What are your must carry maintenance items when you go cutting

[Maxm503]

Im just wondering what all you carry. I know a scrench files extra bar nuts are a must maybe a new plug and a new chain along with fuel and bar oil. But anyone have any other must haves
Im just a hillbilly. Husky 445 with a 28" (extra length for limbs not much cutting power) and i just bought a husky 120 mkii today and cut some rotten oak away from the road on way home
I drive a ways up into mountains in oregon to cut firewood out of clear cuts and stuff mainly as well as the 78 acres i maintain

 

[Woodslasher]

A scrench, my fuel/oil jug, a carb screwdriver, and maybe a file are all that goes with me, but I’ve taken to always having a backup saw in the truck.

 

[windthrown]

I am also in Oregon. I run all Stihl saws now. I have run J-reds, Huskys, Macs, Echos, Homelites and Olympiks though. I used to cut slash piles in Southern Oregon and live on/manage 85 acres of timber there. Now I have a smaller lot and scrounge firewood mainly in the burbs. In the boonies my list for firewood cutting and thinning is: lots of water, cell phone, spare gloves, bug spray, first aid kit, 2nd saw (typically a 260 with a 361 main runner), scrench, premix gas, oil, sharpening files, plastic wedges, an orange screwdriver, a small hammer, bar nuts, a spark plug or three, spare chains for both saws for whatever length bars, maybe a longer bar (25 inch for the the 361, or 28 on a 440 or 066). And PPE including eye protection, ear plugs, back brace, chaps, gloves, spare jacket, and a snack or larger lunch, depending. Also a beer or two for the last cut. I also may bring an RPM tach if I am changing elevation to re-tune the saws. I can easilly go up 5k or down 1k in elevation here to cut wood. I also carry a gun in the truck and if the location is iffy, I will pack one in with me. Never know. More likely to deal with a bear or cougar than a tweeker.

 

[Pioneer]

A dedicated toolbox full of an assortment of tools for the saws, including extra chains, spark plugs and a first aid kit. These are kept at the vehicle, normally I only carry a mixture adjustment screwdriver with me.
If I have to hike away from the vehicle I make sure I take a wedge with me in case a bar gets pinched. A small first aid kit and cellphone in a fanny pack goes along as well.
If it's for more than a gas tanks worth of cutting, a small backpack of fuel, oil, tools, spare chain, water, first aid kit and cellphone.

However, nothing beats the convenience and safety of having a cutting partner with you.

 

[RED-85-Z51]

Couple wedges, couple screnches, 1 plug per saw, 4ft of rope and a lighter. Needle nose pliers. 2 screwdrivers. Bar oil. A spare chain and bar, bar nuts, jug of mix, small hammer, fiskars hatchet.

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk

 

[Derf]

I take a bright orange wedge pouch with 3 large plastic wedges and a Stanley soft sided tool bag with me. It goes out every time I cut. I usually bring two saws of different power / bar length. Also a jug of bar oil, and a no-spill Jill 1 gallon mix gas can. I’d like to get the Husqvarna Combi can.

The main pouch of the bag has my Stihl file kits for .325” and 3/8” in bright orange roll-up kits. Each roll-up kit has 2 round files, a flat file, and a bar groove tool. Also in the bag is a cheap pair of yellow safety glasses, white cotton gloves, and a first aid kit plus a bottle of saline eyewash. Getting something in your eye is no fun. Tucked in around the small pockets are various screnches, a tuning screwdriver, a chip brush (to dust off around the gas/oil fill port or to clean off an air filter), a grease plunger for bar roller nose, and a marker (to mark the first/last link when sharpening a chain.)

I touch-up/sharpen the chain when I refill throughout the day. I used to carry one spare chain for each saw too, but now I don’t. I found if I ever ruin a chain by hitting a hidden nail to beyond repair with a file, I just finish off the day with the other saw.

On the outside pocket of the bag is a length of spare starter rope (in case the starter rope breaks, but also works as a piston stop in a pinch), a spare spark plug (never needed it though), and an Oregon stump vise. In plastic ziplock bags are a couple bar nuts, a couple e-clips, and some foam ear plugs. Also a mini can of wd-40 (has helped diagnose an air leak), and a small bottle of 2-stroke oil.

