Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: "Safer" Chainsaws?  (Read 12868 times)

DominicJ

  • Joined Apr 2011
"Safer" Chainsaws?
« on: September 09, 2011, 01:30:22 pm »
I'm half heartedly considering a powered saw for stuff thats too big for the hedge trimmer, I've been using a hand saw, but thats hardly an ideal solution.

Anyway
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Decker-GK1000-Alligator-Powered/dp/B000EOOJQI

Has anyone used anything like that before?
On a slightly larger note, given how dangerous chainsaws are, do they make anything like that on a grander scale?

Well, I know they big vehicle mounted forestry models, but something in between?

deepinthewoods

  • Guest
Re: "Safer" Chainsaws?
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2011, 01:37:20 pm »
no such thing as a dangerous chainsaw,just a dangerous chainsaw user. take a course!

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: "Safer" Chainsaws?
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2011, 08:48:03 pm »

Hi Dominic,

The lopper looks fine, but it depends what you want to do with it - I can't see it being much use for cutting firewood for instance. You've also got the issue that it's electric, so it can only go where your cable will stretch to, unless you have a generator.

I had similar concerns to yourself last year, and bought myself a Bosch electric chainsaw. I found this to be really good, even for some really quite big logs. It's far lighter and quieter than a petrol saw, and stops immediately if you release the throttle, and also (obviously) if you apply the chain brake.

That said, a neigbouring farmer has now given me permission to take fallen trees / branches from his land, so I have now bought a petrol saw. I will be selling the electric one as soon as I get round to it, since there's no reason to keep both. However, for general tidying up and light firewood cutting, I do think it is a really good tool.

HTH!
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

hexhammeasure

  • Joined Jun 2008
    • golocal food
    • Facebook
Re: "Safer" Chainsaws?
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2011, 09:06:25 pm »
I have two petrol chainsaws. A longer one for felling and a shorter one for logging however I'm now looking for an electric chainsaw so that I can cut logs in the barn on wet days... no fumes to give me a headache - or worse
Ian

knightquest

  • Joined May 2010
  • Birmingham
    • Knight Pet Supplies
Re: "Safer" Chainsaws?
« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2011, 09:11:34 pm »
I've got one of those alligator jobbies and they are pretty good. Took some conifers down in short time even a trunk that was 'too wide' but I wouldn't advocate that..........I haven't taken a course but would have failed if they saw what I was doing  :o

You do have to be close to an electricity supply as previously mentioned.

On another note, Wickes sold me a curved tree saw (hand powered) for £6 wich is brilliant even on wet wood. What a tool!

Ian
Ian (me), Diane (my wife) and 4 dogs. Ollie (Lab mix) , Quest (Malamute), Gazer and Boris (Leonbergers)

suziequeue

  • Joined Feb 2010
  • Llanidloes; Powys
Re: "Safer" Chainsaws?
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2011, 09:12:05 pm »
no such thing as a dangerous chainsaw,just a dangerous chainsaw user. take a course!

Couldn't agree more.

Need to have a sharp chain and the right PPE as a minimum.

There are lots of good courses out there. I went on a really good one in Corwen in Wales.
We do the best we can with the information we have

When we know better we do better

goosepimple

  • Joined May 2010
  • nr Lauder, Scottish Borders
Re: "Safer" Chainsaws?
« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2011, 09:14:16 pm »
I was talking to the men who were felling trees at our place yesterday about how my OHs chain saw blunts a lot and is a bit of a pain (petrol one).  They said to use a chain file (he has this but it takes time) but also a file guide which makes it easier and quicker.  They said they only have to sharpen the chain once a day. Also if cutting logs, cut only half way in, then turn then half way in, then turn etc.  That was it doesn't collect dirt and wet and blunt up quickly. You get electric sharpening tools for the chain but they cost £40 and they didn't think it would be worth it.   They think Stijl is a good make.
registered soay, castlemilk moorit  and north ronaldsay sheep, pygmy goats, steinbacher geese, muscovy ducks, various hens, lots of visiting mallards, a naughty border collie, a puss and a couple of guinea pigs

violet

  • Joined Jul 2009
Re: "Safer" Chainsaws?
« Reply #7 on: September 09, 2011, 10:28:11 pm »
  They think Stijl is a good make.

It would be difficult to buy a Stihl these days without a certificate or proof that you were an experienced woodcutter.
Stihl is a good make - but can be rather expensive and may not be worthwhile if it's only for occasional use rather than the min. 8 hours a day that woodcutters may be using them for.

 

robert waddell

  • Guest
Re: "Safer" Chainsaws?
« Reply #8 on: September 09, 2011, 10:36:58 pm »
there are two types of chain saw 2 handled which i still believe can be purchased by anybody
then there is the one handed chain saw to buy this one you have to have a certificate in tree surgery  :farmer:

suziequeue

  • Joined Feb 2010
  • Llanidloes; Powys
Re: "Safer" Chainsaws?
« Reply #9 on: September 10, 2011, 07:30:03 am »
I agree with Violet - Stihl are quite "muscley" chainsaws and can be quite buckey and bitey. This is offputting for a novice.

