Drop Starting a Chainsaw

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Multifaceted

Firewood Hoarder, Axe Enthusiast
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I see this topic come up from time to time here and elsewhere, and when it does, it seems to be a particularly contentious topic for some. I'm not a professional logger or tree guy by any stretch of imagination, but like many folks here, I have many hours behind a chainsaw, not just with one but several of varying displacement.

I, for one, will drop start a warm saw. A cold start is almost always from the in-the-crotch position. I also have a few saws with no chain brake, I'll drop start then warm too. I also don't start with the chain brake on if my saw has one.

I do regularly wear PPE, proper chaps and Kevlar boots, but my personal opinion on drop starting is just petty hall monitoring. Sometimes I'll saw with no chaps or boots. Sometimes I take my eyes off of the road while driving too, also been known to coast through a stop sign or two...

Am I just a fool and flirting with danger? What say, you?
 
I never actually drop start. If the saws not sitting on the ground with my foot holding it then I brace it in between my legs.

My 562XP would drop start real easy though. Non of the saws that I have now should be drop started. Your asking for a bar to the shin[emoji23]


Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]
 
I have drop started decades. Bought a couple of new saws last year for the first time in decades and while reading the manuals I learned that drop starting was not acceptable.

So I tried the suggested between the legs or sitting on the ground method. Not for me.

I came from an era when things were not idiot proof and the only protection was Darwinism. With all due respect to the safety police there is no hope for me.
 
Perhaps drop-starting is a misnomer, when I do it it's more in the shoulder and arm than using the weight of the saw. Here I am starting my warm MS 461:
hjY56TO.gif

hjY56TO
 
I never actually drop start. If the saws not sitting on the ground with my foot holding it then I brace it in between my legs.

My 562XP would drop start real easy though. Non of the saws that I have now should be drop started. Your asking for a bar to the shin[emoji23]

Is this because the saws are high compression and pulling the starter makes the bar pick up? I too am in the drop start cold or hot and no chain brake unless on steep/uneven footing camp. But maybe that's because my saw drop starts really well and I'm left-handed so starting on the ground is awkward.
 
I see this topic come up from time to time here and elsewhere, and when it does, it seems to be a particularly contentious topic for some. I'm not a professional logger or tree guy by any stretch of imagination, but like many folks here, I have many hours behind a chainsaw, not just with one but several of varying displacement.

I, for one, will drop start a warm saw. A cold start is almost always from the in-the-crotch position. I also have a few saws with no chain brake, I'll drop start then warm too. I also don't start with the chain brake on if my saw has one.

I do regularly wear PPE, proper chaps and Kevlar boots, but my personal opinion on drop starting is just petty hall monitoring. Sometimes I'll saw with no chaps or boots. Sometimes I take my eyes off of the road while driving too, also been known to coast through a stop sign or two...

Am I just a fool and flirting with danger? What say, you?

You should go the whole hog & refuel without stopping the saw & carry the saw over your shoulder tip forward with the unprotected teeth inches away from your juggler, plus stand at the stump & don't retreat a safe distance when falling a tree
 
You should go the whole hog & refuel without stopping the saw & carry the saw over your shoulder tip forward with the unprotected teeth inches away from your juggler, plus stand at the stump & don't retreat a safe distance when falling a tree

I'm just trying to start the saw, not looking for style points...
 
Happy New Year C. After seeing your axes that could shave hair off a baby's azz, drop starting a saw should be no worries.:eek:. :cheers: buddy.

Happy New Year to you as well Steve! The other day I was chopping a 28" log standing atop it while swinging a 4.5 lb axe within mere inches of my feet. It's a miracle I'm not in the hospital!
 
Really starting a chainsaw has never seemed dangerous to me. Never had any close calls starting.

Kickback has always been the dangerous for me. I have had a few close calls with kick back and a close friend hospitalized due to kick back. Not saying chain brakes don't work but I have never had a chain brake activated by kick back (nor did he).

I mean not to offend anyone but my feelings are that if I can't start a chainsaw without hurting myself I probably don't have any business owning a chainsaw to begin with.
 
@nettle I'm curious about kickback. I've never experienced it unless I accidentally hit another log with the tip of the bar. I've seen there are safety chains and non (maybe ripper chains). I don't really know the difference. Maybe my saws have always had too narrow a chain to get the real deal chains where kickback is a concern.
 
As with you it's when I accidentally hit another log or limb with the tip of the bar. The two saws I have now were purchased new within the last couple of years (Stihl) and am sure they have the latest and greatest of safety chains.

When I get kick back it is something that the saw does that I am not prepared for. Perhaps because of my carelessness.

The friend that got hurt had the saw kick back and had the tip of the saw rake down his sternum. This severed all of leaders to his chest muscles. He was a very hurt puppy for the most part of a year. That's why kick back scares me.
 
Usually start mine the same way the video shows, if that's drop starting then I'm guilty.
Yep..that’s drop starting and you’re guilty as charged.

My 066 has pretty stout compression so I almost throw it down as hard as I pull up/out on the rope..kinda like pulling a bow.

I find it the easiest method to start a saw and the way I hold it my leg isn't in the path of the bar if it were to swing down due to compression.
 
@nettle oh man! That's crazy. I'm glad your friend is ok in the long run. Sounds horrible though. Sometimes I'll remember that this thing could dismember and/or kill me in an instant. It's so easy to get comfortable and loose after that first cut with a sharp chain and good saw. I'll notice that I just got within a few inches of my leg with a moving bar/chain and tell myself to slow the %$@* down!
 
@nettle I'm curious about kickback. I've never experienced it unless I accidentally hit another log with the tip of the bar. I've seen there are safety chains and non (maybe ripper chains). I don't really know the difference. Maybe my saws have always had too narrow a chain to get the real deal chains where kickback is a concern.

I've had kickbacks with small saws, medium and big. Couple close calls with the old non-chain brake back in the day, no close calls with the brake ones but it sure does give one a jolt.

Starting? One the ground cold, between the knees warm, even on my small top handle saws.
 
The only other way to start a saw other than drop starting, is to one hand it by the throttle and throw start it. Its a trick with a 90ccand up saw with a 36" bar but I ain't cut anyones wiener off yet.

If I saw someone leave it on the ground with their foot or hand on it I would laugh.
I saw it on tv though.
I shifted a lumbar disc just watching it.
 
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