Oh, and I also take a liter of water or whatever in a Nalgene bottle with a giant beer cozy for rehydrating.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Maintenance items- are not fuels and wedges in my eyes. They are tooling used to maintain and or repair a saw.
So maintenance tools I carry on a ground cutting job are a file and a scrench.
If I am using a Husqvarna- a Phillips #2 screwdriver and a 4mm hex wrench never go astray- don't need to be "carried" but nice to have close for that 4 hour break period and tighten up they seem to command.

 

[Maxm503]

I am also in Oregon. I run all Stihl saws now. I have run J-reds, Huskys, Macs, and Olympiks though. I used to cut slash piles in Southern Oregon and live on/manage 85 acres of timber there. Now I have a smaller lot and scrounge firewood mainly in the burbs. In the boonies my list for firewood cutting and thinning is: lots of water, cell phone, spare gloves, bug spray, first aid kit, 2nd saw (typically a 260 with a 361 main runner), scrench, premix gas, oil, sharpening files, plastic wedges, an orange screwdriver, a small hammer, bar nuts, a spark plug or three, spare chains for both saws for whatever length bars, maybe a longer bar (25 inch for the the 361, or 28 on a 440 or 066). And PPE including eye protection, ear plugs, back brace, chaps, gloves, spare jacket, and a snack or larger lunch, depending. Also a beer or two for the last cut. I also may bring an RPM tach if I am changing elevation to re-tune the saws. I can easilly go up 5k or down 1k in elevation here to cut wood. I also carry a gun in the truck and if the location is iffy, I will pack one in with me. Never know. More likely to deal with a bear or cougar than a tweeker.

I do carry my 12ga in truck amd mt 38 special. Im usually up in the trask mountain area lot of bear amd clugar

 

[Maxm503]

I usually only go with a partner. 2 vehicles is best. Usually its me amd my cousin who lives next door

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

Normally a scrench, flat head / philips / t27 depending on the saw, a tuning screw driver, tach, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, fuel bar oil and ppe

 

[wood4heat]

Toilet paper, Kahr PM9, water, first aid kit, shovel, ear pro, chaps, eye pro, gloves, Fuel, bar oil, scrench, file, spare chain, bar nuts, spark plug, phone... I think that’s it. I carry two saws, the 361 and the 024 but the 024 has never been run except for working around the house and cutting Christmas trees.
I have a pretty well stocked tool roll under the back seat of my truck but it’s a new addition and not really intended for anything specific. I put it together for a two week road trip with our toy hauler last summer and it just seems like a good fit to keep it back there.

 

[Brushwacker]

Serious work out in the boonies i make sure my bars, chains, and sprockets are in excellent shape to start, extra chains enough in case some how you damage some. They can get rocked or sometimes when their thrown the drivers get dinged unusable. 2 saws that can share the same bars and chain is preferred and or maybe an extra bar. Good scrench to carry and a backup in the truck, same with wedges but a couple or more in sizes. Small axe for wedges and debarking dirty bark at cuts. Have a pocket size flat can with extra rim sprockets, c clips, bar nuts, spark plug i never need, hack saw blade broke into small enough length to fit in can, (used to clean bar groove and can use as a cutting tool if needed and muffler screen. Torx driver for Stihl, i have or had a chainsaw multi tool for outings, haven't seen lately, chain file and small screwdriver for carb. Do carry a standard mult tool on me and usually a 3in. 38+p lcr.

 

[windthrown]

I do carry my 12ga in truck amd mt 38 special. Im usually up in the trask mountain area lot of bear amd clugar

Yeah, I know the Trask pretty well. Also the Brown's Camp area north of that, and the Siletz/Valzets/Avenue of the Giants to the south. And Cannon Beach, where I lived as a kid. Same with Prineville. And the Umpqua and Rogue areas farther south where my ex has her sheep ranch. I have both an Oregon and Utah carry permit so I can carry in the truck or on me in OR, WA, NV, ID, AZ, UT and MT. The main reason to get the Utah permit is to carry in Washington. I get up there a lot these days. Many times to scrounge firewood from property owners up there. I also cut in the Browns Camp/Tillimook area with a permit, and just northeast of Mt Hood. I heat this place 100% with wood. Englander NC -30 wood stove. Works well.

