Every time I heard Paul fire up the chainsaw when we lived in France I used to shudder, fearing that he would sustain some horrible injury. Of course it was an essential piece of kit at our home in the French countryside and so I became accustomed to its horrible whine. Needless to say I felt very relieved when there was no room for the old petrol driven chainsaw in the trailer when we moved back to England.
Our garden in Lincolnshire is quite modest in size. The boundary on the northern edge has a line of Poplar trees that have grown up over the years on a strip of land that doesn’t appear to belong to us or the paddock on the other side. The Poplars are far too high to be tamed but Paul was keen to cut down some smaller trees and undergrowth that were starting to encroach on the garden. Yep, you guessed it – he needed a new chainsaw!
A few days ago I was busy indoors and Paul was outside tidying the garden; it was a cold but wonderfully sunny day. I stepped outside and was met by this sight…
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| "I'm going to tie this rope around the tree and I need you to pull it towards yourself away from the power lines" |
Apparently he didn’t want to worry me so he had quietly proceeded to cut down some trees! His new battery operated chainsaw is very quiet so I had been oblivious to what he was doing. Whatever next!
I know the drill, tie the rope to the tree and pull as the chainsaw cuts. Power lines make the job very tricky. The battery powered tools are fantastic. Please review the chainsaw as that will probably be my next purchase. Today I used the battery powered leaf blower to remove light snow from my patio and walkways.
ReplyDeletePaul bought the chainsaw from Amazon, it's an Oregon CS300 E6 cordless. It's fairly light duty and good for small trees and will run for about an hour before recharging. Takes an hour to recharge.
DeleteMakes me scared just looking at it/
ReplyDeleteLook away Pat!
DeleteHave wielded a chainsaw in the past when we owned a small woodlot attached to a cottage. Mostly I was cutting up trees that had already been downed for firewood. Not my favourite thing to do but they are useful for clearing overgrown areas. You know, "men and their toys" will always be a thing!
ReplyDeleteI think they are safe if you use them sensibly and observe the rules. But one slip...
DeleteThey are nasty things; but essential. I have encouraged Lady M to use ours, just to feel what it's like, and see what it'll do. I still do all the actual sawing myself!
ReplyDeleteI have posed for a photo with one, but it was switched off.
DeleteThe use of these things, including hedge trimmers, should be a two person job. The second is there to 'supervise'/sweep up/call 999 if things go very wrong!
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly my thinking.
DeleteI could imagine that Paul couldn't wait to get started once the chainsaw was charged up!
ReplyDeleteI inherited an electric hedge trimmer from my parents, but though there are plenty of areas I could use it, have never been tempted to even unpack it. The thought of me alone and a long electric cable doesn't bear thinking about. I worry enough when my excellent gardener comes with her Stihl power tools - they all look so lethal. Anything other than secateurs I leave to the professionals.
Are there courses you can go on to learn how to use them safely and effectively?
I think there are courses for everything these days! We pay someone once a year to cut our hedges so at least I don't have to worry about that particular job.
DeleteWasn't there a horror film called "The Lincolnshire Chainsaw Massacre"? Or was it Rutland? I can't remember.
ReplyDeleteWas that the one featuring the Teletubbies?
DeleteGood to have you back. I am grateful that my husband has never got himself a chainsaw! Luckily a friend has one and knows how to use it safely, so he helps out if needed. When we moved here over 40 yrs ago, there was a line of poplars at the bottom of the gardens along the old hedge line. They had mainly been pollarded at some point, but still very tall. Half of ours blew down in one of the gales... 87 I think... and some more came down a couple of years later so it all had to go. There is still a huge one next door that shades our light in the evenings!
ReplyDeleteI don't think the ones along our hedge line have ever been pollarded and are very tall. If ours ever fall down I hope they don't land on our roof!
DeleteThe first tree fall went a bit sideways and crashed over several gardens, wrecking a chicken house on it's way and the second one came straight up the garden, but it is long so nowhere near the house! Our neighbours tried to claim on their insurance for the chicken shed, but they were told it was our insurance should pay, so we phoned ours and guess what....they said it was the other parties insurance should pay. After various discussion, it turned out we were both insured with the same company!
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