Hand Tools and Machinery for Country Living

[j44ke]

Chainsaw required for voting in the primaries this morning. A pretty intense storm last night. Sounded like a tornado but think it was just a sustained horizontal wind around 50mph.

[AngryScientist]

Stihl'in!

[j44ke]

Stihl'in!

I like it! Need a t-shirt.

One and a half batteries worth of work. Limbing and bucking.

[AngryScientist]

yea, not having to wonder if the carb in your saw you havent used in 6 months is gummed up and wondering if it will start is priceless.

[72gmc]

An electric chainsaw that's safe to use in the rain. This is our flying car.

[Clyde]

I bought a stihl 0 21 in 1997. Used it a ton up until we moved to Greenville three years ago. Now it gets started like once a year when something falls and Has to get cut. Three or four pulls and it’s good to go. But I never use ethanol gas. They are amazing machines!

[j44ke]

An electric chainsaw that's safe to use in the rain. This is our flying car.

Hmmm, honestly I just grabbed it out of the garage and used it. Didn’t even think about water + electricity = !!!

[SlowPokePete]

long pants > shorts

when running a chain saw.

SPP

[j44ke]

long pants > shorts

when running a chain saw.

SPP

Yeah, that's not my usual outfit. We were just trying to get to the fire station to vote. I made three or four cuts and dragged the pieces out of the way. Usually it is heavy canvas pants and if things look dicey, chaps.

[SlowPokePete]

Yeah, that's not my usual outfit. We were just trying to get to the fire station to vote. I made three or four cuts and dragged the pieces out of the way. Usually it is heavy canvas pants and if things look dicey, chaps.

Good to hear, I figured that.

Also glad Claudia was ready with a camera to document any potential carnage.

SPP

[Mabouya]

Chainsaw required for voting in the primaries this morning. A pretty intense storm last night. Sounded like a tornado but think it was just a sustained horizontal wind around 50mph.

Jorn, re- safety gear - you aren't setting a very good example for the rest of us. Don't forget the old motorcycle acronym - ATGATT. (all the gear all the time)

Speaking of which, it's probably a good idea for me to get some chaps. I've pretty much settle on these, if only because they're made in the US: (and the come in green - I think the safety orange would blind me)

https://www.labonville.com/LABONVILL...KP_p_1280.html

I'm probably going to get some steel-toed Danner boots.

I haven't decided if I can justify getting a helmet/face mask combo. The thing is, it just has to save you once to be worth 100 x what you paid for it...

[j44ke]

I have a pair of Stihl chaps. And a helmet with face guard and ear protection. The photo above was not how I was dressed when I cut everything up for firewood. Just trying to get out of the driveway. I am really very careful.

The battery saw does stop on a dime. I'd have to work really hard to make it come on and stay on. I use a timberjack when I cut things up (a Woodchuck Timberjack - looks ridiculous but works really well,) and that keeps the log up off the ground and keeps the bar from getting wedged. And keeps the chain out of the rocks. Use the bar lock religiously. Take the battery out when I work on it.

I think those Labonville chaps have gotten the Kris Henry Good Housekeeping seal of approval. I think the Clogger pants Jay recommended also make sense (but are quite expensive) as I cannot imagine running anywhere in the Stihl chaps I have. But I am cutting stuff already on the ground, not bringing anything up in the air down to earth, so the chaps are heavy and awkward but ok for now.

This is one I am not going to do. The limb arching over the trail (trail needs a dose of trimmer) is broken but attached at the trunk, which is also shattered above where the branch broke, and then there is another big branch that shattered and broke to the right and then wrapped around the back side of the tree to the left. The trunk is rather large. Like 30" at its widest. I think it is standing on its own still, but I don't know that. So it will stay there until the squirrels finish eating all the green cherries and then we'll figure out what to do. Really crazy wind last week.

[j44ke]

An electric chainsaw that's safe to use in the rain. This is our flying car.

Hmmm, honestly I just grabbed it out of the garage and used it. Didn’t even think about water + electricity = !!!

Checked in the owners manual for the saw and Stihl's AP battery equipment is safe to be used in the rain.

