Well if money is that good then your just a cheap prick that risked his life to save a dime. Hard to provide for the wife and kids if your dead... just keeping it real. Still say good job though.
I did it my self
- Thread starter beav700
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Well if money is that good then your just a cheap prick that risked his life to save a dime. Hard to provide for the wife and kids if your dead... just keeping it real. Still say good job though.
NHlocal
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:msp_thumbsup:...Ayuh, it's addicting...:msp_thumbsup:
Work safe! ::thumbsup::
If you are making decent money, go out and buy a decent chainsaw. That homeowner bull#### you have is making your work much harder. I can see how it took two years using that electric crap. Stay safe.
sgreanbeans
Treeaculterologist
Fursur! Get a better saw, lol. However, I have been told those electric ones are good on gas. 880 Magnum, it cuts thru schools. If you are going got continue to mess with this, really, you need real saws. A top handle, medium and a biggie...say 191T, 361, 440
Why buy pro gear when I had only one job to do. I did buy the $300 top handle echo. It's considered professional grade. I tried the 18 volt Black & Decker 8" saw that was waste of time. I can put that 18" electric saw against any other gas saw.I doesn't have the speed of the gas chain saw, but the power is just amazing. I was cutting through Lime rocks with it with just standard Oregon chains. It would grind stone till there was nothing left of the chain. First I would plunge cut into the rock, then use all my body weight to push on the saw to cut through. The 48cc gas saw would stall under maybe 20lb of pressure pushing down. The electric one would take my whole body weight to the point where the plastic casing would be too hot to handle. Nothing Stihl makes even comes close in this size. It's rated 4hp which would require 120cc saw to match that.
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It took two years cause I choose to take my sweet time. Worked only on days my neighbor was away and only in the winter for 2-3 hours each time. I would drop 1 tree per week. The saws did not slow me down as most trees are white pine. Cuts like butter.
Have no kids. Have plenty of life insurance. Almost too much where my wife goes, Hmmmm
KarlP
ArboristSite Operative
Hobbiests have a different timelines and goals than pros. I once spent almost two years on a maple stump. I only worked on it when I was visiting family 250 miles away.
View attachment 226525
That's 3/4" 3-strand rope in the picture, not fishing line... The stump sat there for three years before I ever touched it and I turned it into some beautiful 2" thick planks.
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Stihl-O-Matic,
In the spirit of keeping it real. I have a personality test for you -
Lets say your job is going away tomorrow. Lets say there are only two positions you are qualified for nearby. You get offers from both. One is an office job where you sit on your butt all day for twice your current pay. The other is a similar position to the one you have for a significant pay cut. Would you personally -
A) Take the higher paying job. Then value your time as your employer does and outsource everything ... so you can sit on your butt after work having sat on your butt all day at work.
B) Take the higher paying job. Then keep mowing your own lawn, blowing your own snow, cleaning your own gutters, etc. Maybe start shopping for an 880 and a top of the line bow to enjoy in your free time.
C) Take the lower paying position so you can avoid being one of those cheap pricks climbing trees and hunting deer when they can afford to hire tree people and buy meat at the grocery store.
D) Something else crazy like sell everything and sign up to be a greenhorn Alaskan crab fisherman on a TV show.
I know have friends who would make each of the descisions above. I sometimes don't understand their decisions. Sometimes they don't understand mine. We remain friends despite that. We just don't talk about money. Just trying to see where you are coming from.
Beav,
I would have gotten a 390xp instead of the Black and Decker. The stump would have gone a lot faster and you'd probably find felling even more addicting with a 6+HP saw. Otherwise I think your saw choices are fine. You just haven't been spending enough time in the chainsaw forum to catch CAD.
There is no way a consumer saw on a 120v extension cord is REALLY 4hp. Don't most engineers know 1hp = 745 watts and universal motors are ~80% efficient?
You're lucky if its 1.5hp. The difference is the torque. The clutches in most gas saws aren't mean't for you to lean on them like that. Electric saws are direct drive so there is no clutch to slip.
View attachment 226525
That's 3/4" 3-strand rope in the picture, not fishing line... The stump sat there for three years before I ever touched it and I turned it into some beautiful 2" thick planks.
View attachment 226526
Stihl-O-Matic,
In the spirit of keeping it real. I have a personality test for you -
Lets say your job is going away tomorrow. Lets say there are only two positions you are qualified for nearby. You get offers from both. One is an office job where you sit on your butt all day for twice your current pay. The other is a similar position to the one you have for a significant pay cut. Would you personally -
A) Take the higher paying job. Then value your time as your employer does and outsource everything ... so you can sit on your butt after work having sat on your butt all day at work.
B) Take the higher paying job. Then keep mowing your own lawn, blowing your own snow, cleaning your own gutters, etc. Maybe start shopping for an 880 and a top of the line bow to enjoy in your free time.
C) Take the lower paying position so you can avoid being one of those cheap pricks climbing trees and hunting deer when they can afford to hire tree people and buy meat at the grocery store.
D) Something else crazy like sell everything and sign up to be a greenhorn Alaskan crab fisherman on a TV show.
I know have friends who would make each of the descisions above. I sometimes don't understand their decisions. Sometimes they don't understand mine. We remain friends despite that. We just don't talk about money. Just trying to see where you are coming from.
Beav,
I would have gotten a 390xp instead of the Black and Decker. The stump would have gone a lot faster and you'd probably find felling even more addicting with a 6+HP saw. Otherwise I think your saw choices are fine. You just haven't been spending enough time in the chainsaw forum to catch CAD.