Some other stuff I forgot to add... I also carry a tiny box of extra rim drives with me. Several sizes so I can swap them out with different size bars for different chain speed and torque. Wood type and diameter depending. For chains I also take a skip chain, and an RM (semi chisel) for cruddy wood, and RS (full chisel) for clean wood. I round file all my loops which are all non-safety. I also have a small chain cutter, but with outboard clutches on all my Stihl saws I can just pop off a power head if I pinch the bar in a cut. A second saw or spare B&C can be used to finish a cut and release the bar. I also carry a 100 foot rope or two, sunscreen, and knee pads. My knees are going out on me in my old age. Oh, and knives. One needs sharp knives. I generally carry a one handed spring assist Kershaw on me. I love Kershaw knives. I keep them razor sharp. I also always carry a Leatherman multitool 'knife' in the truck in the first aid pack. I was on the Mt Hood Ski Patrol for several years, so I had an OEC card and I have a lot of experience and training in first aid. I carry a custom ski partol first aid backpack in the truck.

 

[rarefish383]

I'm 65 and have spent a lifetime equipping my truck with tools. I can cut dead standing wood on three farms, none more than ten miles from home. In the tool box are 3 saws, ms660 with 25", ms 290 with 20", and an ms170 with whatever they come with. Two 150', 17,000 pound test bull lines, 2 snatch blocks. On the rear floor a 3/4" drive socket set with sockets up to 2". A floor jack I can put under a log to lift it if a saw gets pinched. Cant hook, pickaroon. I don't "take" stuff with me, it's already on the truck. I have a 2018 F150 2.7 turbo. A friend bought the identical truck and gets a little better fuel mileage than me. We took the F150 on vacation this summer, and I took most of my tools off the truck, and my mileage went up to the same as my friends. If I passed you on the road and you had a flat, I could probably have your tire changed before you could get your jack out. Just the benefits of buying every tool you need.

 

[esean]

I'm usually only a 10-15 min walk from the house, so a scrench, carb tool (if saw needs one), couple of wedges (if felling) fuel and bar oil to keep cutting. Chaps, ear/eye protection, helmet (if felling), cell phone and big wad of gauze to make it home in one piece.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I'm usually only a 10-15 min walk from the house, so a scrench, carb tool (if saw needs one), couple of wedges (if felling) fuel and bar oil to keep cutting. Chaps, ear/eye protection, helmet (if felling), cell phone and big wad of gauze to make it home in one piece.

And a backup chainsaw and two extra sharp chain loops for each saw that I take with me.

 

[oldfortyfive]

I also keep a 4' pry bar in the truck at all times. You won't believe how often it gets used.

 

[Bret4207]

I cut on my 342 acre farm. Must carry items are a Leatherman (with me all waking hours anyway), a scrench, a screwdriver for the jets (Tried one of those multi-tools for chainsaws, they suck, useless) a felling lever and maybe a couple wedges, along with fuel/B+C oil. I often carry an axe on the tractor too. I won't comment on PPE as I'm fairly sure my methods would really bother some folks, lets just say I'm a child of the 60's.

 

[Dean-O]

My pouch has small scrench for full wrap and large for half wrap, tachometer, couple of carb screwdrivers, handful of Husqvarna and Stihl bar nuts, 6 feet of pull rope, lighter, Oregon bar and chain measuring tool, couple of BPMR7A spark plugs, couple files for each size chain, top cover and starter housing screws for 372. T-27 torx and 5 mm Allen. That’s about it off top of my head.

 

[Cliff R]

As a general rule I do NOT work on saws in the field. Instead I take at least 5 for each outing. I've found that I get a LOT more work done that way. If I hit something and dull a chain I grab another saw. If one runs out of fuel I grab another saw. If a saw starts acting up for some reason I grab another saw.

Even with all that said I still carry a dedicated tool bag with me with some files, screwdrivers, couple of bar wrenches, a pair of needle nose pliers, couple of toothbrushes, shop rags, grease tool for the bar and clutch and a piece of broken hack saw blade with one end ground at a 45 degree angle to clean out the bar.

It's pretty rare if I ever go thru all the saws I take with me and need to fuel one or sharpen a chain. By the time I've emptied all 5-6 saws I take along we'll be the rest of the day loading and hauling. If for some reason I end up fueling a saw I also "touch-up" the chain at the same time so it's razor sharp.

I'll add here that after each outing all the saws I took along get a full clean-up, chain sharpened, bar greased, chain tightened, fueled/oiled up and ready to go again. If for any reason I'm done with any of them for a while I'll leave them empty so they don't have gas stored in them for over a month or two. I have never once had any issues with modern fuel with ethanol in it following this practice.

I work on saws daily and see the aftermath of leaving ethanol fuels in them for many months and even years, so don't go there for any reason.........Cliff