Eucalyptus Firewood

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ncutler
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by ncutler »

Several things:

The chain brake is a really, really, important safety device. Always flick it on when about to move or put the saw down with the engine running: it's any easy flick with the back of your hand and becomes second nature.

I ordered a brake band online from L&S Engineers; arrived next day.

I agree the spring is a bit daunting: I discovered a UTube video that is very helpful and made it all quite straightforward - took ten minutes. That, of course, was after spending ages cleaning all the oily sawdust out of the thing.
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Paulatic
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Paulatic »

Mick F wrote: 28 Apr 2021, 10:04am Took a couple of 1ft diameter 1ft lengths to a friend's farming place the other side of Launceston yesterday.
Well, I should say that Mrs Mick F drove there with the dog on the back seat and the logs in the boot, whilst I cycled the 20odd miles on (splittable :D ) Moulton.
Sailor the dog had acres and acres of fields and gardens to run though, all fenced off and no livestock at the moment.

They have one of these.
Screen Shot 2021-04-28 at 09.59.35.png

It worked very well indeed, and was impressed. They said we can borrow it for a week or so if we want.
Dunno if we'll borrow it, but maybe buy the smaller version.
Screen Shot 2021-04-28 at 10.04.19.png
I’ve owned the first one for the last 5 years and don’t regret buying it. If you bought the cheaper ground level one then I would certainly need a table to mount it on.
Rare for me I’ve had a bit of oak since last year and that can be a bit frightening as it sometimes goes off like a bullet in a gun. Moved the machine away from a window just in case. :D
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Paulatic »

ncutler wrote: 28 Apr 2021, 10:47am The chain brake is a really, really, important safety device.
Have I really been dicing with death these last 50 years?
Walking or sitting on the ground I’ve never noticed a sudden burst of throttle speed that would spin the chain. I Always walk with blade facing backwards and with hand nowhere near the trigger. Also never had one of those annoying tick overs which drag the chain around.
The other thing, trained son No 2, tells me I do wrong is drop start. Old habits die hard :)
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by ncutler »

It's all a case of what you are comfortable with. I was taught by a person I hugely respect, and one of his 'dangers' is falling clumsily over with heavy boots caught in the brash-pile and grabbing the throttle by mistake. I actually enjoy the reassuring 'click' of the brake as I lift the saw away from the cut and flick the lever: takes a bit of practice to make it that easy, feels good.

Of course you could ague that not wearing safety boots would make one less likely to trip ...... as you could about not wearing hot sweaty ballistic trousers .....

I'm often tempted to pick up the saw and do something simple without bothering about the safety gear, but other than making sure it starts in the workshop after maintenance I don't allow myself to do it. Am I being over cautious ? probably.

There is a saying in aviation circles that I find helpful on these occasions: "If there is any doubt then there is no doubt"
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Mick F
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Mick F »

Yes, the re-assuring click is wonderful. I click mine out of habit every single time I finish a cut.
I always test it too. Un-click, get the thing going, and click it. It stops dead, like it should do.

When the brake-ring broke, the click wasn't right, and the chain didn't stop, so that was it. End of use until I'd sussed out what was wrong. I used the chainsaw again, but it was in the full knowledge that the brake was removed (waiting for the spare) and all I was doing was cutting some narrow-ish lengths on the logging horse. I wouldn't have even considered using the saw 'in the rough' so to speak.

New ring, bought locally, cost £8.85. Had to wait a week for it.

---------------------------------------------------

As for the log splitter, yes, a stand would keep it at a working height, but there's more ways of skinning a cat in that regard. Easy to provide a wooden work table at a fraction of the cost of a bolt-on stand. In fact I already have things I could use. By having it smaller/lower/lighter it'll be easy to carry and stow away. Our friend's machine is wheeled in and out of a barn with a smooth and level concrete area to wheel it in and out from. Luxury! :D Not like it is here! :shock:

It's all food for thought, and I'm going to make a decision by tomorrow - borrow our friend's one (will need a strip-down to fit in the car) or buy one.

