Thoughts On Electric Chainsaws

Yup, I have shifted to the "auto volume" so's I can hear now and in another 50 years too.

 

I've seen professional loggers use hearing protection.

 

Oh man...you two should get a room....or at least throw some sawdust on the floor!

 

Sawdust on the floor?
I draw the line at throwing poo! True, monkeys do that, but you have to draw the line somewhere!

 

poo is not the only bodily product that tends to make floors slippery...I was thinking more in terms of blood, or in my case, tears of uncontrollable laughter.

 

what?

 

Is this how stand alone sharpeners work?
BTPost, how about it answering this one?

 

I used an electric stihl every day for years at work and it was a very fine machine it had no trouble running a 20 inch bar. That being said I think you would be better off with a light saw so your not dragging a cord everyware, unless your using it 50 times a day like I was. +1 on sharpening gimmick, too expensive. I'd rather spend the time and learn a new skill, its not to hard to sharpen a chain.

 

OK! So I got the Oregon & used it today. My husband & I each cut down an 8" birch. Pretty easy since they were already leaning where we wanted them to go. They were about 50' tall and barely any limbs - perfect for what I'm attempting (a little bridge to the island where we're making a bee hut).

I did have to charge it for about an hour or two right out of the box. The only other thing was to fill it with bar oil, then press the button and pull the trigger. Awesome. I guess I'm a slightly wimpy woman cause I have a hard time starting a chainsaw - or pull starting anything really.

My husband did give it a thumbs up. He was really shocked that it had a built in sharpener. I told him the Stil & Huskevarner got better reviews but were $100-200 more and no built in sharpener. He thought the Oregon was fine.

 

Nothing with rechargeable batteries will come fully charged. (Law) due to the higher chance of fire or explosion. We get rechargeable batteries for equipment all the time.
However.....if I buy rechargable C or D batteries, some ARE offered fully charged (_for a premium) and I don't know why they can be shipped that way.

 

OK, didn't know that!

 

You know you can start a fire with a battery and some steel wool or a wire, right? Imagine how much energy could be released if your chainsaw battery were to get shorted in shipping. It could easily catch other things on fire. You can even use the batteries from three trucks or ATV's to weld a broken frame or make emergency repairs.

Weld with car batteries neat trick in a emergency…:

 

I plan on cutting down lots of trees this year, but probably nothing bigger than 12". The plan is to feed the tops to the livestock and then turn the larger pieces into bolts for mushrooms. I think I just have to avoid maple & cherry which would be toxic if the livestock ate the wilted leaves. If I get real ambitious, I'll try making silage out of the leaves/small branches like they do small scale in 3rd world countries.

 

Here's a bridge I made to access the bees I'm putting on an island in the pond near the house:

My husband was convinced this would not work & I'd get wet but those birches droop maybe an inch when I get to the middle.

Anyway, it was my first try with the new chainsaw.

An amazing feat of zero engineering and it cost less than $30. I'll be happy if it lasts 10 years.

 

That looks really nice and a way to keep dry feet!
Now if you made a "A" frame on either side you could connect some rope to the lower poles and have a non sag suspension bridge!

 

I've also cut down 4 smallish oak trees. The largest was about 10" and of course it started to fall the wrong way (toward the fence). The hinge was like 1/4" and so my husband put a rope on it and pulled it in the right direction. I could cut most of the limbs off and some of the trunk into 3' sections for shiitake bolts on a full charge. Not super great but I didn't spring for the extra beefy battery. It was a lot of cuts though because I tried to use everything that was an inch or bigger and I cut it them up into foot long sections because I plan on building a rocket mass heater this winter.

 

That was the first mistake. The guide rope goes up first. And the higher the better, as long as what it attaches to is solid and will take the pull.
Trees are by their nature more or less in balance. This can change due to circumstances, but generally speaking true. You need to over balance a tree when cutting, to make it fall the proper direction. It CAN be done by cut and hinge alone, but a pull rope increases the odds in your favor. Getting a rope into the tree AFTER you start cutting can lead to a much shorter life.
I often pull trees down with come-a-longs, and may not even require cutting until it is down on the ground. (Just cutting roots to fell it.)
Much safer to set up first THEN start cutting.