Yet ANOTHER Newbie

[Peteysmom]

and an amateur scaredycat on top of it. I wanted a big place to care for unadoptable, "wild" otherwise domestic cats. I got it- 39 beautiful wooded acres, with one mile of ATV trails(that's TWO miles of brush to keep clear!) and a 4 acre pine tree farm. Here are my tools so far- a nice sturdy pair of manual pruning shears, a Stihl chain saw, a 250 something, with Easy Start, for my lousy upper body strength, and a brand new Stihl FS550 clearing saw. The 225 mm chisel blade on that 550 is already dulling and I've ordered another one, but is there some other blade that will give more service life? The dang thing looks too difficult to hand sharpen. And sure, I'm trying to talk a tough game, but I have a lifelong fear of motors and blades- my first lawnmower was a reel-type- and it is only out of necessity I'm attempting this new "hobby"of serious brush and tree clearing. HELP! All you experts out there, for a weenie wimp like me, who works full time so my hobby time is limited, what can I do with the tools I have to get the most out of them (and me!) and what tools should I get on a limited budget that a 90 pound weakling can use without cutting one of my own human limbs off?!! THANKS for any and all help!

 

[Adkpk]

Go, Mom! Wow, that's a plateful. For not liking power tools your starting at the top of the food chain with chainsaws. So I recommend putting some meat on those bones. Don't use a chainsaw while tired, it is a good way to get hurt. Your on the right site to enriching your knowledge of taming the wood. Good luck and be safe.

 

[Peteysmom]

The chainsaw was a reluctant necessity- came home one night and a huge tree had fallen across the driveway. At least my car was on the road side of that tree, next morning bright and early I drove to the nearest Stihl dealer.
Around these parts, seems like everyone has a gunrack and a chainsaw in their vehicle...

 

[computeruser]

In terms of the chain sharpness, figure on touching it up with a file after every tank or so (assuming you keep it out of the dirt, which dulls chains almost instantly). The process of keeping the saw sharp really isn't that hard, and can be almost thereputic once you get the hang of it. There are myriad discussions on sharpening over in the Chainsaw forum here at ArboristSite.

Alternatively, you could buy a few loops of chain and just swap one for another when the first gets dull, and then take them off to be sharpened at the shop.

Also, hopefully you also have the appropriate protective gear - eye protection, ear protection, hardhat (possibly), and some safety chaps. This stuff is worth every penny and will go a long way towards keeping your limbs properly attached!

In any case, welcome to the site!!

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Test run your choice of chain sharpeners. If the teeth come back with the slightest bluing; they have been overheated; the temper changed and won't hold an edge as well-ever again!

There are other fine points; equal sharpening, dropping the 'rakers' etc.

The rakers/ depth gauges get dropped to expose more tooth. For the teeth are slanted downwards and more narrow away from their tips. So, when sharpened, the new tip will be lower, and the depth gauge must be lowered to expose the right amount of tooth; not tooo much, nor too little.

The narrowing effect, can cause some troubles, but that is on your end. As the bar is used a lil'roll of metal will curl off the rail and around, thickening the width of the bar. If this width gets wider than the chain, the saw will cut so far, then stop like it is dull, but really the bar just won't fit in the cut! Long term solution is to lightly file that rolled metal off the side, then lightly file across the groove to re-square. Stihl even has one place that recommends, further more to file at about 45 on the outside corner, to give the new 'metal roll' a place to go. A temporary filed solution; if you just put on a resharpened chain (that is now narrower) is to put on a new or less sharpened chain; that will be wider (and hopefully wider than the bar).

 

[cntrybo2]

i think i speak for all of us when i say we need to see pictures of a chainsaw toting momma!!! this is a new standard and i bet martha stewart cant hold a homemade lavender scented beezwax candle to you!

 

[Peteysmom]

Um, uh, if there were someone around to take pictures, you can bet I'd be getting THEM to run the chainsaw and I'd be the camerawoman...
Haven't tried sharpening my own chain, I went with two (now three) chains and having them professionally sharpened. My biggest problem right now is having that chisel tooth sawblade for the Stihl FS550 go dull, having to order one because the FS550 is not a standard stock item, delaying my clearing time, and having a chainsawing friend co-worker offer to sharpen the chains but balk at the saw blade, saying it isn't worth the time or energy to resharpen one of those bad boys unless they cost 50 dollars or more, and looking at my pocketbook, thinking, there has GOT to be a circular blade out there that will fit an FS 550 and doesn't need a lot of care and attention OR someone will sharpen for me or I can learn to sharpen; there MUST be other tools that desperate people with no upper body strength can use... and saying all this, I agree with the stats- what a man can say in 50 words, a woman needs a few thousand.
In regards to PPE- in my work life, for which I get paid real money, I'm a safety manager (mostly industrial though) and as such, am a huge fanatic for PPE AND using the RIGHT tool for the job. Broke too many steak knife points using them as screwdrivers...
Thanks for the great advice so far, keep it coming, please! THANKS!!
Peteysmom

 

[badhabits]

If you don't mind following a lot of links then this thread is very helpful on keeping a chain sharp.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=45116

Hope this link works.

 

[Steviec]

Question for ADRPK

Hi

I see on your signature line you mention the Digit towable backhoe. Is it any good? It certainly look like a useful tool from their website.

cheers

Steve

 

[gremlin]

Welcome to the site petey. There is a lot of knowlege here to be learned forme these folks. Grasp it and role with it.