Sometimes it's the little things, . . . new to me chainsaw

A long story, written for my own entertainment and hopefully that of others. For those that don't care for long stories, the last paragraph and picture is plenty! :)

Six years ago they put some electronics in my side. One of the many things off limits was any kind of an ignition system near it. I was warned a chainsaw was certain death to the electronics. One way or another I spend a fair amount of time cleaning fencerows and clearing bits of land here and there. Was a time when I could take a heavy bush hook and a chainsaw and leave a trail of mass destruction behind. Had to be careful because it could take days to clean up what I laid on the ground in a few hours. Good clean fun and I have greatly missed being able to run a chainsaw.

A few months back they changed out the electronics in my side. Better shielding, after passing it up the chain of command as high as possible on the tech side all assured me that running a chainsaw was fine. I had a little toy saw that had came when I bought some other stuff but for more than trimming small limbs it was more annoyance than saw. Cutting logs and making bowl blanks was a little silly with it but I managed. I have been having the hot running wants for a real chainsaw though.

Never bought anything off of Craigslist, never had any luck dealing with a pawnshop either. A chainsaw appeared on Craigslist at quitting time Saturday, a Makita 6401 which is a Dolmar 6400 with different paint. $80 which is ridiculous, plus they had left the sheath over the bar and chain when taking a picture. Other than that the saw looked good, however it was at a pawnshop. Forgot to set my clock back Sunday so I was up early Monday. The back has been giving me hell for over a month but felt pretty good when I first woke up. An hour and a half each way to wild goose chase after this saw but I decided to take the trip.

Five miles north of the pawnshop my back went south! Eyes crossed, pain ridiculous, and now I am an hour and a half from home, alone of course. Barely walking when I got into the pawnshop and they couldn't find the saw they had assured me a little earlier was there and they would hold for me for an hour. My usual pawnshop experience! I looked on their front shelf, all toy saws and priced close to new price. I kept after them and eventually they found the Makita. Did look good through pretty blurry vision. The lady took it outside for me to try starting it. I had her put it on the tailgate of my truck, fortunately I had parked by the door. Looked it over, looked great including what looked to be the original bar and chain. A little paint missing around where trimming six or eight inch limbs wears on the bar. Thirty day guarantee so I didn't even try to start it. After I bought it and the lady sat it in the front of my truck I pulled the rope a little while I was sitting down. It had compression, a lot of compression, and obviously the engine wasn't frozen. Made it back to the interstate and took a handful of goodies for the trip home. After what seemed like three days of driving I made it to the house.

Common sense says time for the heating pad and bed, what chance has common sense against the pull of a new toy? Drained out the old gas, refueled, and the saw fired on the second pull. The compression release was most welcome, don't think I could have pulled the cord without it. What appears to be the original safety chain is very dull, I just cut a cookie off of a five or six inch stob on a pear tree to test it, the only thing near the back porch I dared whittle on.

I'll order a couple loops of real chain next month. Eventually I'll stretch the twenty inch bar a few inches later too. One reason I wanted this particular saw, just happens that while it is a decent 64cc saw if a little heavy, a simple piston and cylinder change will convert it to a saw that is light for a 79 to 84cc saw. It is a decent commercial grade saw now with plenty of potential. I'm a happy camper! A country boy needs a chainsaw.

Hu
 

Attachments

  • makita chainsaw 003post.jpg
    makita chainsaw 003post.jpg
    42.1 KB · Views: 35
Great story, Hu. :clap: Sorry about the back, though.

But $80? That's a great price! I searched the Interwebs and managed to find this hidden camera photo of you at the pawn shop...

burglar-alamy.jpg
 
Congrats on the new toy.

I have a friend that frequents the pawn shops, each use different codes on the price tags to record what they actually have invested in the item. He frequents them often enough to determine what their code is and see what their cost it to negotiate a better price.

I.E. $29.99 coded with RNNN (10.00)
$99.99 coded with LNNN (60.00)
$35.99 coded with EBNN (25.00)

In this case, REPUBLICAN is the code.