[Mabouya]

Checked in the owners manual for the saw and Stihl's AP battery equipment is safe to be used in the rain.

I'm not an electrician, but I would speculate that with corded it's a lot easier for you to become part of the path to ground for the power, whereas for cordless it can only shock itself by shorting out between the two terminals and you being part of that is much harder. (loop to ground going through you is nearly impossible with a battery)

[Mabouya]

And a helmet with face guard and ear protection.

What do you use for that, and are you happy with them?

TIA

[j44ke]

What do you use for that, and are you happy with them?

TIA

I have a Stihl product. I bought it, because my wife wouldn't let me out of the store without one. The face guard definitely blocks stuff coming at my face and coverage is good enough that it protects my neck mostly. However, it was deformed slightly out of the box. All of them were. A uniformly shaped guard would be more confidence inspiring. Ear muffs are fine. Electric stuff isn't so loud, but I do flip the muffs up when I feel like I need to hear what is happening. That's a good sign the muffs reduce noise pretty well. The helmet is plastic with a adjustable suspension band. Better than nothing, fits well, it works, but a helmet lined with polystyrene would have better impact absorption.

Kask actually has a nice model built like a hardshell bike helmet (interior is compressible polystyrene) with a much better visor. For $300. The Stihl was $80. But as you said, it only has to save you once to be worth it. I think if I was cutting down trees, then I would consider something like that.

[jclay]

Jorn, re- safety gear - you aren't setting a very good example for the rest of us. Don't forget the old motorcycle acronym - ATGATT. (all the gear all the time)

Speaking of which, it's probably a good idea for me to get some chaps. I've pretty much settle on these, if only because they're made in the US: (and the come in green - I think the safety orange would blind me)

I'm probably going to get some steel-toed Danner boots.

I haven't decided if I can justify getting a helmet/face mask combo. The thing is, it just has to save you once to be worth 100 x what you paid for it...

Get proper face protection (shield) and wear safety specs underneath. Full stop. You can't not justify that if you're cutting. And it's not just for cutting but for protection from all of the branches & vines that want to whack you in the face/eyes as you manoeuvre. As soon as I get prescription lenses for my goggles I'll have those on underneath the face shield; for the past 30 years it's been safety glasses on snug keepers. I don't have steel toe boots anymore (not that they're a bad idea but I just don't need them anymore and I watch my feet accordingly) and I've never had chaps (also not a bad idea) but no way I'm cutting without face (not just eye) and hand protection. Watch your upper/outer all the time, work slowly & carefully (I don't mean do the cut slowly, but figure things out and move slowly, carefully), plan your cuts, ensure good footing and positioning and retreat paths, stay out of the plane of the bar as much as possible. Don't cut stuff that's iffey, check for danger trees (dead/broken limbs that might fall on you while you're cutting and decide if it's worth it...often it isn't, sometimes it can be managed/protected against via positioning).

[j44ke]

Husqvarna's helmet looks better than the Stihl in terms of the face shield. I think the weakness on the Stihl face shield is the frame. The Husqvarna appears to have a nicer, better molded frame to the shield. And the helmet looks a bit nicer too.

https://www.husqvarna.com/us/helmets...met-technical/

The shield is definitely key, especially if you wear glasses. And you really need one when you are running the string trimmer through brush.

[jclay]

The edit timer ran out: I think an eye injury is vastly more likely than a chain injury, reasonable chainsaw competency assumed. If I didn't have the clear face shield (with highest impact rating) that I use in the framebuilding shop I'd have a fallers helmet/muff/shield combo (which I've been kinda jonesing after anyway), and of course my safety glasses or better still really good goggles on underneath. Vines and branches have a way of getting under/behind the shield surprisingly often, even when not in particularly heavy brush.

Face & eye protection is paramount as far as I'm concerned. The other hazards are far more manageable. That shouldn't be interpreted to mean that the other PPE isn't worth getting but full protection of your face and eyes is mandatory. Go get the "hat".

[Mabouya]

especially if you wear glasses

Which I do. The pita factor of contacts (especially when riding) overcame my vanity about 15 years ago...