Technically I'm not really misbehaving all that much because
I'm really just taking care of some trees that came down on their own as a
result of a very unexpected snowstorm we had here in Georgia. But you know it's
good to feel like a Brown Coat every once in a while.
I was really scared of chainsaws for a long time, because you know, Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
In fact, for the longest time I just used a regular hand saw to cut things down.
It was exhausting, and also took forever. Eventually I realized how much easier it
was gonna be with a chainsaw, and I just got over my fear.
Now you can't talk about chainsaws without also talking about safety because they ARE one of the
most dangerous tools you're gonna use in your house. So make sure that you read
the safety information that comes with your chainsaw from cover to cover,
because I can't cover it all here. But a few key things to remember. Number one, if
you are not at 100% that day, do not go near a chainsaw. That means if you've
been drinking, if you've been smoking weed, if you've taken some medicine that
makes you feel a little bit loopy, maybe you didn't get good sleep last night,
maybe you have anxiety/depression and it's really bad that day, or maybe you
just don't feel very well. If you are not at a hundred percent, don't go anywhere
near a chainsaw. Number two: wear protective clothing. Long sleeves, long pants,
protective boots, some work gloves, and safety goggles.
Number 3: Make sure you're always on good footing, and you're not gonna slip. Make sure you
have two hands on this puppy at all times, and you got a really good grip.
And don't try to saw anything over your head! Sounds obvious, but I've caught myself a
few times trying to get to a branch that was really high.
"Oh my God, I'm gonna cut my own head off."
As you can see here, there's instructions right there for how
to start this thing. And it's just like following a recipe: it looks complicated
but then as you read through it it's like oh do this, do this, do this, okay it starts.
It's just like cookin'
They also have a safety bar on them this will actually stop the chain from moving
so you can keep the engine on and not have to restart it all the time.
set it down for a minute, get the tree limb out of your way or something like that.
These little guys up here are sharp even if it's not running so don't
be putting your fingers all over it. Now sometimes this chain will come loose.
You should have a tool similar for this thing with yours you loosen up these
nuts right here obviously you do the while it's off. And pull this out. This will
actually pull out tighter and then you tighten it back up.
Took me FOREVER to figure that out.
Shiny! Let's be bad guys.
Let me show you just just happened.
Sometimes, the chain gets stuck.
Uh oh.
So I ran out of gas. Chainsaws, much like weed whackers, are
two cycle engines which means they use both an oil & gas mixture. If you try just
using gas in here the whole thing is gonna seize up. The oil that you mix in
with the gasoline actually keeps the whole thing lubricated.
You know, again, always read your manual.
Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal.