Government “regulations” (as they are styled) are crushing the life out of cars, in the manner of a python doing the same to its prey. But what the python does is natural and he cannot be faulted. What government does, on the other hand, is crush for the sake of crushing – made all the worse by the telling of the victim that it is all for his own good.
A python would never think to say such a thing and for that reason alone he is far more respectable than this creature styled “government” – which when examined closely is just other people who differ from the rest only in having power to “regulate” them.
Some will say: But these people are elected by the rest of the people. This is “democracy.” Actually, it is a fraud. In the first place, because only some of the people elect these people, often not even a majority and thus it is not “democracy,” since it’s not majority rule, the thing that defines “democracy” and without which it is something profoundly not, masquerading as that so as to acquire the veneer of “democratic” legitimacy.
But would it be legitimate if the “majority” did “rule”? The answer to this one ought to be so horribly obvious as to not require answering. But ask the one girl among three boys who finds her virtue outvoted by the “majority” whether she approves of “democracy.”
In the case of “regulations,” there is not even that kind of “democracy.” No one voted for the people who promulgate – who decree and then impose – the various “regulations.” You cannot vote them out of office, either. It is why Dr. Fauci has been ensconced for 40 years, though no one ever elected him to anything.
Thus, these “regulators” are illegitimate – by the standards of “democracy” – as well as by the standards of morality, a far more important standard.
The key to unravelling all of these regulations – especially as regards those pertaining to the “safety” of cars – is to demand to know why the federal government – those unelected bureaucratic apparatchiks – ought to have any such power to “regulate,” at all.
It is none of the government’s business – because it isn’t anyone else’s business.
Government is, after all, just other people.
What gives these other people the right to tell you or I that we may not drive something new that is similar to something like an old VW Beetle? Or for that matter, something not-so-old like a model year 2000 or so Mercedes S-Class? Neither is “safe” according to the latest “safety” regulations. It does not mean they are dangerous cars. Neither are prone to crash. The Benz is in fact a very safe place to be in – in the event of a crash.
The accusation of “unsafe” only means neither car “complies” with the latest regs, that is all.
To be specific, it means the old VW hasn’t got air bags – and while the Benz does, it hasn’t got the now-obligatory back-up camera system required by the regulations. It may not crumple in the manner demanded by the latest crash test regs. Things like that – none of them having anything to do with “safety” except in a very peripheral, oilily misrepresented sense.
An unsafe car would be one that had a steering wheel that came off while you were driving it. Brakes that failed due to a design defect. In the manner of a chainsaw that threw off its chain as a function of the way it was made as opposed to anything you did to cause it to do that. Come to think of it, it’s amazing we’re still allowed to buy chainsaws. They are very “unsafe” – in the government sense, as applied to cars. The chain is exposed and the operator might cut off a limb – of his, rather than a tree’s. Why hasn’t the government gotten around to “regulating” chainsaws? Why no regulations requiring some kind of chain guard that only exposes the potentially deadly moving chain to the tree? Or various other artifices to keep chainsaws “safe”?
The answer is that government – the busybodies – haven’t yet gotten around to it.
But they will.
They already have, as regards lawn mowers – all of which are now required, by the “regulations,” to have such things as lever-grips (for the push-mowers) that automatically shut the engine off if released and which must be held with one hand while you attempt to pull-start the engine with the other. Same as regards riding mowers – which have a seat-mounted sensor that shuts off the engine if you aren’t sitting on it. Even if the mower is parked. Or cuts off the mower blade, if you are – and put the mower in Reverse without pushing or holding some other button.
Neither the push-mower nor the rider without these artifices is dangerous – though the operator may be. But that’s on him – and shouldn’t be on the rest of us.
As ought to be the case with cars.
Government’s job – if it has any legitimate job – is to act when people hurt other people, which is to say, when one person violates the rights of another. No one else’s rights are violated when a person drives a car like an old Beetle – or an older Mercedes. But all of our rights are violated when we’re told by regulatory bureaucrats that no one may legally offer such cars for sale, that the only new cars we’re permitted to buy are those which “comply” with whatever the latest “regulations” are.
That wasn’t what America was all about. But it could be, again.
. . .
Got a question about cars, bikes or anything else? Click on the “ask Eric” link and send ’em in! Or email me directly at EPeters952@yahoo.com if the @!** “ask Eric” button doesn’t work!
If you like what you’ve found here please consider supporting EPautos.
We depend on you to keep the wheels turning!
Our donate button is here.
