Before someone asks Who the Hang is Coug I thought I'd get the jump on you. My wood "career" started at a very early age. Mom & Dad bought an old farmhouse and my bedroom was upstairs. Back in those days insulation was not a big thing. In the winter if the wind blew, I'd have little snowpiles on my blankets in the morning from where it snuck through the cracks in the wall boards. The bed was nice and warm, but when the covers flew off those little feet barely touched the floor all the way down the stairs! At 4 years old I was setting in the newspaper, laying on the kindling, and in short order had the Glenwood heating the whole downstairs. The woodbox was close by and always full of well seasoned hardwood and I fed the stove to get the coveted bed of coals going. As soon as it warmed up I got the old percolator coffee pot churning. By the time Mom & Dad got up it was toasty warm. We'd make plans for what we were going to do that day. So long as it had to do with wood I was a happy little camper.
I was some this side of five when I convinced Dad that it was time to have my own splitting axe. It only made sense, two guys could split the wood in half the time. I tried his axe and it was to long. He cut down the handle on a spare axe and I was much better with that one. He taught me where to hit, where not to, which knots would give, which ones wouldn't. He showed me how to hone the axe so it would split but not stick. I can remember it all like it was yesterday, the smells, the smiles, the fun.
It was some time later before I even took notice of the chainsaw. Dad always did that part of the wood. The first time I tried to pick up his saw I thought he played a trick on me and nailed it to the stump! Lord but that humper was some heavy. Later in the game I bought a Sears saw, high tech with a barracuda chain. Why this critter even sharpened its own chain! Sounded good. And it was an aggressive cutting saw. But the boys who designed it missed a chapter or two as I snapped the crankshaft in less than a week! We brought it back to Sears and they happily replaced it. That saw didn't make 3 days. Once more back to Sears, and left with the 3rd saw. Dead in one day. We called it quits and went to a saw shop. Left there with one of the yellow ones, a McCullogh (sp?) I cut a LOT of wood with that saw, but it was slow and heavy.
Time went by and I grew up, joined the Army, did a tour in the "Sunny Country", got married, started carving out a life for me and the family. It didn't take long to get back to the woodpile as the oil just wouldn't give the warmth of the wood. Of course much changed in the saw world in that time and I found and fell in love with a 621 and Jonsered 80. I used the 80 for stumping and bucking up the bigger stuff, the 621 for the smaller stuff. I'm pretty sure it was a 621 but don't hold me to it, that was some time ago. But I am sure on the 80. I wore both those saws out and had no complaints with either.
Of course human nature being what it is I looked at Stihl next. Came out of the saw shop with an 066. Down in the "Flats" grapple loads were easy to come by, an 8 to 10 cord load went $400 back then. Dad got one and I had one dumped in Temple. We'd get together to buck up the logs on the weekends and it was like old times but even better. We didn't have to stump it and haul it, it was already in one big pile. It was just pure cutting and splitting! He was scared in a big way of that Stihl saw after trying it just once. "Too danged big, too danged heavy, and WAY overpowered for cutting wood!" But he's squeal with glee when I lit that brute off on a log as I'd reach out and tear into the log and the saw would pull me right into the wood! A couple of times I went for the high log and it would pull me right off the ground! He liked that even better. Anybody that runs a 066 knows that it don't take much time at all to eat through a grapple load with one of those critters.........(continued)
I was some this side of five when I convinced Dad that it was time to have my own splitting axe. It only made sense, two guys could split the wood in half the time. I tried his axe and it was to long. He cut down the handle on a spare axe and I was much better with that one. He taught me where to hit, where not to, which knots would give, which ones wouldn't. He showed me how to hone the axe so it would split but not stick. I can remember it all like it was yesterday, the smells, the smiles, the fun.
It was some time later before I even took notice of the chainsaw. Dad always did that part of the wood. The first time I tried to pick up his saw I thought he played a trick on me and nailed it to the stump! Lord but that humper was some heavy. Later in the game I bought a Sears saw, high tech with a barracuda chain. Why this critter even sharpened its own chain! Sounded good. And it was an aggressive cutting saw. But the boys who designed it missed a chapter or two as I snapped the crankshaft in less than a week! We brought it back to Sears and they happily replaced it. That saw didn't make 3 days. Once more back to Sears, and left with the 3rd saw. Dead in one day. We called it quits and went to a saw shop. Left there with one of the yellow ones, a McCullogh (sp?) I cut a LOT of wood with that saw, but it was slow and heavy.
Time went by and I grew up, joined the Army, did a tour in the "Sunny Country", got married, started carving out a life for me and the family. It didn't take long to get back to the woodpile as the oil just wouldn't give the warmth of the wood. Of course much changed in the saw world in that time and I found and fell in love with a 621 and Jonsered 80. I used the 80 for stumping and bucking up the bigger stuff, the 621 for the smaller stuff. I'm pretty sure it was a 621 but don't hold me to it, that was some time ago. But I am sure on the 80. I wore both those saws out and had no complaints with either.
Of course human nature being what it is I looked at Stihl next. Came out of the saw shop with an 066. Down in the "Flats" grapple loads were easy to come by, an 8 to 10 cord load went $400 back then. Dad got one and I had one dumped in Temple. We'd get together to buck up the logs on the weekends and it was like old times but even better. We didn't have to stump it and haul it, it was already in one big pile. It was just pure cutting and splitting! He was scared in a big way of that Stihl saw after trying it just once. "Too danged big, too danged heavy, and WAY overpowered for cutting wood!" But he's squeal with glee when I lit that brute off on a log as I'd reach out and tear into the log and the saw would pull me right into the wood! A couple of times I went for the high log and it would pull me right off the ground! He liked that even better. Anybody that runs a 066 knows that it don't take much time at all to eat through a grapple load with one of those critters.........(continued)
I finaly finished spiffing up the wood shed tonight, now all I have to do is get those 16 cords in there. I see a lot of folks are hooked on the "D" saws. Can't say I've ever seen one, and don't know of any dealers around here, but then I could be all wet on this as there may be one within spittin distance. I'll have to check that out. Thanks for the welcome and all the information, much appreciated.
