iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

chainsaw use by kids

Started by Engineer, November 09, 2005, 11:50:29 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Engineer

I know, scary topic, but I'm curious.  My Dad let me use his old Homelite Super XL when I was about 15, just bucking firewood that was up on a sawbuck.  No safety gear other than earmuffs.    My oldest son will be 14 in December, and while I'm pretty certain that he has little or no interest in actually using a chainsaw, I'm curious as to when some of you taught your kids to do so.  I'd like to get all my kids interested in woodworking and sawmill activities, but only my 10-yr old son has the slightest interest, and he's a wildman.  I know the local highschool offers a forestry and construction program, but they have to be juniors (age 16) to take the classes.  They do offer chainsaw safety and use, as well as operating heavy machinery, and residential construction training.

I think I could get him a lot more "fired up" about being outdoors and working in the woods if I could teach him the basics.  I learned by trial and error, mostly - a lot of stuck bars, hung trees, pinched chains but fortunately no injuries.

Murf

Jon, a friend of mine had the same sort of quandry, only his case, he & the son (14) were in favour of starting him on a saw, mother had a different position on the subject.  ::)

The comprimise they made was to let him use a small saw under very tightly controlled conditions.

He & I welded up a bench to cut up firewood on that included a pivoting frame into which the saw was bolted, it could go up and down only, no ability to kick back, or move sideways, and it couldn't drop further than about 1/2" past (into a recess) the top of the bench. There was also a restraint cord and wrist strap which prevented the boy from putting his left hand too far to the right and into the way of the blade.

It seemed to satisfy everybody, they have lots of firewood, Dad has a helper, and Mom can relax, just a little.  ;D
If you're going to break a law..... make sure it's Murphy's Law.

iain

Dont really have to much to say on kids
but i know a few adults that should'nt use one but do ::)


        iain

Ernie

When our daughter (now 33 years old)  was 3 or 4 and hinting at Christmas presents, all she wanted was a chainsaw like Dad's.  Sorta makes you feel good don't it?.. She got her wish in plastic that made a noise that was nowhere near rel but she sure was one happy little girl ;D ;D
A very wise man once told me . Grand children are great, we should have had them first

crtreedude

I was repairing lawnmowers, sawing wood, you name it when I was about 11. I survived with only a few injuries.  ::)

I would start with things that are a little less dangerous and watch them. For example, a jigsaw. You have to work at it to really do nasty things with a jigsaw - but you can hurt yourself enough to learn a lesson or two.

Then, I would have them show you where to cut on a tree - and do it, but make sure there are no vehicles around. Let them know that when that trees starts to go, there is no going back. I don't think the chainsaw is near as dangerous as the tree when it starts coming down.

Just my dos colones...

So, how did I end up here anyway?

dave7191

 My boy was running the saw by the time he was 14 but had been loading trucks for sever years by then had been around the equiment from the time he was 6 or 7 he would go to the woods with us anytime he could I've been runnung a saw sence i 10 or 11  but by the same token i was sent to the elavator with the a john deere a in forth gear with two wagons full of wheat when i was 8 was doing feild work from then on
Dave

ohsoloco

No little ones (yet) to think about teaching how to use a chainsaw.  I can't remember how old I was when my dad finally let me use his chainsaw (which was my pap's originally), but I would say somewhere around 15 or 16.  Not much in the way of instruction, just a very stern "be EXTREMELY careful with that thing, it doesn't know the difference between your hand or that chunk of wood!"  I'm guessing that's the same speech he got when he was allowed to use that chainsaw.  Luckily I was careful, and read up a little bit on how to properly use one. 

Ernie, I loved my little plastic chainsaw when I was little too  ;D

Don_Papenburg

Dave , How long till you started useing 5th and 6th without telling pop?  then did you ever pull the governer lever with your toe to get just a bit more speed?

I was supposed to cultivate corn with the 50  and two row in third gear . After a few rounds and my dad on the far end of the field  3rd seemd slow . I stuckit in 4th and moved along quite well . Afew rounds later that too was slow and boring so I went too 5th . That was neet ,I was getting somthing done and it wasn't even pulling it down. You guessed it 6th gear and I promptly killed it . very dissapointed I went back to 5th.
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

isawlogs

 Don ..
  I did not have the toe thing on the governor ... but had a wire tide to it ... Not really a good idea when you come up the hill at home and dads sitting in the rocker on the back porch looking at the tractor wiz by  ::) ...  not really good at all ....  trust me on this one ....
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

pigman

Never got to use a chainsaw until I worked for Uncle Sam. My dad had an old two man Mall chainsaw that was too heavy for me to use when I was young. After dad go a smaller oneman saw, the older brothers got to use it and I had to do the manual labor. :(
Things turn out best for people who make the best of how things turn out.

