Chainsaws

[Boomer]

I had a client who was the primary Stihl dealer for this area of the state. A good friend also.

He said over 50% of his repair work was due to bad gas. He emphasized not leaving it the tank more than 3 months and 2 is better. Use non-ethanol gas, a/k/a "rec gas", or bust out your wallet and use the pre-mix from the shop. Even if you keep the gas in a can, you should dump it in your vehicle after 3 months, If you can smell old gas, it smells like lacquer not the sharp smell of gasoline.

Use Stihl or Husky synthetic bar oil, the increased expense is minor compared to increased chain life,

And most importantly keep the blade out of the dirt.

Trust me you will curse the day you try to crank it after it has sat up for 4 months with gas in the tank. Always at 1:00 0n Sat. afternoon when the shop closes at noon.

[opus37]

Since I want to see you at the next Tuba Christmas with all your body parts intact, I offer the following advice.

Purchase a safety equipment set. This includes a hemet, chaps, face shield, hearing protection and gloves. Stihl has a good one. Wear the equipment every time you use the saw! You'll look like a dork, but you will be safe.

Become close personal friends with your local chain saw dealer. Have them maintain the engine, professionally sharpen your chain and adjust the chain tension. Regularly go back to have them sharpen and adjust the chain tension. A sharp chain is a joy to use. A loose chain can come off the bar and it will find a way to hurt you (now you should understand the need for safety equipment).

DO NOT have your son anywhere near you when you are using the saw. The chain will find him too and he will bleed out quick. Pieces of wood will fly and hit him. He will touch the saw when you set it down for just a second and he will get hurt.

Never cut with the saw above your waist! Know where the saw bar and chain will go while and after the cut. A chain in the dirt or a rock will dull the chain but more importantly, kick back is real and the chain find you and hurt you.

I know this is a bit preachy, but I've used chain saws for more years than you have been alive. I've seen all of these things happen, have friends with the scars and missing parts and have been saved by safety equipment more than once.

See you at Tuba Christmas.

[iiipopes]

I've never touched a chainsaw before in my life.

And you play an instrument that requires most, if not all of your fingers?

[prodigal]

I've become somewhat skilled after living on the farm for the last 8 years. I have an arsenal of Stihls who get used regularly and rotated in the lineup. You must be extremely careful at all times. Get all of the protective gear, and use it! May I recommend the Stihl MS 250 a 45cc homeowner saw that works well beyond its modest paper specs, you want a 16-18 in. bar, I like the older Rollomatic bars, 18 in. .325" Pitch .063 works well on mine. This was my second saw, and she is still around, simple to operate, tune, and work on. This saw has a really good power to weight ratio without going into the pro level saws, which I don't think you need, yet.

You don't want too big or too small of a saw to start on, balance is great.

I cut over 10 cords a year, so I've invested in some good 72cc pro saws:
MS462-my new piece, with the M-tronic carb, 20 inch b/c. Getting used to it, it does tune itself on older gas.
MS440: 25 in b/c. I tune it for really thick hardwood use, kinda rich to keep it cool, easy to adjust oiler like the modern Stihls
044, 10mm wrist pin, slant fin: OK, my favorite. A pillar of German engineering, design, and manufacturing, like the Mirafone 186.


I don't run my big saws when the kids are home, I'll take a personal day from school and have a massive cutting day, where I'll run saw to saw to saw on a tank of gas, when one runs out or the chain dulls, I'll start up and run the next one, down the line depending if I'm bucking, limbing, or felliSng.

I do run high test Shell ethanol gas, because I've gotten OLD non-ethanol gas across the line in PA, and that is it's own issues, but I blend my witches' brew with either VP or Stihl Ultra 2 cycle oil, and I use Ethanol Shield, a swigger of SeaFoam, and a little MMO for the Wintergreen aroma.

I recommend buying VP premix 50:1 or Stihl Motomix when starting, before you become a backyard fuel engineer.

I've got so much firewood that I'm going to have to sell it, I'm thinking about calling my endeavor: "Tubafor firewood," as I need to make some more cash so that I can get an F.