Thursday, June 12, 2008

home: chain saw


We own a chain saw. We actually purchased it a few weeks ago when my mom was here. We had a massive wind storm and the wind took down a tree in our yard and a few others are tipping over very precariously and need to come down before they fall on my SU as she mows.

So we have had it for a few weeks. I have read all the safety info, I have safety glasses and hearing protection but I don't have steel toe boots as recommended by the instruction manual.

Can someone please tell me why the instruction manual would have information about needing to wear steel toes boots while sawing, but no information about chain oil? It's a good things I am a hardware store nerd, because if I wasn't I would never have walked down the aisle with chainsaw oil and wondered if I needed it or not. I do.

Last night I mixed the oil and gas, put in the chain oil and headed out for my first foray with the saw. Damn those things are heavy! I do not consider myself a wimp or a lightweight, but I am going to need to take a lot of breaks as I saw up these trees into firewood and by the end of the summer I will be one buff broad. I need broader shoulders like I need a hole in the head.

According to the instructions you need to hold the chainsaw in your right hand and pull the cord with your left hand to start the engine. Seriously. The thing weighs more than my cats (that's a lot) and somehow it's a struggle for me to pull my left hand fast enough to get the engine to turn. I have to take my hat off to men. They are really skilled at pulling things with both hands.

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