Billy_Bob

What concerns me is the way kids drive their cars around... too much speed, careless, etc.

I am of course talking about myself and what I did when I was that age!

And I also liked to experiment - fool around, push things to the limit, etc.

I never operated a chainsaw when I was a kid, but if I was given the opportunity to do so unsupervised, I think the first thing I would have done would be to find the largest tree I could cut down...

But all kids are different.



rebocardo

I like what Murf posted the best, then again all kids are different. I knew one guy that lost his thumb as a kid just using a hand saw to cut wood. Might have been worse if he had access to a power tool, then again 50 years ago, everyone on the farm worked with tools before they were ten.

Gilman

I don't recall when I started using a chainsaw, but I was carving with one in the sixth grade.  My parents must have talked to each other about how safe of an activity that was for thier son to be doing.  I think dad won, I got an electric chainsaw for christmas.  ;D  The chain that came with it was worthless until I ground off the anti kickback rakes. I would have loved to have gotten a book on using a chainsaw properly with it though.


My newphews are around the 6th grade age now.  I look at the safety issue a little different now.
WM LT70, WM 40 Super, WM  '89 40HD
Cat throwing champion 1996, 1997, 1999. (retired)

JimBuis

I know a thing or two about teaching kids how to use sharp tools since I teach Middle School and High School wood shop.  I have 6th graders using power tools.  However, none of them is allowed to touch anything that is electrically powered, cord or no cord, without being taught one on one how to operate it.  They start on the scroll saw, as in the bench mounted reciprocating saw.  I then teach them to use a cordless drill.  Next is the combination belt sander/disk sander.  I do not let them use the table saw, radial arm saw, or planer/joiner until high school.  In 7th grade I introduce the band saw and miter saw/chop saw.  In 9th grade they can use the radial arm saw.  In 10th grade, the table saw.  At any point, if a student shows hesitancy toward one of the big saws, I do the cut for them.

Personally, I was operating the tractor for basic stuff like pulling the hay wagon in low gear from age 5, shooting a 22 and shotgun at age 8, driving the farm truck at 10, and having free use of the guns at 10.  I was threatened with the beating of my life by my old man who was true to his word if I EVER stepped out of line with any of the guns or equipment.  So I didn't.

I would teach my son to use the chain saw without hesitation.  I would supervise him closely.  He would never run it, at first, without me being right beside him.  At some point though when I knew the time was right, I would begin to loosen the reigns.  However,  I wouldn't have him felling trees without the same sort of close supervision at first and probably not before about 16 or so depending upon his level of interest and skill level.

Skill level.  I have one high school boy who scares me to death around everything that is electrical and sharp.  For that matter he scares me with a plain old wood chisel.  However, I have a couple of 7th graders I would be tempted to turn loose with the table saw except they are not yet tall enough or strong enough and I don't want to contradict my own safety policy.

Like some have said a few times, it depends on the kid, but it also depends upon the techniques you use to instruct him or her.  If they are really interested, pay close attention to what they are taught, practice what they are taught and respect it, and particularly if they prove themselves to be skillful, I would encourage them and press on.

Good luck and enjoy your kids,
Jim Buis
Christian Academy in Japan
Wood Shop Teacher
Jim Buis                             Peterson 10" WPF swingmill

beenthere

I did most of the chain saw work when my boys grew up, as they didn't have the interest or desire to get ahold of it. I find that to be an  underlying need, to learn to do it right and safe.

