So my buddy at work asks if he can borrow my chainsaw....

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wood-fan-atic

wood-fan-atic

Minister of Fire
Oct 4, 2010
872
Long Island, NY
....he has 4 or 5 old (punky) pieces of norway maple he wants to cut up and put out as garbage. He just wants it for 1 night, and he'll bring it back the next day. Well, I get a call from him last night saying it worked for 10 minutes, then he couldnt get it started again. This is a 40 cc Husqvarna that Ive had for maybe 2 years that has ran LIKE A TOP. Engine always starts on 3rd pull (after 2 choked). So he brings it back to me today, and I throw a new plug in it. No good. So I dump the gas, and put in fresh mixed. No good. So I bring it to my guy at the shop- low and behold - ITS DEAD. :shut: My guy says my buddy probably put straight gas in it, and now the piston is SHOT! Im in a bad position here. I need a saw yesterday! Im getting the load of ash of a lifetime tomorrow! And to top it off, my friend ( who offered to buy me a new saw, but says he DID NOT put gas in the broken one) just found out his father is dying and has only a few months to live. What do I do? Have him buy me a new one, even though he says he didnt put gas in it? Should I have him split the cost of a new one? Should I buy it myself , and just eat it as a lesson to not lend my power tools? I knew There had to be a bump in the road this week- the scrounging was going just TOO WELL! What do I do? BTW- if I spend big $$$ on a new husky 350 or 455, my wife just might be a tad bit upset. :eek:hh:
 
Tough spot to be in. If it were me I think I'd buy the replacement saw with my own money and learn a very important lesson - never lend out power tools that you expect to get back in working order. Given that you are saving the family money by processing your own wood you might be able to justify the new saw to your wife as the money you otherwise would have spent on oil, kerosene, electricity, etc. If your old bar and chains fit the new saw at least it won't be a total loss...
 
.....did I mention that I just spent $1000 last week on a new splitter? :shut:
 
wood-fan-atic said:
.....did I mention that I just spent $1000 last week on a new splitter? :shut:
Click to expand...

I am going to add a double :shut: :shut: to that one.
 
I know you know this but DO NOT LOAN THAT COWORKER YOUR NEW SPLITTER! Some "investments" take more than a year to pay off. Bought a splitter and a new saw this too - splitter has been "paid for" in firewood savings this year whereas the saw will be "paid for" in my first two cords for next year.
 
I will NEVER lend my saws to anyone but I will go cut up the stuff for them.
For 4 or 5 pieces of punky wood you shoulda wooda coulda cut it for him, ruling out any possibilities. ;-)
Good luck to you on your search.
 
Long story short ,,,, I had some morons dump 10+ dump truck loads of trash on my property this last summer. I dug through the trash and found some addresses. Called cops, cops went to interview said morons. One had prior record of illegal dumping. Cop pressured him a little after he denied it. Moron swore up and down he didn't do it BUT " he wood gladLEE clean it up".

Cop said "Ya, he did it! "

Don't lend out tools you need and cherish!
 
If you gave him the saw full of fuel and he only ran it for 10 minutes, there should have been no need to add more fuel, is there any chance that you put the wrong fuel in it before you gave it to him? If you gave it to him empty then he has made a mistake. Go look at how much wood he got cut so you can figure out how long he ran the saw.
 
when I hear the 'I hear you burn wood' it usually goes like this, all in one breath with out pause:
yes I have saws, no I will not loan them out, yes I would come over and cut for you just for fun and to help.

Generally I will loan out anything I have to someone I trust, but saws, guns, and wives should be exclusive.

what was in the tank you dumped? mix or straight?
If you think it was sent out with full tank, and he likely didn't add gas, well....
If he did add gas...

Regardless, I would eat it as a lesson. I would ask him to pay what he would have paid for a rental and eat the rest.
Then, upgrade to a better saw, and every time you use it: a. appreciate being forced to a better saw b. remind self of why not to loan out.
 
this is a perfect example as to why i keep the poulan around! i bought it to cut the top of fence posts level, it has done that, so now it can be lent out to anyone. i am a really generous guy when it comes to helping out, but i think my wife might lose the battle when it comes to lending out my main saw or my main squeeze!!
 
thats too bad wood-fan-atic .. hate borrowing/lending anything!!! as if she is gonna go,, its at THAT time %-P

loon
 
That is one tough lesson learned.

What to do? For sure, I'd say he is no longer much of a buddy. I'd accept some monetary help from him but not the full shot. Maybe 25% of the cost of a new saw would not be wrong? If he balked, I'd just chalk it up to a bad lesson and let it go.
 
i am lucky. my one buddy leaves his saw at my house so i can use it as a backup. and my other buddy runs a tree service and lets me use his wood splitter twice a year. but the wood splitter allways gets service when i have it. oil change, tire air pressure, and general maintenace. and i allways return it with a full tank of gas.
just last week my buddy was over to help me cut some wood up with his saw and hit a nail. instantly dulling his allready worn chain. next day i went out and bought him a 2 pack of new chains for him. i feel blessed to be able to get the help and borrow the items i cant afford, so i treat them better than if they where my own.
 
If you gave him the saw full of fuel and he only ran it for 10 minutes something is up. That's the part that's curious to me. .
 
I'm with kevin. I won't loan my saw to anybody except maybe my BIL or my FIL. They have their own saws and know how to use them. saws are too dangerous to be used by just anybody. Unless you saw him put straight gas in it, then I'd just say you've got to eat this one.
 
I'd let him buy you, or contribute the value of, a decent used saw of the same basic age and model.

His fault or not, it puked in his care.

And to add one more voice to the choir, I don't lend saws out, but will almost always go cut something up for someone, if they need it done.

