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A short thread about chainsaws...
You should get a chainsaw. If you don’t frequently find yourself in situations where a chainsaw would be useful: start over. Move somewhere new and begin a new life in a place where you’ll need a chainsaw. Life will be more exciting and fulfilling.
It’s a correlation/causation thing. Chainsaws are not inherently exciting. However, living somewhere where they’re frequently useful usually are.
Chainsaws carry a significant amount of “inherent risk” ie they have tremendous potential for causing damage/injury. For this reason, a lot of people are scared of them. And they should be. But a lot of things are dangerous. Everything in the picture below is. So are sea planes.
Don’t let your fear of something prevent you from learning about it. Most machines, especially the dangerous ones, are designed so that idiots can operate them somewhat safely. Get enough hurt idiots together and they can hire a somewhat smarter idiot; a lawyer.
Lawyers are bad for equipment companies’ bottom lines. As long as you read the manual, wear PPE, drink lots of water, watch some YouTube videos and don’t act like a jackass you should be fine. Take it from this cutie.
Most importantly: be patient with yourself. Chainsaws can be super confusing. But guess what! That’ll pass. And once that happens a lot of other cool vehicles and equipment will feel a lot less scary.
Always buy used chainsaws. Look up what’s on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace. Ask the seller what’s wrong with it. All chainsaws secretly suck in some way, especially the brand new ones.
Look up the model online and see what republican dads had to say about it on message boards from 2015. This goes for used cars as well.
Look up repair videos YouTube. It isn’t a question of IF but WHEN you’ll need to fix your saw. Learn how to replace purge pumps, fuel lines, trigger assemblies, spark plugs, throttle cables. What you’re looking for is easy disassembly. If looks complicated, the saw sucks.
You should be able to make fixes in as few steps and fluid movements as possible. Chainsaws are not complicated machines as far as small engine machines go. Anything else is over-engineered *cough @HusqvarnaUSA cough cough* (smol bb boy circa 2016)
