How old were you?

[Bigus Termitius]

When you ran that first saw?

Reason I'm asking is that I got my 11 year old boy his first saw today. A decent little MS 180.

He's going through a full blown safety, maintenance, and operations course before he even fires it up. He will probably be more educated than half of the company I work for during the week in a couple weeks.

Then it's on to supervised cutting. He won't be on the job cutting for a few years yet, but I'd just as soon he be ready by then, as opposed to clueless.

What do you all think? Too young?

He's interested in climbing this year too, as he's seen all the kids that are climbing these days.

Just thought I'd run it past the most respected peers I have. If you are going to just say something stupid, AS has a new Axemen forum, plenty of room down there for that.

He has taken an interest in all that I do, so I thought maybe it was time to start meeting that interest at the many levels. Thanks in advance.

 

[windthrown]

Not too young. I was about 10 when my dad handed me the Homelite. "Safety" training was all of a 2 minute overview of the saw. No safety anything, and no chain brake. I still have all my digits. I learned to sharpen it when I was 11, when I became the saw steward. I dropped my first tree in Canada the next summer when they were landing on the moon.

Then again, I have poor saw habits. I always drop start my saws, and I teach people to do that. I start my saws with the chain brake off. I also prefer non-safety chains and bars, and I recommend them to newbies. I do not wear chaps that often (but I do always wear long pants and leather gloves and shoes or boots when sawing, and eyes and ears, and usually a brain bucket if I am falling). I also modify my saws and run long bars on them. opcorn:

 

[chainsawboy1996]

i first used a 350 husky when i was nine (im 12 now).had to drop a tree in a road way.then when i was 11 i got a 260 pro from my dad.now im running a 044,034avsuper and my 260. plus i was trusted enough to use a 660 brand new 1 day old. i don't feel too brave ever in fact show him this picture.

 

[AOD]

13 or 14. Went out with my grandpas old Super EZ, had a great time.

 

[ozzy42]

Not too young. I was about 10 when my dad handed me the Homelite. "Safety" training was all of a 2 minute overview of the saw. No safety anything, and no chain brake. I still have all my digits. I learned to sharpen it when I was 11, when I became the saw steward. I dropped my first tree in Canada the next summer when they were landing on the moon.

Then again, I have poor saw habits. I always drop start my saws, and I teach people to do that. I start my saws with the chain brake off. I also prefer non-safety chains and bars, and I recommend them to newbies. I do not wear chaps that often (but I do always wear long pants and leather gloves and shoes or boots when sawing, and eyes and ears, and usually a brain bucket if I am falling). I also modify my saws and run long bars on them. opcorn:

I'm in the same boat you are windthrown.I was a bit older first time with saw 14,did my first climb 2 years later.
Stihl have all digits,only cut ever was from working on big ole bow saw,,,tried to fix partialy derailed chain by pushing chain backward with no gloves,,yikes, that smarted.
Could not start a saw resting on ground if you paid me.
If the local stihl dealer slipps me a low kick chain on accident I make him make it worth my time to drive back to him to return it,,,,,I'm not gonna use it ,no way ,shape, or form..
Newbie shows up on my job with short pants,he gets thrown at the worst brush pile I can find,stickers, thorns vines,whatever ,if he comes back at all the next day ,he'll be wearing long pants.
I do wear a hard hat .Got tired of bumping my noggin.

What are chaps?

 

[groundsmgr]

11 or 12. Taking down a black cherry with black knot.

 

[Bigus Termitius]

Thanks for the input gang, his mother is especially encouraged that
I haven't lost my mind.

 

[treemandan]

i first used a 350 husky when i was nine (im 12 now).had to drop a tree in a road way.then when i was 11 i got a 260 pro from my dad.now im running a 044,034avsuper and my 260. plus i was trusted enough to use a 660 brand new 1 day old. i don't feel too brave ever in fact show him this picture.

I think you just screwd the pooch for the kid. No saw now.


I was 11 when me and Eric pulled his dad's electric saw out of his garage. It was duller than dog **** but it had a thumb oiler we thought cool. I needed for a job. I had been contracted by the neighbor to cut down a small dead dogwood which took me all day and used up all the bar oil.

 

[limbwalker54]

I was eight.

 

[boltonranger]

Give him 2-3 more years.

