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Lots of great advice above. The only thing I'll disagree with is those recommending safety chain. IMHO, it's MUCH slower than full chisel chain, more difficult to sharpen, and promotes bad habits. If you actually keep a hold of the saw firmly with both hands, a kick back will never cause the bar to raise more than a few inches, and certainly never come close to hurting you. Safety chain or not, your holding the engine of a lawn mower that does not have a deck, and has 20 or more blades spinning several inches from your fingers. Treat it accordingly.

On splitting, get a Fiskars splitting axe, a cheap hatchet or boys axe for kindling, and start looking for a used hydraulic splitter. In good shape, a used splitter can be had for around $500. You can't build your own for twice that. They last a long time and are very serviceable when they do start to wear out. Swinging an 8 lb maul to split oak and hickory for the past 3 decades has all but destroyed my rotator cuff. Don't repeat that mistake. Save your pennies and invest in the right tool for the job. I still swing axes just fine, and use them for easier stuff, but the bulk of my firewood (and I cut mostly hickory in the 18" to 24" range) goes through the splitter at least once before using an ax.
 
It is a lot safer not to drop trees by yourself, especially if you are just starting out doing it.

Try a Fiskars x27 for manual splitting.

A reasonably priced splitter - like a 24 or 27 ton one from somewhere like Tractor Supply will go a long way towards getting your woodpile in shape for the winter.
As mentioned earlier, you need to cut and split the wood at least the year before to give it time to dry. Stack it so it faces the sun and has lots of airflow. Never stack directly on the ground and do not cover it tightly. A roof over stack or even a sheet of tin is better than a tarp since it will breathe better.
 
Lots of great advice above. The only thing I'll disagree with is those recommending safety chain. IMHO, it's MUCH slower than full chisel chain, more difficult to sharpen, and promotes bad habits.

You're confusing anti kickback ("safety") with semi-chisel cutter shape. Anti kickback chain is made in both semi and full chisel, as is regular chain. Full chisel teeth come to a sharp point where the top and the side meet. On semi chisel that is rounded a little. Semi chisel cuts a bit slower than full chisel but stays sharp longer. It's the choice for dirty wood. I try to keep my wood clean and use full chisel most of the time.

I don't buy the argument that anti kickback chain (or wearing chaps or steel toe boots or other safety practices) encourages unsafe behaviour. It does only if you're mentally lax enough to think that. I view safety features as backups for good practice in case I make a mistake, but I don't slack off on those practices because I have safety gear.

I would not suggest a newbie depend on saws kicking back only a few inches. I know many sawyers much more experienced than I who have been injured by saws kicking back. Sometimes into their face. I try to keep my face out of the line of the saw in addition to knowing where the saw tip is.

That said "anti kickback" chains and bars don't actually prevent kickback. They just reduce it some in some circumstances.
 
Lots of great advice above. The only thing I'll disagree with is those recommending safety chain. IMHO, it's MUCH slower than full chisel chain, more difficult to sharpen, and promotes bad habits. If you actually keep a hold of the saw firmly with both hands, a kick back will never cause the bar to raise more than a few inches, and certainly never come close to hurting you. Safety chain or not, your holding the engine of a lawn mower that does not have a deck, and has 20 or more blades spinning several inches from your fingers. Treat it accordingly.

On splitting, get a Fiskars splitting axe, a cheap hatchet or boys axe for kindling, and start looking for a used hydraulic splitter. In good shape, a used splitter can be had for around $500. You can't build your own for twice that. They last a long time and are very serviceable when they do start to wear out. Swinging an 8 lb maul to split oak and hickory for the past 3 decades has all but destroyed my rotator cuff. Don't repeat that mistake. Save your pennies and invest in the right tool for the job. I still swing axes just fine, and use them for easier stuff, but the bulk of my firewood (and I cut mostly hickory in the 18" to 24" range) goes through the splitter at least once before using an ax.
Obviously you have never experienced real kickback with a fast saw. It is uncontrollable and unstoppable. The only thing that will save you is a locked left elbow, causing the saw to buck up over your head. A hardhat and faceshield may prevent the top to bottom face scar I have seen on two people; one a surveyor and the other a sawhand.., but the hardhat will not save you from the typical cut to the shoulder/neck area (seen one of those, another nasty scar), only the locked left elbow. And that is not for sure. Also, safety chain sharpened properly will cut like crazy, at least the two I have run to the end did. I actually liked them, but they were a lot of filing work to keep the humps filed down to match the cutters.

many people have cut their fingers off with a hatchet or small axe while cutting kindling. I know two. One was self inflicted, the other was a brother cutting a brother's thumb half off when they were kids in a hurry.

mauls work great with easily split wood, but I will get a splitter some day too for ease of splitting. A few cord with a maul over some time is no big deal with easy wood. I make kindling with the maul, it's safer than a hatchet, imo.

sorry, but your misinformation on kickback is horrifying. You are confusing "a kick" with "kickback".
 
