The First Saw You Bought

[Loony661]

This thread continues to entertain me with every individual story.

 

[CrystalRiver1]

I grew up helping my older brother frame houses....but I was always a gearhead. So, I went to trade school to be a mechanic. Worked as a mechanic for awhile on flat rate....but framing houses paid better so I went back to that. Spent the next couple of decades framing. But I built engines and transmissions for my friends, and drag raced every weekend. I got pretty good at making power....

Then I got really sick from a tick bite. One doc said it was Lymes, another said it was something else. I'm not sure, I was just sick. Thank God our home was paid for, or we would have lost everything. I sold my race cars, sold several classic cars and trucks, and managed to keep the lights on.

During that time, I also found out that I had Hepatitis C, and that my liver was damaged. So I started an experimental treatment program for the Hepatitis.

Holy hell was I ever sick then. They used chemotherapy drugs back then to kill Hepatitis. Between the tick bite and the other I was weak as a kitten.

It took a couple of years to begin to feel better....and when I did, I got bored. I found a Stihl 028 that I had smashed with a pine tree in one of the sheds, and decided to fix it. Searching for parts online led me to Arboristsite. Well I started reading about guys hopping up chainsaws !!!!! Yes chainsaws. Hopped up chainsaws? Is that really a thing?

Well hell.....I couldn't afford to build another drag car, but I could afford to build a saw engine. So I did. And it ran pretty well.

I started tinkering with saws as a way to make a few bucks.....I was still too weak to build a house, but I was able to sit down and work on a saw.

I heard about a gtg in the next county over, so I went....and there I ran a Treemonkey MS660. That was a stout saw...and I was determined to build saws that ran like that one did. By then I was fixing a few saws locally, and selling used parts on Ebay. Saws were helping pay the bills. Before too long I had ported a few, and I got a small lathe, and some better porting tools.

Then I heard about a gtg where they were gonna race 046/MS460s in a 24 x 24 piece of poplar. So I built an 046 for the race. Believe it or not, I won that race. Before I left there that day a few guys were asking me if I would be willing to do a saw for them........

Awesome bro!
Steven Spielberg can't pen a script that well!
BRAVO!

 

[farminkarman]

I grew up helping my older brother frame houses....but I was always a gearhead. So, I went to trade school to be a mechanic. Worked as a mechanic for awhile on flat rate....but framing houses paid better so I went back to that. Spent the next couple of decades framing. But I built engines and transmissions for my friends, and drag raced every weekend. I got pretty good at making power....

Then I got really sick from a tick bite. One doc said it was Lymes, another said it was something else. I'm not sure, I was just sick. Thank God our home was paid for, or we would have lost everything. I sold my race cars, sold several classic cars and trucks, and managed to keep the lights on.

During that time, I also found out that I had Hepatitis C, and that my liver was damaged. So I started an experimental treatment program for the Hepatitis.

Holy hell was I ever sick then. They used chemotherapy drugs back then to kill Hepatitis. Between the tick bite and the other I was weak as a kitten.

It took a couple of years to begin to feel better....and when I did, I got bored. I found a Stihl 028 that I had smashed with a pine tree in one of the sheds, and decided to fix it. Searching for parts online led me to Arboristsite. Well I started reading about guys hopping up chainsaws !!!!! Yes chainsaws. Hopped up chainsaws? Is that really a thing?

Well hell.....I couldn't afford to build another drag car, but I could afford to build a saw engine. So I did. And it ran pretty well.

I started tinkering with saws as a way to make a few bucks.....I was still too weak to build a house, but I was able to sit down and work on a saw.

I heard about a gtg in the next county over, so I went....and there I ran a Treemonkey MS660. That was a stout saw...and I was determined to build saws that ran like that one did. By then I was fixing a few saws locally, and selling used parts on Ebay. Saws were helping pay the bills. Before too long I had ported a few, and I got a small lathe, and some better porting tools.

Then I heard about a gtg where they were gonna race 046/MS460s in a 24 x 24 piece of poplar. So I built an 046 for the race. Believe it or not, I won that race. Before I left there that day a few guys were asking me if I would be willing to do a saw for them........

Pretty cool story on how you got into messing with saws and found a way to provide for your family in the wake of being that sick.

First saw I ever bought was a Husky 455 rancher that I purchased from Tractor Supply Company in Little Rock, AR. I was a college student doing an internship just outside of Little Rock, and the town I was living in got sacked by 90mph straight line winds. The family I was staying with was out of town for a wedding, and they lost both trees in their front yard and two in the back. I removed all four trees and cleaned up the mess before they got home and proceeded to spend the next couple days helping neighbors clean up from the storm....must have put 5 gallons through that saw in the first three days I had it. I really liked that saw until I ran a ported 372xp....then the ol 455 just wouldn't cut it anymore.