He'll develop more upper body strength and maturity.
He's your kid not mine but an 11 year old...well....
I guess the question might be "What is more dangerous an 11 year old behind the wheel of a car or using a chainsaw?"
My money's on the saw.
A saw's hazards are so deceptive - you swear they're even there sometimes;
and then you see a pic like the one posted above.
jmho
-br

 

[windthrown]

My father tought me to drive when I was 13. I was commercial fishing that summer. I also have been riding dirt bikes since I was about 9 or 10. My father had a pair of Hondas: a Trail 90 and a Trail 70. We also had Jeeps, and went hunting, and had a ski boat. I had a boat license whem I was 10 too. You were supposed to be 12 to get one. He pulled some strings. We also had the Jeep, and I was a Mazama at age 12 (climbing glacier peaks over 12k feet). I had a motorcycle license when I was 15. I had a Suzuki Trail 90. Talk about potential trouble, but I learned how to drop a bike and how to stay in one piece on that bike. I later graduated to GS 750 road bikes. Never dropped one at speed. I have over 50k miles on bikes.

I dunno about you guys with your kids. Depends on the kid I guess. My father pretty much let us do what we wanted and he pushed the envelope for us pretty far. I never had any injuries except for playing football. If you want to get conservative, do not let your kids play football. The only bone I ever broke was playing tackle football (middle finger fracture landing on the ball), as well as tore my left knee ligaments playing JV football. That was it for me and football. Tennis was safer (but hell on my lower back over time).

Showing those photos... shaking head. I do not think that chaps would have helped in that situation. Too deep and half way where chaps would end on your leg. I cannot recall even coming close to being injured by the wrong end of a chainsaw. No blood drawn anyway. Brushed my pants a few times with the saw, and cought a few kickback flies toward my head. But far far far more lethal in my view is that big tree that you are falling. Respect the tree. Pay attention. Limbs flying, butts breaking the hinges and riding back, barber chairs, trees falling and bouncing in all directions, and falling back over your back-cut. Compared to trees, chainsaws are very safe and controllable. Also you are far more likely to twist an ankle or break a leg stomping around in the woods and walking on brush and fallen logs, or trip and bang your head good and hard, than you are to get attacked by your own chainsaw. Blackberry vines are lethal in my view. Damn things grow low and grab your foot, and down you go.

 

[windthrown]

Newbie shows up on my job with short pants,he gets thrown at the worst brush pile I can find,stickers, thorns vines,whatever ,if he comes back at all the next day ,he'll be wearing long pants.

Heh heh heh... you are my kind of guy!

I mean, you could swear and yell at them for months and they would keep wearing shorts. One day in the stickers and thorns, and they are trained.

 

[Bigus Termitius]

He'll develop more upper body strength and maturity.
He's your kid not mine but an 11 year old...well....
I guess the question might be "What is more dangerous an 11 year old behind the wheel of a car or using a chainsaw?"
My money's on the saw.
A saw's hazards are so deceptive - you swear they're even there sometimes;
and then you see a pic like the one posted above.
jmho
-br

I appreciate the concern and input.

He's a big, fairly husky, 11 year old Irish lad and stronger than most his age and older. He's been spliting and stacking wood for about three years now, among other physical jobs. He mows, trims, rakes, tills the garden with a troybilt Pony.

He eats like a horse, and grows like a weed.

The 180 fits him good. I'm going to start him on the 12" bar that I took off my HT131.We are going to start off with some real basic work, more like training, and by the time 2-3 years goes by he'll be ready to actually work with it, or something bigger.

My money's on both, both are dangerously deceptive. I look at all the adults that still do not grasp the dynamics involved with going down the road or for that matter using a saw.

Safety first in both areas, along with extensive training with attention to what can go wrong, how to avoid it, and how to handle it when it does.

The boy's been over my shoulder and he's seen and read about all the mishaps and viewed pictures far worse, but I still appreciate it being posted up here. One should never forget how quick and how much damage no matter how much experience

 

[Bigus Termitius]

Heh heh heh... you are my kind of guy!

I mean, you could swear and yell at them for months and they would keep wearing shorts. One day in the stickers and thorns, and they are trained.

fairly simple deal.

Thanks for your input overall, I was raised on a farm and we pushed the limits with work and play all the time.

My boy is learning about the tree, but it will be sometime before he starts any felling, but I want the chainsaw basics well out of the way before hand.

We've got way too many guys working for this company I'm with during the week that are having troubles trying to learn both at the same time. I only run across them at storms as it is just my crew alone up here during the week.

