OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Power Equipment...Mishaps and Funny Stuff Melbourne Chain Saw Massacre

Last weekend a couple of blokes down the street were cutting down a palm tree. They came and asked me if they could borrow my long chain block and a cable to pull the tree towards the street. That was no problem and after hearing the saw run for a while it stopped. I looked down the street and they had cut a vee in the trunk about 15 feet up as they has a scissor lift. After a while it was obvious they were not going to get the saw started so I had to take my saw and finish cutting it down, it couldn't be left the way it was. After I cut it down I started asking about what the problem was with the saw they had borrowed. I ended up pulling the plug and it was obvious from the colour it had been run on straight petrol. When I asked if they had put straight petrol in it and not 2 stroke mix, the reply I got was you put the petrol in here and the oil goes in there. Goodnight to another 2 stroke

Idiots! They thought the chain bar oil was the engine oil. Ha! How ignorant are today's young adults honestly?
What colour was the plug?

The Suzuki Carry small vans from the 1970s actually ran on 2 stroke oil where you did put the oil in a separate reservoir and it mixed it automatically. Not with gardening implements though.

Honestly some people were never meant to use power tools were they ?.

MF the plug was a very light tan colour

Hi Norm
They borrowed the saw too!

So, the chain bar oiler became the oil resevoir on a post mix!

What an odd story, Norm. I had never though that type of error could be made.
But it does make sense - why they thought that.
Many folk own post mix motorcycles.

I think it is typical that you would help others in this way.

I can just see coming to the rescue...
A great story!

Thanks
-----------------------
Jack

Honestly some people were never meant to use power tools were they ?.[/quote]


It sounds like the problem was they didn't even know chainsaws used bar oil! This together with no concept of 2 strokes, equals inevitable catastrophic engine damage. The owner won't be impressed.

NormK, now I have an extra bit in my knowledge bank.

Ignorance is one thing and i can respect and appreciate that. What concerns me more is that they were cutting down a tree which can be a highly skilled and intricate job, with a tool that neither of them had obviously never used. How did they know what to do as far as felling the tree...lots of youtube videos maybe.

Even operators that normally know how to operate these handheld 2 cycles will goof up especially with alcohol or drugs are involved. I see several pieces of 2 cycle equipment every year that die an early death due to this. Most times the spark plug here will have aluminum transfer on it. Other times it takes pulling the muffler for a look see of the piston and cylinder. In the last year two years I had a Stihl string trimmer that just repaired brought back the next day that was straight gassed. Owner lost over $100 in repairs and then the whole engine. The second one was just this pass Summer. It was Poulan chainsaw that I repaired, It left with a full tank of 2 cycle fuel mix in but came back a couple weeks with the greyed plug and straight gas. With chainsaws I am very surprised there isn't more accidents that cost a limb or a life. No amount of safety features can over come those operators that are careless. Cutting trees can be a very dangerous job even you're sober. It not something just anyone can do without training. Even experience cutters can have unexpected problems. My brother had been cutting trees for several years when a new saw (just un-boxed and put in operation) got jerk out his hands sorta of. Actually he still was holding the handles in his hands and saw was still running 20 feet away when a wind gust sent the tree in a direction other then the intended direction.

bigted, it never ceases to amaze me what some people think they can do, chainsaws and trees are readily available and people think you just hang onto a chainsaw and down the tree will come. The bloke across the road has just recently returned to work after falling using a chainsaw on a ladder that slipped and dumped him 6 months ago.I never got to check that saw but I have a feeling the chain was on backwards because from the amount of time I heard it running till he fell and it was only a 3 inch diameter branch. If he had tied the ladder off and used a bow saw he wouldn't have spent weeks in hospital and rehab