Reminds me of when our youngest (boy) wanted to join the others making Christmas presents. When I opened my present from Mike (who was 5 going on 16), it was a walnut block (¾" x 3" x 12") with pictures pasted to it and a coating of finish, for my desk at work. I inquired where he picked up the walnut and he said "in your shop". I had some rough walnut there, but none surfaced as this one was.  More inquiry, turns out he gave instructions to his Mom on how to run the radial arm for length, the table saw for width AND the 6" jointer for jointing the faces AND the ends. I cringed as "Mom" didn't know a thing about these tools, let alone not jointing end grain on such a short length as 3".  All fingers, eyes, and parts were intact - but apparently 5 yr old Mike was pretty convincing that its "how Dad would do it", and that's what he wanted. (He's designing doors for Boeing 787's now ;) ) and Mom hasn't been in my shop since - as I explained how very lucky she was to have pulled-off what she did for Mike. 
My other boy bought his own chainsaw at age 40 last year. We cut side by side for awhile as he learned 'later in life' that wood cutting was not just 'work'.  :)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Mike_Barcaskey

I let my kids use one with me standing by their side at 12 years of age
let them buck a log into firewood length, out in the open, no issues
I probably wont let them use a saw on the job or by themselves until they are  16
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Stump Jumper

my son will be 12 soon and he wants to run my saw 034 no decompress .I've been teaching him safty little by little but he wont be tought hands on untill he can start it on his own without too much diffaculty.i will then re-evaluate
Jeff
May God Bless.
WM LT 40 SuperHDD42 HP Kubota walk & ride, WM Edger, JD Skidsteer 250, Farmi winch, Bri-Mar Dump Box Trailer, Black Powder

beenthere

stump_jumper
From what I remember of your son Jon at the pig roast, he will be a quick learner and hard worker. Great kid (and surprised a bit that you say he is just goin on 12). Good on ya!  :)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

dave7191

Don i'm sure by the following year i was using 5th and  6th been knowen to disk and drag in 5th  and bring two or three wagons of hay up the lane in 6th 
I was running all the equiment and truck by the time I was 10 or 11  execpt the corn picker never did run it but a row or two the last year I was home
Dave

Stump Jumper

thanks beenthere
jon will be 12 in february he allready drives my skidsteer quite well moving slabwood and back blading the drive
Jeff
May God Bless.
WM LT 40 SuperHDD42 HP Kubota walk & ride, WM Edger, JD Skidsteer 250, Farmi winch, Bri-Mar Dump Box Trailer, Black Powder

Paul_H

Quote from: stump_jumper on November 10, 2005, 01:05:03 PM
my son will be 12 soon and he wants to run my saw 034 no decompress .I've been teaching him safty little by little but he wont be tought hands on untill he can start it on his own without too much diffaculty.i will then re-evaluate

That is an excellent rule-  no run saw until you can start saw by yourself.
Science isn't meant to be trusted it's to be tested

raycon

I'd say it depends 13- 15 seems about right.

As a kids we were started off with the ax. First off chopping kindling and splitting wood from halve's down to quarters etc.  Teaches good hand I cordination so said dad.  Then from there we got to chop down  trees nothing of size . From there we got to delimb the tops and make brush piles  :-[ with just the ax. Yah we got dinged up but we'd pride ourselves on being able to knock a limb off flush in the least amount of swings and I swear we commented on each piece of wood when packing the wood stove how clear of knubs are firewood was. Knub free meant it would not hang on the door of the stove and we could pack more in the stove before heading off to bed or out skating. What did we all buy with allowance double headed axes and a arkansas stone. Dad trained us well looking back on it.

It did not take long for us to figure out how to throw axes either. How to pace off a distance and stick the ax into a target either with the handle up or down. Shanking the side of a tree was a reason to be ashamed and often meant an hour of touching up the head  with a stone.  After dad saw us doing that we moved up to the chainsaw. By that time we were use to moving logs, could work as a team well and respected the energy stored in a tree. The chainsaw jump was no big deal. Probably around 7th or 8th grade for me that would be 12/13 years old I think. The dangerous times came when we were 16 and older when we thought we knew everythnig. My son's 8 next week he's just using the hatchet with close supervision (real close) and can make a bird house with a hand saw from 1/2 inch boards. I think I'm overly cautious with him so I'd be surprised if I let him handle the saw solo before he's 14/15.
Lot of stuff..

Don_Papenburg

I sawlogs ,  You actualy drove past your house with the gov wired  :o ;D ;D
I made sure my dad was at least a mile away before I sped up progress. You could hear them things overrunning the rated speed two miles away.
So what did it cost ya?  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

solodan

I have two girls, the 7 year old doesn't seem to care about the chainsaws too much, but she did help me build a firewood shed a couple of weeks ago. the 1-1/2 year old runs around all day yelling " CHAIN FAWF CHAIN FAWF"

Thank You Sponsors!