Thanks guys for the info.
Robert Koscik said:
Can someone recommend a decent chain saw? I can't afford a Stihl, but I also don't want junk. Is there a middle ground? Seems like all the saws less than $200 are junk. Buying used seems risky.
The high initial cost and need for brushing and tread work in the district is the reason I haven't gotten a chain saw yet, but I really need to get one eventually. Maybe I should just save up for a saw that will last.
It's frustrating that the Forest Service doesn't provide saws for certified users. How do you guys justify wearing out your own expensive saws? I guess it's in the spirit of service.
I gotta get this crosscut sharpened too.
Robert,
I understand where you are coming from man.
Where do we justify spending our lives or our living for these trails, unless we feel that we owe it to those who built these trails or helped maintain them through the years. I am constantly asking myself that same question, as I volunteer myself to help maintain our districts trails.
From where I see it, these trails give me life, not only in the phsyical, but more than words can try to express. You know what I mean when you come across an old and abandoned trail out in the forest and start following it to see where it goes. It maybe only a few hundred yards long or it may go for several miles, but it will still have that same pull on you.
Yeah, I know that I need to get a chainsaw also. Dick's might have some good used saws or lead you in obtaining a new that will work for you.
I hear ya! Last weekend in the mud past my ankles, surrounded by the mess LaDee Logging Co left us............gunshots off in the distance. 8 miles down a road that isn't really a road in a 40 year old car. With only my 5 year old kid. Crazy.
I don't know why but I love the Clackamas like no other place. It's like an ugly girl that throws pans at ya but you wouldn't trade her for anything, because of those special moments when the light shines through.
I also don't want to get stuck out there somewhere by blowdown that could easily be removed by a good saw. Well, most of the time.