I was lucky enough to be able to do my chain saw course in two halves - the fist two days which was the mechanics and maintenance. I was advised not to buy anything until I had done the fist half. This gave me an opportunity to look at different saws, discuss their merits and also learn about PPE etc. My ideas about what I needed to buy completely changed and the instructor, after understanding my needs etc recommended a different chain saw and PPE than than what I had been planning to buy. Somebody else on the same course had bought all his kit in advance and then realized that he had some unsafe things and a saw that was too strong for him.  :-[ :-[

I then went off and got the recommended equipment and came back a month later for the cutting part of the course and was able to use my own equipment under supervision which gave me a real confidence boost.

I don't remember having to present any paperwork (e.g. course certificates) in order to buy the saw but the guy in the shop did chat to me about what I was doing and the course etc so maybe I convinced him!

Sharpening my saw is a pleasure. I enjoy doing it as working with a sharp chain is such a joy and is a significant safety feature. It only takes five minutes and is very satisfying. I have a file (you HAVE to get the right one for your chain) and a small file guide which I just drop onto each link and that helps.

Sorry - clearly this is a soap box of mine that I didn't know I had!!!!!

We do the best we can with the information we have

When we know better we do better

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: "Safer" Chainsaws?
« Reply #10 on: September 10, 2011, 08:29:16 am »
I knew it wasn't Politics, Philosophy and Economics...

I was pretty sure it wasn't Precision Polymer Engineering...

Nor Particle Physics Experiment, Partnership of Public Employers, Paper Print Environment (seems like a good resource for finding recycled paper, inks, etc, by the way)

Yes I googled and yes it became clear quickly SuzieQ means Personal Protective Equipment, but for a laugh I followed up some of the other links.  Hairdressers, I thought that would be different - but no, turns out some hairdressing products are so bad for your skin and lungs there's Personal Protective Equipment for hairdressers...

I began to feel like Wonko the Sane, who decided that the whole world must be insane if we had to publish instructions in a packet of toothpicks...

Oh My Good Gosh ... there's a link for the London Sexual Health Programme...  :o  Surely we haven't come to this ... but thankfully no, I do not have to turn my house inside out and declare the rest of the world a sanitorium just yet, they mean Patient and Public Engagement. Phew.  I can still call them condoms, then.  (Though when I was in my teens they were coyly referred to as 'protectives', which I suppose is no better than PPE...)

(And yes, I do know that some brave medical staff have to work with the risk of HIV infection from blood etc and must wear protective gear.)
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

suziequeue

  • Joined Feb 2010
  • Llanidloes; Powys
Re: "Safer" Chainsaws?
« Reply #11 on: September 10, 2011, 09:34:53 am »
 ;D ;D ;D ;D :love:
We do the best we can with the information we have

When we know better we do better

violet

  • Joined Jul 2009
Re: "Safer" Chainsaws?
« Reply #12 on: September 10, 2011, 10:29:19 am »
I was lucky enough to be able to do my chain saw course in two halves - the fist two days which was the mechanics and maintenance. I was advised not to buy anything until I had done the fist half. This gave me an opportunity to look at different saws, discuss their merits and also learn about PPE etc. My ideas about what I needed to buy completely changed and the instructor, after understanding my needs etc recommended a different chain saw and PPE than than what I had been planning to buy. Somebody else on the same course had bought all his kit in advance and then realized that he had some unsafe things and a saw that was too strong for him.  :-[ :-[

I then went off and got the recommended equipment and came back a month later for the cutting part of the course and was able to use my own equipment under supervision which gave me a real confidence boost.


I went on a course in two parts as well. If you fear something you are more likely to have an accident, so even if you use a safer version you may still be rather nervous and still have an accident. My OH insisted that I went on a course rather than learn from him at first and he was right.

My OH is a 3rd generation woodcutter ( that still just about means something up here) and was bought up in the wood when they still used horses & axes ( not as long ago as you would think). As they moved on to chainsaws his grandfather stuck with the axe and could still out cut them!
I digress, but to watch him cut trees is to see an artform - the saw simply becomes an extension of himself.

The safety & maintenance aspects are really important, as you learn the detail you understand better and that builds your respect for the machinery and confidence in yourself for using it. Not only that but the maintenance skills I learnt means I can find my way round generators & rotovators and other pull start machinery that we use. So it's really worth every penny.  :)

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: "Safer" Chainsaws?
« Reply #13 on: September 11, 2011, 06:14:20 pm »
It would be difficult to buy a Stihl these days without a certificate or proof that you were an experienced woodcutter.

Robert's right. You can still buy a standard 2-handed saw without any qualifications. You do have to buy face to face though, due to Stihl policy. 'Tis also true that Stihl and Husqvarna saws are mainly aimed at the professional end of things, but as with everything else, you get what you pay for!!
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

deepinthewoods

  • Guest
Re: "Safer" Chainsaws?
« Reply #14 on: September 11, 2011, 07:08:15 pm »
theres two types of stihl, one made in germany,one made in america, identified by the plate on the front, the german ones are the dogs kahoonas, and cost accordingly. if you just need an easy saw then efco is a better italian brand than the american stihl. id only buy a german stihl if i was really workin a chainsaw. for logging and small tree work i would buy the efco. and i did. and its great.

 

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