Drop starting

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I am very curious if anyone has any sources for their claims. I highly doubt drop starting has any effect on the life of a saw. It may shorten the starter the rope life but not enough to worry about.
I do wonder about the wear and tear on the body. I have always felt that drop starting was easier on my body because I am using both my arms and using them in a more natural motion then yanking twice the distance with one arm.

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Willy, I gotta see how you start a saw!
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just kidding!
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With the exception of large saws, 80cc and over, it should start well enough not to need all the momentum you describe. I think starting large saws on the ground is the way to go.

I also realize not all saws perform top notch all the time. Having said that if starting is such a constant problem, then perhaps there is a maintenance/ you-need-to-up-grade issue!
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Let me make a few inquiries. On saw damage. And let me be clear in case I was not in the earlier post. I agree that rough starting will not kill a saw, just one more tweak to the system it does not need. Damn things are expensive! I want them to last as long as possible.

I think the biggest problem is the wear and tear on me! Not to mention the control issue, should something malfunction.

Tony

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Ha ha I may have over exaggerated the yanking and I guess I really wasn't even considering saws under 70cc as they almost stay themselves to me. I keep my saws well tuned and they start excellent. I see where your coming from about the drop starting causing employees to lose respect for the saw. But I still feel that drop starting the saw doesn't hurt them. It also feels easier for me but want to hear more about how it's hard on my body!
 
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"Drop starting the gateway drug" what's next huffing exhaust fumes?

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Dude! We all been doing that for years
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Tony
 
would it be stupid to suggest they redesign chain saws to either be electric start, or at least have an electric assist to reduce the jarring hard pull on the cord ?

Maybe design it without a battery to save weight, but use the pull cord can to charge a capacitor which can then be used to start the saw ?
 
"would it be stupid to suggest they redesign chain saws to either be electric start, or at least have an electric assist to reduce the jarring hard pull on the cord ? "
My guess is that you'd need a whole lot of pulls with a magneto to have any chance of starting a saw, like several minutes of pulling before you'd be able to start. But that's just an intuitive guess not one based on running even the roughest of numbers. Doesn't seem feasible to me given how much longer it would take, and the extra weight and complication. You'd probably still want to be able to start it with a regular pull cord, and I bet that's how it would end up being started most of the time.

I bet the closest we'll get to that a self starting chainsaw is electric chainsaws, which would of course eliminate the question of drop starting entirely. I'm interested to see what develops with battery powered electric chainsaws over the next ten or twenty years.
 
I drop started, or near drop started for years.

Then went through forestry college and it was not allowed and we had to start between the legs or else on the ground with the foot.

That stuck with me for about one or two years after college.

Then I went back to "near-professional starting", almost straight left arm, chain brake on, pull with right arm and extend left arm to straight.

It is faster and easier on the muscles IMO and close to necessary in the trees.

drop starting puts a LOT more force pulling that cord for sure. If the saw is right, it is easy on the body, IMO. That tremendous force turns over that engine like it's worn out and no compression.

Just like a karate punch through a board. Put a lot of force into the motion and there is no resistance. Put less force into it and it might not budge.

Here is where drop starting could be dangerous and this is rare but can happen if you use them every day for many years:
1. IF something is wrong and the piston of the saw is not going to move no matter the force pulled on the cord: This can happen if there is liquid in the combustion chamber, like lots of fuel or partial ignition and extra fumes, or a physical lock up. Putting tremendous force by drop starting will usually result in a broken cord and noticeable pain in the arm and especially the shoulder.

decompression buttons remove a lot of this risk even farther if you push them before every pull.


2. The chain break does not work and the saw pivots a lot because it almost didn't have the piston move, but then did and started; thus having a running chain and contacting a body part.

I think that if the saw is working great, drop starting is actually easier on the body, less every day wear and tear. BUT, that one time the piston is locked up, you will likely break the cord, possibly mess up the reel, stress the saw suspension and tweak your body. So, what do you choose?
 
