Chainsaw basejumper sans chute....check yer knots!

[stayalert]

I had a friend help me on a recent tree job. I was ~50 feet above the ground in a large multi spoked maple. The spoke I had to remove was split near the base and overhanging the roof and power line to the house. The job was going very slowely (intentional) so I brought my friend along to help me reduce the climb up climb down climb up climb down scenario of working alone,.....Anyhow....at one stage I had him tie one of my saws on a line so I could pull it up to where I was....He tied a pretty good knot....it held until the saw was about 10 feet from my grasp and then came untied. My saw went straight down and struck a stump, bounced up in the air and then stuck bar first into the turf......broken handle bar, broken spark plug, broken cover bent cylinder head cooling fins, broken trigger. I ordered the parts and drilled some holes in the broken handlebar, pieced it togtehr with wire, replaced the spark pug, carefully straightened the coolinf ins and bzzzzzt ran perfect.....finished the job and now the replacement parts are in so time to break it down and make it whole again.

so boys and girls...check yer knots!

 

[D'Animal]

Lanyard with a Clip.

Make sure the chain brake is operational and any other saffety related components are operational before you use your saw again.

 

[stayalert]

Lanyard with a Clip.

Make sure the chain brake is operational and any other safety related components are operational before you use your saw again.

10-4....when I wired it back together everything still worked. There was a pin attached to the handlebar side of the springs that floated in a steel surround that is cast in the engine case. This pin broke and is a safety feature to contain the engine/bar/chain if a spring fails....So for a week of use I ran w/o this pin but limited myself to ground level work and simple cuts....

I received the parts the other day and the saw is no longer wired together and is 100% back too fully functional....I love the chain brake. My old small saw doesn't have one and if I had a few more $'s I'd replace it with a small modern one....As it is I only use it for certain tasks but it is loud/vibrates and cantankerous in addition to having no chain brake.....When I droppedmy saw from the tree I was thinking "damn why couldn't that have been my old cantankerous saw???

 

[sirenmoses]

fwiw, I once rappelled off a top-roped recreational climb (to set the anchor) only to find my rope end was on an underhanging ledge. The visual check obviously didn't help. That was all it took to learn me about the importance of a loose figure 8 at the end of the rope, visible or 'knot'.

Didn't mess my trousers, but had a heartfelt conversation w/what/ Whom-ever compelled me to hit a safe landing and check my rope before I finished the rappel.



edit: don't bother flaming me about my KSA's (knowledge/skills/abilities). I was taught (by many good teachers, and a community of rock-monkeys), I learned, I climbed, I learned, I taught, I learned. Redpointed routes that punks later bolted. And I am still digesting/ revisiting some of the lessons those rocks taught me....