We moved from Sutherland Shire NSW, which is really part of Greater Sydney, and downsized to Albion Park in the Illawarra Shire.
We were lucky enough to land ourselves in a townhouse that fronts a creek and a green belt which hides the serenity of the power lines quite cleverly and you are also hard placed to see, or even hear the nearby streets and houses on the other side of the bushland scrub.
9 dead trees just in this pictureSomeone, of doubtful parentage, had copper nailed and ring barked a few of the once beautiful native gums. The vandalism did not destroy all of the bush setting but as you can see in the photo we have our fair share of dead trees, bordering the creek.
I counted more than 14 dead trees, and formulated a plan to replenish the area with 20 trees, significantly less dead ones, as well as cut down a few of the more prominent deceased ones.
The first thing to do, before cutting down a tree, even or perhaps, especially a dead one, is to watch the tree closely to see just who might be living in it. The tree centre photo with the table and bird feeding bowl is home to a nesting pair of Wood Ducks. So it stays.
Happy Family
The majority of the others are mostly home to black ants, and cockroaches, so what the heck, down they are to come.
Not all the dead trees are ugly either and may later house more interesting wildlife, but it must be remembered that they also pose a potential fire hazard with no cooling leaves to help staunch a flare up.
So off to Bunnings I go and buy the cheapest model Ryobi + one, 10" bar chainsaw; the one without the chain brake.
READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!
These may appear to be little more than hobby tools, but can still cut your leg clean off in seconds.
You have to oil the chain every minute or so, and if you follow the guides on how to fell a tree, you'll be as surprised as was I at how straightforward and easy it is.
I cut down 2 trees, and cut them up into fire wood blocks and cut up 2 more felled trees before the motor seized up.
I went back to Bunnings who happily replaced the chainsaw and i went back and burnt the replacement one within the hour.
I phoned Ryobi, and explained that I had burnt out my second chainsaw, and that I read and understood the instructions.The representative immediately assured me that I could go back to Bunnings and get another...... But, says I, do you really want me to burn out several more of your chainsaws? Sooner or later either you or Bunnings are going to get a little uncomfortable with the turnover of stock and i am not going to remain happy having to run to Bunnings every hour to get a new one.
Burn out log
Bunnings however, well they suggested that I buy the slightly more expensive 'brushless' model.
Hang on what?
Well the one I had been burning out was driven by the type of motor that we learned about in school. (some 45 years ago). The motor consists of a set up involving electro magnets and permanent magnets on a spindle held in place with bushes, or brushes on either end. These dudes get hot due to the friction of the motor spinning. They also wear out, in time, due to the same friction. That's a poor thumbnail sketch of a brushed motor.
A brushless motor is kind of configured the other way around and is suspended in the middle of the magnets. No brushes to get hot, or wear out because there is very little friction.
So I buy the brushless one for nearly twice the original price and have since cut down every tree between here and Shellharbour and have a stack of fire wood that can be seen form the moon!
If you need a chainsaw, think first about what you are going to use it for.
The Brushed motor is an excellent tool for light to medium pruning. It can fell a tree with a 10" dia if needed. But be careful that is about its limit I would think.
The Brushless motor, well it's even excellenter . I have tested it on trees with 15" dia, and have split a log in half to make a foundation for a bridge. (More of that later). It, so far, has shown no signs of packing it in and takes pride of place in my + one collection.
