How old to run a chainsaw?

[Fire_9]

Eyes, ears, chaps, and boots are non negotiable. But I’m with you, let the boy cut. I’ve waffled on some of these discussions with the wife and it’s been detrimental to my son. All kids need to learn to do dangerous things safely

 

[Jack Ryan]

If you can't start it and sharpen it for yourself, you have no business using it and only a fool would start one for their kids and "let them learn" for their self.

 

[schmalts]

My chaps too. Also my left knee has a vertical small scar from early foolish days when I suddenly and dramatically learned that jeans do not deflect a whirring chain when at high rpm limbing firewood logs. Luckily I caught it short before I became an invalid.

I literally cut a 2 inch line through a pair of insulated Carhartt pants. Never broke skin. No clue how. I immediately went on Amazon and bought chaps

 

[WildWill]

If you can't start it and sharpen it for yourself, you have no business using it and only a fool would start one for their kids and "let them learn" for their self.

Starting that new Stihl is to easy. Sometimes I think about getting him a hunk of junk so that he can learn the hardships of my childhood personally.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Nothing creates character like pulling the start rope on a flooded chainsaw.

 

[brymoore]

Nothing creates character like pulling the start rope on a flooded chainsaw.

Yep. About 50 times.

 

[Caseknife]

Husqvarna Classic (Homeowner) Chainsaw Chap

5 layer frontal apron chainsaw chaps contain PVC coated 600 denier polyester with Tek warp protective layers. It's designed to reduce risk or severity of an

www.husqvarna.com

These are the chaps that I have and they seem to work good.

 

[Mallardsx2]

If you let a kid run a chainsaw, you better make sure it’s a small one.

That ms170/180 is a good starter saw. Get them started limbing and working their way in on the top.

Big saws are for adults only….

 

[Hem]

Definitely not a one size fits all answer. I’ve been around cutting tools my entire formative and professional life & they still give me chills.

Truth.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Nothing creates character like pulling the start rope on a flooded chainsaw.

Just like any other engine. Stomp the accelerator and pull the start rope a couple times.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I feel like there’s a title for a kids book in this thread. “If You Give a Kid a Chainsaw…”

 

[INMT]

Just like any other engine. Stomp the accelerator and pull the start rope a couple times.

Yeah no

 

[WesternWyoming]

Martha, my supervisor in the USFS taught me (a normal-sized woman),
how to use a chainsaw safely. All the above is spot-on: hard hat, chaps, ear and eye protection, and a sharp, tight chain. One thing more I’d recommend, that I found out after clearing trails all day every day, is watch out for carpal tunnel syndrome, from the tight grip and vibration of the saw. I still suffer from it 30 years later. Take frequent breaks and don’t saw when tired!

 

[asarver]

Safety and PPE!

 

[Jack Ryan]

Yeah no

What ever works for you. I'm not the one having trouble starting my saw.

 

[Nameless Range]

Chaps, chaps, chaps.

I often think of an October day in 2003 when me and a couple buddies drove 4-wheelers up to the Skyline Mine in the Elkhorns. There's an old cabin there on USFS ground that you can just stay in if you get it first. We went up to cut and store a bunch of firewood with the plan to come back in January to ice fish Leslie Lake.



My buddy Cory was cutting up lodgepole and through kickback or whatever sawed right into his thigh. Damn near an inch deep and 4 or 5 inches long. Bad cut, but we patched him up and got out of there. A half inch deeper and it likely would've hit his femoral artery and a high school kid would've bled to death a good hour from any help in front of his friends. He's got a wife and kids now. I still shudder thinking about it.

 

[elkduds]

8-12 is the sweet spot to take instructions from Dad. They still think you know most things and are able to put their curiosity into productivity. I think it’s also important for Dad to be able to affirm a boys initiative to figure out his own way of doing things but also be explicit and firm on the parts that you don’t mess around with regarding safety.

Gun muzzle direction, trigger finger position until ready to kill something, you’re going to sit in jail without getting bailed out or you drive drunk, don’t ever let the chainsaw touch your leg…. etc…. can be balanced with flexibility of a child figuring some things out on his own when the outcomes aren’t as critical.

Verbal affirmation for getting it right is just as important as verbal correction when they get it wrong.

This. Try to follow the rule of 5 with kids: 5 attaboys for every correction. Otherwise they stop listening because they mostly hear about problems they cause. At least rule of 3. And not "participation prize" attaboys. Engage enough to respond genuinely with something (+) that matters to them. Your kids will either think of you as the man who loves me and has my back, or as the guy who busts me when Mom gets salty. Your choice.

Notably absent in this thread is discussion about dealing with wife over father-son topics. Cowards

 

[Gerald Martin]

Interesting rule of 5:1 or 3:1 affirmations to corrections. I grew up in a culture and family where correction was quickly given and affirmative reinforcement was not often used to establish what success looked like.

It’s far better to navigate life from a position relative to achieving a known standard of success rather than from a position of avoidance of failure.

If there’s any regret I have from my childhood it’s that my father was unskilled in articulating his approval and standard of what success was.

He taught by doing and expecting it to rub off and for the most part it did. I learned to figure things out by trial and error. Problem is that learning that way never really gives a kid confidence whether he’s doing it right or needs to change something to meet a standard.

Knowing the parameters of excellence is important in order to achieve excellence.