Survival chain saw

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If you don't have any trees or wood power line poles around you may not need a chain saw.

The first thing you need to know about chain saws is they are dangerous. Way more dangerous than a gun and will kill you the first chance they get.

Chainsawing through minor disasters up and down the east coast from 2006 to 2014 from thunderstorms and hurricanes when I was at Langley to ice storms in Maine I have discovered a few things about the little tool.

I will go over type size and power that I think is handy to have.

The type, first off the cheap saws are just that. Junk. I can only recommend stihl, echo and shindowa. Huskys are ok. I have never used them but I see a lot of complaints about the oil system clogging up or the oil pump burning up.

Size matters. Get at least 16 or 18 inch bar. This is your most common size and you will have a lot of selection. If you have a lot of large very old growth trees hanging out next to your favorite road and around your home may even want to go up to like a 24 to 25 inch bar. But at 24 inches and up saws start getting expensive. Most of the time you just don't need a big saw. A 16 inch will be fine for most home owners.

Engine size matters, anything less than a 30cc engine is almost useless. 40 to 50cc is where you want to be, lots of saws in that size range developing around 4hp.

I would rather buy a used [any of the above mentioned saws] off craigs list than get somthing something new from Lowes, walmart or even sears.

Chain saw chains. Not all are created equal. Not even remotely.
I guess in a nutshell I could break it down into 4 categories.
Safety chain.
Low profile
High profile
Carbide
Then you have normal and skip link chain. Skip link is 1 cutter and 2 non cutting links, where normal chain has a cutter every other link. The whole point is to slow down the rate of cutting. Over a certain bar length skip link becomes nessary as the chain will cut so much wood so fast it will clog it's self with chips.

Most of your consumer chain saws will come with idiot proof safety chain.
This stuff sucks for normal applications. You have a skip link chain, with a fake buffer link that doesn't do anything on but create friction. The good news is all safety chain can be replaced with something decent. The only thing I would use safety chain for is when teaching someone new about saws. If you never used a chain saw before lead with this chain. Or if I was doing demo work and knew I would probably be destroying a chain.

Low profile chain. It has lower profile cutters. It cuts a little slower and does not have as much kick back potential as high profile. All of your safety chain is going to be a low profile design and can be replaced with normal low profile chain.

High profile has big full chisel cutters. For cutting quickly through large wood. High profile cutters are big so in addition to gouging out bigger wood chips you can also sharpen them more times before they wear out. Big saws with longer bars will use high profile skip link chain.

Carbide. This is your post apocalyptic must have chain. Comes in high and low profile, just about all sizes. This is what the fire department uses to saw through metal or asphalt shingles. A normal chain saw chain will be rendered useless after about 4 seconds of trying to cut through asphalt shingles if it's not totally ruined. This stuff is very expensive. $40 to $70 per chain. I got my first one for $40 off an eBay auction, should be here any day now if I want additional ones that will be $73 plus sales tax at my local stihl dealer.
The draw back to Carbide chain is it has to be sharpened with a grinding type sharpener. No files.

Then you have Oregon and stihl chain.
I used Oregon for as long as I can remember till I a few years ago when I moved here and the only place in town that could break and make chain was the stihl dealer. If you look at Oregon chain at Lowes versus the stihl dealer there isn't really a huge price difference. Stihl chains don't really cost that much more than the cheap stuff. But you really get what you pay for.
To me the difference between Oregon and stihl chain is with an Oregon chain you will have to stop and tighten a new chain several times before it's broken in. Stihl chain needs to be tightened maybe once and after you have been using it for a while.
With dirty wood the stihl chain stays sharper at least twice as long.
The draw back the harder stihl chain is more difficult to file sharpen and may eat up files a little faster.
The most important thing with chains is have more than one.

If you live in a fairly wet, dust free place and only ever cut clean green wood then Oregon chain will be fine.

Later I will go over setup, use and care.

 

Oil pan is quite correct, chainsaws can be hazardous: Particularly to the inexperienced, the foolhardy, the intoxicated, the thoughtless and those who don't treat the equipment with the respect it deserves. Properly maintaining the equipment and operating it competently will save a lot off sweat, and potentially keep you out of an ER.

http://www.stihl.com.au/p/media/download/uk-en/STIHL_Chain_Saw_Safety_Manual.pdf

OSHA QUICK CARD: Chain Saw Safety | Occupational Safety and Health Administration

https://www.isa-arbor.com/myAccount/myEducation/resources/CEU-Oct10.pdf

Having said that, chainsaws, when used appropriately have also saved lives, kept home fires burning, and have produced timber for all kinds of self sufficiency applications with much less effort than would be expended by hand sawing or axe work.