 

[Scotty Overkill]

I grew up helping my older brother frame houses....but I was always a gearhead. So, I went to trade school to be a mechanic. Worked as a mechanic for awhile on flat rate....but framing houses paid better so I went back to that. Spent the next couple of decades framing. But I built engines and transmissions for my friends, and drag raced every weekend. I got pretty good at making power....

Then I got really sick from a tick bite. One doc said it was Lymes, another said it was something else. I'm not sure, I was just sick. Thank God our home was paid for, or we would have lost everything. I sold my race cars, sold several classic cars and trucks, and managed to keep the lights on.

During that time, I also found out that I had Hepatitis C, and that my liver was damaged. So I started an experimental treatment program for the Hepatitis.

Holy hell was I ever sick then. They used chemotherapy drugs back then to kill Hepatitis. Between the tick bite and the other I was weak as a kitten.

It took a couple of years to begin to feel better....and when I did, I got bored. I found a Stihl 028 that I had smashed with a pine tree in one of the sheds, and decided to fix it. Searching for parts online led me to Arboristsite. Well I started reading about guys hopping up chainsaws !!!!! Yes chainsaws. Hopped up chainsaws? Is that really a thing?

Well hell.....I couldn't afford to build another drag car, but I could afford to build a saw engine. So I did. And it ran pretty well.

I started tinkering with saws as a way to make a few bucks.....I was still too weak to build a house, but I was able to sit down and work on a saw.

I heard about a gtg in the next county over, so I went....and there I ran a Treemonkey MS660. That was a stout saw...and I was determined to build saws that ran like that one did. By then I was fixing a few saws locally, and selling used parts on Ebay. Saws were helping pay the bills. Before too long I had ported a few, and I got a small lathe, and some better porting tools.

Then I heard about a gtg where they were gonna race 046/MS460s in a 24 x 24 piece of poplar. So I built an 046 for the race. Believe it or not, I won that race. Before I left there that day a few guys were asking me if I would be willing to do a saw for them........

The beginnings of a legend! And I'm hoping you're feeling even better now, I remember the issues you had with the tick bite but didn't realize the other issues you had...

 

[Mastermind]

The beginnings of a legend! And I'm hoping you're feeling even better now, I remember the issues you had with the tick bite but didn't realize the other issues you had...

I sorta kept the Hepatitis C to myself because of the stigma attached to it. I didn't get it by being an IV drug user, and was afraid people might assume that I was.

The specialist I saw for it said I had been infected with it for a great many years. My liver function tests was how I ended up being diagnosed with it. I think I got it from a tattoo gun when I was a teenager.

 

[Duce]

I sorta kept the Hepatitis C to myself because of the stigma attached to it. I didn't get it by being an IV drug user, and was afraid people might assume that I was.

The specialist I saw for it said I had been infected with it for a great many years. My liver function tests was how I ended up being diagnosed with it. I think I got it from a tattoo gun when I was a teenager.

Agree with you about the stigma thing in the back of my head. But, I am over it, got mine from blood transfusions after hitting a semi head on returning to college after working the weekend. What I am most upset about is donating blood after accident and not knowing I had virus until 1993 after giving blood again. How many people are walking around with Hep C that never did anything wrong to obtain it. Been treated for it and failed, lucky me. Being a male and having it for over 45 years, makes it harder to clear. Infectious disease specialists dislike having a negative outcome attached to their record. Believe if you where born before 1993 you should be tested for it. Rant over.

 

[Mastermind]

Agree with you about the stigma thing in the back of my head. But, I am over it, got mine from blood transfusions after hitting a semi head on returning to college after working the weekend. What I am most upset about is donating blood after accident and not knowing I had virus until 1993 after giving blood again. How many people are walking around with Hep C that never did anything wrong to obtain it. Been treated for it and failed, lucky me. Being a male and having it for over 45 years, makes it harder to clear. Infectious disease specialists dislike having a negative outcome attached to their record. Believe if you where born before 1993 you should be tested for it. Rant over.

I'm guessing of course about how I got it. It could have been from blood I was given too. I cut my foot when I was 10 or 12. I jumped off the creek bank into the water and landed on the bottom of a broken mason jar. I was in the hospital for a few days....and on crutches for 8 weeks. I'm sure I was given blood, because I lost a lot.

 

[Duce]

I'm guessing of course about how I got it. It could have been from blood I was given too. I cut my foot when I was 10 or 12. I jumped off the creek bank into the water and landed on the bottom of a broken mason jar. I was in the hospital for a few days....and on crutches for 8 weeks. I'm sure I was given blood, because I lost a lot.

My biggest concern was if I gave it to my wife or children. Good thing is it's hard to transmit unless it's blood to blood. They have all been tested several times. Stigma, people doing IV drugs and passing it on have to be compassion- less at best. Having to have blood transfusions and not receiving them would have been worse. Only myself to blame, caused enough family problems, truck driver sued my stepfather and myself. It was a brand new van he had just purchased and was letting me drive it while repairing my Maverick. Poor me- rant over.

