I guess Christina (Songs). Who else?
Ice Storm Pictures
Glad to hear you're alright where you are, Eleanor. Pretty picture!
Sherrie, I'll bet your elated to have your life back to normal. Good for you!
Karen
So glad to hear all are ok. I'm sure most of you will reconsider purchasing a generator now! I definitely agree that winter storms are the worst! It is bad enough when you don't have power, but to then try and stay warm.....
Bill, let me ask what seems like a dumb question. We always have to
hi carrie - as long as the blade is the right size for the chain saw having a better blade that stays sharper longer is good. i am know expert - i have a little 16" poulan that somehow does the job for me. just finished - well almost finished with the hickory - i broke two chains and now the blade - hickory is one of the hardest woods going. now i need to go out and get another blade to finish up the base.
i have a mountain of wood - although i think it will "only" be three years worth. chopping this up will be good exercise though - i'll leave that for next spring between lugging dirt and mulch.
So funny that we are talking chainsaws..just bought DH a new one for Christmas. Got him a Stihl MS 270 Wood Boss with case and a pair of chaps.
My tree bounced back and im very thankful!
1st picture on left it's leaning due to the ice build up last Sunday.
2nd picture is late Monday afternoon after the temp rose to 50 and the ice melted.
3rd was taken yesterday after the snow storm.
Glad to see your tree has recovered from the ice. Too many trees got wrecked so when such a nice tree wins the battle of the elements it is a good thing. Thanks for the update.
yes - there are different number of teeth for saws the same length. chains have a legend on the package that tell you what they are compatible with.
Did have one or 2 tree's with broken limbs but minor considering we could of lost the whole tree like Bill did.
glad your tree went back up celeste.
my tree(s) have been doomed for 10 years - when we moved in i had 70 100 ft white pines taken down in our yard. the hickory's are really on my neighbors property - now that they do not have the protection of the pines any high wind or storm can get them. this is the third that has come down - one clipped the deck 5 years ago. only three left. one could be trouble. up to now i've taken care of cutting then up and paid for a tree service to take 40' down that had a 5 ft' trunk.
if they hit the house then i get their insurance involved.
Bill, I have no clue what kind of chain saw we have (or had) all I know is it needs a new chain! Now that we've waited this long, EVERYBODY'S probably needs a new chain! I just like to learn a little bit of information so I can gently direct DH in the right direction.
I'm glad Celeste got her tree to bounce back (!) and hope and pray those monsters stay away from your house, Bill.
Hey Carrie, whether or not a new chain is needed, can be sort of hard to explain, and it sort of depends on the size of teeth on the chain to begin with. If it has been sharpened by hand quite a few times all ready and it still is a real pain to cut with, then at the very least, it needs to be taken to someone with a grinder. However, on some types of chains, the teeth are too small to be ground. It's then not worth a dime, Time to get a new one. If there are any teeth missing from the chain, it's time for a new one - even if the other 61 teeth (that's just a guess) are still good, there's a higher risk of the other teeth breaking now. when they break, you have no idea where they are going to and impale themselves. Which could also be in the person running the saw. On a mid size and larger saws, Pixies Dh new one is definitely mid size, the chains are large enough that if they have been sharpened many times by hand, they can go on a grinder and be good as new and continued to be sharpened by hand again after that. So since DH is the one who runs the saw and you think it might be a bad chain. There's a pretty easy way to tell by watching. If it's a 10" diameter piece of wood that's being cut, a mediocre chain should take no more than 10 seconds to get through it. If it's a hickory---- give it 20 Seconds! If it takes longer than that, it's a chain that needs help either by sharpening by hand or grinding. if he then sharpens it by hand and it doesn't get through the piece of wood much faster, at the very least it needs to be put on a grinder. Possibly tossed. If the chain is in good shape and it takes longer than that to cut, somethings off with the saw. So.... does that help?
Wow, all this talk about chains on saws has my head spinning. I know nothing about them, and not sure if I want to. I'm afraid of maiming myself with one of those. I'm too accident prone.
Karen
Ohhhh... Karen, I've just sent you dmail and regular email! hehe.... good thing to never run a saw without chaps!! Pixie, I love the fact that you got chaps to go along with the saw!!! Excellent!! Karen.. If you're ever over my way, I'd be happy to teach you how to run a small saw as to not maim yourself!!
Hubby said that the bigger tooth will bite and last longer, but ya got to change the sproket!
I almost had a heart attack. The snow started to come down and the lights went out out. For 2 seconds. OK the microwave and tv, and alarm clock restet. No problem! Ohh the garage and the other garage and the OH in the office clock and OH I quit.
Yep, if the saw is not running well and the chain is good, the sprocket is a likely cause. But, I figure if we know that the chain is the issue then getting into the sprocket stuff on a DG thread is a little complicated!! I can tell that your hubby and I would have a lot of fun discussing saws!! especially since he's a stihl person as well!
Don't worry Bill, Poulans are good saws too! At my job supervising the teenagers, we use a Poulan (I don't remember the size, it has a 20" bar) when we have the generator nearby, to build bridge railing with. It allows more control than the stihls and husky's do. I thought that I read some where that poulan is actually owned by huscvarna, which makes it a good saw. :-p
This message was edited Dec 19, 2008 3:36 PM
I never thought that I would!
