My application form for boofhead of the week
Good afternoon all,
Week before last, I needed to kneecap a couple of dead gum trees and a liquid amber out the front before they became too much of a problem.
No worries, break out the trusty chainsaw to attack said trees. Hadn't been used since last year when I lent it out to a friend, so thought I'd give it the once over to make sure everything was OK before firing it up. New fuel, chain oil, checked nothing was caught in the blade, oil up chain etc.
Checked the chain to see how the bearings were doing. Bit hard to turn.
Oh well just a bit stiff from inactivity. Fire it up after a couple of pulls, give it a bit of a rev, but still no chain spinning???
Alright, shut her down and disassemble to check why chain isn't going in its preferred spinning motion.
Chain not too tight, no obstructions etc, take blade off and discover that it is the chainwheel (for want of a better word, the spocket that the motor runs to make the chainsaw spin) is seized. Not happy jan, how could something like that happen as it doesn't get that much use, maybe something is caught?
OK then, what was going to be an hour or two of sawing while my daughter had her arvo sleep, is now rapidly becoming a bit more complicated.
Take surclip etc off to get to the chainwheel so that I can get it off and see what I can see. Geez what a hard slog! Took a lot of effort because there was an alloy stip jambed up against the side of it - that must be part of the problem.
Can the real chainsaw operators see where this is going yet - I wish I could have!!!
OK get the sucker off - only to find that there are cylindrical bearings on the shaft, bearings that do not like being yanked by force! 6 out of 14 bearings fly in all sorts of directions and take many minutes to locate.... thank goodness I had just cleaned the workshop
Motor seems to be spinning quite freely, so in fact it is not seized, so what the heck is the problem?!?
Try a dry run of putting spocket back on, and it is going to be ni on impossible with that damn alloy strip in the way, doesn't look round like I thought it should either, I wonder why???
OK, bite the bullet and try to put the bearings back in. Get to the last 2 three times after carefull placement, and then the top ones would fall out....DOH!!! Try using a small screwdriver to put the last two in (after about 15mins of careful placement)
Discover that the bearings are slightly magnetic :eek: :D all bearings stick to said screwdriver and are very close to being flung across the room, but I found my composure just in time.
Decide that after 2 and a bit hours of torture, I can swallow my plide and take it to the pros - after all, it must have come back to me this way, and I had given it a good shot. Must be something quite complex.
Gather up all bits, spend another 20 mins looking for another rogue bearing that slipped to the floor. Tape it all up and head to the shop the next day.
Go in feeling like a bit of a gumby (not our one, the colloquial one for clutz), and telling him so. I quickly explain the painful situation, and my attempts to fix the problem.
Said mechanic, looks at me for a moment, releases the kickback switch that had been activated at some point which locks the blade up in emergencies, and hands me back my chainsaw with a wry smile.Yes that alloy strip was the kickback braking system :o :o
Do I get the prize??
I'm still crying into my pillow at night, and even though the mechanic has always been great and reasonable in price, I am unsure if he will be getting my business again - I just don't think my small bit of pride can take walking back into the shop :D :D :D
Cheerio
