WHEN it comes to advice, there’s nowhere quite like the Forest Machine Operators Blog, which never misses a chance to dish out some home truths. Want to know why your choice of chainsaw is wrong? Check out the comments under an innocuous post about a recent felling job. Always wondered why the harvester you love is disliked by an operator 200 miles away? Look no further than the smashing picture you just posted.
It’s almost always conducted in the right spirit, of course, the blog being one of the best places for operators to enjoy a chinwag without the worry some pesky tree-hugger will condemn them to life in Purgatory for having the audacity to fell a Sitka crop.
Recent weeks have seen a number of members come to the Blog in search of answers to nagging problems.
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Take this from one operator.
“Advice please guys. I have a Husqvarna 550 XP Mark II. On Monday, it worked fine all day. On Monday night, I left it in a shed where the temperature was about -20 C overnight, which was maybe not the most sensible idea.
“Yesterday it started then cut out after about 10 minutes, then it wouldn’t start again.
“I then brought it indoors to a warm office for two hours. Then it started in two pulls.
“Was at room temperature overnight, and this morning, when I started it, the throttle was jammed wide open and when I turned it off it refused to start for the rest of the day.
“I have only ever used Aspen Alkylate fuel, never pump fuel, have cleaned it regularly with compressor and have only done about 100 hours on the saw.
“What can the problem be? Really worried in case the saw is damaged. Spark plug is okay, air filter is clean. The only thing i can think of is autotune needs work?”
Problems with the cold are nothing new in forestry, so it was little wonder members replied in their droves.
“Might be too cold for the saw,” one wrote. “May need a winter kit. Some you can turn a flap that reduces the cold air intake.”
However, the original poster replied: “Fitted one today. And still problems.” Ouch.
What else did members come up with?
“Make sure your throttle cable is not seizing and air filter not wet/frozen.”
“WD 40 down the trigger,” another suggested. “Sounds like rust on the wire. Had the same problem once before.”
“Change the fuel,” replied one handcutter. “There may be condensation in the petrol tank. Also Huskies have, or used to have, a flap inside to change from cold to warm running whereby the heat from the engine keeps the air filter warm.”
All good advice, and, at the time of writing, we’re still waiting to find out if any of these solutions did the trick. But the post opened up another thread, with operators from much colder climates suggesting the dipping mercury wasn’t to blame.
“We leave our saws in the forest overnight at -30, the cold did not damage your saw my friend.”
“Moving your saw from warm to cold temperatures (is to blame). Leave your saw outside. I ran 372 XP saw in Saskatchewan at -30 temperatures. It never went inside ever. It ran perfectly all winter.”
“Leave it outside. When you start it first thing in the morning, let it warm up for about five minutes, then shut it off for five minutes, so that the carb gets warm before running it steady bringing in cold air and snow which freezes the carb.”
So there you have it. Leave the saws outside and they should be fine to run all winter long (assuming they don’t get stolen, moved, or, most worryingly, used by the general public).
Sticking to chainsaw problems and another post last month concerned bars.
Namely, what to do when they lose their straightness?
One hand cutter asked: “Could anyone offer any advice or cost-effective ways of straightening bars? Thanks.”
“Best way we’ve found to straighten them,” replied one member, sharing a picture of his bar inside a tree stump. “Bottle Jack, stump and a chainsaw is all you need.”
Stumps proved a popular suggestion, with another member replying: “Sledge and a stump. If I can wait until I am back at the yard, workshop press does the job.”
“A 10lb sledge and a stump!”
“Put cut into standing tree and if you heavy enough can straighten.”
Other suggestions included:
“I do mine’s with the press in the workshop.”
“Talented man with a fly press can work wonders, not that I ever bend any ...” (we’ll reserve judgement on that last part).
“Sledge hammer for emergency quick fix. Press back at the workshop for bars worth keeping.”
Another now-retired operator had an idea that probably wouldn’t pass an HSE inspection today (consider this your disclaimer to not try this at home).
“Before I retired I would place a track pad on a round of firewood then use my woodsplitter for down pressure. Not much cheaper than that.”
So there you have it. Stumps, sledgehammers, and woodsplitters can all get your bars back to their best when you’re in a hurry.
But we’ll leave the last word on this to another member, who we assumed had his tongue pressed firmly in his cheek when he wrote: “Don’t bend them to start with.”
Fair enough!
Elsewhere on the blog last month, members got into a discussion about a particularly dodgy-looking harvesting site. Sharing some images of a field of stumps, one member jokingly wrote: “Some cracking stumps been left by the last lot on this site. No blunt chains I suppose.”
The state of harvesting sites was a major talking point last year. Regular readers will remember forester Digby Guy writing in these very pages about the awful condition several had been left in near his house. He went on to call for harvesting contractors to do more to address the issue, given the terrible image it creates for forestry.
A look at the replies to the member’s post suggests others feel equally frustrated by the blight of poorly-cared-for woodlands.
“That’s nothing compared to some sites,” wrote one operator. “Between the high stumps and the clogs cut off the bottom of most trees, [it is] mind boggling how much tonnage is being left behind.”
Other replies included:
“I know when I was cutting I wouldn’t dare leave crap like that. Gives you a bad rep.”
“I hear ya. If the forester sees these stumps, you would have been thrown off the job. Changed days I suppose. You have to move with the times. On a more positive note, you always have plenty picnic tables to have your piece on when you’re on the harvester sites.” (Let’s not get onto the hot topic of what operators are eating for lunch again.)
“Think most of the harvester drivers are paid by the acre nowadays.”
“Happening all too often now.”
One operator perhaps summed it up best when he simply replied: “Tombstones.”
What do you think? Head on over to the Forest Machine Operators Blog on Facebook to have your say on these issues and plenty more besides.
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