Youngens Question

[KsWoodsMan]

My 2 boys are 12 and 13. Last year they kept asking to pick up the saws and help out. I was reluctant but had a small saw that would cut limbs and small stuff. I got to thinking about it and they are near my weigh , near my height and wanted to help. The decision was mine to make and I let them start small. Had them read a safety manual completely and went over it with them, the why's and how's of doing it safely. I gave them some words of guidance and encouragement as they started. I'm no expert but still have all 21 digits after years of cutting and with a manual in hand I felt competent in getting them started.

Neither are ready to go in the woods alone or together and come back out with a load of wood yet. Though now, they don't feel like they are along to do only the meinial work of clearing brush and loading the truck. We all pitch in on that.

I have to tell you though I was sure holding my breath as they cut and gritting my teeth when the bar hit dirt, at first. They have gotten much better since and I can turn my back on them now. One thing about it though, I can cun -n- clear brush faster then both of them still.

This isn't a good decision to make alone.
LOL the "fit hit the shan" after their mom found out, when she came to see them.

 

[kevin j]

This isn't a good decision to make alone.
LOL the "fit hit the shan" after their mom found out, when she came to see them.



yeah, can relate to that ! my fan was loaded when daughter about 6, went back and told mom she got to use the hatchet this weekend...... but, safe, supervised, and they grow. I'm not advocating the 'tools/toys/atv/tv as babysitter approach ' so many parents seem to use.
and, btw, the daughter left for college last month with all fingers available to do piano as a music major, and many activites like this made them into the people they are. good work, good respnsibility, good rewards.

k

 

[Nailsbeats]

Let him go, he's not a kid he's a man, start treating him like one before he doesn't care about it anymore and goes somewhere else to get respect. Guy otta be growing a beard by now.

My brother and I were cutting by the time we were 11 and out cutting every man in sight at 15, I **** you not, nobody held a candle to us in the firewood pile. As a matter of fact we were out in the woods tonight logging and I thought to myself, if it wasn't for our dad treating us like men and letting us do man stuff, he wouldn't be looking at his two full grown sons running all there own equipment (skidder, skidsteer, trucks, trailers, saws) and gettin it done today.

I don't mean to come off as a *******, I just get extremely fired up about this subject.

 

[wdanforth]

Taught my 14 year old nephew with a husky 36 to cut up small limbs. Explained basics - positioning, kickback theory and ppe. By days end he moved up to bucking logs with 455 rancher. He appreciated gaining the added responsibility.

Loved the topic subject. "Youngen" The nephew's job is usually helping load the wood in the truck. When it comes to the big rounds I say "hey this is one for the youngin". The boy is about 185lbs with size 13 feet. He likes showin off muscling the big ones in.

Given his choice he would stay home in front of the tv or computer. He likes to say "Firewood is your hobby not mine". But now letting him saw makes him feel more important.

 

[bassman]

you should be happy he wants too!!!

Brothers kid doesent want to leave his room let alone do somthing.

just make sure you are not adding beer to the mix as I have seen a few around here that seem to think you need to drink in order to work!!

 

[Lignum]

Now is your opportunity to teach. If you don't take advantage of the moment, he will eventually teach himself. Which way do you think is more controlled?
Enjoy giving him lessons.

As a sidenote, If there are so many close calls with your cutting situation, you should maybe look at your own methods a bit.

:agree2:

 

[iowawoodcutter]

Reminds me of a funny story that happened to me the other day. I was at a business that needed some huge maple cut up and hauled away (they give me free pallets too, the kind that are about 32" wide and 8' long, perfect for firewood). Got about a load and then pinched my bar so bad it was unusable. Went down the street to my dads business where he and his maintenance guy were cutting up some branches. They were using a 14" new Mac (POS he bought new for somewhere around 100 bucks). He told me it would not cut anymore after about two tanks of gas. Well I looked at the chain first and it was beat to hell and looked awful dry, so I sharpened that up and started it up to make sure it was oiling. Sure enough it was not oiling either. Checked the oil tank and it was empty. Asked him where the oil was and he said it was a 2-stroke and did not need bar oil!:jawdrop: :jawdrop: :jawdrop:

Gave him some of my bar oil and both of them some lessons in basic chainsaw maintenance. Was surprised because my dad is the one that taught me so much when I was growing up about taking care of things and fixing stuff. Guess he had just never run a chainsaw before.

So what is my point? I am not sure, but I like stories...

 

[avalancher]

Reminds me of a funny story that happened to me the other day. I was at a business that needed some huge maple cut up and hauled away (they give me free pallets too, the kind that are about 32" wide and 8' long, perfect for firewood). Got about a load and then pinched my bar so bad it was unusable. Went down the street to my dads business where he and his maintenance guy were cutting up some branches. They were using a 14" new Mac (POS he bought new for somewhere around 100 bucks). He told me it would not cut anymore after about two tanks of gas. Well I looked at the chain first and it was beat to hell and looked awful dry, so I sharpened that up and started it up to make sure it was oiling. Sure enough it was not oiling either. Checked the oil tank and it was empty. Asked him where the oil was and he said it was a 2-stroke and did not need bar oil!:jawdrop: :jawdrop: :jawdrop:

Gave him some of my bar oil and both of them some lessons in basic chainsaw maintenance. Was surprised because my dad is the one that taught me so much when I was growing up about taking care of things and fixing stuff. Guess he had just never run a chainsaw before.

