Chainsaw Get Togethers

What's a Chainsaw Get Together? In a word: Camaraderie. And saws. Okay, that's two words.

Let me paint the picture for you.

At the end of last month, April 24, 2016 to be exact, there was a one day chainsaw GTG event that had been promoted on OPEforum.com. That was where the GTG was announced and coordinated. It was a gathering in New York, hosted by @166 (Steven Fitzgerald) and his crew from The Cutting Edge (FastCutting.com). A lot of guys on the forum who are into chainsaw mods, repairs and complete overhauls, or just work with chainsaws, talked it up for weeks.

Chainsaw GTG Chatter

There was a ton of chatter in the weeks leading up to the event on
OPEforum about who's attending, their mode of transportation, and what saws they're bringing. Documentation about it, and praise & thanks for the event continued for days afterward. Still going on even now. Yes, the photos and videos and camaraderie continues well into May. It's a 72 page thread on OPEforum at the time of this writing.

What Went On At The NY Chainsaw GTG

@166 bought a drone to provide live video. Want the bird's eye view? Looky here to see what a drone sees.


About the drone and video recording the gathering, Steven said, "It has its own 4K camera built in. Also have a GoPro that can be used for misc jobs at the GTG! Should I do the Live YouTube Feed this year? I wasn't happy with the video/sound quality of last years."

GoPro on a chainsaw? @Jeepyfz450 posted a video of it on the 44th page of the NY Chainsaw GTG thread http://opeforum.com/threads/upstate-ny-gtg-16.234/page-44 shot with a flat adhesive mount.

Here's a random video compilation of the goins on that day (courtesy of @Mattyo):

About the Chainsaw GTG

Some wives protested, looks like only one participated. There were visitors from 10-12 states plus Canada. Wait, isn't Canada a state?

There were displays of power and lots of log cutting. Various bits of some sawyers' collections were on display. There were saws and parts for vintage or new chainsaws to sell or swap. Someone was on hand for chain sharpening too. Oh, and they had a door prize. CHACHING! Read on to find out about it.

Ya bouy, there were plenty o' logs to cut, and they got cut. Watch @Adirondackstihl's (Jeremy's) video of the cuttin'.

http://opeforum.com/members/adirondackstihl.17/ said, "This GTG isn't geared toward racing. Too many butt hurt feelings at the end of the day. Last thing we want is this to turn into a competition. I only say that cause my saws are slow and I get butt hurt easily."

Lots of saws.


Lots of people.


The gracious hosts even had a snack wagon on site. No snackie womens.


There were big saws, and li'l saws...


The equipment that seemed to get the hardest workout was the cant stand built and beautifully decorated by @adirondackstihl. That thing took more pounding than a $5 ho on a cruise ship. No wonder she can't stand!


Here's @166 testing a Two Idiots Logging cant stand.


About that door prize: When sawyers arrived, they signed in and filled out a raffle ticket to win a Makita Cordless / Corded 4.5" Grinder Kit. OPEforum's @Scotty49 offered to help with sign in and the grinder raffle tickets.

@mattyo held a Husqvarna 350 challenge, in which he compared several mods he'd performed on various 350s. He said, "I assume everyone isn't interested in my 350 challenge. ...but for those that are....would be nice to have a set time so everyone can be present that wants to be." This video shows the saw contestants

and this one shows the outcome of the challenge.

When the Chainsaw GTG Was All Over

@MustangMike said, "Was great to see old faces and meet new faces, see all sorts of great saws and other related items, new & old, and share saws with others."

OPEforum's @Lee H posted, "Want to give a big Thanks to Steve (@166), Scott (@Cuttinscott) & everyone else responsible for this chainsaw shin dig. As usual it was a great time. Glad to see some old friends and meet new ones. Got a chance to run some very nice saws as well as get the dust off some of mine. Fired up the new Echo 1201 and what a saw it is."

When good folks gather, great things can happen. @malk315 posted, "Been working on this [chainsaw dyno] since CT GTG back in November! Really enjoy this stuff and the hardware software for it is where I can contribute best. So far Dan, Al, Randy, Fred, and Bill and I have been involved and the guys are pretty psyched. First home brew saw dyno with sensors and compute platform I think! More soon." There's a thread about it http://opeforum.com/threads/saw-dyno.2285/ so you can read up on the progress of the chainsaw dyno.

Who won the door prize? "I must say, this G2G was an absolute blast, and well worth the trip. (2+hrs for me, not bad at all.). Not only did we get to run some serious wood-eatin' machinery, but I enjoyed meeting a lot of great folks that I haven't run into previously. Plus, I made out like a bandit, @Definitive Dave was giving out some great freebies, I won the Makita grinder kit (drawing prize) which blows me away :bug: since I NEVER win drawings. It's a cosmic law somewhere I'm sure. So thank you so much Dave for the tool pouch and non-flippy caps! The tool pouch is extremely innovative and well made, and the caps are going to be the cats azz for many I am sure!

A huge shout-out to @166 and his crew at The Cutting Edge as this event is undoubtedly a ton of work on their part. The food was A+ (and complimentary....) and a fella couldn't ask for nicer hosts." --'Twas @MasterMech

If you have a chainsaw GTG to advertise, you're welcome to post it on OPEforum for free. There'll be plenty of discussion about it thereafter in an automatically created forum thread.


So, on behalf of everyone who attended, to those who didn't: GFY! (God Forgives You.) See ya next time.