When chain sawing -

Have a serious trauma first aid kit with you....a booboo kit probably isn't going to 'cut it'....pardon the pun.

Have a person with you competent to render first aid - you may not be capable of rendering self aid on your own if injured,
Man slices face open with chainsaw but has to drive himself to hospital because he was unable to call for help
(read with caution - graphic images of traumatic facial injuries)
'Aussie guts' saves Victorian man after chainsaw slices open his face

Have a means of quick evacuation to professional medical aid if that becomes necessary....with a person who can competently drive that vehicle..

Don't operate a chainsaw if fatigued.....have regular rest breaks, and maintain hydration.

Keep young children away from the worksite....they can be a distraction, and may unintentionally put themselves in danger


Remember: Personal protective Equipment:
Helmet and visor
Hearing protection
Safety glasses
Gloves
Safety chaps
Safety boots

Work safe and live another day with all your bits intact


‘Go faster!’ chain saw victim told his son, the driver

 

Good info OP. Purchased a Stihl about ten or more years ago in order to feed a wood stove I had at the time, after being throughly disgusted with a Sears chain saw purchased back in the 80s. The Sears saw would run about 15 minutes and quit, never to re-start until it sat for a day or so - you're right - useless junk.

 

oil pan 4....very interesting....looking forward to more....thank you for taking the time to work this up.

 

The safety chain.
The shark fin looking things are not cutters they are like bumpers that push the cutters away from the wood.
Notice how it's not installed on a saw.

A normal low profile skip link. On my electric pole saw.


A normal chain.


Some more boring points.
The oiler. The better saws have adjustable oilers. For most conditions set the oiler so you run out of gas first but still have oil.
A saw should come from the factory set about like this.
For my dusty conditions I crank up the oiler to the max.
I have to fill up the oil tank twice for every gas tank full and I an still getting accelerated bar wear from the grit.
2 oil tank fills to a gas tank is not ideal but it's what I got to do.

Not running the safety chain can help prevent fatigue. Because they are dreadfully slow.

Notice all the injuries to the left hand. You would be surprised how many people reach out and push the chain when the saw won't cut because they have a dulled safety chain. Or go to move something and the saw gets their hand or arm, because 1 they reached in front of the chain and 2 it's not tuned right and the chain spins at idle. Your chain should not spin at idle. On cheap saws this is the only way they stay running. Again, don't buy cheap saws.

Leg injury are most common because the saw cuts through and falls to the persons leg or the saw comes back at them when cutting something on the ground.

Another Hazzard is carbon monoxide poisoning. Usually only happens running a big saw next to a wind break like a fence or up next to a house. I got moderate CO poisoning running a stihl ms460 next to a fence on the down wind side. The 460 is about an 86 or 88cc motor makes about 8hp. Next think I know I feel dehydrated and exhausted then that quickly turns into like real a bad sojou hang over.

 

First chainsaw I was around was in late 1940's, had a 6 foot bar and took 2 people to use it. If you get a chain saw, get the safety chaps, helmet, safety glasses, ear protection, and a helmet. You will need the ear protection and God help you if you need the others and don't have them. With the hard woods, oak in particular, when the tree starts to fall dead limbs may fall quite a distance from the trunk and a helmet may save your life. Always clear a space around the tree and make sure you have a place to exit the area in a hurry and in all directions, the dreaded "kickback" does sometimes happen. Hollow trees, dead trees, several trees in a clump, trees with most of the branches on one side, etc present extra danger and you should seek advice if you are not experienced. If the tree gets "hung up" in another tree get experienced help. Have wedges to prevent the saw from getting caught in the cut when felling a tree and if it does, get expert help, you have screwed up and the tree is trying to fall in a direction that you did not plan for. I do not claim to be an expert, but I routinely see people who are learning to use a chainsaw do things that a skilled user would never dream of doing, not so much with the saw itself as making stupid cuts and most of them get away with it. It does not make sense to either get badly hurt or die before the SHTF and even less sense after an event with little or no medical care. A chain saw is one of the greatest prep tools you can have before an event, saves a lot of money on heating, allows you to clear land for roads, pasture, and crops, allows you to manage your woodlands, and may save your bacon after the SHTF in either blocking access or clearing access. Remember that while the chainsaw has some chance of injuring you, that da** several thousand pound, 50 + foot tree that may fall in an unexpected direction, if it lands on you will most likely kill you. The tree is the killer in the vast majority of the chainsaw "accidents". While it is a rather simple thing to learn how to use a chainsaw safely, there is a long learning process in being able to "read" the tree and the trees surrounding it and making it fall where you wish it to and in a safe manner. The tree is almost as dangerous when it is on the ground, limb it and clear away the brush and have a safe stable place to stand before you cut it in smaller pieces and remember that when you cut off a limb, even when it is on the ground, several hundred and up to 1000's of pounds of tree may roll, jump, or fall, and when you cut a limb it may whip and hit you or throw the saw.

