Homeowner's Complete Guide to the Chainsaw: A Chainsaw Pro Shows You How to Safely and Confidently Handle Everything from Trimming Branches & Felling Trees to Splitting & Stacking Wood (Fox Chapel) Paperback – October 1, 2009

This book provides an excellent overview of how to choose, maintain and utilize a chainsaw in a safe and responsible manner. I was a little skeptical initially, because I wondered if it was primarily a safety manual that avoided semi-professional advice. Since the focus is on a potentially very dangerous piece of outdoor power equipment I wondered if the book was directed soley at the newbie user, which I am not. Despite my initial misgivings, I consider consistent responsible use and safety my top priority and further advice, pictures and suggestions are very welcome. This is a great book. I have read through some other books and guides on chainsaw use, and this is the best one I've seen. If you are new to using a chainsaw, this is essential reading. If you have been using a chainsaw for a while, but do not consider yourself an expert at felling larger trees (or perhaps even if you do) - this book has some great instructions and photographs regarding proper use of equipment (including wedges, pull cables, etc). The chainsaw care instructions are very useful too. While the text instructions provide a great narrative, the best part of this book are its extremely well done photos. In many cases the photos are step-by-step, bright, clear and just very well done. They are also fairly generic and applicable to most brands. This author even talks briefly about a few other types of related equipment (like pole saws), but the focus here is squarely on chainsaws - so do not expect other outdoor cutting equipment to get the same lavish treatment.I have heard others, including at least one dealer, be downright irresponsible in their cutting advice. Always err on the side of safety and never think using a chainsaw is about trying to look like a tough guy, ignoring critical steps or skirting safety measures. This book covers most of the bases very well, in an extremely digestible manner. Very highly recommended.

If you are new to chainsaws, this is a great investment (as well as more safety gear). Compare this to any medical cost (if you are lucky and survive) if you do not understand chainsaws, and this is a no-brainer. Chainsaw accidents are some of the more horrific and life changing or life ending accidents. Huge numbers happen every year in the US. Don't be a statistic.I'm pretty sure that many "experienced" chainsaw users who just learned on their own or from someone else and got lucky cutting trees would learn from this book and be safer.This is a great book. I'm new to chainsaws, and besides other online resources, I found this book very good.There are tons of photos, safety is explained well - including why and what could happen.This book is practical too, going over maintenance in detail, as well as going over various issues one might encounter.The authors are real professionals with great references, so this lends a lot of credibility to this book.They also give some example of when to "call a professional", even if you have the equipment and believe you have the skills. i.e. do not do something above your skills.✭ - Completely unusable, would demand a refund✭✭ - Meets minimum viable product requirements✭✭✭ - Achieves the results, but in a non-spectacular way✭✭✭✭ - I like it. it is solid quality and works as advertised✭✭✭✭✭ - I love it. It meets all of my expectations and is high quality

This is a good and mostly thorough book that is informative and a pleasure to read. It does not cover everything, but most chainsaw related topics are covered, and it is more than adequate to get you outside and cutting wood safely. You do not have to be new to chainsaws to be new to chainsaw safety, and I recommend anyone who uses or wants to use a chainsaw read this book. After reading this book and watching Husqvarna and Stihl safety videos (along with many others, all available on Youtube.), I now realize using a chainsaw properly requires some knowledge and the forming of good habits. There are techniques that will help to keep you and others safe. Anyone can pick up a chainsaw and cut down a tree or saw up some firewood, but doing it with skill and safety is another matter. This book will explain how and why the most common chainsaw accidents occur, and how to avoid them. I have seen videos of what happens when the advice in this book is not heeded, and you do not want those things to happen to you. If you want to cut some trees or firewood, then at the very least, buy yourself this book, some good quality chainsaw chaps, a hardhat / faceshield combo, and gloves.

Excellent and well-illustrated book on the fundamentals of safety equipment, safe operation, cutting techniques, and maintenance. Very readable and approachable book for beginners - and good reminders for the experienced. As a complete beginner, I did find that the chapter on chain sharpening could have been more clear (perhaps with a link to a movie on the author's website, where he could show you live how to do it). Fortunately, I found a former arborist to show me. (It is much simpler than it looks.) That said, there is much good in this book - and anyone new to chainsawing will benefit from reading this before using a chainsaw for the first time - and have it handy on the first several days of chainsawing. Think of the price of this book. Think of the price of good protective clothing and gear. Think of the price of taking your time and doing it right. Now think of the price of a visit to the emergency room when you didn't think of the other things first. The author is diligent throughout the book on safety. Take the time to treat every caution with the importance it deserves. For the safety reminders alone, this book could easily pay for itself hundreds of times over. Now take the book out there with you and enjoy a hard day's work in the fresh air.