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Chainsaw: electric or petrol?
(Alan Campbell) wrote:
Hello Alan
snip loads of chainsaw stuff I agree with
AC| You should sharpen them every time you refill the chain oil.
Not so.
With petrol chainsaws, you fill both oil and 2/stroke at the same
time. With electric you just fill the oil when required. Typically, at
full speed cutting either will last somewhere in the region of 30
minutes on a full tank of either, and if you're sharpening the chain
every 30 minutes you won't have much of a chain left after a day.
Logging (clean logs, off the ground) should go all day without
sharpening if you're careful.
The rule of thumb is simply "sharpen when it's not cutting as good as
it should". More often is wasteful, less often is dangerous. (Same
principle as a dull knife is more likely to cut you than a sharp one)
One thing not mentioned so far in this thread; overheating. Logging is
hard work for either type of saw. Electric ones may overheat without
frequent stoppages, and so might the cheaper petrol ones (pro grade
have better laid out cooling fins, ime). Can be overcome by frequent
cleaning of cooling fins (which ought to be checked when you do re-
oil!) especially in dirty conditions like logging.
Logging's also one of the more dangerous aspects to chainsaw use. Easy
to slip, temptation to hold log steady with foot, kickback and hitting
a log wrong so it flings back at goolie level.
--
Simon Avery, Dartmoor, UK
uk.d-i-y FAQ: http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/
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