Man I just wanted to help the fella out!

[FourMoCajuns]

First a little background. A nearby Army base has a program where every tree that is removed is limbed and then moved to a staging area for people to cut for firewood. You are required to purchase a permit for $5 and you can take 2 cords of wood in the month you got the permit. Ok today we go out with my Father-in-law and there is a father and son hard at work. Being afflicted with the disease I instantly notice a Craftsman 42cc saw and a Husky 350. As soon as he fires up his saw and enters the cut I notice he is burning the wood not cutting it. Nothing but dust coming off of the chain! Now mind you he is trying to cut 16-20" red and white oak! He continually buries the bar in the dirt and makes every cut in no less than 3 minutes! I walk over and offer him a file and he says no thanks I got one. I am thinking maybe he just needed a reminder. He gets out a little electric dremel and commences to burn the teeth off of the chain. As I walk away feeling that this site could offer him soooo much knoweledge I tell my own son to take notes on what this guy was doing and file it away under "Never attempt".

 

[rahtreelimbs]

Some people (they may be few and far between) just don't want help and refuse to have an open mind that there may be a better/easier way to do things. Once I see that a person is like this he is on his own!!!

 

[olyman]

people like that have a severe mental problem--callled brain blockage!!!!!!!!!!no known cure---

 

[kattcutter]

Some people (they may be few and far between) just don't want help and refuse to have an open mind that there may be a better/easier way to do things. Once I see that a person is like this he is on his own!!!

Agreed! I run into this so often anymore; It must be something that the government is dumping into the water supply!

I have almost givin up on trying to "gently" help out folks when I see something amiss. You hate to stand back & watch while they continue to do things the hard way, but what else can you do? :bang:

Well, I guess you can

...You can lead a horse to water...

 

[FourMoCajuns]

I even stood 5 ft from him a cut through a 20" round in the time it took him to go 3 inches into his cut! I was thinking maybe it would raise an interest.
He was also cutting these things into 5 ft lengths. He delivers them to relatives and said they cut it smaller. With his skills as few cuts as possible should be his motto.

 

[ericjeeper]

sounds like he needs a trailer

about a 20 foot trailer. save himself three cuts.

 

[Tractorsaw1]

no file

HELLO LOSER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the time he gets his first cord cut the month is up, when he gets his second cord cut the winter is over. Sounds like he just needs to be the log loader & not the sawyer.

Patrick

 

[livewire]

Pride

Sometimes you have to swallow your pride and thank people who are trying to help you out.

years ago my wifes uncle walked up behind me kneeled over a fir round while I was filing away. He interrupted me and told me that I was doing it incorrectly and needed to do "like this" to get a correct angle and edge.

I felt like such a flunked out high school kid. but I stood up and thanked him, extremely embarassed. After he left I did it "his way" and instantly realized how right he was.

Before that day I vehemently hated filing chains, now it's 'almost' tolerable knowing I'm putting a good edge on and it'll cut sweet.

I hope I never end up like mr dremel.

 

[begleytree]

imo, he's a man with a man's tool, and you insulted his manhood by offering to help. if he wanted/needed help, he'd ask. since he didn't, stay out of his way.
JMO but not everyone needs or wants to look like less of a man in front of his son, especially when Jr goes home and tells mommy that daddy had to have another man sharpen his saw. respect the guy. its his saw. why anyone would care that someone is not treating a $500 saw like a $50K corvette is beyond me.
-Ralph

 

[manual]

My first thought was the Father son bonding time they were having.

 

[ol'homey]

I know an older gentleman (70+) who is so confident that he knows all the answers to everything that nobody can tell him anything. The problem is that just about everything he knows is wrong. He teaches a firearms safety course to people wanting a concealed weapons permit. Last time I saw him he was recuperating from shooting himself in the hand with a .45 while at the pistol range teaching a class! Lucky he didn't lose his thumb. Ever confident he explained how it happened and in his mind it was no big deal and could have happened to anyone. After all he handles firearms all the time and it had been over 15 yrs since the last time he accidentally shot himself (in the foot I think). I guess he was due? I asked him if his teaching days were over. "Heck no my classes will be twice the size they were before the accident because of all the people waiting to get permits, and besides i need the $ to pay the medical bills."
The guy with the saw at the top of this thread was not a danger to himself or others so it's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. What worries me is some of the guys I know that have tons of confidence but questionable abilities have the potential to hurt somebody. I know another guy in his 70's that had a stroke and kept on driving. He totaled one car and then really messed up the new car he bought to replace the one he totaled. After the second accident they finally pulled his license. He still thinks he can drive! Luckily neither of these people hurt anybody else but either of them could have easily killed themselves or worse somebody else. Anybody else know people like this?

 

[Sprig]

My first thought was the Father son bonding time they were having.