Being 79 years old, and in deference to smaller or people in less than perfect health or condition, it is impossible to stress strongly enough that you must use a chainsaw that you can physically handle. A saw that is too big and heavy for you to use easily, or with to long of a bar, multiples the danger of an accident when actually using it to fell a tree.

Nothing to do with reality, but I had my older model Stihl rebuilt, got a spare carb, rubber fuel lines, and spare ignition module, etc, put fogging oil in the cylinder, drained all the gas and oil, put the spare parts in plastic baggies and foil and put the whole thing, spare chains, files, etc in a large metal ammo box and stored in my tractor shed. Yes the new one is totally controlled by a computer.

Oil Pan 4 makes a good point, if your saw does not oil the chain properly, it will only take a short time to ruin the chain. After spending a couple hundred dollars on a good saw, please don't try to save money by buying cheap bar or mix oil. I repair the cutoff concrete saws that cost $1,000 and up and 95% of all the repairs and 99% of those scrapped have had the damage caused by fuel problems. I don't use any fuel that I haven't mixed myself and don't use any that is over a couple of months old and refuse to store it in a hot lawnmower shed. In addition no one can stress strongly enough that you "can not" cut into the dirt when cutting the tree into usable lengths. My new Shil, 16 in bar and light weight, has the loop of chain that makes 16 rotations a second according to the seller, and 1 second into the soil with rock and sand will totally dull a brand new chain. It is really handy to have some method of cutting 3/4 th way thru the tree and then rotating it. I will not go into the woods without a peavy, wedges, a maul, and an axe. Never ever drive a metal wedge with an axe, it will damage the eye, the hole the handle goes into, and mushroom the head. If you use some method to drag the tree from the woods, tractor, skidder, horses,etc, you must remove any dirt from the tree before you cut it or it will dull the chain quickly and it seems like dead wood, oak in particular, dulls the chain much more quickly than live wood.

 

Great article and says it all. We heated my Dad's house for about 30 years with wood so he, my brothers and I spent many a weekend on slash piles and I spent many more splitting, stacking, and moving it around. The rule when working around others with chainsaws is you worry about yourself and don't depend on others for your safety.

Apocalypse or not don't wast your money buying cheap tools (note that inexpensive isn't the same as cheap). In the long run you will spend more money replacing junk and have to work harder to get the same results.

Don't forget that the job isn't done until your tools are taken care of and put away properly. When we would get home from the slash pile I off loaded the wood and cleaned out the truck while Dad serviced the chainsaws including touching up the blades and refilling the gas cans with the right oil & gas mix.

 

I find that my saw needs to be "touched up" by taking a couple strokes with a chainsaw file with ever fill of fuel. At the end of the day it makes a huge difference in the number of cuts you make with a fast moving chain. I have very little luck in sharpening chains by hand, but the saw shops here, in a hurry and have to make a buck, will take about 1/5 th of the original amount of the total tooth to sharpen it, thus if you can keep it sharp longer, you may well double the number of cuts you get from a chain. Sharpening a chain by hand is an incredible skill. The cutting angles have to be correct and the depth of the tooth has to be set right, if the angles are off it will not cut straight and if the depth is off it will either not cut a big enough chip or cut too big a chip. I buy Swiss made files by the dozen at a professional shop for less than the China saws at the big box stores and only use them a few times and throw them. You can not sharpen the good steel in the tooth with a dull file without a lot of work.

I have picked up several good saws over the years from the elderly as at some point they reach the end of their ability to start them or to safely use them and a good saw, like a good animal, is a personal friend and we wish them to have a new good home.

Tully Mars, problem with chain saw bars with the sprocket on the end, most now, is that they no longer have a grease hole and depend on the bar oil to lube them, had no luck with used motor oil, but did not use STP and I am sure that that would help. Find it best for me to go to the professional logging supply in the area when they have a sale and buy a case of Sthil bar oil , along with a couple dozen round files, several raker files, a half dozen 6 pacs of Sthil mix, and usually try to get the last 10 to 20 feet of their logging aggressive chain off their spool. That usually last me at least a year and they sell it cheap as they wish to sell the saws, choker chins, skidders, etc, where the real money is made. .

