[pikilily]

hi,

I am an anaesthetic and recovery nurse, and have worked on the trauma lists.  Never handled a chainsaw..we do have one here and OH uses it with all protective gear!!

Please take on board ALL the safety advice.... and think about training..I have had to deal with the aftermath of bravado, innattention and ignorance- at best its horrid, at worst devastating....

BTW that goes for log splitters, motorbikes, drills, circular saws, hammers, bulls, wildboar, dying cats, and parrots
 work those out......Emma T

[suziequeue]

I went on a beginners chainsaw course and was advised not to get a chainsaw until I had been on the course.

Best advice EVER!!!!

Got to the course to find others had spent money on incorrect clothes and chainsaw far too powerful for them etc etc.

Had a great time and got some really good advice and got a lovely Husky which really suited me and I am very happy to use and LOVE sharpening.

I would advise course. Safety is KEY - especially a good sharp chain!!

http://www.chainsawtraining.com/

Susanna

[NorthEssexsmallholding]

I worked on a farm in France and the farm worker I worked with did not wear any protective clothing at all, not even gloves,  it scared the hell out of me and he was using a biggish 2 stroke chainsaw and we were cutting some big fallen trees.  I just stacked the logs that were small enough to carry, we got the tractor to move big stuff. 

Im looking at getting a smallish chainsaw, but I would definitely get all the protective gear, and would not attempt things too difficult, will probably do a training course as well.

[mab]

I must confess I didn't do a course and I don't wear safety gear. I have a small Stihl (MS170 - quite light - probably the smallest they make).

I sometimes feel that too much safety gear can be counter productive - gives one a false sense of invulnerability. Without safety gear I always have a good think about what I'm going to do and what could happen; keep the saw sharp and properly tensioned. I don't particularly recommend this approach however - just my preference.

If i were going to use it for extended periods then it would be different of course - one tends to get careless with use; mine is more for occasional use.

mab

[johnmac]

Hi there!

I purchased a stihl 181 new in October for sorting my own firewood as I have access to free trees. I think I paid £220 new and it's a beauty of a machine. Starts first time, easy to maintain, light and can fell some bloody big trees!

I'll be honest... I bought a 'cheap' eBay chainsaw new in 2008 and it was a cracker. We needed 15 conifers felled along the side
of the house that were almost three stories tall. I was quoted £600 at best to get rid of them. I found the chainsaw on eBay. The guy had sold hundreds of them and I asked if it was a decent machine. He had 100% feedback and said it would manage no bother. He wasn't lying! For under £100 including delivery it felled all the trees and I'm still using it now as a back up machine. The only thing to go wrong with it was the rip cord snapping last year. The guy supplies all the spares and a new bolt on one was £15!

Why you may ask then did I buy my stihl... Good question! I wanted a spare saw and the stihl was on offer, so it became first choice with the eBay as a back up. Plus I have an occasional helper and that way we can both be cutting at the same time!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Brand-New-45cc-18-bar-Chainsaw-Oregon-Chain-/350277922723?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Home_Garden_GardenPowerTools_CA&hash=item518e30efa3#ht_5598wt_1224

at the end of the day... Buying the eBay saw saved me £500! And gave me
enough firewood to last a year too! The guy carries all spares!

[ambriel]

I've got one identical to johnmac's and it's been a very good buy.

It's not used every day but never fails to start and does the job well.

Just treat the machine with respect.