My thought as well, and maybe it was just his way of killing time sort of like driving in the slow lane 'cause there is no hurry. And as others have said, some people just will not take good advice (or help) no matter how well intentioned, and others are plain silly pig-headed, and further down the food chain there is out-right stupidity (a particularly frustrating one, well to steer clear of). As a small example of pig-headedness, and one I will forever be affected by due to the loss of him, is that of an dear mate of mine who I'd known for almost 30yrs who chose to ride his bike with one of those thin beany style helmets because I guess it looked cool and he felt himself a rebel (he was mindja). The concerns of many of his friends went unheeded for years and we sort of just shrugged our shoulders, what can you do? On his big ol' 1500 Suz @ 150hp I figured at the speeds he could attain nothing would really 'save' him anyhow should misfortune occur. Then 3 months before my daughter (and his Godchild) was born he goes and dumps his cycle at 10km on pea-gravel, sustained massive head injuries and was dead several hours later. At the time we were all waiting at his house for a BBQ when his pop came over to tell us the news. Life hasn't been quite the same since for many people though we have all trucked on in our own ways. There are no coulda/shouldas, whats the point really, he made his choices (as we all do), was an adult, and the fickle finger of fate continues to spin the big roulette wheel for all of us regardless. Don't even know why I brought this up, guess I'm just missing him and being a bit maudlin I suppose, lost so many people over the last 20yrs (friends and family) and it always seems to hit me around the New Year. Once in a blue moon I sit around and have a cheer for each of them and wish them many adventures in whatever dimension they now travel in, and end up fairly well into the cups (as I seem to be now), not much else I can do from here. But, life being for the living, we are obligated to move forward, look after our friends and families, and not forget to hear the music, to love, and to laugh. Tis a frail coil we mortals dwell in and the best we can do is stay healthy and happy and tread lightly upon this hallowed ground.

My ramblin' thoughts fer the evening.

to All! And may this year bring much joy and benefit to each and everyone.

Serge

 

[SteveH]

Guy up the road, who lives fulltime elsewhere but comes up to visit his little cottage now and then, is 84 yr. old and in his time was pretty sharp. His brain still is, body has given out pretty much now [including two fake knees], and he can't accept it and is NEVER wrong and NEVER needs a hand. Couple months ago, decided to take down this tree, maybe 26 inch spruce, dead, for firewood at his city home. Went out and bought a new, small Sears saw [I didn't say anything as he a) wouldn't listen and b) wouldn't listen and c) won't be around enough to use up a good saw]. I offered to come up [5 minute walk] and drop the tree, then go away and let him section and limb it [which I'd have also done but knew he wouldn't have let me]. Took his new Sears with the 14" bar and did manage to cut thru the base and the tree rolled off the base and hung up, standing, in two other trees. I walked past the next day, saw what he'd done, got my saw and dropped it and cut it into three-foot sections. Called him up and said, "See you got that tree down ok." He said, no, he had a real mess up there but couldn't be helped, no one could get that tree out of there...he was gonna borrow a friend's big diesel pickup, bring it up [70 miles] with a twenty foot chain, back up in the woods and pull that thing down. I said, "Oh, looks to me like it's all down and cut up a bit, don't know what you mean." His wife told me he spent almost seven hours trying to untangle the tree, couldn't get it and got madder and madder. Oh, well, I left him the 3-foot sections to play with, and he did. Never said anything to me about it and I never told him I'd done it, though he knows. I had more fun that way....

 

[B_Turner]

imo, he's a man with a man's tool, and you insulted his manhood by offering to help. if he wanted/needed help, he'd ask. since he didn't, stay out of his way.

-Ralph

I try fight the urge to give advice when I am around people like that, but sometimes I just cant help it as they need the advice so badly. When I do succumb to the urge to try to help, I am almost always sorry I did at the time.

But I bet every now and again when the person thinks about it all later, they might realize they need to do better and do something about it.

 

[Ed in Maine]

I used to get those permits with my Dad and go cut wood with him every now and then. Didn't see the point in it back then, was sooo much work, but now that I realize wood is $220 a cord, I wish I had a permit now!

My Dad went out and bought new chains once a year, hates to hand file. Finally got him a husky rancher with a big bar and realized chains were expensive... Hello mister drimel too. He wales on that chain like a red headed step child, almost glowing hot. I just sit back and watch....

 

[blis]

I used to get those permits with my Dad and go cut wood with him every now and then. Didn't see the point in it back then, was sooo much work, but now that I realize wood is $220 a cord, I wish I had a permit now!
.........

Holy ????! 220$ for cord of wood :jawdrop:

here you pay 50e max per m^3 of firewood...

 

[manual]

My ramblin' thoughts fer the evening.

to All! And may this year bring much joy and benefit to each and everyone.

Serge

I hear ya. Lost many Bros in my life time.

 

[Jim Mesthene]

I'm just a chain saw amateur, but I was a Class A mechanic on race cars, antique and other fancy ($$$$) cars.
I learned to keep my mouth shut.
If a stranger tells me it's best to change my oil every 1000 miles with straight 50 weight oil and STP, I thank him for his advice. If anyone asks, I'll offer my honest opinion and leave it at that.
I'm sure I'm misquoting the guy who said he never learned a damned thing while he was talking.

 

[PA Plumber]

I try fight the urge to give advice when I am around people like that, but sometimes I just cant help it as they need the advice so badly. When I do succumb to the urge to try to help, I am almost always sorry I did at the time.

But I bet every now and again when the person thinks about it all later, they might realize they need to do better and do something about it.

Good post.

Same here, but it's that 1 out of 20 that becomes a friend, a customer, or who really appreciates it, that makes me keep trying.

 

[Bermie]

I do volunteer work with a man I highly respect, he's like the Godfather of environmentalists here, and has been an inspiration for many of use coming up behind, he's 71, works like he's 30, a font of endless information.
Problem is he's an absolute liability with a chainsaw in his hands, but there's no telling him!
He bought a Stihl tophandle for groundwork, and he flails about with it one handed. He wears ear defenders now that he's nearly deaf, shorts and docksiders! I suggested to him he should hold the saw with two hands, he said, oh it has an intertial chainbrake, it will stop in time. This man cut through his achillies tendon once while walking with a saw dangling from one hand, revving it, no chain brake, stepped over something and into the chain!
All I can really do is work somewhere out of sight and bring a really good first aid kit and pray! When I get the chance I hijack his saw, clean it and sharpen it and tighten the chain, that might help a little!