Griffdog1
ArboristSite Operative
This post is probably only relevant to people with more than 10 saws so stop reading now if you love your MS??? Stihl.
Exactly how did I come to have a shed full of chainsaws? Well I have had to ask myself this question in recent months and thought it might be helpful to break this down to assist others whos constant purchasing of chainsaws that clearly don't need is causing some sort of marital stress!
For me it started when I had a small tree I needed to cut down in the front yard. Usually I would just use the family Dolmar 115i that has served us extremely well for the last 20+ years, but this was not available to me. I thought I would just check on line what might be available to me locally and low and behold a ps-411 in good condition came up for 80 dollars almost immediately. I reasoned that this would be a good little saw to have around the house and to take camping and had to be better than what I could get at a box store - it was and is all of those things and made short work of the job I had to do and a few others I found. I decided that Dolmars were fantastic saws and very underrated/underappreciated in Australia and so when I spied a larger one in the classifieds a couple of weeks later for 50 dollars I had to have that - turned out to be a 120si and I was onto a real winner of a saw. next thing I know my old next door neighbour who I had cut and removed a tree for gives me his original and unused for 15 years ProMac60 Mcculloch and suddenly I am a bit of a fan of old Mac's
Of course when a Dolmar 118 came up it seemed foolish not to grab that so I did, the seller also had an old Mcculloch 250 and offered that for 50 so I took it to give the PM60 company.
A Dolmar 114 came up around the corner from my dads place so I grabbed this, and then I clicked on ebay one day and a Shindaiwa 488 came up for 50 dollars and this seemed to be too good to pass up so I grabbed that with a view to an immediate resell, which after a clean and tune occurred for about 6 times what I had paid so now I could justify buying cheap ones to sell to fund the ones I really liked.
Poulan 5500 followed and then a ProMac850 which also came with another 120si in pieces. Mcculloch 740 and then a local ProMac570 which turned out to be about as good as any of the saws to actually use.
Friend told me he had a broken Husqvarna 268 in the shed and investigation revealed a scored piston. He had been told it was scrap but I managed to clean the cylinder up put a new piston in and she went like a champ and suddenly I think I am the best chainsaw mechanic in the world which leads to me buying a Husqvarna 61 and 266 that need a little work and rebuilding these.
The most expensive saw I got was a Stihl 048AV Super which I was sure I would double my money on but I only made 80 bucks and this was a bit of a failure.
In the space of a week I got a lovely PM Canadien 330 and a Mac15 for nothing both is beautiful condition.
All of the above has occurred in the space of 6 months. At the rate I am going I am going to have about 300 chainsaws in the next few years - I love them and working on them is them is incredibly relaxing to me. The trouble is that there are about 4 saws a day that I am interested in or are offered to me or I have a hunch could be there. I could buy another 20 today without any issues for almost no money - but that would be just stupid. While I love chainsaws, my wife crushing my testicles forcefully is a real possibility if I am not careful. This has required me to come up with a "Personal Chainsaw Manifesto" to provide myself guidance. It goes like this:
1. 10 saws is a good number and seeking to have the best 10 saws that you can have is a good goal. The number 10 is not set in stone but it is a good ball park figure to be working to.
2. While there are hundreds of good saws, you really like Dolmars and Mccullochs so aim to keep those and turn over other saws that you come across.
3. You can make money of Husqvarna's so see these as a way of funding other purchases and maybe keep one (372 will do) as a working saw to save wear and tear on you 120si's.
4. The condition of having saws in the shed are that they are clean and if parts are boxed and labeled to avoid having a pile of poo spilling everywhere.
5. If people need parts that you have to get a saw running give them to them - a running saw beats a pile of parts any day.
6. Aim to have all saws that you own running well and being usable if required even if you never really do. Saws should be working tools and even if they are semi retired they should be up for a day cutting wood at any time.
7. Make it clear to all of your mates that they are to consult you before they ever even consider the purchase of a saw. You have a responsibility to educate that a good saw will last a lifetime and is not a disposable item - get em something good and teach them how to look after it.
8. Accumulate and share knowledge of the older saws - the days of a 25 year saw are coming to an end like every other product, there is history and heritage that needs to be protected and information needs to be spread.
So that's my story - I am pretty under control with the CAD part of things now but I do feel that the process of thinking about some guiding principles has been valuable. For anyone else with a whole lot of saws I would be interested in your general approach to this and whether you work to a system or just freestyle it?
