Confessions of a Chainsaw Wimp

[PDXpyro]

OK, I finally have to admit on this forum that I'm a Chainsaw Wimp. I inherited a couple of Stihls about three years ago, one biggish and one little-ish. (Please note that I'm nearly 60 years old, with no prior chainsaw experience.)

This saw inheritance happened just a year or two after we'd finally had a woodstove installed at the house, and I at first assumed that it'd give us complete independence from *purchased* wood.

Well, turns out that after reading the statistics on annual USA chainsaw injuries, plus relatively advanced age and lack of experience, equals an extreme reluctance to actually use those bad boys for the most part.

Sorry: don't like the risks, don't like the noise, don't like the fumes, don't like the vibrations and the maintenence requirements, etc.

On the other hand, I DO love to split wood by hand and am happy to pay braver and younger saw-jocks to deliver rough splits and/or rounds when needed, and the greener the better! (The wood, that is: I'm experienced enough to depend on my own seasoning judgement, and greener usually equals better prices.)

Craigslist is great as well, and I've gotten substantial percentages of our yearly heating needs from CL scrounges, always cut into stove-length rounds beforehand. Chainsaw Wimp gets at least 50% of his yearly heating needs merely from swinging a maul/wedges, and that works at this point in my life.

 

[Poindexter]

I bit the bullet this year and paid to have logs delivered instead of driving out to the woods to fell my own trees. I am about 10 years behind you, but humping rounds across the forest floor to the truck is very time consuming.

I am on a mission to see how many years ahead I can get before I put down my saw...

 

[Knots]

Chainsaws are not to be trifled with. I know that as I'm getting older I do my sawing in smaller doses and quit when I'm starting to feel a little tired. Good on you for understanding the potential danger and your choice of risks to take.

 

[jebatty]

Well understood the reluctance to use a chainsaw, also with the work to fell trees, buck and haul out of the woods, and split and stack. But I still do all of that and will be 68 summer of 2015, and still about 10 cords/year. I can see a time that I may buy truckloads of logs rather than fell trees and haul the logs myself. Also a time that I may buy cut and split stove wood. But what I really would like to see are my two sons and son-in-law step up to do much of the work for me. On the other hand, their lack of experience with a chainsaw and felling trees are reasons I don't encourage them to do that.

 

[kennyp2339]

PDXpyro - it is always better to be honest with yourself than to deny and take chances, so what chainsaws aren't your things; it wont hold you back, if anything it will shoot you forward. Snakes aren't my thing, so I wont jump into a snake pit anytime soon and if I have a snake issue I call someone that can handle it.

 

[gerry100]

start slow and get comfortable with the saw on easy pieces. Csaws are powerful but easily manageable with practice.

Knots is right - I'm 64 and been cutting for 35 yrs but I still worry about getting sloppy when I'm tired - be aware.

 

[bassJAM]

Chainsaws are no joke. I was lucky that when I was 20, I was being dumb with a chainsaw alone in the woods, and could have cut my leg pretty bad, but the zipper on my Carharts got stuck in the chain and stopped it. It still left 5" mark in the inside of my leg that bled a little, but it was a great slap in the face to slow down and be smart as I could have laid out there bleeding before being found hours later in those days before I had a cell phone.

So good luck finding wood if you decide to never run those saws. I find that even scrounging for wood, I only need a saw for about half of it as most has already been cut. And lets see some pics of those old Stihls!

 

[Ashful]

Running my 85cc saw thru big rounds is just about the most fun I've had with my clothes on. My opinion is anyone cautious and intelligent enough to have some apprehension toward using a saw is exactly the type of person who will operate said saw safely. Akin to begreen's quote from Bertrand Russel, "the trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt."

It's the overly confident guy who's never spent the time watching saw safety videos and reading the literature, who is most likely to get hurt in the process.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I love the outdoors and I love to work out. I can honestly say that I get the most exhausted when I'm dropping trees, bucking and clearing with the saw. Something about it is very taxing on the body. Stopping for frequent breaks and drinking tons of water really helps.

Not for everyone. But I've had lots more fun with my clothes on. Twisting a throttle is still my favorite activity.

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Inspector Harry "Dirty Harry" Callahan said it best: "Man's got to know his limitations."

 

[Mettlemickey]

PDXPyro, I'm 39 and take same approach. This spring I was in the store ready to buy one, but went back home, read some safety info on the web and decided against it.