Hello,

I apologize if this is in the wrong section, I took the time to read through them all and this one seemed the most relevant, other than perhaps the forestry and logging section.

I am nearly 40, grew up and remain in a rural wooded area with long winters. Wood stoves and firewood have always been a part of life growing up, and I’ve recently moved to a home with one in my basement.

Growing up my dad always ran the saw and I always picked up wood and split it with a maul. I’ve been around saws my entire life but do not have a lot of experience running them until recently.

With the house move came a very large stack of red oak logs to process for firewood. I started out by buying an MS251, winter chaps, a Stihl helmet and face guard, Oregon gloves, and a stihl combination sharpener. After 7 face cord on the 251 it was clear to me that I purchased the wrong saw and upgraded to the 261. I should have followed the age old buy once cry once but alas here we are. Could not be happier with the 261, after I put 5 tanks of gas through her she really started to open up.

I had no idea the joy that comes with processing firewood for your own home. I did a lot of wood growing up but there is a different feeling when you own the home you’re heating. Much more enjoyable than when it’s your parents and you’re told to do it.

My goal is to become very proficient at cutting wood, and I have a long ways to go.

Here’s the part where I would appreciate feedback.

First, I am not the best at cutting straight when bucking. I have taken my time to properly sharpen and feel mostly proficient at it, but have also ordered a timberline to see if the chains are playing a role or if it’s simple practice. It seems obvious but it’s clearly not, any tips?

I have very little experience felling trees and while I intend to ask my dad to help me learn, I have also been watching every one of the BC faller training standard videos on YouTube, as well as downloaded their PDF manuals. Any recommendations for other materials to ingest? This feels like the scariest part of the whole operation to me.

I have not yet bought any wedges, or axes to drive them and clean the undercut. I started researching this rabbit hole today and got lost in a hurry. Recommendations for what to buy?

My 261C came with a 20” bar which felt long for bucking on the pile, I then picked up a 16” which was great for the pile but I’m tempted to pick up an 18” to see if it just feels right. Any thoughts here? I’ve been running the yellow RM chains.

On splitting wood, do you recommend a maul like I’ve always used, an axe, something else? And which? Right now I’m using a tractor supply maul and it works but I’m sure there are much better out there.

Lastly, am I missing anything like additional recommended PPE or tools?

I’m in this for the long haul and want to learn to be safe, proficient, and skilled at this. We’ve already burned four face cord this year, love the heat, and I’ve been really enjoying the work (processed about 15 face cord so far this year.)

This forum has been a great resource so far and I look forward to talking with you all.

Thank you.
You have the right attitude.

the BC faller training standard was developed as a response to the plethora of injuries that occured in BC forestry work during a politically motivated changeover in the sawhand workforce starting in about the mid 90's. The work that worksafe BC did in enforcing and guiding best practices went a long way to create a forestry workforce in western Canada that rivals any in the world. Some of these boys know their ****. Lots of then actually.
 
In 58 years of cutting I have never experienced kickback. What does that mean not much really. The only small saw I ever owned was a Stihl 011 AVE. My smaller saws are 60 CC. I have always used pro chain with out kickback protection. I even put the end of my bar into wood just to see how much it will jerk. At this moment my saws only flicker three or four inches. However my larger saws make me more concerned about what if. When I am not watching or mentally thinking about another problem. The bottom line here is I believe is that it only takes one time to get injured. I have several safety hat/helmet that I think is important. Another thing is I never cut wood with other logs next to each other which is where almost all problems come from. I have a powerful portable winch which I use to pulled logs to where they can be handled safely. Thanks
 
Lots of good advice above. I was/am in almost the exact same position as you (right down to getting a MS251 first). I learned so much from watching tree felling fail videos. Check "Boompjekappen" channel on youtube. He has a 35 part epic tree fails around the world series. Fun to watch and soon you will be able to anticipate how the fail is going to happen (I also watched the BC feller guide and other correct way videos/books). Failure is part of learning, why not learn from other people's fails? When operating a chainsaw always try and think about what could go wrong and plan accordingly.

Also, if your not sure how the wood is tensioned, don't cut too fast and you can watch and see if the cut is opening or closing.
 
Welcome to the site, I have a ms291 here myself with both 16"&18" bars for it, I prefer the 18" for bucking on the wood pile, I have a 27 ton splitter instead of a maul.
 
Lots of good advice above. I was/am in almost the exact same position as you (right down to getting a MS251 first). I learned so much from watching tree felling fail videos. Check "Boompjekappen" channel on youtube. He has a 35 part epic tree fails around the world series. Fun to watch and soon you will be able to anticipate how the fail is going to happen (I also watched the BC feller guide and other correct way videos/books). Failure is part of learning, why not learn from other people's fails? When operating a chainsaw always try and think about what could go wrong and plan accordingly.