" BUT, that one time the piston is locked up, you will likely break the cord, possibly mess up the reel, stress the saw suspension and tweak your body. "

If you are not drop starting the saw when that happens, I think you are more likely to tweak your back or neck! It is just my hand that stings for a couple of minutes when the piston locks up. Stihl's fancy starter handle with the spring incorporated into it doesn't seem to do much, either. I think it is just a marketing gimmick.
 
To be honest I'm usually on the move when I'm starting on the ground. I could give an excuse or an explanation but it's what I do. I could say it creates better ergonomics by using the stepping motion to add better momentum control and a motion moving the body away from the saw. I could also say I could trip on a twig and land on my saw. Nevertheless it does make starting easier and maintain project momentum but a bad practice and unprofessional look.
 
I was told that to actually"drop start" a saw you had to have your hand on the throttle, you know like when your ground guys floods it trying to "warm it up for you" then get embarrasses and does not tell you till after you cannot get it started then he yells up and says " yea I could not get it either" at which point you pin the throttle down and rip on the start cord until the veins in you forehead pop out and you run out of breath. hoping it starts before you pass out and you have to rely on that same goof who could not figure out how to choke a cold saw to perform an A.R. on you.

I may have been mis informed, but I was told drop starting is saw moving and hand on the throttle. jokes aside I have seen this many times, even no chain brake. its awesome to watch. one hand on the throttle, usually chain brake off and the saw gets thrown. saw screams. operator stands there in his cargo shorts with a grin like he just killed Goliath.. cherubs and white light streaming though the blue smoke.

I bet the pro saw guys, don't start their own saws for the same reason pro golfers cannot pick out a club. or tennis guys always think the ball they have is not the right one.
 
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I was told that to actually"drop start" a saw you had to have your hand on the throttle

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that's the way the NAA defined it, I really don't know how you could hurt yourself drop starting a saw by holding the front handle(where the saw is balanced), and moving the saw away from you, aside from chronic injuries from starting many saws over many years, but I don't see any way to start or run a saw that wont cause some sort of chronic injury.
 
We start ground saws on the ground...every time. You have to bend down to pick it up anyway.

Chain brake check, switch on, step, pull. After so many years of the same routine, I could only imagine drop starting would slow me down.
 
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We start ground saws on the ground...every time. You have to bend down to pick it up anyway.

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Great point, Ben. Makes me think of the saying OHIO...Only Handle It Once. It's all economy of motion, right?
 
Bend down, start saw, pick it up, vs bend down, pick up saw, start it.
Methods A & B have the same economy of motion......unless maybe you are starting the saw in order to lower a stump.
 
Yeah, but one of the methods keeps the saw completely under control and away from your body. I've had a throttle stuck open before. I've also had an air leak that caused the rpm's to raise and several chain brakes fail from fatigue. Not to mention someone on your crew or a customer or neighbor coming up to talk at the wrong moment.

I drove by another tree crew in the area a while back just as one of the guys came around their truck with saw in hand. Holding it by the throttle, he ripped the cord and started it up mid-stride. No chain brake and wide open. By the look on his face, he felt like the Incredible Hulk. I just thought: "man, I'm glad we don't look like that"

I'm not telling anybody else what to do. Just explaining where I am...

OHIO!!!!
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"I'm not telling anybody else what to do. Just explaining where I am..."

Me too!

When I drop start a saw, I believe it is fully under control. (excepting infrequent Incredible Hulk rear handle full throttle starts of course) I think your / my chances of being injured by said saw are monumentally, infinitesimally greater while cutting vs starting! I would love to see statistics to the contrary. Any notion that drop starting a saw is amateurish or unsafe is a complete fallacy as far as I'm concerned.
When Hank Stamper (Paul Newman) drop started his saw to cut that Union desk in half he was fine! Even if some of the other guys got wiped out, he was ok!
 
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