Totally support anyone qualified, careful and confident enough to use one. But having read the potential injury list (many fatal) and the volume of accidents, I decided its just not worth it.

I don't cut trees down but I scavenge and collect plenty and theres not much you cant cut with a good panel saw. Keeps you fit too ;-)

 

[jeffesonm]

Two years ago when I started, I'd never touched a chainsaw in my life. I watched probably 3+ hours of safety videos before I touched one. The first few times I made my girlfriend come out with me just in case I did something dumb. Now I feel confident enough to cut on my own, but always wear the protective gear, bring my cell phone and make sure someone knows I'm cutting.

Take your time, take it slow and you will get more comfortable with it.

 

[Ashful]

Now I feel confident enough to cut on my own, but always wear the protective gear, bring my cell phone and make sure someone knows I'm cutting.

Good rules. I do much of my cutting when I'm home alone, back in the woods behind the house, where no one will ever see or hear me. I do always have a cell phone, and make sure someone know's I'm out there cutting, tho.

 

[Jags]

I throw caution to the wind...

 

[Danno77]

never shave with a loose chain.

 

[nyny]

dont like fumes or smoke?

 

[7acres]

Two years ago when I started, I'd never touched a chainsaw in my life. I watched probably 3+ hours of safety videos before I touched one. The first few times I made my girlfriend come out with me just in case I did something dumb. Now I feel confident enough to cut on my own, but always wear the protective gear, bring my cell phone and make sure someone knows I'm cutting.

Take your time, take it slow and you will get more comfortable with it.

I did likewise. I invested in the safety gear and I'm serious when running my saws. No different than in my wood shop running those tools. Dangerous tools can be run safely if the user takes the time to learn how and doesn't cheat or cut corners on safety. My neighbor is in his 60s and gets deployed all over the country leading chainsaw supercrews when natural disasters strike. I've watched him go right up trees with all his climbing gear just like he was in his 20s. If you don't feel it's worth it to invest in both your kit and your IQ leave the saws alone.

I find it extremely gratifying to drop, limb, and buck trees and drive my trailer full back to the wood stacks with new rounds! It will be even more rewarding when I can teach my boys and observe them being responsible and skilled with chainsaws someday!

 

[muncybob]

never shave with a loose chain dull chain

I've only been cutting for a few years and was very much a saw wimp in the beginning. If after a few hours of cutting I was still nervous about using the saw I think I would have left the cutting to somebody else. I've learned a LOT in these few years of cutting and I'm as careful as day one...maybe even more so.

Now, getting up on the roof to clean the gutters...that's where I am a big wimp.

 

[mecreature]

Im saving till my 60th birthday to get that 440 I have always wanted.

 

[Danno77]

if this is the "im a wimp" confessions thread, then my confession is that I'm a "hot weather wimp"... I bike to work in -40F temps, but when it gets to be like 85 degrees out, I whine, complain, and only go work outside for a few minutes at a time.

I do things like 75 mile training bike rides, or 13 mile runs in 100+ degree temperatures because I have to do them, but I don't like it and I complain a lot about it. I don't generally complain about much else.

 

[Ashful]

Ditto, Danno. I have a generator at home, not because I need the refrigerator or heating... but because I hate life without AC.

I was probably 8 years old when I started cutting with a chainsaw. A 12" Craftsman electric, cutting firewood on dad's sawhorse.

 

[pcc2826]

You're missing out. I love the fumes, the noise and everything that comes with running a saw. Something about being a MAN.

 

[nyny]

if this is the "im a wimp" confessions thread, then my confession is that I'm a "hot weather wimp"... I bike to work in -40F temps, but when it gets to be like 85 degrees out, I whine, complain, and only go work outside for a few minutes at a time.

I do things like 75 mile training bike rides, or 13 mile runs in 100+ degree temperatures because I have to do them, but I don't like it and I complain a lot about it. I don't generally complain about much else.

ah, what the heck. i confess to liking mostly manly things, but when the family's gone i put on my daughters pink tutu and do aerobics.

 

[Jags]

I do things like 75 mile training bike rides

Did you run out of gas? Anything over 200 yards is driving distance for me.

 

[PDXpyro]

Well, thanks for the (mostly) sympathetic and understanding replies! I do use the saws for a few dead-easy cuts on solid ground around the house when necessary, but as for serious wood production in more challenging circumstances, no.