 

[Scotty Overkill]

I sorta kept the Hepatitis C to myself because of the stigma attached to it. I didn't get it by being an IV drug user, and was afraid people might assume that I was.

The specialist I saw for it said I had been infected with it for a great many years. My liver function tests was how I ended up being diagnosed with it. I think I got it from a tattoo gun when I was a teenager.

I know of several people who suffered with that, and just at you mentioned, they were always afraid to be judged by others for the same reasons. Which isn't right or fair.


Glad to hear you've gotten past it buddy.

 

[Mastermind]

My biggest concern was if I gave it to my wife or children. Good thing is it's hard to transmit unless it's blood to blood. They have all been tested several times. Stigma, people doing IV drugs and passing it on have to be compassion- less at best. Having to have blood transfusions and not receiving them would have been worse. Only myself to blame, caused enough family problems, truck driver sued my stepfather and myself. It was a brand new van he had just purchased and was letting me drive it while repairing my Maverick. Poor me- rant over.

We all made mistakes in the past my friend. I am in fact a recovering drug addict. I just wasn't into IV drugs. I once spent 11 months in jail for failing a drug test while on probation. My wife had to step up big time because of my short comings.

When I got out.....I was determined to stay clean. So far I've managed to do it.....but that doesn't change the mistakes of my past. I have to live with that. But my grandchildren don't know that man. They were 2 and 4 when I got clean. I'm proud of that.

 

[Loony661]

We all made mistakes in the past my friend. I am in fact a recovering drug addict. I just wasn't into IV drugs. I once spent 11 months in jail for failing a drug test while on probation. My wife had to step up big time because of my short comings.

When I got out.....I was determined to stay clean. So far I've managed to do it.....but that doesn't change the mistakes of my past. I have to live with that. But my grandchildren don't know that man. They were 2 and 4 when I got clean. I'm proud of that.

They say it matters less where someone’s been, and more where they are going..

 

[Fishnuts2]

Dad was a mechanic and taught me how to repair B & S motors at age nine. Loved messing with small motors ever since.
The first saw I used was my Dad's '69 McCulloch 1-10. He gave it to me around the mid '70's because he couldn't start it. He hated 2 cycle engines, and didn't take the time to see that the carb was vibrated loose from the mount. Anyway, I fixed it and cut cull tie logs for heat for about 10 years. First saw that I paid for was a Jonsereds 49SP in the mid 90's. It was sitting under the bench in a friend's garage and I offered $50 and took it home. I only had these two saws for awhile until I discovered that the Internet had chainsaws! The collection has grown now to about 80 runners of most all the brands, and I'm getting smoke and vibration therapy quite regularly!

 

[FergusonTO35]

First saw I ever bought was a Poulan 2150 to use cutting trails on a hunting lease. It was my only saw for many years and I sure cut alot of wood with it. My wife's uncle still uses it today.

 

[Basher]

I was running my Pioneer 600 that was given to me , was my dads first saw and a clearing job came up so I scrounged up enough cash to buy the Pioneer 1450 in the pic below, was my first new saw. It paid for itself on that one job. We spent many years together after that on all types of woods work and firewood duty.Pioneer made great saws back in the day.

 

[Filthyphil]

First saw i ever used was a 55 rancher. First saw i ever bought was a new 2159. My uncles got me into cutting wood. At the time it was the only pro saw between all of us.

 

[slackinoff]

Mine was a 440 clone kit I built. Great experience....but I feel now that it's worth it to take the time to find a good deal on an OEM saw to rebuild if possible. Just for resale value and also...not buying Chinese on principle.

Not sure on first saw I used. Most likely a ms250 and at the time I didn't care lol. I was in my early 20s building barbed wire fence.

 

[heritageguy20051]

My first saw was a Poulan wild thing. I paid around $125 with a hard case. I helped my uncle cut his firewood. He ran an old Mac and it was clear to me that I needed something better. I went and bought an Echo cs520 and that's when I learned about the difference between homeowner saws and pro saws. Just no comparison.

Sent from my SM-A125U using Tapatalk

 

[Stevetheboatguy]

Poulan 4620 for $30 at a flea market in Alabama. Worked well enough for a guy with no real trees and didn't burn wood.

Then I got the great idea to build my own wood boiler. Needed to get serious about cutting wood. I tried to convince my wife into letting me spend $1000. On a new big husky or stihl. Got shot down before liftoff on that one... Went to plan b. Found a Poulan 245sa and made that my big saw.

That worked well for the first year but then I found A.S while looking for a Poulan 4620 part. A guy had what I needed and ended up giving me a bunch of saws. I was hooked..... The saws all ended up being scrap, but I didn't care. Bought a 268 that ended up being a problem child for the whole winter. Eventually got it sorted out and I learned a lot. And now the rest is history.

Now..... My wifes hindsight is. Had she let me spend the $1000 then. I probably wouldn't have found out anything about saws or power equipment. And that would mean a much more empty garage, shed and barn



Steven