R-1 E-2 P-3 U-4 B-5 L-6 I-7 C-8 A-9 N-0

There is a good thread on it here... http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44348
 
Great story, Hu. :clap: Sorry about the back, though.

But $80? That's a great price! I searched the Interwebs and managed to find this hidden camera photo of you at the pawn shop...

Oddly enough an individual in the same area posted another 6401 for sale the same day. Looks to be in similar condition other than not a trace of paint left on the bar. He is wanting $220 which would normally be pretty tempting. I figure I paid about a fourth what the saw I bought was worth. On the other hand when I average in the times I paid four times what something was worth, well let's just say I'm still a little behind! :eek:

Hu
 
Good find Hu. My sympathies on the back. When mine goes, I'm sidelined for six weeks, usually about the same amount of time it takes for a round of appointments with the pain management folks and the needle in the spine guy. In other words, if I take it easy and with a little help from pain meds, the inflamed nerves will eventually heal all by themselves in about six weeks, without all the medical rigamarole. That spine shot hurt like heck. Don't want to have to do that again anytime soon.
 
Ted,

As it happens I have been down about six weeks, or getting close to twenty-five years depending on where I count from. I have been in pretty rough shape my last couple of every three month trips to my doctor. He had a long heart to heart talk with me last trip, told me I need to back off activities. I told him I had backed off from the post Isaac craziness, back to normal activities. He informed me that in my case that didn't mean a whole lot! That is the problem with seeing the same doctor for seven or eight years. We are friends though, I don't lie to him. The chainsaw actually weighs more than I am supposed to pick up, not even talking about using it.


Darren,

My grandmother owned most of a small town including a department store and a furniture store back in the fifties when I was born and until her death many years later. I was barely out of three cornered pants when I learned about the ten letter words or phrase, or sometimes she used a longer word or phrase and only the first time a letter was used counted. Every time I see letters on stuff in a retail outlet I can't help trying to crack the code. I have surprised people a few times when they tried to blow smoke about how much they had paid for something. Pretty easy to figure out the first couple three letters of the word after looking at prices on a few things and with that running start a little guesswork usually gets me the word.

Hu
 
Paul,

The last sticker they had put on the Makita was asking $119. For just twenty dollars more, $139, I could have bought one of the purple Wild Thing chainsaws that didn't look to be in as good of shape as the Makita. Had the Makita not been on sale it might have been a tough choice, not! The pawn shop is kinda inner city but it isn't far from the vo-tech and I know people that live nearby that know chainsaws. I don't have any idea why the saw got that low or why somebody else didn't snap it up. Gonna sharpen the chain this morning and find something to cut with it just to give it a little bit of a real trial. I cut this up with a MacCat 3516 plastical fantastical saw, With a 25% longer bar and twice the oomph I may have to do some looking to find something to test this thing. There are some huge live oaks on the place, I'll steer a wide path around them. The oaks have been here since before the war of northern aggression.

Hu
 

Attachments

  • bubbatruck 016post.jpg
    bubbatruck 016post.jpg
    69.3 KB · Views: 14
Just a little follow-up. Even after sharpening the chain the saw was a wee bit disappointing. had to push it down into the big pecan log I was testing it on and cutting speed wasn't amazing to put it kindly.

Went to the Stihl dealer today since I didn't find any real deals online for chain. Asked for RSC. Got out my cheaters to make sure I wasn't buying RS3, more safety chain. I was reading out loud "capable of severe kickback ... may cause serious or fatal injury" Apparently fatal injuries are just a laughing matter. "Yup, that's what I had in mind."

Came home and swapped chain. Went and made a test cut in the pecan log right alongside the earlier test cut with factory chain. This time the log seemed to just melt under the bar from the weight of the chainsaw. YUP! That is what I had in mind! It isn't a monster saw by any means but it is now a good working man's saw. I'm a happy camper, . . . for now.

Hu
 
Top