How old were you when you first ran a chainsaw?

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slinger

slinger

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Haven't seen this this one on here yet. (Yes, I did a search LOL!)

I was about 14 dad was at work HA!

Cut a soft maple and got it hung in the triplex that ran from the corn crib to the barn. Spent most of the day gettin it un-hung...

Dad had an old Mac. don't remeber the model. He never learned how to sharpen a chain. Took the saw up to a neighbor who did it for him.

Lucky either one of us did'nt lose any body parts sawin with old worn-out dull chains cleanin up fencerows (hedge) etc.

I had to unlearn alot of bad habits....
 
It was 15 for me. Was working in woods peeling poppel, and 5 cutters called in sick or drunk or whatever, crew boss asked if I knew how to run and start a saw, which I did, He said OK today your a faller. I watched all the fallers so I had an idea sort of what to do. Boss said I did an OK job at end of day, kept me as a faller after that. Saw was a Mac. think maybe a 10 series, my memory is not as good as it was 40 some years ago.
 
don't rightly recall. i came up in the 'burbs with country-raised parents, and migrated back.

we did "fool with" auxillary wood heat when i was a young 'un.

probably 14-15. we had an old homelite that ran if you could get it started and bought a new pooland at one point. it ran great for a few tanks of gas. then i was stuck with two chitty running saws (both of which i could fix now). i was around 16/17 when we got some land and the 024. good golly i'll always have fond memories of the 024 from those days...and i'm still running it.

sometime in the 90's spent the summer cutting cedar for the mill. all with the 024. hand logging...hell it was better than cutting grass.

didn't start cutting firewood seriously until 2001 and have cut 90% of all my heating wood since. wood is my only heat.
 
it was the in october 2007, i was 16 then.
i was helping my dad taking down a maple on the edge of our field
and the when he was bucking it into firewood length's he suddenly stopped and asked me if i wanted to try cutting some,that was what started it all,
that is the same 025 i got now.
what really sendt my interest for chainsaws skyrocketing was that i found the 2094 in our barn where it had been sitting for 10years where my grandfather left it,
and then i found this place:)
 
I was 13yrs old, we were taking some trees down on the property and dad let me run his poulan 361. Mean heavy old girl she was so loud and shakes so bad, you run it for an hour and you can't quit shaking after that for a while. That is where my love affair with that saw truly started, I rememer when I was 8 he cut down 12 100ft pines from around our house with that 361 the sound is awesome. I now own 2 poulan 361's and he is still cutting with his, its his go to saw, even though he has a nice smaller echo and I have the big husky he still likes that saw the best.
 
I'm embarrased to say I was 26...and I'm 28 now...

My dad is super anal and would never let me help him do anything. I even offered to cut the grass when I was a kid but he wouldn't let me because it had to be mowed in a certian pattern.

I'm making up for lost time though and try and get out to cut whenever I can..
 
I was mabye 10 or 11 and my dad let me buck small logs with an old xl12, he was always letting me do everything at a young age. I even got busted for driving in the sixth grade because I stopped for gas where my parents did. Man things have changed!
 
Probably around 7-8, but it was electric! Real saw, at work? Probabaly 19.
 
meez sayz

i was about 12 my mom and stepdad lived west of the cascades. they needed the pasture cleared of blackberries and weed trees. they gave me a mini eager beaver. i wore out twenty chains before the saw up and died. then bought a few used old macs then bought a well used and rebuilt Stihl o38.then after the Stihl i was given a cheap krapsman 16" saw ran that saw for 20 more chains. learned how to truly fall timber on a pro mac 800 with a 32" bar:) :)did not know then i would make a life around sawz:dizzy: in my early days before i new what ppe was i just used ear plugs,this is really stupid i know, i was more then two hours from a hospital,gues it was pure irish luck i never got hurt other then blackberry scratches:givebeer: now i buy sell and trade sawz like a broke gambler in vegas:givebeer:
 
25 or there abouts. My dad was Air Force and we never had a saw around. I used my FIL's Stihl to clear up some very old downed crap on the lot where we were renting (figured I would leave it better than I found it). I'm not sure if I added any b/c lube to this day :jawdrop:

Didn't touch a saw again till I bought a 346xp to clean up flood downed trees. Took my time and figured it out. Sold it when I needed the money, wish I still had it.

Then I bought a 345 (price was right) to clear up some land and cut firewood. It's been in the water and mud/muskeg and through cedars, spruces, and hemlocks up to 30" or so (downed and falling).

Finally got the money to get into milling and picked up a new 660 with a 36" bar.

Still learning every day.
 
I had typical farm training whenever using powertools, 350 HP tractors or 80,000# trucks: "Don't hit anything and hurry up!".


It's a wonder none of us got seriously hurt.

I had zero instructions on saws. Except "Keep that ____ ______ _______ chain out of the dirt".
 
I was 16. Working at a summer camp. Handed a 16" Homelite and given some basic instruction on how to start it.

Used one periodically and was lucky for about 30 years, when I started to learn about techniques, safety, 2-cycle engines, chain sharpening, how much I don't know, etc. This site has been helpful, along with training sessions, reading manuals and guides, asking a lot of questions, experience cutting, etc.

Don't consider myself an expert, but now feel that I can operate one competently, rather than getting by by just being lucky.

Philbert
 
slinger said:
I had typical farm training whenever using powertools, 350 HP tractors or 80,000# trucks: "Don't hit anything and hurry up!".


It's a wonder none of us got seriously hurt.

I had zero instructions on saws. Except "Keep that ____ ______ _______ chain out of the dirt".
Click to expand...

I learned the same way. The old man telling me to hurry up at every point. Yes trucks and tractors also. 12 years old and driving a beat up old kentworth from Field to Field and he better not have to Wait on you. Boy it was a hard way to learn but it worked.:givebeer:
 

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