mine wasnt so much a toy as a tool. My grandad bought an old Burns front tine rototiller. It had a 3 or 3.5 hp Briggs and Stratton engine. Float style carb, before any of the vacu-jet integrated tank carbs were made.
It used some oil when he got it, so he taught me how to rebuild it. Used it a ton to weed the middles in the garden when crops got too tall for the Allis Chalmers C tractor.
I got to know every part of that thing, from engine to chain case, bushings, bearings, etc. Once I was weeding the middles in the corn patch, and the motor broke the rod. I had a spare, so I walked up the hill and got the tools and parts I needed, tore it down and replaced in the field, and finished weeding. Just made more sense and less energy than dragging it all the way up the hill to the shop, but I didnt have a vehicle then.
Also got to know that little C model Allis Chalmers tractor pretty well. It still runs pretty good for being built in 1950 and sitting outside most of its life.
Think I can fix a Fairbanks Morse FMJ mag and a Marvel Shebler carb in my sleep. Helped Grandad change the clutch in the back yard once. He used a set of saw horses, some oak blocks, and a length of grass rope from a stout limb on a water oak tree. Had the most basic set of tools ever. Dont think he owned a ratchet. Sockets and a swivel head socket bar were it. Slip joint pliers, few screwdrivers, hammer, and a file. He could fix anything he had. Before that tractor, he plowed with a mule.
People back then were happy to get any kind of mechanical assistance, and they cherished it because they knew what it was like to be without it.

 

[TheTone]

He could fix anything he had. Before that tractor, he plowed with a mule.
People back then were happy to get any kind of mechanical assistance, and they cherished it because they knew what it was like to be without it.

My grandfather and father grew up on a farm in Blue Springs, Mississippi. They had a blacksmith shop in the garage for making horseshoes and whatever else was needed. This was during the depression; they had all they needed for food, but zero cash, so they had to fabricate what they needed. A few years before he died, my dad an I took a walk back in the woods to look for the "old place", where they lived before building the "new" farm house about half a mile away in the 1920's. We found the foundation of the old barn, but all we could find of the house was the cistern. We also found a mule shoe, which dad said must have belonged to Kate, the family mule. Kate was a good worker, but like most mules was obstinate and strong willed. One day my dad had Kate hitched to a wagon full of corn headed for the barn corn crib. Kate decided she had had enough work for the day and went on strike. After cajoling and threats with no results, dad gathered up same kindling and built a fire under her. Kate moved on, but only far enough to bring the wagon over the fire. I don't remember the conclusion of the story, but I believe the wagon somehow found its way to the barn without burning up. Mechanical assistance definitely had its advantages.

 

[2broke2ride]

This is why, my son at 12 years old, can take the carb off his mini bike, snowmobile, or dirt bike. Pull it down, clean the jets and put it all back together. Schools be damned, I will teach him what he needs to know to be self sufficient in this world and to have a strong work ethic and understand the value of a dollar.
He does oil changes for our friends at $20 plus fluids and filters and I'm starting to tech him brake jobs.
I tackled my first set of drum brakes at his age on my Dads 86 F150. Took me about a week as I remember and I didnt even know special tools existed for drum brake springs lol.
He can run every piece of equipment on this property from tractors to lawn mowers to four wheelers. It's the way it should be.
My daughter can do it all too, she is 18 and a college student. She calls me all the time and we laugh together because her friends cant even check their own oil lol.