At Home In The Woods

[Coyote machine]

Of no use with chainsaws.

 

[woodlandfarms]

I use a helmet with a screen and ear muffs. The screen works OK, stuff still splatters in when I am wet cutting. It is just habit that I immediately activate my chain brake. For my small Sthil it amounts to a flick of the wrist, my larger saw requires a second hand. Even so those teeth are sharp and I have still nicked myself with the saw locked. I have chaps, and don't use them enough.

I have an old Craftsman my father gave me. No chain brake. Scares the bejeesus out of me. I dislike that saw but it cuts well as I don't have a medium weight saw in my arsenal (14" and a 32") Would be nice to have a 20 or 24. Might get a shorter blade for my 32" 044. Or just get myself a gift of a new saw (some how sneek it past the wife).

 

[hunterridgefarm]

I cut over 80 trees down when I was clearing for our house. Used safety glasses and ear plugs. A couple of years ago I was clearing some small trees beside the driveway and using a old chain since I was cutting close to the ground. I nicked I pants leg with the saw. Shut it down and went and bought a pair of chaps and helmet.

I never cut now with out the chaps. If cutting logs to split I just use safety glasses and the chaps. I have a 30+ year old Sthil with no chain brake and really pay attention when using it. It is a great saw and will go through large oak logs like butter. When using the huski I always use the brake when moving.

I have been around table saws all my life, still get a little nervous when using one. Seen a lot of people hurt. Always use push sticks and blade guard if available.

 

[Coyote machine]

I use a helmet with a screen and ear muffs. The screen works OK, stuff still splatters in when I am wet cutting. It is just habit that I immediately activate my chain brake. For my small Sthil it amounts to a flick of the wrist, my larger saw requires a second hand. Even so those teeth are sharp and I have still nicked myself with the saw locked. I have chaps, and don't use them enough.

I have an old Craftsman my father gave me. No chain brake. Scares the bejeesus out of me. I dislike that saw but it cuts well as I don't have a medium weight saw in my arsenal (14" and a 32") Would be nice to have a 20 or 24. Might get a shorter blade for my 32" 044. Or just get myself a gift of a new saw (some how sneek it past the wife).

I never used to go to pawn shops before a couple of years ago, but I now frequent them to see what I can find. I've bought two Stihl chainsaws in one place, a 192T and a 180C-BE, and both turned out to be really good saws. I just today bought a more aggressive chain for the 180C than the low kick-back standard chain- I've got a lot of cutting to do and not a ton of time. I find at my age- 61 that a lighter smaller saw gives me some definate advantages, less weight, therefore less tired and can stay on the job longer, and I just like the maneuverability of a 16" bar saw to move in tight woodland situations with blowdowns, limbing felled trees, etc.
Check it out- in your area there ought to be lots of selection of saws/tools/deals.:thumbsup:

 

[Obed]

Suggested that in post #5387- 'lock the chain.... whenever you're not cutting. BUT the chain should stop within seconds of releasing trigger, or the saw needs adjustment. You can't allow impatience to rule method of use of a chainsaw- that's when people get hurt. Slow and steady, let the saw do it's job, you do yours- staying safe.

Coyote,
The idle adjustment on the saw is good. It doesn't take long for the chain to stop running after I let go of the trigger.
Obed

 

[Obed]

I have arrived at a section in the log pile that has a lot more pine logs than I thought. I wish I had told the excavator to burn all the pine logs and only stack the oak logs. But alas I didn't. I decided to hook up the chain to some pine logs and drag them off to debris dump I have created in the woods up the hill.



I ended up having to readjust the chain a couple times to lift the end of the logs up high enough that they wouldn't dig a trench in the middle of my driveway. Then when I drug the logs past the house, up the path through the woods, there was a tree down across the path in my way.



Fortunately I had my chainsaw with me on the tractor. I cut up the tree and cleared the path. When I arrived at my debris dump, I cut the pine logs in thirds and rolled them down the hill. Unfortunately, it too way too much time to skid the logs, clear the path, and dump the logs.

 

[Obed]

I had more pine logs to dispose of. This time I decided to skip the "skidding" step. So I cut up the next pine log into 5' sections at the log pile and rolled the pieces down the steep path in the woods beside the log pile. This is the same path where I got my tractor stuck a couple years ago and used a come-along to help get it back up to the top. I haven't driven the tractor down that path since. But there's a great place for a stump dump down there.



Here's a picture looking up the path from the stump dump. The log pile (unseen in the picture) is at the top in the clearing just to the right of the path.



I rolled these log pieces down the path. It was actually kind of fun trying to roll them straight down the path. One log made it all the way to the bottom with one push. All the others required about three pushes because the logs would roll off the path and get stuck on trees.



Skipping the log skidding step was the ticket to disposing of these pine pieces.

 

[MotorSeven]

Cut split and stack that pine. Once completely dry(a year or so) mix it in with your hardwood. I burn anything that fits in my stove's box:thumbsup:

 

[Tororider]

If you have any paths through the woods on your property you could use the pine logs to line them.

 

[dstig1]

You got something against burning good wood? Sure it's not Oak or even maple, but it burns just fine, and can make starting fires a lot easier as it is much easier to start burning than oak. Throw one or two stick of pine in first, then oak on top and light. Much easier to do than trying to start oak straight up. Why waste it? Some places in the US and Canada only have softwoods to burn for heart, and it works just fine for them. Just sayin..