Chainsaws in La. what I saw.

[xring]

I just Got Back from La. this weekend. Went to help a church group clear trees from peoples yards from Rita. Most of these folks were elderly and couldn't help themselves. Took my Stihl 025 and an Echo 3450. The 3450 was almost useless because I needed to cut trees and limb them the little echo just didn't have enough power to cut the bigger trees with any speed even with a new chain. I use this little saw a lot at home to clear fence rows. It did well when I was only limbing for the guys with the bigger saws. The Stihl 025 ran great a lot more muscle than the echo and still light enough to limb without wearing me out. It did well on trees up to 18 inches but not all trees were that small. Then I borrowed a locals Stihl 029. I really liked this saw had plenty of power for the larger trees and not too heavy. We also had some Stihl 361 and 440 and a 460 they all ran great and cut well. We had a small Husky a 145 I think and a Poulan that never came out of it's case. But the star of the show was a Kubota tractor with a front fork boy was that helpful. Our host told us FEMA was giving $300.00 to anyone who wanted a saw, and then in about 30 min. the emergency room started stitching people up that had never run a chainsaw before. I expected to see a larger variety of brands but stihl was 90% of what I saw. I was told come back in 6 months and I could get a good deal on a stihl in the local pawnshops ( seems Gov mt.) should collect the saws to redistribute on next storm, Or sell to Professionals at a good price to recoup some of the tax dollars. Most folks said Fema and others did well in this storm a few were very opinionated that FEMA S***S. Lots of downed trees and blue tarps on roofs. Glad it missed me here in Galveston county.
Ray

 

[EPages]

Like your idea of the gov't re-distributing the saws for future use! Seems that would be a wiser use of taxpayer $$$ than the method it appears is used! Nice report, btw!

 

[Happyjack]

Great info. It's nice to hear that people are helping one another. Do you have any pictures you can post?

 

[hornett22]

typical of the government.

that is a good idea but it makes to much sense.they can't do anything that involves logic.it confuses them.what ever happened to self reliance and the community taking care of it's own.we as americans should be able to take care of each other with uncle sam getting involved.remeber what Ronald Reagan said,"don't expect government to solve your problems,government IS the problem!" FEMA does SUCK!

 

[xring]

I'll see if I can get some pics. I took my saws not my camera but I know some of the ladies took some photos. What people don't realize is FEMA is just a big ATM machine that hands out $$$ to victims and contractors. They don't have a bunch of guys ready to come save your tail. The closest thing we have to that is the military. FEMA like all bureaucracies is slow cumbersome and wasteful but that seems to be how some of us want it. The people who are least prepared for life are the people least able to handle the storm. The old folks sick and disabled I understand and they were the reason for my trip, but there is plenty of work in this part of La. I bet there are still folks saying give me give me. Just my thoughts

 

[buck futter]

The logic is.......the logistics. Ok so lets play out the scenario FEMA gives the homeowner money for a saw and wants it back when your done, someone needs to collect, repair, inventory / catalog, store them, and then they need to be redistributed at the proper time by more personel. how much would that cost? as far as selling them cheap after the homeowner is done. Do you think these were well maintained? What type of saw do you think a homeowner is going to buy. A stihl 440? husky 372? no they are going to buy whatever $300 will buy them and beat the snot out of it.

lucky

 

[xring]

Only Know what I saw. a lot of stihl 361s for some reason.