At Home In The Woods

[clemsonfor]

That's pretty much what I try to do, but I skip some steps as I get lazy, like rakers every few sharpenings. Bar flip every few times or every time as I think I need it. Never mess with the bar but no problem on chains ever. I know the marks your talking about on stihl chains but you still have to hold the file level and I may not be perfect on that where the grinder is every time.

Never replace fulter in tank, check it if I suspect it. Should do it now that you say it. Have to check my carb settings and prolly get a new air filter. I also read that sprocket and chain should be replaced togeather??? I have not gone through a sprocket yet, it has wear on it though.

 

[Ted Summey]

Obed and others - the Habor Freight chain sharpener is okay. I broke mine because the device that adjusts the amount of the tooth that gets ground is PLASTIC. Something snagged the adjustment knob and snapped the thing right off! There has been no repair that has held.

So I bit the bullet and bought the TSC sharpener. I'm glad I did - it is a better machine and is mostly metal. It compares favorably with the Northern Tool brand that prices in the $130 range. It isn't an Oregon brand but it absolutely is better than the HF sharpener. Save your pennies and spring for the better model, I think you will be pleased you did.

The other really important thing to know is you need the correct thickness of grinding wheel for your chain pitch (just like the correct file dia.). The HF grinder comes with only one thickness wheel, the TSC brand comes with 3 different thickness grinding wheels. The Oregon brand wheels fit the TSC sharpener but not the HF sharpeners.

An upgraded sharpener will take a little while to pay for itself but 1. You will be more productive with a sharp chain on the saw and an extra in your tool box, 2. You will save time because the sharpener speeds up your sharpening 3. You will be less tired after working firewood because a sharp saw requires less physical effort and 4. YOU WILL be safer a sharp saw is safer than a dull saw. It will reduce wear and tear on your saw as well.

 

[clemsonfor]

Good review Ted.

I agree if you sharpen a LOT this will be a good investment.

But i have had mine over a year and more than paid for it. Also let me say i cut close to 4 cords last year with the saw, so i am more than just your normal guy who cuts a downed limb in my yard. I actually provide 100% of my homes heat with wood. I also only have one saw with one chain pitch which is the 3/8 or what "REAL" chain is.

 

[Ted Summey]

Thanks, clemsonfor - I did give the HF sharpener a good chance, it just didn't hold up for me. When it was working it made sharp chains.

I have a waterstove to heat my house and my domestic hot water. The system is coupled with the heat pump fan and uses a heat exchanger so I have forced air heat. We burn wood year round for hot water since my solar panels are down right now.

So I burn several cords of wood per year. Somehow I always manage to lose count of the number but I suppose it is somewhere in the 8 to 10 cords. My brother in law has a waterstove as well. He is heating a 100 year old homeplace so he burns at least what I do and I estimate more.

Between the two of us we have four chainsaws that we keep sharp chains on. That does work out to be alot of sharpening. But at $130 dollars or so that is only 26 chain sharpenings at $5 each to pay for it. Doesn't compare to the 6 sharpenings to pay for the HF tool assuming you get it on sale or with a coupon.

 

[clemsonfor]

Cutting that much wood i can see you probably sharpen a good bit and i agree if i did that much and maintained a brothers to i would get tired of buying a grinder every year or 3,as well.

i burn 1-2 cords a year for my heat.
But when i cut i also cut with a friend and i have in the past cut most of the wood for the both of us, so last year those 4 cords were mine, but we probably cut another 1+ for him as well.

 

[Obed]

Coyote

At 10 AM today I saw a coyote in my back yard walking along the edge of the grass traveling from E to W. I tried to get a picture but was unsuccessful. Finally, I opened the window and told the coyote to "git". It stopped to look for the source of the yell, then marginally increased it's pace to a slow trot. The coyote didn't seem overly concerned by my warning.

 

[clemsonfor]

I would have run to get my gun to shoot that "invasive" species that consumes our valuable wildlife, and serves as a threat to pets and small children.

I do feel sorry for the things as i like dogs and there basically wild dogs, yet they are out of thier natural areas and throw the biological succession for an area out of sync. Think of the zebra muscle in the great lakes, or kudzu here in the south, wild pigs here in the south, or those ceder trees those guys have in texas or any of the others that you can think of off the top of your head.

In thier own environment and where there naturally supose to be there fine but in a place not meant for them they reek havoic. Your Beloved turkeys you see, they eat those and prey on the young and helpless, they eat fawns and your pet cats.

 

[dave1949]

I would have run to get my gun to shoot that "invasive" species that consumes our valuable wildlife, and serves as a threat to pets and small children.

I do feel sorry for the things as i like dogs and there basically wild dogs, yet they are out of thier natural areas and throw the biological succession for an area out of sync. Think of the zebra muscle in the great lakes, or kudzu here in the south, wild pigs here in the south, or those ceder trees those guys have in texas or any of the others that you can think of off the top of your head.

In thier own environment and where there naturally supose to be there fine but in a place not meant for them they reek havoic. Your Beloved turkeys you see, they eat those and prey on the young and helpless, they eat fawns and your pet cats.

I'm not sure it is possible to have a rational discussion about coyotes on TBN. I will give it one shot.

The turkeys, for example: Maine just greatly expanded the turkey seasons because they are causing too much economic damage to crops.

Cats are not native species and deserve no special status. Like any domestic animal including dogs, the owner needs to look out for them and keep them safe and where they belong.

The deer herd is an out-of-control mess in many areas that is causing crop damage, passing Lyme disease to humans, and causing fatalities in car collisions.

I doubt you would favor the re-introduction of wolves, but they are a native species that was extirpated leaving a predator niche unoccupied which coyotes are now filling. There ought to be a stable population of mountain lions around too in the Eastern states. Hunting is not a replacement for predation in nature, and there are no long-term healthy prey populations absent predators.

It is wrong to place higher or lower human values on one species of wildlife or another. Wildlife exists within an ecosystem that humans understand poorly and have shown very little ability to successfully manage or manipulate. You are committing anthropomorphism by assigning scales of value to wildlife based upon how "cuddly" it seems to humans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism or personification is any attribution of human characteristics (or characteristics assumed to belong only to humans) to other animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid-1700s.[1][2] Examples include animals and plants and forces of nature such as winds, rain or the sun depicted as creatures with human motivations, and/or the abilities to reason and converse. The term derives from the combination of the Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos), "human" and μορφή (morphē), "shape" or "form".

 

[PAGUY]

dave1949 - A lot of what you say is true but we are not living in the wilderness like in Alaska or Canada. The eastern side of the country is highly developed and populated and the coyote has adapted to these conditions even though it is a wild animal. It is an omnivore of opportunity and does not have a prey animal of choice. When it is hungry everything is fair game and other than man has no natural predators after it. I really don't believe in reintroduction of a species because it once roamed the area. There was a reason Mother Nature chose to eliminate a species and by reintroduction you are messing with the balance of nature. Hunting and trapping are the tools to control overpopulation but intelligent biologist must work with the true people in the field who do their best to control the population of wild animals.

 

[jonnyc1999]

I think what Dave 1949 was saying was that "mother nature" had nothing to do with some animals becoming extinct in certain areas, yet human intervention certainly has. If you feel like some interesting research, look up the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone and all of the positive effects it has has on everything from erosion to disease control!