 

Agree. My Stihl's and Huskys are at least 20 years old. I am loath to buy a new saw. I can tear one down and rebuild it in an afternoon if I have the parts handy-and I do. The parts aren't all that much over all. The uncle and I went in on a roll of bulk chain. Will last us the rest of our lives.

While I do agree with you overall, I do have an exception.
I have an old homelite XL with a 14" bar. I know they were a cheap@zzed saw when made and I came into this one after a relative passed away. Long story short, after being cleaned up and tuned up it makes a great camp saw. I keep it in my RV and has been with me for 20 years. It can be a bit stubborn to fire off after not using it for the winter, but will start after a few pulls. I take care of it and for me it's better than packing one of my "good saws." I don't have a fit if someone happens to rock the bar or something like that while cutting up camp wood.
One thing I will say is that a person should use non ethanol gas in their saws and any small engine for that matter. Makes a big difference on carbs,fuel lines,ect.
The bar oil I use is used motor oil from oil changes with a can of STP added for every gallon. Works great and gives me double life from the oil. The STP will help the thinner oil to stay on the bar. All the loggers my father worked with up in the PNW used to do this and it has worked for me since my 1st saw.

"I find that my saw needs to be "touched up" by taking a couple strokes with a chainsaw file with ever fill of fuel. At the end of the day it makes a huge difference in the number of cuts you make with a fast moving chain."

I do it every other tank, and it does make a difference by the end of the day.

 

Ghrit, I think ours was a Mall, had to loosen bolts and rotate the bar to to cut vertically, engine would only run upright and was supposed to been originally designed for an outboard motor and it scared the bejeasus out of me to hold up the light end. Logged with mules and my grand dad would never use it, he used his dad's swede made cross cut felling saw and I always volunteered to help him to get out of being involved with the gas saw and my brother and I da** near fought over who would drive the mules and skid. I liked that as the mules did all the work and looked out for me and the only heavy part was carrying the peavy to roll the log if it got hung up. Never did have a cell phone or a handheld game, what a deprived childhood I had. Worked on the farm, at the sawmill, helped log and butcher, sure OHSA and the do gooders would have a fit. The horror of it all!!!!

 

I have cut my share of forest down in my lifetime, not done yet.
No one should ever be in hurry about doing the job, much like hunting and taking game there is more to it than shooting.
Know how that tree is going to fall . if you don't know how it is going to fall don't do it.
I take the time and study the tree all the branches , the ground and the wind .
There are times i have had a very short window of opportunity to both take advantage of the wind and know that it will be helping me make the fall successful .
The weight of the branches and their proximity are equally important . If their primary weight is off to one side , that is it's preferred direction of fall. If it is not "your" preferred direction of fall , there are several methods of encouraging it your way .
I have done this one .
Before I started I made sure that every one was aware of what I was doing ,especially those with in the perimeter of the tree.
I climbed the tree and established a cable @ about 50' up and at a 45 degree bite pulley blocked it to a group of other tress at their base and continued the cable to my wench on the jeep.
After the primary notch was cut and aim established ,and the time the wind began to do it's thing , I preloaded the cable and began the back cut, I had some one else maintaining the tension while i was doing the back cut . I brought this 200 ' ponderosa with in 2' of my target .
This tree was leaning toward cabins and was a definite liability .
Topping the tree was out of the question because the pieces would be too close to homes it threatened .
On dead trees it is even more critical every safety precaution is taken .
having a well established escape rout with no one standing there in your way. your spotter needs to take his job seriously. if the winds pick up or the tree begins to fall in the wrong direction communication with the feller is critical.
My first saw was and old Maul that had attachments for other things like out board drive, Dad had volumes of antiques to teach me with, even some 2 MAN chain saws.
Post SHTF you'd do well to have a 2 man cross cut saw in stead ,the only fuel it requires is two of you.

 

The saws that @ghrit posted pic's of can been seen in some of the older logger supply shops, and in a local restaurant.

When I first moved up here, I told the wife I would need to get a chain saw. She came home with a homlite! I explained to her that was not a good saw for what I would need to be doing and I went out and picked up a stihl saw and after twenty years it is still running. The homlite gave up after a couple months. I currently have two stihls and a husky that is over thirty years old.

Another hint, flip the bar on your saw a couple times a year. It evens out the wear on the bar.

