Another borrowed saw bites the dust

[The Lorax]

My BIL came over the last day after some wind had blown a beech across his drive, I wouldn't give him the saw just in case he did something stupid and hurt himself.
I did go and cut the tree for him but I think that lending out chainsaws is like giving a set of keys to a sportsbike to a learner.
If they don't want me to cut the wood then I have two old Bowsaws that work pretty well.
Chains here are around the equivalent of $40 dollars for a 3/8 x 66. I can't afford to be replacing one if someone cut a rock with it.

 

[aandabooks]

Ok, I need to borrow a saw. Since you guys go with the saw, I see free labor in the deal. I'll spring for the beer.:hmm3grin2orange:

Matt

 

[SWI Don]

I lent out my little saw (Echo 3400) to my wife's boss and it's costing me clutch cover assembly.

Otherwise my bro borrows my 372 every once in a while when their Stihls are broke down. MS440's none the less. I have always had good luck but he is probably pickier than I am about saw care. I don't mind as I borrow back things like bucket trucks, stump grinders, chippers and skid steers.

Don

 

[Wortown Mick]

I lent out my little saw (Echo 3400) to my wife's boss and it's costing me clutch cover assembly.

Otherwise my bro borrows my 372 every once in a while when their Stihls are broke down. MS440's none the less. I have always had good luck but he is probably pickier than I am about saw care. I don't mind as I borrow back things like bucket trucks, stump grinders, chippers and skid steers.

Don

Yeah, thats always a nice thing. hes not gonna mistreat your saw when youre usin a chipper. Sounds like the exceptions to the rule.

ive thrown alotta cool stuff through a rental chipper though . :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[AngelofDarkness]

A neighbor of mine was complaining that his little cheapie Mac he had bought last year was broke. I asked him what was wrong with it and he said the crankshaft had broke. I looked at it and the bar hardly had any paint scraped off of it. Now the only way the crank can fail that quickly is if he was running straight gas through it. He did not confess as to weather or not it had been loaned out.

I would loan outone of my Homie XL's, but only the one with a chain brake. I don;t loan good (orange) saws. Furthermore, I do not even like using other peoples gas, I never know if they mixed it properly, weather they used quality oil or what grade gas it is. I only use high end nonsynthetic oil and premium gas mixed at 40:1. Most folks are too cheap/ignorant to realize how important premium is to a chainsaw engine.

 

[Jacob J.]

Pretty bad when a piece of machinery is so cheap that the crank snaps when the chain gets pinched.

I've seen that happen to both an 088 and a 3120.

 

[oneoldbanjo]

Way back in the late 70's I worked at a dealer/shop that sold and serviced chainsaws. Most repairs were from two different sources- those people that were borrowing a chainsaw....or.....people that had loaned a chainsaw. The problems were either from saws that had been abused by the uninformed or just from borrowing a saw that had been sitting for years and had stale gas and would not run. I did a lot of chain sharpening - but it was rare that I ever got to do a tune up or we had a saw that was worn out from lots of use. The dealership carried Poulan and Homelite and we mostly catered to the homeowner - not to the serious woodcutter or logger.

All of my relatives have heard that story and know that I will not loan out my saws - however I am a good relative and will come cut up their wood when they need help.

 

[kah68]

I know if I don't loan it out, (close friends and family) they will just go rent one anyhow and be pissed with me, so I have a loaner, or I will take my good saws with me and cut for them. Plus I might want to borrow something of theirs one day so....

 

[SawTroll]

Ok, I need to borrow a saw. Since you guys go with the saw, I see free labor in the deal. I'll spring for the beer.:hmm3grin2orange:

Matt

I sometimes bite on such deals, when the conditions are right.....:yoyo: :yoyo:

 

[Hugenpoet]

Only loan out tools, truck, tractor, saws, etc. to four people-my son, my son in law, a very good friend who would throw himself in front of a bus for me and my neighbor who watches the house when we are away-and anyone of them can have whatever they want. The way I look at it no matter what they do with the stuff (and they all are both skilled and responsible) I would feel a lot worse about myself for saying no than I would if I had to spin the wheel for a few repair bills.

