Getting old is not for the faint of heart. And recently my age started to catch up with me and I needed to make some changes.
I have a small confession to make, and this is really hard for me to share, BUT here goes . . .
I AM A SCAVENGER OF WOOD.
I haven't "bought" firewood in years. Instead after every storm I cruise the neighborhood looking for any fallen limbs that my neighbors have put out to the side of the road for the Town to pick up.
Any nice piece of hardwood is coming home with me!
I will cut it up and let it season for a year in the hot Carolina sun and then split it in the Fall.
This past Fall I ran into a small problem with my gas powered chainsaw. Well to be honest there was nothing wrong with chainsaw as much as with the operator, me.
In the past year or so, an old problem of mine resurfaced. I have a shoulder adhesion.
A shoulder adhesion is essentially a building up of scar tissue. When the scar tissue tears it causes a great deal of pain.
Shoulder adhesion can be caused by a surgery, an injury or by years of overuse.
One of the main culprits of developing the scar tissue in the shoulder from overuse is swimming.
Yep, I spent way too many hours if the pool swimming lap after lap. In fact, the problem got so bad that several years ago I had to give up swimming altogether.
I thought I was done with the problem since I had given up swimming. But then again the grim reaper is always at your heels reminding you that time and tide wait for no man.
Sometime last year I began to experience intermittent episodes of pain in my shoulder. It is not a constant pain but rather a sudden shocking pain when I would twist or pick up anything heavy. The pain is caused by the ripping of the scar tissue. My old friend had returned to cause painful zingers by tearing the scar tissue. The delightful vicissitudes of life.
Great word or what?
This past Fall when I started to cut some of my recently scavenged wood I primed the chainsaw and pulled on the starter cord. It had been a few months since I had used the chainsaw and it took several pulls to get the chainsaw fired up. And with each pull of the cord came that electric shock of pain as my shoulder scars were shredded.
Words that would make a sailor blush came flying out of my mouth.
I must have cut wood for about an hour that day before I gave up. The starting and stalling and starting again just were too much for this old boy.
Now I was not about to give up one of my favorite hobbies of scavenging wood, not because I am cheap and refuse to "buy" firewood, but because I am frugal and stubborn. Waste not want not that's my motto.
Enter the Oregon Electric Chainsaw!
No Pull Cord! No vibration of a gas powered engine! No Stalling and No Restarting. Just me and the chainsaw! Added bonus the thing is self-sharpening. No more sitting at the work bench filing the chain. And no more cutting a log with a dull blade while trying to convince myself that the chain does not need to be sharpened.
I was not sure if an electric chainsaw would be up to the task of cutting all the wood I had gathered.
The saw did great on the smaller pieces. However, I had some very large pieces of oak that until four months ago were high up in a tree.
Me and the Oregon Electric Chainsaw versus a relatively green and large piece of Oak.
And the winner was?
I will let these logs sit in the hot Carolina sun and split them this Fall. Oddly enough, splitting wood is great for my shoulder as all the scar tissue gets ripped up and I am pain free for a at least a week.
So there you have it some more free firewood for the pile. The battery never ran out and the electric chainsaw proved powerful enough to cut Oak.
The electric chainsaw turned out to be great for my shoulder. Added bonus is that Oregon has an entire line of power tools that will run on the same battery.
I just might have to say goodbye to all the starter cords in my garage.