 

Since I returned stateside and purchased the property I do a lot of chainsaw work, a lot. I cut just about every day, fall and limb. Unfortunately, lots of this cutting is in a part of the property that I call 'The Jungle' because it hasn't been touched for decades and its a mess in there, dangerous. It has a taken a long time getting my skills back with a chainsaw and they are still not as good as I want but improving every day. I did a lot of work in the woods, logged the Northwest and Alaska as a kid. I wasn't a Faller but learned how to use a chainsaw from them experts but after two close calls in the woods I realize that I needed to finish university and never touch a saw until I got back 2 years ago so we're close to 40 years ago.

They other thing as dangerous as the saw and maybe more so is the tree itself so @duane has it right:
"...there is a long learning process in being able to "read" the tree and the trees surrounding it and making it fall where you wish it to and in a safe manner." I got these very tall 70+ feet Jack Pines (they're like weeds of the forest but make good firewood), top heavy, leaners that is almost impossible to fall exactly where you want for a number of reason (hung up on other trees, leaning, rotten portions, etc.) real 'widow makers'. My intent is to cut down all of them but this will take years so currently cutting the bad ones which actual is harder than cutting them all but must be done.

I got a pair of Huskies 440 chainsaws, 18 inch bars and quite like them. Good power vs. weight and quite agile. The newest one uses the chain oil to keep the chain sprocket oiled instead of grease and I am still waiting to see how it holds up. I was so shocked by this that I called Husqvarna Customer Service thinking I got a flawed saw. LOL! The older chainsaw is not running as carburetor problems from using Ethanol gasoline but I had no idea Ethanol did this until someone told me - did I say I was gone for years and when I left they didn't use Ethanol so... I need to rebuild the carb this winter when I got time, parts should be here this week, but that is whyI have two of the same type of saws (I guess that is a good recommendation for the saw). It took only a year for the Ethanol gas to gummed it up so be advised even though they say the saws are made to run that crap the can't do so for long. The oiler on these saws are automatic which cannot be adjusted. It is the one thing I really don't like because I would prefer to run a heavier flow of oil at times. I clean them using an air compressor and patience and ensure the bar oil holes (use air) and the chain guide (use a steel pick) are completely clean as well as the air filter, change the air and fuel filter yearly also.

Chains... I use the Husqvarna chains and am pleased enough. I take them to have them sharpen (cost $6-$7) but will purchase something in the near future to do it myself (recommendations?).

I suppose I will have to get me a Carbide chain now that @oil pan 4 has told me about them... and keep it handy for emergencies.

NOTE: Off topic... I recently was introduced to a Wood Splitter by my neighbor who saw me splitting wood by hand and took pity on me. OMG! This is the greatest invention since the television remote and canned beer! LOL!

 

@arleigh "I climbed the tree and established a cable @ about 50' up and at a 45 degree bite pulley blocked it to a group of other tress at their base and continued the cable to my wench on the jeep."

I am sort of doing it that way also now. I haven't been able to get a cable 50 feet up, something like 25 feet, and I use an Arborist rope (3/4" 20,000 lbs) which is a brute. I got a 100 footer and an 150 footer. I hook it up to the truck, put strain on it, do a very open face cut of about 50% of the diameter and pull the damn thing down not making a back cut at times unless the tree is a bit larger. Luckily most these Jack Pines never get too big diameter as their root structure is crap so because they are so tall and top heavier they fall over...wrecking my nice white and red fir and evergreen trees also so not as big as the ones you are doing. I just purchased a 'Throw line and Weight' for a really bad tree and hope I can get higher (I only got 20 foot ladder) using it because I might have met my match with this tree, too old to be climbing trees and it's too dangerous on these due to roots system. Anyway, getting a bit off topic here so...

 

When talking cutting trees, nothing that makes it easier or safer is off topic. I use a come along, chains and cables applied as high as I can with lots of tension when it is critical to cut a tree in a bad location, it is easier to spend 2 hours preparing then days patching a building or destroying something you wanted to keep. Once you use a good splitter and there are a lot of bad ones out there, you will classify a splitting maul as an instrument of torture or at least it will seem so once you hit your mid seventies.

 

@duane "... it is easier to spend 2 hours preparing then days patching a building or destroying something you wanted to keep." Ain't that the truth! Or, to have the damn thing get hung up and then you really got your hands full! So, you need to consider the worse like if it barber chair's or if the wind comes up or thousand other things, rotten section of the tree comes off...

@ghrit "Using a snatch block to guide the rope away from the direction you want the tree to fall puts your truck out of the line of fall..." Yes, I need to get one of those now. I have used my neighbor's the few times that I needed one but got a section in the Jungle that will require one all the time so time to purchase one and might as well get a good come-along also because they are always handy out here.