He says it's a cheap chain saw and the tab with which one adjusts the tension broke off.
ut ohhh.....that's not good at all. At least not as far as being able to fix on the spot and the saw won't work without it. There's a way to jerryrig it, but it's really unsafe. If there is a saw shop nearby, they might have the part. Chainsaw dealers or certified repair shops (i.e. a small parts shop that is stihl certified) almost always have that part in. It's usually costs from $5-10. They'll fix it for you for a little more. it's easy to order and fix yourself as well. What kind of a saw is it?
Eleanor - I'm so glad to hear that you are doing ok! Hope you and Colin and all your family have a nice Christmas. Stay warm!!
Louise
Shelly, if I'm ever in your area, I would be happy to have you teach me the proper use of a chain saw. I've watched that show Axe Men on the History channel. That's a pretty good show. You wouldn't ever catch me doing that sort of job!
Karen
Swore off using them when I saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
That show gave me nightmares Victor! If I hadn't already been using saws by the time I saw that movie, I would've never have started either!!
Karen, when I'm ever in your area, I will gladly do that!
Thanks! We do have a chain saw, and my sister uses it. She doesn't take the precautions that she should, though. She doesn't have chaps, and doesn't even use safety goggles. I would be wearing steel toed boots!
Karen
oooohhhhhh not so good. if you'd like, I can send her an email with horror stories and pictures to back up those stories!! It would scare most folks into chapps, at the very least! All of us at work wear all of that stuff when we are clearing trails of downed trees. Chapps, hard hats, gloves (sometimes we'll wear kevlar gloves), glasses, and reinforced boots. all of that is OSHA required. However, sometimes we'll all get together outside of work to get firewood for the winter. Nobody is required to wear any of that gear. The only thing that most of us won't be wearing is a hard hat!
Wow! I'd have to spend a good amount of money on all that stuff just to get started. Ouch!
Karen
naw, other than the chaps, it's usually stuff most of us have around. maybe not steel toed boots, but even good boots are ok. Sun glasses will work, I forgot earplugs- but they are only 25c/pair, and good gloves! Then you're good to go! Lowe's (I think that you have Lowe's in the NE) they usually sell a couple of different types of chaps. Out least out here they do. I think that I spent all of $35 on mine about 8 years ago. They're still in great shape. I even wear my chaps when I'm fighting the blackberry bushes. I don't feel I thing when I get into those berries that way!
Oh, good idea for wearing the chaps in the blackberry bushes, and raspberries, too. I hate those things! A constant battle for me here. I'm always getting my arms scratched up, as I wear short sleeves when the weather is warm. I call the scratches my "battle scars". Those chaps would be good for horseback riding, too, not that I do much of that. I used to ride a lot when I lived in Reno and Fallon, NV. I really miss doing that. I have a friend here who lets me ride one of her horses with her, but we don't get many chances to do that.
Karen
Thanks Celeste, Victor, Karen and Louise! We are now getting some snow with more expected tomorrow. Would rather have the snow than ice any day. Have a great holiday with your families and friends. Eleanor and Colin
Hi Guys...Well we made it through this storm w/o losing power again....but now that we have the propane heater and the generator we don't have to live in fear...AT LEAST AS LONG AS GASOLINE STAYS $1.49 A GALLON...it defintely costs more to run on a generator than regular power.
I got an email from a friend of mine that lives w/i a mile of my house...she came home from a lovely vaca in Hawaii to find that her house had been hit by a power surge when they tried to turn her power back on, all her appliances blew, all electrical outlets, furnace, water pump...everthing...and electrical box outside house was blown 20 feet...so all in all I guess John and I did great...I was never so happy to get power back at work on Wednesday and go back out among the living..
we are just hoping that along with the 8 inches or so of snow we got yesterday, and it is still snowing, that with the proposed storm tomorrow we don't lose all the limbs hanging up on the top of trees...still looks like a tornado struck area...but the sound of generators has slowed down...
Interesting year..
Oh, and we have not seen our wild turkey Lucy for about a month...we miss her very much, but we taked to a neighbor and she lost two chickens to a fishercat...and the turkey visited her yard too...so I fear there will be no more photos of Lucy... Funny how one turkey, you name, a flock you just admire.
Well stay warm and safe all
Liza and John
They said this am that they were down to 8000 here in Ma. and around the same in NH. They were working through the storm yesterday. Hope the rest get back on the grid soon, I think I would be a basket case long ago.
My turkey group have been gone about the same length of time. The deer are still here though and empty the bird feeder every night. Here is a pic from last winter.
I had 2 deer looking in my living room window last night... my yorkie lily does a great job of spotting them and barking her little head off
View up our driveway last Friday morning...seems like ages ago...
Generators are still running on our street, so I guess the power isn't on for everyone yet.
Now we have white stuff view...
oh boy...
Todays view ..
Liza
We've gotten a lot of snow since yesterday afternoon. At least a foot or more. Still snowing, too. Took me awhile to dig out my driveway. Don't have to go to the gym today!
Here's a picture looking out my bedroom window into the back yard.
Karen
