Essential Know-How to Safely Keep Your Yard Trimmed, Woodpile Stacked, and Chainsaw Running for Years to Come

If you share your property with trees and large shrubs, you probably own a chainsaw-or are thinking of buying one. From cleaning up after a storm to trimming out-of-control hedges, chainsaws can make quick work of a multitude of landscaping jobs. But, as helpful and powerful as chainsaws can be, they are also extremely dangerous. You need to know how to safely and confidently use one-and The Homeowner's Complete Guide to the Chainsaw will show you how.

With hundreds of photographs, illustrations, and step-by-step instructions in plain language, chainsaw experts Brian and Jen Ruth explain in detail everything you need to know to safely operate your chainsaw. In addition to covering essential projects, you will get professional advice and real solutions for:

" Safely operating your chainsaw
" Purchasing a chainsaw that's right for you
" Required protective equipment and gear
" Keeping your chainsaw sharp and running smoothly
" When to call in a pro
" Troubleshooting potential problems

Homeowner's Complete Guide to the Chainsaw will show you how to:
" Fell a small tree
" Limb a down tree
" Cut a log into lengths
" Trim a hedge
" Cut down a large tree using a wedge
" Trim overhead branches
" Bring down a tree near a house
" Cut down a stump
" Build and use a sawbuck
" Split and stack firewood
" Make lumber from logs

About the Authors

Brian and Jen Ruth are internationally known for their performance chainsaw carving business, Masters of the Chainsaw, a group of top professional chainsaw sculptors dedicated to promoting and preserving the integrity of the art form and its performance.

Brian, a former tree surgeon, graduated from Villanova University with a business degree and has been chainsaw carving for 28 years. In addition to winning many U.S. and World chainsaw-carving titles, Brian has carved a larger-than-life Holy Guard for the Shinto-Buddhist Temple in Toei, Japan, an 18-foot memorial in the birthplace of Helen Keller, and likenesses of popular TV personalities.

Jen, who aptly met Brian at a chainsaw demonstration, has been chainsaw carving for the past decade. Previously the Vice President of the United Chainsaw Carvers Guild, Jen currently handles the daily operations of Masters of the Chainsaw while also performing with Chainsaw Chix, the first international all female performance art carving group she launched in 2006.

You can learn more about Brian and Jen at their Websites: www.mastersofthechainsaw.com and www.chainsawchix.com.

Endorsement:

"This is the most complete all-around book on the chainsaw…I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has operated a chainsaw or is thinking of operating a chainsaw."

- Mike Sullivan, 5-Time World Hot Saw Champion, Arborist, and Logger
"For the first time, reading a chainsaw manual is a pleasure instead of a chore! Homeowner's Complete Guide to the Chainsaw, thoroughly researched and richly-illustrated, is a joy to read and shows how a chainsaw, used safely and sensibly, can be a pleasure to work with."
- David Lee, author of Chainsaws: A History

Brian and Jen Ruth are internationally known for their performance chainsaw carving business, Masters of the Chainsaw, a group of top professional chainsaw sculptors dedicated to promoting and preserving the integrity of the art form and its performance.

As an operator of chain saws for 30 years, this is the most complete all-around book on the chain saw that I have read. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has operated a chain saw or is thinking of operating a chain saw.

Ruth, Brian J. & Jen W. Ruth. Homeowner's Complete Guide to the Chainsaw. Fox Chapel. 2009. c.208p. illus. index. ISBN 978-1-56523-356-0. pap. $24.95. DIY
The Ruths here provide expert advice on 12 of the most common household chain-saw operations—e.g., cutting firewood, taking down small trees, trimming branches, removing stumps, milling wood—with lots of healthy attention given to safety. There are also excellent photos of the wrong ways to use the saw. Highly recommended.

Farmers start your chainsaws.