If I buy one, it'll be this:
https://forest-master.com/product/fast- ... d-fm5d-tc/
£259.99 including VAT and next day delivery.
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Paulatic »

Time flies...it was 2014 when I bought the log splitter. Back then it was £240
Now £420 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Forest-Master- ... B00EAOVJGQ Same numbers just in a different order :lol:
The reason I decided against your choice Mick was it doesn’t have the double split. With double split the machine chooses which end to start the split.
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Ben@Forest
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Ben@Forest »

Paulatic wrote: 28 Apr 2021, 11:40am
ncutler wrote: 28 Apr 2021, 10:47am The chain brake is a really, really, important safety device.
Have I really been dicing with death these last 50 years?
Walking or sitting on the ground I’ve never noticed a sudden burst of throttle speed that would spin the chain. I Always walk with blade facing backwards and with hand nowhere near the trigger. Also never had one of those annoying tick overs which drag the chain around.
Depends how often you use a saw and how you might use it. If you only cross cut timber standing on a nice flat surface and you are pretty sure the timber has no hard, hidden items within in then kickback is less likely (Wiki definition below)

The chain brake may be activated deliberately by the operator, or automatically by the force of a kickback event. In the former, the operator usually rotates his left wrist and knocks the top hand guard forward with the back of his hand, re-setting it by reaching forward with his fingers to pull the top hand guard backwards. In the case of a kickback event the operator's left hand may be violently dislodged from the handle and the top hand guard will be thrown onto his hand, forcing activation of the chainbrake.

If you use a saw a lot (on busy days I would have to refuel the saw from empty to full five times a day); if you're working on uneven ground and you use the tip of the guide bar awkwardly; if you hit stones or metal within the timber (I worked with a bloke who hit a bullet once - obviously from long-forgotten live firing in WW2 training) and working on any tree which is or was in a domestic setting often means at least one nail was driven into it at some time then kickback is more likely.

It's less likely if you're trained to use a saw, you don't use it very often and circumstances are perfect, but it's always something that can happen - and I've seen the (healed) chainsaw cut across someone's chest when a saw without a chainbrake kicked back into their chest.
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

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Ben@Forest wrote: 28 Apr 2021, 4:59pm Depends how often you use a saw and how you might use it
Certainly not a professional I mostly crosscut, fell a few trees and used to use for fencing also. I didn’t mean to imply i don’t have a chain brake and wouldn’t use one. I certainly do and there have been times when it has engaged . I don’t apply it if putting it down or taking a step to my next site. If it’s more than a few steps over difficult ground I’m more inclined to kill the engine.
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by ncutler »

Mick, let us know how you get on with the splitter please. I thoroughly enjoy splitting nice rounds of strait-grained wood like Ash and Beech, but the gnarly cross-grained, awkward twisted lumps of deciduous Larch ( and we have lots of this ) drive me nutz. I have in the past used a 'proper' tractor mounted hydraulic splitter which is fine but we'd have to have a cheapish electrical olne here, if anything.
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Tim Holman »

I've owned a splitter of identical design to the one Mick is possibly going to buy. The machine is brilliant and I will never go back to sledge and wedge splitting. The logsplitter tackles all but the most twisted grain: larch, cedar,elm, oak etc. But do watch out for semidry logs splitting with a massive bang and throwing the pieces at high velocity. Generally they don't go in the direction of the operator but anyone close by "helping" is at risk, children especially,
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by pwa »

Paulatic wrote: 28 Apr 2021, 6:44pm
Ben@Forest wrote: 28 Apr 2021, 4:59pm Depends how often you use a saw and how you might use it
Certainly not a professional I mostly crosscut, fell a few trees and used to use for fencing also. I didn’t mean to imply i don’t have a chain brake and wouldn’t use one. I certainly do and there have been times when it has engaged . I don’t apply it if putting it down or taking a step to my next site. If it’s more than a few steps over difficult ground I’m more inclined to kill the engine.
The chain brake is something that gives the operator an extra bit of security with a device that is obviously dangerous, and using it in an automatic fashion is a very good habit. Woodlands tend to have lots of trip hazards, and if you fall you don't want to have the additional hazard of an un-braked saw to contend with. You only need to catch the throttle and a little whizz of the chain could do terrible harm. My left wrist automatically flicks up to the brake every time I pause for thought, or start walking, and it is a habit that puts an extra layer of safety around you. You wouldn't pass a chainsaw test without doing that and you probably wouldn't succeed with an insurance claim if you had a mishap due to not using the brake. Personally, I wouldn't begin using a saw without one.
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