Also, if your not sure how the wood is tensioned, don't cut too fast and you can watch and see if the cut is opening or closing.
I would have to agree on much of this. Some thing that bothers many people that work around me is I stop and think about what I am trying to do. In the middle of the day I will stop and sit starring at a tree for maybe an hour. I will figure out a sequence and go with it. What amazes me is I can only remember a couple of surprises my whole life. I climbed a good sized Oak tree to take down and cut some limbs. I cut this one limb with out a under cut to have the tree split right down the middle. I was harnessed in the split and lucky I only had the wind knocked out of me. I had not anticipated that. So good planning almost eliminates all problems.
 

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Obviously you have never experienced real kickback with a fast saw. It is uncontrollable and unstoppable. The only thing that will save you is a locked left elbow, causing the saw to buck up over your head. A hardhat and faceshield may prevent the top to bottom face scar I have seen on two people; one a surveyor and the other a sawhand.., but the hardhat will not save you from the typical cut to the shoulder/neck area (seen one of those, another nasty scar), only the locked left elbow. And that is not for sure. Also, safety chain sharpened properly will cut like crazy, at least the two I have run to the end did. I actually liked them, but they were a lot of filing work to keep the humps filed down to match the cutters.

many people have cut their fingers off with a hatchet or small axe while cutting kindling. I know two. One was self inflicted, the other was a brother cutting a brother's thumb half off when they were kids in a hurry.

mauls work great with easily split wood, but I will get a splitter some day too for ease of splitting. A few cord with a maul over some time is no big deal with easy wood. I make kindling with the maul, it's safer than a hatchet, imo.

sorry, but your misinformation on kickback is horrifying. You are confusing "a kick" with "kickback".
You may be right. What I have experienced on my 036 and 064 may not have been a true kick back. The chains on both of those saws have low rakers, and are very "grabby". If I need to bore into something, I have to either use my 026, or put a new chain on. Never gave it a ton of thought before, but I do tend to keep my left elbow locked, or nearly locked. I know that what I HAVE experienced, causes a fair amount of pain in my left hand, arm, and shoulder. More than enough to realize that I made a mistake somewhere. I also never really "lay" the saw on anything. I've always got a solid grip with both hands. I've seen people take their left hand off once in a while, and it gives me the shivers every time.

I cut mostly hickory (probably 80%). I've run both safety chain, and the semi-chisel yellow chain (both from Stihl). Even when new, the saw just felt like I'd hit dirt. I don't cut all day, every day, but when I'm getting a load in the woods, its normally a 10 hr day or more. I normally try to get 4 cords dropped, limbed, cut into 15' logs, skidded to a landing area and either stacked or loaded onto my equipment trailer (normally 2 cord each). I can't imagine having to do it with a safety chain.
 
I cut firewood for exercise. I don't burn any! However I got tired of swinging a maul, so I found an old splitter with a bad engine and missing pump, and hooked it up to my JD2555 tractor. Runs great, and no money spent buying another motor for me to keep running!
David from jax
 
Welcome to the site! As has already been mentioned I am the unofficial dues collector so please send cash or check (made out to Uncle Moustache Chainsaw Fund) to my address.

Not much to add here with all the great advice, except that, as you are already seeing, different people have different opinions and you ultimately need to go with what works for you. I prefer a maul over an axe, and a splitter over a maul, and a SuperSplit above other splitters.

I didn't notice if anyone else mentioned it, but in situations where something is near the tree, I always try and put a rope high up to help pull it in the right direction. You never know what's going on inside a tree, and weird things can easily happen. It's an extremely dangerous job, and you're right to be scared. That insecurity is what helps motivate you to be extra careful. I like watching tree 'fail' videos, for one can learn a lot by seeing it done wrong.

As for 'buying the wrong saw', I'm not sure that's possible. Every saw you buy is good for something. Even a Poulan can be used as a boat anchor or chock block. The ones that don't run very well are the ONLY saws that you loan out to others. I'm bringing 6 saws to my job today, but I doubt I'll use them all. Ain't nobody but me touching any of them.
I once loaned a brand-new $1,200 saw to a 'professional' to do ONE SINGLE CUT, and he totally killed it - ran it with the brake on somehow. One of the members here fixed it for me for free - I only paid for parts and shipping, but that added another several hundred to the cost of my saw. Never loan out your saws, unless it's a junky little box-store thing that you don't bother using yourself.

Now that you've had a sampling of the differences in chains, I'll just mention here that the PROPER oil mix is 40:1, and anyone that says differently obviously doesn't know anything about the subject. :laugh: :dumb:





OH HECK!

I just realized this is a 2-year-old thread. Why do the newbies always bring up old threads like this?? :dumb2::dumb2: And here I spent all this time typing out my reply.
 
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