There is no way a consumer saw on a 120v extension cord is REALLY 4hp. Don't most engineers know 1hp = 745 watts and universal motors are ~80% efficient?
You're lucky if its 1.5hp. The difference is the torque. The clutches in most gas saws aren't mean't for you to lean on them like that. Electric saws are direct drive so there is no clutch to slip.
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Thats easy the desk job making double the money. I see where your trying to go but do not think your really making your point. My point was simply this dont come in here and tell us in one post that you learned to climb and did your own trees because it was too much money to have them done, then a few posts later brag about how your making more then 80% of the people in the country. My personal opinion is that this #### is way to dangerous to learn how to do just to save money, especially if your learning on your own with no expert instruction.
I would do B (Take the higher paying job) for one single reason. I plan to retire at 50 (12 to go)
I'm super cheap with certain things. On the other hand I have over $10,000 in bicycles and even more in Telescopes. But I drive $3000 Honda Civic and ride my Kawasaki Ninja 250R in the rain and snow that gets 70mpg. People at work just don't understand me. Our engineering dept has reserved parking in the front of the building and my coworkers ask me no to park my POS car next to their $30,000-$90,000 cars. Everyday they tell me to get real bike (Harley) but I like my little ninja just fine. Yet we don't cook, only drinks in the fridge so spent money on dining out.
I'm super cheap with certain things. On the other hand I have over $10,000 in bicycles and even more in Telescopes. But I drive $3000 Honda Civic and ride my Kawasaki Ninja 250R in the rain and snow that gets 70mpg. People at work just don't understand me. Our engineering dept has reserved parking in the front of the building and my coworkers ask me no to park my POS car next to their $30,000-$90,000 cars. Everyday they tell me to get real bike (Harley) but I like my little ninja just fine. Yet we don't cook, only drinks in the fridge so spent money on dining out.
Having money has nothing to do with it. If I add everything up I'm sure I'm over $6000 and I'm picking up $7500 Ford 1710 tractor with a front loader this Saturday because I'm just overwhelmed with the amount of wood I have to process. Never had a tractor before so I can't wait to push and pull trees with it.
I am not sure what you spent $6k on because you dont have 6k of climbing gear, and lord knows it wasnt chainsaws or wood splitters, you were even cheap on them. Big reason pros spend so much more on their saws is that having the right saw powerful enough to make the cut safely and efficiently... not just because they are built to last longer. Listen man I am not knocking what you have done its respectable I am just saying I dont agree with your reasons for doing it.
cre73
Always Lurking, never posting
As a cheap A## homeowner myself, good job Beav. Just remember to stay safe!!!!!!
The ATV with dump trailer I bought from my sister was $3700 alone. If it wasn't for the wood, I would never buy it. Now I want a tractor. Give me some time, I will have plenty of saws and maybe a mill if I keep dropping all those trees. Heck, always wanted to fly. Got about 15 hours in the air. Maybe clear cut a runway.
I'm at work and I should be working instead being here trying to justify my self for cutting my own trees.
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Toddppm
Addicted to ArboristSite
Don't worry Stihlomatic is at work too. At his FT job that he has told us more than a few times how much more money he makes than all of us.:alien2:
Though I may have stated a range in what I make I never bragged about it being more then anyone and it was in defense of me doing this part time. Your really taking my statement way out of context. I on the other hand did not get in to this work to save myself a few dollars I got in to make a few dollars. I am a one income house hold with a family in CT. very expensive to live here. I also learned to climb from experienced climbers in the interest of learning properly.
As I stated I am not knocking the guy for having done it just for his stated reasons for doing it... risk your life to save money when your obviously not short on cash. For me tree work though it may not be my only source to put food on the table it does allow me to do a little extra for my family that I could not do with out it.
So I am guessing that since your defending the guy then you support home owners going out and learning to climb on their own because they are too cheap to pay someone else, when money is obviously not an issue?
Toddppm
Addicted to ArboristSite
You haven't brought it up recently I'll give you that but I do remember you bringing income $$$ up as you defended yourself against some BS on here.
I'm not defending him at all, another few homeowners have already read this and got ideas I'm sure. Good luck to them is all I can say, don't die on us.
He did use saving money as an excuse but who cares, if he just got a wild hair up his ass to do it it's not much different. I'd rather see him do it for himself than the truckloads of #######s who drive into town every day with no insurance/taxes and will do anything to any living plant in a persons yard for some $$$$.
I'm not defending him at all, another few homeowners have already read this and got ideas I'm sure. Good luck to them is all I can say, don't die on us.
He did use saving money as an excuse but who cares, if he just got a wild hair up his ass to do it it's not much different. I'd rather see him do it for himself than the truckloads of #######s who drive into town every day with no insurance/taxes and will do anything to any living plant in a persons yard for some $$$$.
I hear you and agree for the most part... I even supported him in my first reply... I just think that the point needed to be made that at least in my opinion, saving a dime is not a good enough reason to go out and try and tackle your own trees. Its dangerous stuff, people get killed and seriously injured. To learn to do this from a book or the internet is very risky, running up your own tree with out another person around with the knowledge and experience to help you if your in trouble is risky. If your in the sticks and there is no one around that can do an aeriel rescue is very risky.
I give him credit for doing it and I am glad it all went well. I guess I am just being the devils advocate here.
Take it easy. I'm just saying there are better saws that can make your work easier and more efficient. As a engineer I'm sure you use a computer at work to make your work easier and more efficient. Using your saws is like using a pencil and drafting table. Stay safe.
Congrats to a job well done.
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