Why do you carry an axe? (1 Viewer)

[mudgudgeon]

My ax is faster than any chainsaw you'd name up to about 8 inches of tree diameter. But then I have run an ax for literally decades, have quality axes with good profiles and are properly sharp.

By the time you got the thing out and started, I'm moving onto the next limb/trunk.

Chainsaws have a place in life. An ax works on small stuff better.

Also, for someone who owns one and doesn't really understand how to use it (99.9999% of chainsaw owners) an ax man who knows how to use an ax is better, especially if the tree is in a bad place.

written by someone who doesn't know how to maintain and sharpen a chainsaw or has no experience with Aussie hardwoods (think of almost double the density of American Oak)


I carry a 4lb axe (re-profiled and shaving sharp) and a small hatchet in similar state any time I'm intending to go off road anywhere remote. Mostly for cutting and splitting firewood.

In the past, I had a Stihl 009 arborists saw with a 0.043" gauge chain (3/16" kerf) and 14" bar which I used for carpentry work on a near daily basis. Maintained and sharpened, you can make cuts accurate to 1/16" all daylong in seconds.
It was awesome to have in the back of a 4by just in case too. Small, light, compact, powerful, and versatile. Started with two pulls EVERY time. 1st pull with full choke, 2nd pull on half choke, and it fired everytime without fail.
I used it to cut truckloads of dry hardwood firewood every winter. at a pinch, with a 14" bar, you can cut a 24" log

Recently purchased an Echo saw, similar size and specs to the old Stihl.

I've used an axe many times to clear green, and dry gum trees and limbs from trails. anything above 4" that is not freshly fallen green timber, a chainsaw is gonna be faster everytime. At 6'6" and 250+lb, I can swing an axe with the bet of them. Making cuts through more than a handful of hardwood limbs, a chainsaw wins out real fast.
Chainsaw is safer in for clearing fallen timber in awkward locations IMO

 

[Josey1972]

It seems what you use is very regionally oriented. I designed and will build a chaisaw mount for my truck but will probably never actually put a chainsaw on it. Why? I’m in Indiana where we are in campgrounds most of the time. So all we do is buy or haul in our wood and split it down to smaller pieces to get a fire going. Soe of these answers have been pretty good.

 

[PIP]

It seems what you use is very regionally oriented. I designed and will build a chaisaw mount for my truck but will probably never actually put a chainsaw on it. Why? I’m in Indiana where we are in campgrounds most of the time. So all we do is buy or haul in our wood and split it down to smaller pieces to get a fire going. Soe of these answers have been pretty good.

That's not camping.

 

[ElJayBird]

That's not camping.

So much gatekeeping. Just do you and don’t worry about it.

 

[Josey1972]

That's not camping.

It is in Indiana unfortunately. We make do with what we have here.

 

[Josey1972]

So much gatekeeping. Just do you and don’t worry about it.

Feel like I’m on Pirate.

 

[kirvesmies]

Feel like I’m on Pirate.

what? the new softer pc pyrate4x4? cuz the above doesn't quite fit the irate4x4 that rose out of the old pirate