A couple chain saw repairs this morning

[cathead]

I was able to get a full set of repro plastics for my 440 from Farmertec. Very reasonably priced, indistinguishable from originals.

ST MS380 038 AV MS381 from China, ST MS380 038 AV MS381 Manufacturer & Supplier - Farmertec

ST MS380 038 AV MS381 offered by China manufacturer Farmertec. Buy high quality ST MS380 038 AV MS381 right now!

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Yes, I have used Farmertek too. I bought some 038 mufflers and a handle and a few other parts a month ago.
The parts were very inexpensive but the shipping costed as much as the parts, still a good deal though. I see
one can buy a complete 038 in parts and assemble it yourself but I have enough saws.

 

[RJSakowski]

When I first moved on to my property, I was burning 20 cords of firewood a year. Back then, I was harvesting dead and dying oak with many of the trees 24" in diameter. You learn really quickly how to read a tree for felling. Once in a while, you read it wrong and it wants to go opposite of the direction you want which wends up in a pinched bar. On rare occasions, I have pulled the bar and chain off the saw.to prevent damage to the head and had to get a second saw. I have never had a set of plastic felling wedges but I have used my splitting wedges to the same effect.

As to escape routes, I have gone with the advice to clear all the obstacles and plan a rout 45º to the intended direction of felling as sometimes the tree can jump the stump and fly back as well.

Chainsawing firewood is a dangerous sport but the old fashioned tractor driven buzz saw was more so with a 30" blade with no guard and a long flat belt drive. One of the old timers told me that there were a lot of fellows with nicknames like Lefty or Stumpy.

 

[rabler]

A bad day of sawing wood beats a good day at work every time !

I should add that my father was at least for a time back in the 1970's, part of the group that had the medical examiner contract for St. Louis county in Minnesota, basically Duluth, Mn and much of the state north of there up to the Canadian border.

I would say that any day of sawing wood that results in being his patient was a very bad day indeed.

As a result of his profession I got to see first hand the consequences of some pretty serious accidents.

 

[Larry$]

buzz saw was more so with a 30" blade

There was a man killed with one of those thing in my old neighborhood. Shaft broke and blade came back into him. Nasty cut!
Chain sawing up in a tree, man killed when the saw swung down after cutting off a limb. Got him right between the legs. Seems like a nasty way to lose them! I was working in the next block & heard the ambulance.

20 cords a year! Seems like a lot.

 

[Boswell]

I like to think that I am a very safety conscious person and even some of my friends call me Mr. Safety. However it is easy to get complacent. A number of years ago, I was using a chainsaw to do some trimming and was cutting a branch that was slightly higher that my head, nothing unusual. First cut from the bottom and the finish it from the top. When the branch was cut, the saw swung down. It was then that I noticed that the chain had bumped into my thigh and cut half of the threads on my heavy Blue Jeans. A near miss like this was quite the wakeup call. I still have those jeans and looks at the cut in the jeans as a reminder of my laxness (and luck) and to help keep me on the straight and narrow path

 

[RJSakowski]

There was a man killed with one of those thing in my old neighborhood. Shaft broke and blade came back into him. Nasty cut!
Chain sawing up in a tree, man killed when the saw swung down after cutting off a limb. Got him right between the legs. Seems like a nasty way to lose them! I was working in the next block & heard the ambulance.

20 cords a year! Seems like a lot.

Those are nasty ways to go. At one time, I had an opportunity to make some extra cash cutting firewood and selling it. To make the job easier, I built a buzz saw on a trailer. It was powered by a 50 hp VW engine driving a gear belt and a 2:1 pulley arrangement for 3,000 rpm at the blade. The blade was around 27" in diameter. I completely enclosed the blade except for the opening for the wood and made a carriage to deliver the wood to the blade. It worked great, going through a 10" hickory log like butter.

After cutting a cord, I decided there were better ways to make money. I had planned on using for our own firewood but as I said previously, O was cutting 24" diameter trees which meant the logs would have to be split before sawing. Now, I used to split all my firewood be hand and could outsplit a gas powered wood splitter easily but splitting a 10' log is another story. I gave up on the buzz saw and it sat in back of my barn for close to forty years. I sent the engine off for scrap this Summer.

Our neighbor had a near death experience while limbing a tree in his yard. He was fifteen feet up a ladder when the limb he was cutting broke off and knocked him off the ladder. He fell and hit his head and shoulder on a large boulder, breaking his shoulder and breaking his skull. They air lifted him into the ER and it was touch and go as to whether he would make it. He has recovered now but permanently lost hearing in one ear and nerve damage in his face required a gold insert in his eyelid to allow him the close his eye. I think about tha whenever I get an urge to put a ladder in a tree.

That was then. Now, with new windows and insulation, we are down to three or four cords a year. We also dry our wood for two years under cover now. We have an LP furnace for backup but use less than 200 gallon/yr.

 

[cathead]

nice save Burt!

Well, actually it was more like practicing TIG welding. The tip was worn and the chain rubbed on the tip so it got pretty warm
after sawing through one log. I'm tempted to remove the rivets in the tip and make a slightly larger star wheel. I have lots
of other bars so will hang it on the wall for the moment. Some bars have replaceable tips. This one doesn't so will have
to make a new part or possibly find something at the scrap yard. I learned one thing for sure and that is to be sure to grease
the tip wheel religiously. Some bars don't have the tiny hole to grease the tip but it is easy to stategically drill a grease hole.

 

[mmcmdl]

Cat . Do you have a mill ? If so , what kind ? I'm considering a Woodland Mills unit in the future .

 

[Downunder Bob]

Here in downunder land wedon't use cords for firewood, it usually sold by the Tonne aka 1000 Kg. Judging by the comments I guess 20 cords is quite a lot.

In our current house we generally use about 3 T in a cold winter an about 2 T in a mild winter.

I have been cutting firewood for about 40 years and so far have not had a serious injury, but a few close calls.

Our main firewood here is a variety of Eucalyptus trees, Red river gum, Blue gum, Sugar gum, Lemon scented gum, and Grey box, My favourite is red river gum. Almost all Eucalypts have a very high BTU, among the highest of all firewoods. So it comes down to availability. Red river gum and Blue gum are usually the two most common to be sold commercially, and usually run around $380/T near where I live but some other places can be more or less costly.

Most years I'm lucky enough to get my wood for free or much less than commercial rates, I just have to collect and cut it.

 

[Peyton Price 17]

Here's a good story, heard it from the guy at the power equipment shop, some guys walk in and ask, what is the best all-around chainsaw they used, the owner cuts down huge trees, so he recommends a 560, thinking this guy does the same, he buys it, then returns the next day saying," how on earth do you handle this thing, I nearly cut my arm off after starting it!", turns out he wanted a saw to cut firewood, not big old trees.