My plan is to cut down a bunch of the trees on our land. This will clear an area for the goats and provide raw timber to be used for a homemade split rail fence. Nice plan, huh? The chainsaw, which I'd used throughout the year on-and-off, worked great for one day... well, about an hour or so of cutting. I had chopped about a dozen trees, mainly pine, and cut the branches from four or five. I shut off the saw to clean up some of the limbs and try to move some of the timber to a central location for future use. I had a few trees about 30 feet in length and realized it would be better to cut them up for easier moving. Pretty smart for an old guy. Continuing to feel pretty intelligent, I decided that nine foot sections would do well for my purposes. The would allow me to bury three feet and leave six to build a nice fence with room to spare. I cranked up the saw and moved to the first tree only to have the motor stop before the chain touched the wood. Pulled the rope again and it started up only to have it die again...and again... and again. This was Saturday. I put the saw back on the table and walked away. I must have flooded it. I just had the thing in the shop for the same problem. They adjusted the carburetor and put on a new chain, but really couldn't find anything wrong with it.
I went back out an hour later and started it from cold. I pumped the bulb, pulled the cord a few times before adjusting the choke to the halfway position and pulling again. The saw started and I let it run uninhibited for about 30 second before pushing the choke the rest of the way in. I walked out to the downed trees, made one or two cuts through the downed trees and the saw died again. The largest tree I cut down about 15" at the base, so I wasn't taxing the engine or burying the blade. After a few more tries, I gave up and put the saw back in the shed. Tomorrow is another day.
It's tomorrow and things have not improved. I took my son out to help me measure the 9-ft sections. I was going to have nine good sections, and could probably split some of those, once things were cut up. That little adventure is still a few months away; I've never tried to split anything larger than firewood. (later!) So we had the trees measured and marked. I put my son to work splitting some of the aforementioned firewood to kindling with a hatchet and a rubber mallet. Good work for an 11-yr old. Secure that the probability of him cutting is leg off was minimal, I started the saw from cold again, same procedure. I barely got the first 9-ft section separated from the rest of the tree trunk when the damn chainsaw died. Ten minutes of fussing and cussing later, I said the heck with it. Time to try something different.
I went in and got my 24" metal bow saw. If I can't get done mechanically, I'd do it manually. I gave my axe a glance, but decided that was probably overkill on these thin trees. The axe would probably bounce off the trunks and I would not be happy with the results. So, I took the saw out with its standard big raker-style blade “for fast cutting and self-cleaning.” I took it to the first cut, a small bit of pine about 4” in diameter at the first marking. The saw hung before the blade fully sank below the level of the bark.
I lost it! Not just a little, but I flippin’ lost it! Falling into a fit of rage, I beat the offending bow saw onto the spot that was to be cut. Again and again, the blade snapping off on the third swing, flying somewhere behind me as I continued to beat on this dead tree. My tirade continued for what seemed like five minutes, alternating between screaming at the woods and whacking the shit out of any nearby tree, alive or dead, until the bow saw was well and bent and my rage & frustration had run its course. The $10 saw was destroyed. Good!! My project is at a standstill. Bad.
Options, what are my options? For at least two decades, one of my mantas has been “always have a backup plan.” So, what’re my options? It was time to analyze. The first thing to pop to my mind was I could take the chainsaw back to the shop and have them look at it again. Analysis: They couldn’t find anything decisively wrong the first time and probably wouldn’t this time. It cost me over $70 to have it worked on. The saw costs $199 new. When is it more feasible to buy a new one instead of trying to fix the old? Option #2 – forget the split rail fence, don’t waste money on the saw and go with goat fencing and T-posts. Analysis: estimated cost $500, about the price of a good new chainsaw. I live in the woods, I need a chainsaw. I don’t have any goats at this time, so there’s no rush to get the fence up, other than my own timetable. Options #3 – Contact Poulan and see if the manufacturer can fix the stupid thing. They made it! Analysis: Well, the jury’s still out on this one. I thought of this option about 30 minutes after my tirade. Might not be a bad idea. The worse they’ll say is no, or the cost will be prohibitive. I looked them up online and came up with only phone numbers. This is good and bad. It means I’ll need to talk to someone (good) but they might not have the immediate answer (bad). Options #4 – a.k.a left field ... The idea that is just wacky enough to work– Bring the chainsaw in the house for a week. What? Why? Analysis: When I took the saw in to get worked on, the guys were out sick with the flu. The saw sat in the shop for a week or more before they worked on it. It did not sit in cold temperatures, outside in the shed. The workers found no problem with the saw, it started properly and promptly and ran fine. Suppose there’s something wonky about the saw and it works better when it is stored at room temperature? Can a chainsaw have a personality like a car?
Therefore, I am going to bring the saw inside for the next week, let it “rest” at room temperature and plan to try again next weekend. I am also going to call Poulan and check out that option, though I fear the shipping costs will kill that idea.
Here I sit: no working chainsaw, a dozen trees down (half without limbs, half needing to be trimmed, about a third cut to my desired length of 9 feet), no goats, not much open land and minus one $10 bow saw. But I have a bucket full of poplar kindling... after I stopped my kid from setting the firewood pieces on small chunck of cinderblock to split it! I’m hoping he only hit the cinderblock the one time I saw and stopped him.
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