So what is my point? I am not sure, but I like stories...

Dont worry about it, half the time that I open my yap I dont have a point. I like stories too! My kids groan at the table when I start one of "dads stories".

 

[Hugenpoet]

Many of us, myself included, are lucky we didn't kill ourselves when we first put a saw into wood. I know I was never given any instruction in how to cut safely and also cut for the first 30 years of my life without any PPG whatsoever (use it all the time now as do my son and son-in-law).

This is a great time for you to do your step son a real favor. Teach him the importance of safety, show him some of the videos that have been posted that show what a saw can do to flesh and bone, and work with him for the first few weeks while he is learning. By the time he is 17 he'll have a base of knowledge that will serve him well for the rest of his life.

 

[strongback]

16 is definitely old enough to run a saw. I probably started using a little Mac (don't know the model but it was tiny) when I was maybe 11-12. Just cutting limbs and the little itty bitty stuff. It wan't long before I was running the bigger saws and by sixteen I was sending pop back in the house to get warm while I did the lions share of the work.

As has been said though, make sure he's got all of his PPE. We didn't use any PPE when I was coming up. The only time we even wore gloves was when it was cold. I luckily never got more than a couple of scratches but lord knows it could have been worse.

 

[avalancher]

My mom came to visit last Christmas and I happened to hang out in my sleep shorts and t shirt in the evenings like I always do. She happened to see the scars on my legs from countless encounters with a chainsaw chain at high speed gathered over the years before I grew up and bought some chaps and wondered aloud,"how did that boy ever manage to live this long?"
After an hour long conversation in which she enlightened my wife with some of my narrow escapes as a child+chainsaw,rifle,trucks,etc my wife anounced that I was grounded from any tool that had a blade until all the safety shields had been put back on. Her favorite point was the large chunk missing from the side of my thigh where a piece kicked back out of a table saw missing its guard and took a nice piece of me with it.
Get that kid some PPE!

 

[Hansenj11]

when i was sixteen i operated a husky 346xp

 

[iowawoodcutter]

when i was sixteen i operated a husky 346xp

I never touched a chainsaw when I was sixteen, but I tried to touch the life of every woman that came my way....

 

[thombat4]

avalancher and iowawoodcutter,

I'd like to get you two together around the dinner table and kick back with a few brews and listen to some of those stories of yours anytime!:greenchainsaw:

 

[iowawoodcutter]

avalancher and iowawoodcutter,

I'd like to get you two together around the dinner table and kick back with a few brews and listen to some of those stories of yours anytime!:greenchainsaw:

I just drove back from Akron yesterday and would have been more than glad to kick back a few....

 

[E&R_firewood]

my old man was the overprotective type . . . he refused to let me run a chainsaw when i was round about 11 . . . said it was dangerous, and showed me the scar on his shin and an old pair of steel toed boots with a shallow notch visible in the toe through the shredded leather. . . he actually removed and hid the spark plug and fuel line from an old blue XL-12 i'd found in my grandpa's barn and carted home . . . on the sly i smuggled in another saw, what i consider "my first" an Echo 500VL, i hid it like a nudie mag and would bring it out when there was no chance of getting caught, make a short walk to the river and carve up fallen cottonwoods, making stupid errors and not knowing it, watching the bar kickback, etc. the summer i was 12 he let me go to work for my uncle who logged each summer and fall to supply his sawmill . . .on the condition that i was a simple gopher and not to touch a single Stihl. well the second day of work, my blessed unlce handed over his chaps, hard hat and the 064 and instructed me to make a cut, that was a defining moment, i thought the saw was going to pull me right over that log, but what a thrill! as the summer progressed i was running saws daily and thanks to the patience and expertise of my uncle learning a great deal on running a saw safely. i think any kid wanting to work with a chainsaw rather than play video games deserves someone to teach them.

 

[cabinman]

-+amen

my old man was the overprotective type . . . he refused to let me run a chainsaw when i was round about 11 . . . said it was dangerous, and showed me the scar on his shin and an old pair of steel toed boots with a shallow notch visible in the toe through the shredded leather. . . he actually removed and hid the spark plug and fuel line from an old blue XL-12 i'd found in my grandpa's barn and carted home . . . on the sly i smuggled in another saw, what i consider "my first" an Echo 500VL, i hid it like a nudie mag and would bring it out when there was no chance of getting caught, make a short walk to the river and carve up fallen cottonwoods, making stupid errors and not knowing it, watching the bar kickback, etc. the summer i was 12 he let me go to work for my uncle who logged each summer and fall to supply his sawmill . . .on the condition that i was a simple gopher and not to touch a single Stihl. well the second day of work, my blessed unlce handed over his chaps, hard hat and the 064 and instructed me to make a cut, that was a defining moment, i thought the saw was going to pull me right over that log, but what a thrill! as the summer progressed i was running saws daily and thanks to the patience and expertise of my uncle learning a great deal on running a saw safely. i think any kid wanting to work with a chainsaw rather than play video games deserves someone to teach them.

AMEN"""""""