Totaled my chain saw

Me, either. Great idea. I've got my old saw stuck a few times. One time it actually bent the bar. That was my Craftsman. I have had a new MS390 that I haven't had time to even fire up yet. I need to get some felling wedges. Where's a good place?

I'm all about saving money, but wedges are pretty cheap no matter where you find them. My Stihl dealership had some. I think they cost 2x as much as it would have online, so now I'm out that extra $0.23 I coulda saved, lol.

How does that work? I can see using a jack to lift a downed log but how would you use it on a standing tree with a stuck saw?

Use wedges on little trees and jacks on big trees.

See pic 0333 in http://www.arboristsite.com/showpost.php?p=1044273&postcount=8 for an example.

Once the jack has some pressure in it the saw will be freed and you can cut the top cut further and apply a littl more pressure to the jack. Alternate till the tree falls over.

See pic 0325 and 0328 in http://www.arboristsite.com/showpost.php?p=1044258&postcount=6

What do you use the rope for?

I put them in the tree to pull it so it falls perfect and also use weges for the samething. I and felling around houses so the drop zone can get very tight.

Look on the bright side: Now you can go get yourself a real saw.

To hang your self it you ruin your brand new saw!

Why would I use it on a standing tree ?

I don't have remove my bar because of a stuck saw very often , but have a few times . A 50-60 dollar bar and chain is a heck of lot cheaper than losing a power head . I have already bent a saw bar years ago But I have never destroyed one . We did straighten it pretty good but it had about a 3 inch offset and I swear when I seen the tree land on it after we got it off the stump that it was bent in half . Usually its my old man that I have to cut his saw out of a tree. That is probably why I fell most of the trees now . Rarely do I get a saw stuck and if on a rare occasion I do just a second saw I can get a relief cut done to remove the first saw .
I have 4 steal wedges and a couple of plastic ones . If I have to walk back to the truck to get my wedges and sledge its not going to be a good day of cutting ( period )

My Pull-on err...poolan 18" lasted a whole 10 minutes. Put it together added the liquids and pulled and pulled, she finally started then stalled out. drained fluids and back to HD it went. Brought home an Echo and she loves to run.

I bought my saw from a "mom and pop" type dealer.(for the good service) The only problem is when I do something dumb with my saw I have to take it to "pop" and explain what I did. I've gotten parts online just to stay out of trouble.

+1 on the bottle of Jack after the cutting is done for the day..........

Troutchaser ya got some good advise ,but i have to ask.How did the fiskars hold up ?

On the bright side you have a new anchor. Time for a stihl.

What does " Totaled my saw " mean to you ? We are just suggesting for the replacement saw he might want to consider a decent saw. Poulans are known to be poorly made and are not even worth having. I bet I see 50 of them for sale on CL for every Stihl enought about the saw.
All the other suggestions using a jack , peavy, wedges, removing the powerhead, using a lever are common ways to free a stuck saw. The suggestions mostly seem helpful and valid.

Funny how it is only the Stihlheads who have had to chime in and tell him the OP to get a different saw. troutchaser, get the saw fixed, learn your lesson and ignore all the rest.

Fix it and keep as a back up saw... Buy a Husky or Stihl as a primary and keep cutting...

I had a freind who had a poulon wild thing , cut alot of wood with it it did a pretty decent job . He had it for like about 6 years then the oiler or something broke . Nice thing was he just took the bar and chain off went to the hardware store and bought another . Said hes been doing that for years . I happen to like stihl . They rarely break and if they do they are well worth fixing . We now live in a disposible world and saws are being built the same way for our disposible lives . I use to call my old escort a bic . First 1000 repair bill you just junk it and by another .
Consider your self smart and lucky to have had a poulon just go by another and fix this one yourself for a spare saw .

Ya I don't think wood recommend spending $500 on a good saw until you were a bit more proficient with it. Get another Poulan.

I do not uderstand all these posts.
I do not stick bars.
If the tree is on the ground look at where it is supported.
Some times I cut them into logs then cut down part way until they want to pinch then roll the log to cut from the other side.

If a tree wants to fall different than where I want it to go I put a rope on it and tension it with a come-a-long.
The last two trees I took down were in a very busy yard.
There was only one spot to put either tree.
The most important thing is to cut that wedge pointing where you want it to fall.
Then the second tree wanted to go the wrong way so I tied it to a tree just as far the other way from where I wanted it to go.
I told the people that had gathered to watch just where it was going to land.
When they saw how it was leaning and how I had tied it they were doubting me.
I made the back cut leaving a good hinge because it was a tall Red Pine.
I shut the saw off and set it down then told them the tree was falling.
It was barely moving but I was hearing the cracks.
That rope and the knotch were in control and as I was talking to them that tree finally started to move and down it came with it's tip landing perfectly on the little stick I had laid across the yard to show them where it was going to land.
That tree was 65 feet tall.

Oh, The rope I used was 140 feet long and about 1" rope.
I made it from one roll of baling twine that I paid $5.00 for at a swap meet.

Really???? $150 for a rope????

Amazing

Post #1 and you are already talking down to everybody. You'll fit in quite nicely, lol. I agree on the amount spent on some of these fancy logging ropes. physics tells me that i don't need a rope capable of holding the entire weight of a tree if I'm just tuggin at the top of it to keep it from falling away, or to make it fall where I want. I spend more than $5 on my ropes, but definitely have less than $100 on all my ropes combined.

There is reasons to have a rope with very strong tinsel strength. If your using to just pull a tree over hi tinsel not needed. But with the 12000lb tinsel strenght your rope can be used for a lot more including pulling logs on the trailer for the mill.

1.) My $5.00 rope would pull any log I have seen. BUT, pulling and loading logs jobs belong to my winch and chains.
2.) I sure hope I cut that quote right so this works. 8>))
3.) I was not trying to talk down to anyone here.
4.) I use a trailer hitch ball tied to a smaller rope to toss around a high branch. Then I use the small rope to pull up my big rope.