Regards

Hugenpoet

 

[davefr]

If someone doesn't own a chainsaw then it's unlikely they have the skills and experience to use one safely.

I'd be less concerned about the saw coming back with a dull chain then the borrower not coming back from the hospital.

There's no way I'd ever loan this kind of tool unless it was for a highly skilled user.

 

[SteveH]

It is ok to loan out your saw. However, if it comes back messed up and you act surprised or disgusted or angry, you are probably too dumb to own a saw and should give them all away anyhow. I'll take my saw over somewhere and cut whatever needs cutting for someone, but nothing else.

 

[Nicholas]

Here some tips on loaning saws out:

-Always include plenty of fresh properly mixed gasoline.
-Always include plenty of quality bar oil.
-Always make sure to include a carrying case to keep saw from bouncing around/getting smashed in the borrowers vehicle or woods.
-Always include a couple of sharp chains.
-Tune the saw a bit richer than normal. That way if the borrower is in to no load reving the saw/screaming it out of the cut, it may save your engine from being totally trashed.
-Make sure you charge a $50 security deposit fee or something to reinforce the idea to take care of the equipment/not abuse it. If the saw is returned in proper condition, give the deposit back to the borrower.
-Make sure to record you saw's serial number in case the saw gets stolen.
-Make the borrower aware of chainsaw safety and chainsaw operation.

Nick G.

 

[oneoldbanjo]

The best idea I have heard so far is getting a decent affordable loaner saw that can be sacrificed in the name of being a good neighbor/relative. As you hand the them the dedicated loaner saw....:chainsawguy: ....try to avoid them getting a glimpse of your prized 880 or 7900 as you hand them the Wild Thingy........

 

[Bermie]

doesn't take but once...

...and I never loan a saw again.

I loaned my 021 "the baby saw" to a friend (he's a photographer who likes to do habitat restoration), we were working a job together and he had loaned his Shindaiwa to the landscrapers who'd crapped their Echo...

I had to leave the job and he wanted to keep working...
That cost me a new bell housing/sprocket a needle bearing and clip and cup washer and a retune and the down time while the parts were ordered...

 

[TNMIKE]

My wife

My wife use to ( repeat use to be) be really bad about loaning my tools out to the neighbors who had no idea how to use them.

I had an old poulan (mind you it was a good saw) that she loaned out to a guy after a storm and it came back broken. The chain had been run into gravel and the bar cover was cracked in half.

She also loaned out a 24 foot extension ladder to another neighbor that was painting his house and it came back bent beyond use.

Needless to say that was the last time anything has left my shop. I was raised to replace anything you borrowed that got broken. That doesnt seem to be the convention around here. I do have some good friends at my farm in Tennessee that I would give the shirt off my back to.

Nuff said

 

[rmihalek]

I lent my Dolmar 119 to my brother who then let his brother-in-law use it. BIL apparently was used to those old Yamaha motorcycles that automatically mixed the gas with the oil because he filled the mix tank with straight gas and the bar oil tank with pre-mix oil thinking that the saw has some mechanism to mix the two together. Of course the saw seized. After a new top end ($150), all was well.

Now, when a saw is needed, I go with it!

 

[Wood Doctor]

Saw Seizure

I lent my Dolmar 119 to my brother who then let his brother-in-law use it. BIL apparently was used to those old Yamaha motorcycles that automatically mixed the gas with the oil because he filled the mix tank with straight gas and the bar oil tank with pre-mix oil thinking that the saw has some mechanism to mix the two together. Of course the saw seized. After a new top end ($150), all was well.

Now, when a saw is needed, I go with it!

Just out of curiosity, when you run a saw on straight gas or gas with insufficient oil mixed in, is it more likely that the saw will seize up like your Dolmar did or will it just lose compression and quit?

In either case, the engine is pretty much shot, but those are two different shut downs. I believe I have seen it argued both ways, and I was wondering what yours (and the forum's) opinion is. TIA

 

[stckciv]

I would loan out the wife before I would loan out the saws.:biggrinbounce2:

 

[Dapper Dan]

I loaned out my good old 041 and....haven't seen it since!

Sure wish I could remember WHO I loaned it to! (NEVER again!)