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pwa wrote: 29 Apr 2021, 5:51am You wouldn't pass a chainsaw test without doing that and you probably wouldn't succeed with an insurance claim if you had a mishap due to not using the brake
I know all of that and living in a heavily forested area I know all the experts which is why I referenced son No 2 who did receive formal training and can tell me every point. Funny thing about his rules though one time difficulty properly starting his saw it was OK for dad to drop start it.
When I was aged 17, working on a farm, the boss came back from market one day handed me a new Stihl chainsaw. Demonstrated how to start it and then left alone at a wood pile. A dangerous tool no ppe at all in those days. Never taught how to sharpen it or to keep the chain at the right tension. Frightening thought looking back to how slack that chain was at times.
Not an ideal start to using a dangerous tool I agree but that’s how things were in the 60s. We were lucky if 5 out of 10 machines had a pto guard. HSE visits were always announced and anything dodgy hidden away. Thankfully I’ve a built in preservation mechanism and a desire to learn which has stood me well.
pwa wrote: 29 Apr 2021, 5:51am Woodlands tend to have lots of trip hazards, and if you fall you don't want to have the additional hazard of an un-braked saw to contend with. You only need to catch the throttle and a little whizz of the chain could do terrible harm.
You aren’t an educator are you by any chance? :)
I don’t disagree there are numerous trip hazards I’ve found a few. What does puzzle me though is how am I going to catch the throttle? If I was moving with a live, or indeed dead, chainsaw I hold it with one hand on the handle with blade to the rear. The other hand by my side probably at least 2 ft away from the throttle. Is there, perhaps, some combination of undergrowth that can simultaneously squeeze the safety and pull the trigger at the same time that I haven’t encountered?
Rest assured I’m fully aware of the dangers and also the extra ones familiarity brings. I’ve a friend in the village, can see his house from where I’m sitting, worked his entire life in forestry. Carried on working beyond his retirement age and befell an accident felling a tree. Couldn’t walk after the accident and with determination, after 4 years, can now walk a couple of hundred yards if he takes his time.
Yes Take Care out there.

Which brings me right back to the question I made earlier, "have I really been dicing with death over the last >50 years"?
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Mick F »

Log splitter ordered this morning.
It's coming via UKMail 24 ......... DHL .......... so will be with us tomorrow.

I made a couple of wooden benches years ago, and they're at the top of our woodlands hardly ever used. I'm going to bring one down as I'm sure it'll be a good platform for it round the back of the house on the gravel area.

This is one of them, with my chainsaw sitting on it. Poor shot of it actually. It's about 4ft long.
(the bench, not the chainsaw!)

IMG_0248.jpg
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by Paulatic »

It will save your back Mick. With an easy splitting wood then the machine is slow compared to swinging an axe. I don’t get much easy splitting wood. Mostly Spruce and Larch the machine comes into its own with those big knotty pieces which might normally take a few swings to find the line of least resistance and split.
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Re: Eucalyptus Firewood

Post by CliveyT »

We were given a chance to play with a (for want of a better word) industrial log splitter when we were volunteering with NT once. It could take rounds that you could barely lift and go through them almost like butter. Total overkill for our use but incredible fun to have a go at. That did have a lot of safety features mind, shield that had to be in place, dual triggers because if you did get your hand in the way it wouldn't even notice.
Which brings me right back to the question I made earlier, "have I really been dicing with death over the last >50 years"?
Mrs T is the chainsaw expert in the family, having done it for work and passed the small tree qualification, and there are times she winces when she sees some people at work. The week she took the course someone in Leicester got it wrong (terminally) and since she passed someone she knew who was trained and worked for Leicester City Council made a mistake and won't make another
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