Autumn weather is just right. The cooler air and lower humidity makes being outside truly enjoyable, and its timing is perfect for post-summer and pre-winter chores around the farm. This is an ideal time to get out there with your chainsaw to clear the limbs that have fallen in summertime storms, take care of overgrown trees around fencelines and stock up on firewood. Before you do any of that, though, read "How do I sharpen a chainsaw," on page 56, and check out Homeowner's Complete Guide to the Chainsaw, by Brian J. Ruth and Jen W. Ruth (Fox Chapel Publishing, 2009).

In Homeowner's Complete Guide to the Chainsaw, you'll learn how to choose the right chainsaw for your needs, how to safely and efficiently use a chainsaw for everday tasks, and how to keep your saw in peak maintenance. The conversational tone and thorough illustrations clearly outline a step-by-step approach for many chainsaw-related-chores around the farm - even stacking firewood and milling lumber - with safetly emphasized throughout. For the mechanically curious there's even a section of the appendix dedicated to how a chainsaw works. Want to know more? A glossary and resources section point you in the right direction.

If you've never operated a chainsaw before or want to brush up on your operating skills, this book is worth adding to your library. www.foxchapelpublishing.com.

Homeowner's Complete Guide to the Chainsaw, by Brian J. Ruth and Jen W. Ruth, is an instructional manual that shows readers how to safely and confidently handle trimming branches and felling trees to splitting and stacking wood. Using hundreds of photos, illustrations and step-by-step instructions, the authors cover a gamut of topics, starting with selecting an electric or gaw-powered saw. Readers will then discover what type of saw is best suited for their cutting needs, how to stay safe with protective clothing, and the best methods for starting a saw and holding it correctly. Special instructions explain how to ensure a tree falls in the right direction. Another section covers service, maintenance and sharpening. The authors are the owners of Masters of the Chainsaw, a limited group of the nation's top professional chainsaw sculptors, dedicated to promoting and preserving the integrity of the art form.

Lehighton couple teach how to avoid a chainsaw massacre

If you're planning some major tree pruning this fall or if you plan to cut up wood for the fire, learn how to do it safely. Pick up a copy of ''Homeowner's Complete Guide to the Chainsaw'' (Fox Chapel Publishing, 208 pp., $24.95) by Lehighton residents Brian and Jen Ruth.

The Ruths are not only chainsaw experts. They also are owners of Masters of the Chainsaw, a group of chainsaw performance artists who travel the country carving logs into works of art at fairs, carnivals and other community events.

They've been featured on TV and in print. And Brian Ruth has won many awards for his chainsaw carvings.

Their new book teaches even the newest chainsaw user how to safely trim hedges, cut limbs off a fallen tree, cut firewood, take out a tree stump and even cut down a tree.

The step-by-step projects clearly show you don't have to be a lumberjack to use a chainsaw or call landscape guys to take care of your yard.It's available at major book retailers.

Well, this one is just in time for the winter heating season.

I am perhaps an exception in that I do hang on to product manuals. However, I don't always read them. This week's book review is one of the finest tool manuals that I have ever come across. So, if you are planning to cut down some trees or limb the branches with your chain saw, don't even pull that cord until you read this book.

For those that think they can just pick up a chainsaw, pull the cord and start cutting or limbing trees, this book is certainly for you. For those that think they know how to fell trees, this book is for you as well. Most of us never bother to read the manuals that come with the chainsaw probably because they are a boring read. This book by Brian and Jen Ruth is far from boring and offers so much more than a bland black and white manual.

The author's cover just about everything there is to know about the tool. There is no question that the topic of safety will be foremost and this illustrated chapter is a must read. The book covers the purchasing of the right chainsaw for your application, building a sawbuck, maintaining the chainsaw and how to properly sharpen the teeth. How to split and stack firewood, cut down a stump, make lumber from logs are also covered in detail.

The book is rife with illustrative colour photographs that beautifully enhance the text. The chapter on felling a small tree will teach even the experienced woodsman a few tips.

Throw away the boring manual (not really) the Homeowner's Complete Guide to the Chainsaw is the manual to use, make sure you keep it handy.