Catastrophe Strikes !

A chainsaw has been an important part of our lives for at least the past 40 years. I bought my first chainsaw soon after we built our first house in Belgrave South. Over the 8 years that we lived there, that saw was used almost every weekend. We cut down numerous trees and sawed untold tons of firewood. When we purchased the block next door, the saw was busy again, clearing numerous large trees, cutting fence posts and sleepers for landscaping. It was an essential part of our life there.

When we moved to our property in Emerald in 1983, the chain saw worked just as hard as ever. The woodshed was always packed with wood, and there were always serious cutting jobs that needed doing. Eventually, some time in the mid 90s, the old saw breathed its last. I went down to Monbulk Mowers and purchased a new Stihl 025 saw.

That saw was one of most useful tools in the 30 years that we lived there. It worked tirelessly and never failed me once. In my spare time I would often roam the hills looking for fallen trees to cut for firewood, returning with the trailer loaded to bursting with fuel for the next winter.

When the time came for us to sell the Emerald property, most of my power tools, tractor, etc were sold in a big garage sale. My huge garage was emptied for the first time in many years. Well almost emptied. There was one item that I just could not bear to part with - my faithful Stihl 025.

And so it came with us to Pakenham. And there it sat languishing in the garden shed. About once a year there was a job that required a chainsaw, thus validating my decision to keep it. With such extended periods of not being used, I was always a little worried that it might not start. If one chainsaw year is equivalent to seven human years, then my saw must be about 175 years old !

But the Stihl always rose to the occasion. I never had a problem starting it and, although it probably did not have the pep it once had (and neither do I), it always got the job done.

The rear of our property at Inverloch has a row of cypress trees. And I hate them. When I am down there I take to the low hanging branches with a bow saw, and lop a few of them off. It is hard work, but we have made a little progress. Since we were coming back to our Pakenham house yesterday, I had a good idea. Why not bring the trusty old chainsaw down and stage a more serious attack on those trees ? What could possibly go wrong ?

So I packed the chainsaw, mixed up a new tank of 2 stroke, and brought it back to Inverloch with us. I could hardly wait to get started. I could almost feel those cypress trees quivering in fear.

The morning broke fine and clear -a perfect day for chainsawing. I balanced at the top of a rickety set of steps and started working. Branches started falling. Soon I had a huge pile of debris scattered about. The cypresses had taken a serious, but not mortal, hit. It was at that point that my endeavours came to a sudden halt.

I was happily cutting away at some of the fallen branches when I heard a loud noise from the saw, accompanied by the unpleasant tinkling sound of pieces of metal falling onto the concrete path. "That is not good", I thought. It wasn't. I immediately shut down the saw to examine the carnage. Closer inspection revealed that the entire muffler assembly had dissociated itself from the saw and lay in fragments at my feet.

I then somehow stopped thinking clearly and bent down to pick up the largest pieces, forgetting that they were still extremely hot. The result was burnt fingertips. I decided to wait a while before collecting the rest of the remnants. I did not realise that mufflers had so many components and I had no idea how to put them all back together again. They all ended up in a big plastic bag, and I ended up at the local mower shop.

The friendly mower man assured me that the chainsaw will be back together again "in a few days". I did not ask him if it will be good for another 25 years, but I can't see why that shouldn't be the case. What it does mean is that my sawing has now come to a temporary end. I suppose worse things could have happened.Read more