Thread: Cheap Chainsaw

What have I started here.......................
Oh well , now its time 4 a few home truths(not trying 2 be condecending)
The small GMC saw is like the other saw in the photo, a 1 handed saw.
Yes thats right, nobody will (OFFICIALLY) tell u that but, thats why its designed with the handle mounted over the top of the motor. There is no other advantage 2 this design with the only exception being its slightly more compact size. The same saw with the handle mounted behind the motor would be far more comfortable & safe 2 use as a 2 handed saw.
These saws r frequently used by Arborists 4 there light weight & ergonomics.
They r extremely light & designed 2 be drop started. Have u ever seen an arborist up top of a tree put his foot through the handle & try 2 start a saw? Ihope not. If u r experienced & hold the saw correctly, there should be no issues with small/medium saws. Dont know about an 066 Matt, u cowboy u.
Most accidents with chainsaws relate 2 inexperience ,over confidence & fatigue.PPE I think is the way 2 go 4 if u r using a saw 4 a period of time.
Have been guilty & probably still will be in the future of not putting on all the clobber 2 clear a tree fallen across a track, or cut up some firewood.
Chaps r cumbersome, gloves r 2 keep your hands warm, helmets r 4 climber or fallers or drivers?,but Ido like some earmuffs if using the saw 4 more than a few cuts.
Now Damo, I do think ur a little hung up on this fiscal issue, so if ur looking 4 a nice little saw, perhaps a GMC, Ive got 1 ,4 sale only $1200, that should make it nice & safe.
Cheers Dean.

Originally Posted by EchiDna

I typically drop start when the saw is warm, but with the chain lock on (still bad I know).

Well, I don't drop start a saw without the chain brake on

Strewth what a lot of chatter over a cheap chainsaw!!!!

For the record and partly as a result of this thread I went to Bunnings and bought one of these evil affordable impliments of death... read the book, filled up the fuel and chain oil and donned appropriate PPE and away I went....

Started second pull, runs fine, the choke assembly will need some mods as the little pin holding the knob in the choke actuator comes loose but for under a hundrey what do you expect??!!

Will people hurt themselves with this device??? Course they will...
But like many other contributors have said there are plently more affordable ways to hurt yourself **statistically speaking**


Johnsy

Originally Posted by crump

Had just completed my accredited "Chainsaw Survival" course with a new employer and was cutting up fallen trees for a roadworks job. I'm walking around in the tops of the fallen trees behind an excavator as he's pushing them, cutting them up into size for them to be stacked to burn.Middle of summer, hot as hell and the chaps are getting caught in all the twigs etc so I take them off. The very next tree, lifted the saw out after the first cut and turned to take a step and lifted my lilywhite knee up into the still roaring chain.Splat!!! 24 stitches and two infections, I'll stick to the chaps,but I'm a novice, I dont know how the Pros where them all day.

Oops. I mean I know its ironic, but sounded like a silly thing to do

Originally Posted by 953

What have I started here.......................
Oh well , now its time 4 a few home truths(not trying 2 be condecending)
The small GMC saw is like the other saw in the photo, a 1 handed saw.
Yes thats right, nobody will (OFFICIALLY) tell u that but, thats why its designed with the handle mounted over the top of the motor. What is the thing looping around to the left. That is called a handle and it is for your left hand. There is no such thing as a one handle chainsaw. The top handle is to make the saw compact and easier to get in to a restricted access area. There is no other advantage 2 this design with the only exception being its slightly more compact size. The same saw with the handle mounted behind the motor would be far more comfortable & safe 2 use as a 2 handed saw.
These saws r frequently used by Arborists 4 there light weight & ergonomics.
They r extremely light & designed 2 be drop started. Bull****. There are only 2 ways to start a chainsaw. 1 - on the ground with your foot through the rear handle and left hand firmly holding it down, and 2- is to hold the saw securely between your upper legs with your left hand holding the left handleHave u ever seen an arborist up top of a tree put his foot through the handle & try 2 start a saw? Ihope not. If u r experienced & hold the saw correctly, there should be no issues with small/medium saws. Dont know about an 066 Matt, u cowboy u.
Most accidents with chainsaws relate 2 inexperience ,over confidence & fatigue.PPE I think is the way 2 go 4 if u r using a saw 4 a period of time.
Have been guilty & probably still will be in the future of not putting on all the clobber 2 clear a tree fallen across a track, or cut up some firewood.
Chaps r cumbersome, gloves r 2 keep your hands warm, helmets r 4 climber or fallers or drivers?,but Ido like some earmuffs if using the saw 4 more than a few cuts.
Now Damo, I do think ur a little hung up on this fiscal issue, so if ur looking 4 a nice little saw, perhaps a GMC, Ive got 1 ,4 sale only $1200, that should make it nice & safe.
Cheers Dean.

As an instructor/operator and demonstrator of chainsaws it is bloody scary to read this sort of crap.

Originally Posted by bushrover

I love this s... when it gets personal. Beats the crap out of boring technical threads.

But on a serious note. Some of the uninformed comments here regarding hand tool use show just how dangerous they can be. I spent time as a technical rep for Makita and was responsible for training commercial users in the use of hand tools including chainsaws. (was also a timber cutter for a number of years and involved in chainsaw racing) For the uninformed (gotta keep it personal) a top handle chainsaw of low power has a far greater potential for uncontrolled kickback than a saw with a rear handle. The leverage offered and ability to control kickback (and control the chainsaw) when your hands are close together is significantly less than a rear handled saw. (some authorities require specific additional training for their people to use top handle saws).

Some kickback/chainsaw facts- chainsaws operate at high rpm typically 10000 to 13000rpm. With a 7 tooth drive sprocket (3.5 cutting teeth per 7 drive links) at 10000 rpm that will be approximately 35000 potential kickbacks every minute, 35000 teeth every minute going past your private bits. With 325 pitch chain, engine speed at 10000rpm, 7 tooth drive sprocket, one revolution will equal approx. 100mm of chain. so 100mm x 10000 rpm equals 1 000 000 mm per minute or 60 000 000 mm per hour or 60 kph or 16 mps(I think).

Kickback occurs when the chain stops and a force equal to but opposing is then incurred. So in a kickback situation the end of you chainsaw bar is now coming back at you at 16mps. Human reaction time is approximately .2 of a second so your chainsaw has already cut your head/arm etc and is somewhere behind you before you are able to react.

This forum is way to small to cover something as serious as hand tool use so the main thing to remember with all hand tools is they can and will bite you when you least expect it, and the scariest hand tools to use, circular saw and 9" grinder with a cutting disc by far.

Tell me, how do you race a chainsaw they don't have wheels, do you start it then throw it and try and beat it to where it lands

Baz

Originally Posted by bushrover

As an instructor/operator and demonstrator of chainsaws it is bloody scary to read this sort of crap.

Very interesting but I would like 2 c u 40foot up a tree with the chainsaw between your legs pulling on the cord. How rediculous is that?
Cheers Dean.

Originally Posted by 953

Very interesting but I would like 2 c u 40foot up a tree with the chainsaw between your legs pulling on the cord. How rediculous is that?
Cheers Dean.

You start it on the ground....and then climb the tree or you drop it down on a rope and the ground man will start it for you and then you lift it up again.

In chainsaw racing, it is the fastest through a log on the ground and up a pole I believe but Ive only seen it on TV.