Exactly how did I come to have a shed full of chainsaws? Well I have had to ask myself this question in recent months and thought it might be helpful to break this down to assist others whos constant purchasing of chainsaws that clearly don't need is causing some sort of marital stress!
For me it started when I had a small tree I needed to cut down in the front yard. Usually I would just use the family Dolmar 115i that has served us extremely well for the last 20+ years, but this was not available to me. I thought I would just check on line what might be available to me locally and low and behold a ps-411 in good condition came up for 80 dollars almost immediately. I reasoned that this would be a good little saw to have around the house and to take camping and had to be better than what I could get at a box store - it was and is all of those things and made short work of the job I had to do and a few others I found. I decided that Dolmars were fantastic saws and very underrated/underappreciated in Australia and so when I spied a larger one in the classifieds a couple of weeks later for 50 dollars I had to have that - turned out to be a 120si and I was onto a real winner of a saw. next thing I know my old next door neighbour who I had cut and removed a tree for gives me his original and unused for 15 years ProMac60 Mcculloch and suddenly I am a bit of a fan of old Mac's
Of course when a Dolmar 118 came up it seemed foolish not to grab that so I did, the seller also had an old Mcculloch 250 and offered that for 50 so I took it to give the PM60 company.
A Dolmar 114 came up around the corner from my dads place so I grabbed this, and then I clicked on ebay one day and a Shindaiwa 488 came up for 50 dollars and this seemed to be too good to pass up so I grabbed that with a view to an immediate resell, which after a clean and tune occurred for about 6 times what I had paid so now I could justify buying cheap ones to sell to fund the ones I really liked.
Poulan 5500 followed and then a ProMac850 which also came with another 120si in pieces. Mcculloch 740 and then a local ProMac570 which turned out to be about as good as any of the saws to actually use.
Friend told me he had a broken Husqvarna 268 in the shed and investigation revealed a scored piston. He had been told it was scrap but I managed to clean the cylinder up put a new piston in and she went like a champ and suddenly I think I am the best chainsaw mechanic in the world which leads to me buying a Husqvarna 61 and 266 that need a little work and rebuilding these.
The most expensive saw I got was a Stihl 048AV Super which I was sure I would double my money on but I only made 80 bucks and this was a bit of a failure.
In the space of a week I got a lovely PM Canadien 330 and a Mac15 for nothing both is beautiful condition.
All of the above has occurred in the space of 6 months. At the rate I am going I am going to have about 300 chainsaws in the next few years - I love them and working on them is them is incredibly relaxing to me. The trouble is that there are about 4 saws a day that I am interested in or are offered to me or I have a hunch could be there. I could buy another 20 today without any issues for almost no money - but that would be just stupid. While I love chainsaws, my wife crushing my testicles forcefully is a real possibility if I am not careful. This has required me to come up with a "Personal Chainsaw Manifesto" to provide myself guidance. It goes like this:
1. 10 saws is a good number and seeking to have the best 10 saws that you can have is a good goal. The number 10 is not set in stone but it is a good ball park figure to be working to.
2. While there are hundreds of good saws, you really like Dolmars and Mccullochs so aim to keep those and turn over other saws that you come across.
3. You can make money of Husqvarna's so see these as a way of funding other purchases and maybe keep one (372 will do) as a working saw to save wear and tear on you 120si's.
4. The condition of having saws in the shed are that they are clean and if parts are boxed and labeled to avoid having a pile of poo spilling everywhere.
5. If people need parts that you have to get a saw running give them to them - a running saw beats a pile of parts any day.
6. Aim to have all saws that you own running well and being usable if required even if you never really do. Saws should be working tools and even if they are semi retired they should be up for a day cutting wood at any time.
7. Make it clear to all of your mates that they are to consult you before they ever even consider the purchase of a saw. You have a responsibility to educate that a good saw will last a lifetime and is not a disposable item - get em something good and teach them how to look after it.
8. Accumulate and share knowledge of the older saws - the days of a 25 year saw are coming to an end like every other product, there is history and heritage that needs to be protected and information needs to be spread.
So that's my story - I am pretty under control with the CAD part of things now but I do feel that the process of thinking about some guiding principles has been valuable. For anyone else with a whole lot of saws I would be interested in your general approach to this and whether you work to a system or just freestyle it?
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