I am more likely the one to borrow a saw from a friend (at an infrequently used vacation home with no saws present at the moment) then bring it back tuned, sharpened and cleaner than I borrowed it. Of course, full of 40:1 and fresh bar oil.

My buddy keeps a fleet of 6 mostly broken pullons that at any given time maybe two actually run. I usually try to borrow a broken one and bring it back working. Way more fun for everyone!
 
I would eat it and chalk it up to experience. It's a bitter pill, but stuff happens,
and we learn from it.
 
Thanks for chiming in, everyone. Im still at a loss as to what to do. I did not fill up the saw b/f I gave it to him , b/c he said he only had a few cuts to make. Its ALWAYS in my truck, and I just used it the day before to half a couple of 30" oak rounds b/f splitting, so I know it was working fine. Like I said , he feels bad (as do I !) and has offered to 1)- Buy me a new saw 2)- Give me $$ for a new saw 3) Chip in for a new saw 4) Give me his dads old,P.O.S. poulan that he couldnt get running, hence the need to borrow mine. I think I'll take a $100 toward a new Husky 350 or 455 and call it a day and a lesson learned.
 
Well it sure seems like he would fess up about the gas but you never know.
 
This is a tough one! Part of me says, you learned your lesson in lending out your "right hand man", so chalk it up as a loss and NEVER lend out a high priced power tool. I would have gone and cut it for him before I would have ever let him borrow my saw. Unless it was an old beater. The other part of me says, it OBVIOUSLY broke while he was using it, my guess is straight gas. So, maybe ask for at least half of the cost of a current replacement saw. He may not fess up about the gas, he might be too embarassed. Either way, you are down a saw and learned a lesson. If it were me, id just suck it up. Easier said than done though...
 
wood-fan-atic said:
....he has 4 or 5 old (punky) pieces of norway maple he wants to cut up and put out as garbage. He just wants it for 1 night, and he'll bring it back the next day. Well, I get a call from him last night saying it worked for 10 minutes, then he couldnt get it started again. This is a 40 cc Husqvarna that Ive had for maybe 2 years that has ran LIKE A TOP. Engine always starts on 3rd pull (after 2 choked). So he brings it back to me today, and I throw a new plug in it. No good. So I dump the gas, and put in fresh mixed. No good. So I bring it to my guy at the shop- low and behold - ITS DEAD. :shut: My guy says my buddy probably put straight gas in it, and now the piston is SHOT! Im in a bad position here. I need a saw yesterday! Im getting the load of ash of a lifetime tomorrow! And to top it off, my friend ( who offered to buy me a new saw, but says he DID NOT put gas in the broken one) just found out his father is dying and has only a few months to live. What do I do? Have him buy me a new one, even though he says he didnt put gas in it? Should I have him split the cost of a new one? Should I buy it myself , and just eat it as a lesson to not lend my power tools? I knew There had to be a bump in the road this week- the scrounging was going just TOO WELL! What do I do? BTW- if I spend big $$$ on a new husky 350 or 455, my wife just might be a tad bit upset. :eek:hh:
Click to expand...

Write the saw off. Over the corse of a lifetime this is actually a pretty cheap lesson to learn: don't loan your sh_t out.
 
Boils down to do you believe him or not? I would have checked the gas when you said you dumped it out. Dump it in a mason jar......real easy to see if it was straight gas.

If not have him chip in some money towards a better saw (I'm assuming this was a Husky 142?). I have a purple and green version of that saw I keep around for lending out to people.

If you believe him, then go get yourself a better saw.

Use the sob part of his story as leverage with your wife to get the new saw.
 
My take - it happened on his watch/use, so he should make you whole of the situation.
Last year my inlaws let us borrow thier camper trailer....FIL set up and left it for us.
Noticed that the water was not draining properly, so I leveled the trailer and in the meantime one of the stabilizers broke on their brand new trailer.
He says he was having lots of problems with it and was going to replace anyway, but since it was on my watch/use I bought a pair of new ones and help him install them. Worked out well.
Don't think that your bud should buy you a brand new saw, but some $$$ is definately in order for your loss.
 
I don't buy the "it happened under his use' arguments for him to fix/replace/etc. I've had the bad luck of using my dad's equipment when it finally gives out. Once I had driven a mile down the road in his Samurai and the clutch went out shifting between 4th and 5th. Surely you can't expect that I was responsible for that? Now if he saw me pull out of the driveway and do something stupid like revving high and dropping the clutch and then slamming every gear, then maybe he'd have a case.

Unless you saw him do it or he says he did, then it's a lesson learned. If you make him pay for part of it, then you might as well call him a Liar and find a new buddy.
 
kevin j said:
yes I have saws, no I will not loan them out, yes I would come over and cut for you just for fun and to help.

Generally I will loan out anything I have to someone I trust, but saws, guns, and wives should be exclusive.
Click to expand...

AMEN

Unfortunatly there are some cold hard facts here.

1)You need a saw.

2)Your prior saw died in "buddy's" care

3)You already bought a splitter (not sure why you need one for a load of Ash, but . . .)

4)Your wife is naturally stressed about having to spend more money. She just expresses it differently than you.


Sucks, but you need to go buy a new saw. Get a good one. A friend of mine had a 066 rebuilt last year. I'd think your Husq could likewise be rebuilt.
Tell your 'buddy' that you got this massive load of Ash and need to get it done this w/e. See if he comes over and works his butt off helping you (Don't make a big deal about it, but don't let him run the new saw)

If he doesn't come over, he's a shmuck. That's his problem, no longer yours. If he does come over, graciously accept his help, bury the hatchet, and move on.

Now, as far as how to break this to your wife . . . admit you made a bad decision on loaning the saw, go buy the new saw, then buy her something she wants but will not buy. Bring both items home, then never mention either again.
 
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