OV9

With the inevitable upcoming zombie apocalypse, I'm looking to go hunting and foraging, this time for wood for the burner.

Does anybody have recommendation for a petrol chainsaw which I can use on any bits of small to medium sized trees I can find on the ground in local woods/dogging spots?

B&Q ones all seem to be corded or a single battery model which I'm guessing will have a crappy capacity.

Have found this page of ones for the job - https://www.worldofpower.co.uk/home-own ... nsaws.html

I'm assuming there's a minimum level of safety gear recommended when using one of these to try and minimise the chance of losing any limbs?

You are about to be talked into buying a professional-grade chainsaw suitable for upto 14hrs per day continuous use for 10yrs without any maintenance.

Anything else is dirt.

There'll be a lot of talk about PPE too...

I have some safety glasses and a baseball cap with inserts which I acquired when I worked for an oil & gas firm. That's all you need right?

I wouldn't use a Chainsaw without the right Trousers or Chaps but I'm... well Me...

dinny_g wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:55 pm I wouldn't use a Chainsaw without the right Trousers or Chaps but I'm... well Me...

Assless?

dinny_g wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:55 pm I wouldn't use a Chainsaw without the right Trousers

Just get whichever Stihl fits your budget. I started off on a small cheap one years ago for £150 and I still tend to use that if I’m not cutting something big as it’s so lightweight and easy to use.

Edit - just seen your link, husqvarnas are good but be wary of some models, my dad has a 555 with the auto tune carb, he didn’t use it 18 months and it gummed up so I swapped the carb but it wouldn’t work as like a new car you have to give it to a qualified technician to plug into a laptop and program it to the saw. Put me off their saws that.

Ascender wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 1:37 pm
Have found this page of ones for the job - https://www.worldofpower.co.uk/home-own ... nsaws.html

There is only one remotely suitable one on that page.
this one

Ascender wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:05 pm

dinny_g wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:55 pm I wouldn't use a Chainsaw without the right Trousers or Chaps but I'm... well Me...

Assless?

More something that would prevent me from becoming Cockless if it kicks back

Seriously though, you couldn't pay me to use a Chainsaw. I've long ago added it to the Nope list...

I feel pretty safe using a chainsaw as they’re pretty predictable things and an accident with a chainsaw is most likely due to a lapse in concentration. Tables saws are evil fuckers though. You’ll do 50 cuts as expected and the 51st one will grab a 4”x2” and launch it through the shed wall totally random too as it’s due to the properties of the timber so you just better hope to the baby Jesus that you’re positioned out of line with it otherwise you’ll get Gary O’Donoghued.

Most woods are managed in some way, would they not take a pretty dim view of you walking in with a chainsaw?

Rich B wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 10:35 pm Most woods are managed in some way, would they not take a pretty dim view of you walking in with a chainsaw?

There's forest east, west and north of where I live and if a tree or branch comes down over a Path/Roman Road etc I understand it's accepted to cut and clear the way, this happens often. I've never heard of the forestry commission prosecuting people for saving them maintenance !

Carlos wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 10:55 pm

Rich B wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 10:35 pm Most woods are managed in some way, would they not take a pretty dim view of you walking in with a chainsaw?

There's forest east, west and north of where I live and if a tree or branch comes down over a Path/Roman Road etc I understand it's accepted to cut and clear the way, this happens often. I've never heard of the forestry commission prosecuting people for saving them maintenance !

Its illegal to take fallen wood from FC land, then there’s the H&S issue to them of a lone worker with no Formal training operating a chainsaw on their land, then the unknown ecological plans you could be fucking up sawing up fallen logs that could be earmarked for nesting/insects/etc, etc....

Go buy a chainsaw and give it a go though!

You need to do your research on that. I know the Forestry Commission sell a limited number of scavenging permits and firewood permits. You can also try the woodland trust but they’re much more like Greenpeace and pretty strict.

I think years ago you could go and pick up any fallen branches but they made that illegal as it was deemed that the dead wood provides valuable food to some species. Roll forward to the present day and it’s recommended that when you fell a tree (on your own land) you try and remove most of it as they now harbour invasive specifies which will then kill compromise everything.

Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

Mito Man wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2020 11:37 pm You need to do your research on that. I know the Forestry Commission sell a limited number of scavenging permits and firewood permits.

And I would put money on these permits insisting on evidence of full training and hefty public liability insurance if they allow you to use a chainsaw.

I will pass on this invaluable information to Dai the Saw next time I see him up the track with his old 'festival' cart

It ain't Richmond Park, there is no Forestry Police, it's hundreds of square miles of countryside that gets managed by people who use it.

Is Ascender Scottish or in the sticks ?

We all choose which ever laws we want to break every day, it’s no big deal. Buy a chainsaw and go for it - but be aware that it’s illegal.

And if you do want to do it legally, it might become proper ball ache/expensive.

If you're stealing wood then deffo get a battery one.

The stihl ones are pretty good to use and the batteries, which lat well, are interchangeable with other tools.

Petrol and no PPE if you want to impress the ladies of course.