How old were you when you first ran a chainsaw?

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15 - I cleaned up a fallen Mimosa tree for my Dad with a Craftsman electric. My Dad thought electric saws were safer, which I understand they are not.

I dabbled with electric saws for years until in my late twenties, when I needed to clear 5 trees from the lot for my home. That's when I bought my 1st gas Stihl chain saw.
 
I was 27, it was the fall of 1981. An Indian Chief named Alfred Joseph handed me a Husky 480 and told me to take the boat and the saw and find some dead fir along the shores of Cunningham Lake in northern B.C.
I didn't have the first clue, but miraculously managed to hack and slash a 28" fir towards the shore without hitting the boat. Then I blocked it and rolled them up a plank and into the boat. I haven't put a saw down since to make my living as a curse was put upon me by the tribe,and however hard I tried to give back the curse I can't seem to shake it, but I don't really want to give it up.
Gypo
 
About 10, using a mac.33B cutting fence posts on the farm. Dad insisted on cutting the trees down using a dbl. bit axe then I would cut them in lengths with the Mac.
 
I was sixteen, and my dad brought home a new craftsman with a 18" b & c to remove a couple of dead trees on the side of the house. My brother came home from college to help. I fueled the saw and did all of the cutting that day. No one was more impressed than my dad. I just dropped 3 huge trees and didn't even hurt a shingle on his garage. The last tree was the only surprise, I barely got into the back cut and the tree toppled, I was pretty suprised and so were the on lookers. I have been running saws since that day at my liesure. I only wish I was older when my dad bought his property and cleared the lot where his house is most of my earliest memories where of him and my uncle running big mean red chainsaws!!!!
 
I was 16. Nicked a finger knuckle of my buddy's with the chain when I was swinging the saw and didn't see him swinging his arm. Bled a little bit. Scared the everloving #### out of both of us.

Lucky it was only a close call. Never had a chainsaw accident since, knock on wood.
 
Around 9 or 10 with supervision.
By 12 it was "I want that fencerow clean when I get back" or "You can go play after a load of wood is in"!


Mike
 
My first job was doing firewood but my boss never let me run a saw. From the time I was 11 - 15. He let me drive bulldozers and big trucks but no saws. Split, stack and thrown wood was all I did. I can't blame him though. I wouldn't let a kid run the big saws he ran. I just let me 15 year old nephew run my ms170. that's a little easier to handle.

I was about 28 the first time I got to run a saw. It was a mid sized stihl... (don't remember what model). I was doing grounds maintenance for a storage company and had to cut up a wind blown tree.
 
Echo6 Sierra said:
I'm embarrased to say I was 26...and I'm 28 now...

My dad is super anal and would never let me help him do anything. I even offered to cut the grass when I was a kid but he wouldn't let me because it had to be mowed in a certian pattern.

I'm making up for lost time though and try and get out to cut whenever I can..
Click to expand...

Howdy Echo6 Sierra,
I will make you feel better, I was 40 when I got my first saw. We (the family) cut allot of wood as a kid up until I joined the military but I was the splitter loader/unloader stacker all of the time. Now I do it all and usually by myself. The dogs watch over me and inspect my work.

I don't know what happened to Dad's old saws (blue homelite XL I believe and a poulan 3400 countervibe). When I left they got a propane furnance.

Its never to late to start anything. Have fun and enjoy.

v/r

Mike
 
I was probably around 10 years old when gramps let me use his Stihl 031. I had been chopping wood for years though.
 

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