I've trained five guys in the last year without any accidents, and I'm thankful for that. I also tell them that when we go to storms to trust no one, but a few names that I give them and I introduce them.

 

[Soilarch]

I'm not an expert on ANYTHING that this site pertains to but....

Here's my take:

The individual kid and the environment he'll be in, coupled with what training and supervision he has makes differences...not an arbitrary age.

I was 16 or 17. Working on the farm, was told to go pull out the 028 and to cut up a stack of railroad ties!!!! (No, I didn't know how to sharpen chains...and it wasn't sharp to begin with. Didn't have any files even if I HAD known.)

My introduction was stupid. I know for a fact that burning railroad ties stink now. It was dangerous looking back at it now. I knew "kickback" existed, and that it would mess you up in blink of an eye. I also knew to stay away from the top corner of the bar...it just made sense to me. I didn't know if would "kickback" on me or not but I figured it would at least try to "runaway" up the RR tie. It was only later that I learned chainsaws don't "run" away...they "kick" back and I guess right about staying away from that top corner.

I'm rambling now, but the point is 11 certainly isn't too young to teach and train him how to use one. Cuttin' him loose on his own is something entirely different...but you'll know when that's okay from being there during training.

Make him practice, practice, practice, sharpening. You'll make his life a little easier and, more importantly, get more work out of him!!!!

Maybe sacrifice a few logs by fastening them down to something and letting him practice facecuts an backcuts. As an 11 year old he's gonna be itching to fell that first tree...so it'll be a good way to reward and keep him interested.

Heck, it's STILL my favorite part of the whole thing:greenchainsaw:

 

[treedog54]

Sawin wood

sounds like your doining it right .Might as well have him understand how Dad makes a living.Stay safe.

 

[treeclimber101]

i first used a 350 husky when i was nine (im 12 now).had to drop a tree in a road way.then when i was 11 i got a 260 pro from my dad.now im running a 044,034avsuper and my 260. plus i was trusted enough to use a 660 brand new 1 day old. i don't feel too brave ever in fact show him this picture.

please don't ever put another pic like i scrolled down and just threw up on the comp. my daughter doesn't want me to ever touch a saw again lol:jawdrop:

 

[jburlingham]

I was 13 or 14 the first time I got try out the 038,was running it under very close supervision from then on, but I didn't get to run one without Direct dad supervision until I was 18

 

[sawinredneck]

I was pretty literaly born on a lawn mower, I was driving a manual truck by 10, backing a trailer by 12 and 12 or 13 I was running a chainsaw. By 14 I was in a tree with a chainsaw. No safety harness, no ropes, me and a chainsaw on a peice of rope tied to my belt.
Thats what we had to do get things done then.
If you think he is ready, then try, if he doesn't respond well wait a year and try again.

 

[Bigus Termitius]

I was pretty literaly born on a lawn mower, I was driving a manual truck by 10, backing a trailer by 12 and 12 or 13 I was running a chainsaw. By 14 I was in a tree with a chainsaw. No safety harness, no ropes, me and a chainsaw on a peice of rope tied to my belt.
Thats what we had to do get things done then.
If you think he is ready, then try, if he doesn't respond well wait a year and try again.

You guys remind me of me. Mowing at 5, combining crops with my own John Deere 7700 at 8, dad ran the other one, driving on the road following harvest convoys with a manual shift pick up truck at 8 or 9.

Taking off into those Illinois winter wonderlands of the late seventies early eighties on my own John Deere lead sled.

I had the world by the short hairs, and then the divorce blew it all to haiti.

Anyway...

The first I recall anything to do with chainsaws happened when I was about 10. We volunteered time and equipment to build a big park for the community. The snowmobile club got together and blazed a trail through the timber out that way. Now it's a nature trail, no motorized vehicles allowed. How ironic.

Family and friends, chips flying, trees crashing, brushhogs grinding, the hint of two cycle in the air, and the symphonic sounds of multiple saws at the heart of it all. Then I was hooked...literally, a was running down the new trail and picked up a honey locust thorn up through the bottom of the tennis shoe and out through the top with my big toe sandwiched between with no place to go. Good times! We naturally planted many a tree to offset those we took. No one had to tell us or come up with gimmick propaganda.

But I cannot remember the first time I fired up a saw and went to work with it. I've just always had a love for it, but little use, until the last few years.