The lets see your chain saw thread

[Bemused]

Thought this might be a little fun

My first saw, its electric so quite handy for indoor use, its small, manual pump lubrication but not too bad for light duty work. Its quite slow speed and low on power but it all adds up to a safe little saw to use.
It does not have a brake however.

About six years ago I had one of the Aldi / Lidle saws, what a terrible saw, bad starter from hot, heavy and lots of vibration, short of power, drinks fuel like a fish and had lots of lubrication problems . It did not last one season, a very poor buy.

After that one I pushed the boat out and had a professional saw, now this baby is a stunner, quiet, smooth running, very fast, very powerful, thrifty on fuel, had this about five years and it gives no trouble at all
My Tanaka

First propriety saw horse, very cheap but works ok with careful use.

A much better horse is the Makita which is great to use.

If your using a chain saw you should b using one of these and a few layers of baggy clothing at the least.
A few baggy woolen jumpers can slow the saw in a worst case accident and be the difference between cutting your torso in half or just serious surgery.

And no chain saw thread would be complete without the log pile :lol:
Mine is 8' high and nicely full.

 

[Steve Jones]

If your using a chain saw you should b using one of these and a few layers of baggy clothing at the least.
A few baggy woollen jumpers can slow the saw in a worst case accident and be the difference between cutting your torso in half or just serious surgery.

As a person who is qualified to use a saw can I please urge people to get the minimum of chainsaw protective clothing :

A helmet with ear defenders and visor (even if your only logging)
Chainsaw over trousers (chaps) which will contain ballistic nylon to stop the chain from cutting body parts
Chainsaw gloves which will also contain a certain amount of ballistic nylon.
Steel toe capped boots

This I consider to be a bare minimum and can be bought from most reputable stockists or over the net, having done my own training and sat through the relative H & S films (which I wouldn't recommend on a full stomach !) my own personal opinion is that all companies should take a similar approach to Stihl and only sell on a face to face basis with at least some basic tuition on starting and using the saw.

Remember folks chainsaws BITE and it only takes a second to make a mistake which could be fatal.

Regards

Steve

 

[Aled Dafis]

I couldn't agree more Steve! A basic kit as mentioned above needn't cost the earth either, I saw a Huskvarna kit which contained the Chaps,helmet and gloves at my local chainsaw place this week for £99. I also saw a chainsaw bib and brace kit on the bay for about the same price.

Here's my saw, a Stihl MS180. I bought the saw about four years ago as a bit of an impulse buy one Saturday morning when I was particularly fed up with the evergreens outside my house. I should really have bought a bigger saw, as I would like to do some milling, but it's not man enough for the task. I'm currently on the look out for a 50-60hp saw...

Cheers
Aled

 

[duncanh]

If your using a chain saw you should b using one of these and a few layers of baggy clothing at the least.
A few baggy woolen jumpers can slow the saw in a worst case accident and be the difference between cutting your torso in half or just serious surgery.

I really hope that you're joking with that recommendation, although chainsaw safety shouldn't be joked about. If a chain can cut through wood is it really going to be stopped by wool? And a baggy fit is just adding to the danger as it's more likely to get pulled in, taking you with it.
I'd be very wary about using the electric saw that you have - more modern saws have a chain brake for a good reason.

In addition to what Steve listed, I also wear plastic safety glasses under the visor, although they can steamed up if you over heat so often have to be worn loose fitting.

 

[Bemused]

I really hope that you're joking with that recommendation, although chainsaw safety shouldn't be joked about. If a chain can cut through wood is it really going to be stopped by wool? And a baggy fit is just adding to the danger as it's more likely to get pulled in, taking you with it.
I'd be very wary about using the electric saw that you have - more modern saws have a chain brake for a good reason.

Hmmm, No I was not joking, small nylon threads usually stop a saw before any lethal harm is done, before nylon chaps and bibs that was what was used by tree surgeons as I understand.

I quite agree ballistic nylon clothing is the correct protection these days but how many guys don't use anything.

I was trying to encourage those with no protection to upgrade at least a little.

In hind site it may be better do delete this thread,

 

[dickm]

Spent a lot of time using an ancient Frontier 14" saw, which should probably have been offered to a museum. " Upgraded" to a more recent Mcculloch (were they also c**p before Electrolux bought them?), then a better upgrade to a Dolmar 109 which is current mainstay. Would love a recent Stihl, but pensions don't really justify them.
What even pensions justify is proper ballistic safety gear. Steve's recommendations are spot on, and if you are working anywhere away from base, a proper first aid kit is also a priority. Council of perfection is never to work alone with a chainsaw, but sometimes needs must.