If you prefer not to use PayPal, our mailing address is:
EPautos
721 Hummingbird Lane SE
Copper Hill, VA 24079
PS: Get an EPautos magnet or sticker or coaster in return for a $20 or more one-time donation or a $10 or more monthly recurring donation. (Please be sure to tell us you want a magnet or sticker or coaster – and also, provide an address, so we know where to mail the thing!)
My eBook about car buying (new and used) is also available for your favorite price – free! Click here. If that fails, email me at EPeters952@yahoo.com and I will send you a copy directly!
A python or other constrictor is incredibly powerful. However, it doesn’t so much crush its victim as it SUFFOCATES it…e.g., as the prey breathes, the constriction gets tighter until either it can’t breathe anymore, or the heart stops. Then the snake can swallow its prey w/o it scrambling and wiggling, especially as it goes down.
At least a snake is simply HUNGRY, and in most cases, it eats up “Varmints”, so it’s USEFUL. Can’t say the same for most bureaucrats.
‘these “regulators” are illegitimate – by the standards of “democracy” – as well as by the standards of morality’ — eric
A small but important victory, against one unconstitutional administrative law court:
‘Securities regulators can’t bring enforcement actions seeking financial penalties through their in-house courts, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday.
‘The SEC’s enforcers sometimes litigate cases before administrative law judges who are employees of the SEC, but are supposed to exercise independent judicial powers.
‘Wednesday, the Fifth Circuit ruled that an SEC enforcement action against a small hedge-fund manager was invalid because it violated his right to a jury trial. An SEC judge in 2014 found George Jarkesy liable for fraud, ordering him to pay a $300,000 fine and barring him from the securities industry, according to SEC records.
‘Congress may in some cases assign legal disputes to agency courts, but the SEC’s fraud cases aren’t so special as to justify funneling them into those forums, the judges wrote.’ — marketwatch.com
What the hacks in black will never admit is that as beneficiaries of a US government paycheck, they have been way too deferential to federal encroachments despite having life tenure.
The local transportation “planner” in my area (Indiana just outside Chicago) is very open about reducing yours and mine ability to drive freely. But yet I am the crazy one for pointing it out…….
He wants to reduce by HALF the car trips in the area. Yes, HALF. Never mind the six county area is highly decentralized and only becoming more so, not less. If anything car trips will double during the same time period he would like to be reducing car trips.
Of course there are no real “plans” for what people will do when they can’t drive. The usual diet of unworkable “public” transportation (which nobody here uses), higher density (highly unpopular here, just try building something over three floors tall) etc.
Their ideas are bat-sh** crazy for the most part. It wouldn’t be so bad if there were good results, but of course that never happens. It’s the main reason regulations need to go.
The regulation game was over when universal government school education was mandated.
Public schools continue to be the crowning achievement for the collectivist crowd. The idea that the population at large owes every child an education is simple, powerful, and devastating to any quaint notions of limited government. One of the major planks in the Communist Manifesto.
As such, any talk of regulatory reform is pure fantasy, without first striking at the root cause, namely, the universal belief that someone “owes” me something-social security money, roads, military pension, schools, law enforcement protections, et cetera ad infinitum–which all Americans are taught to accept by their parents, by their educational institutions, by their churches, and by pop culture in general.
The Regulatory State exists for no other reason than because citizens demand it, for their own various purposes.
End the belief that someone else must pay for your children’s education…and other things…then you may begin to turn a slow tide on the regulatory state. Once entrenched, however, the regulatory state has never been permanently brought down through internal, legal means. People are selfish. Government workers are more than happy to leverage the worst human traits for their own purposes.
Get the kiddies when they are young, and you own them for life.
Will the corrupt government and their great reset satanist friends be removed?
Are Putin And Xi ‘Gray Champions’? Part 2
Is Putin the world’s last hope in derailing the WEF Great Reset agenda or is he just playing his part in enslaving the global population in squalor and debt within a techno-gulag dystopian surveillance federation, where you will own nothing and be happy while your overlords own everything and dole out your rations depending upon your level of subservience? Even though there have been tenuous links between Putin and the WEF globalist cabal, the reaction of these globalists to his military operation reveals he is not on their side.
China’s CCP has infiltrated American universities and stolen our technological innovations, bribing corrupt politicians, greedy corporate CEOs, spineless college administrators, and our dishonest whore media, to gain control over key aspects of our economic system.
They are truly the enemy within. And the Biden crime family is beholden to both China and Ukraine. Xi played Trump like a fiddle, pretending they were personal friends and making promises he never intended to keep, as shown by our trade deficit with China up 30% from 2021 and on-track to reach an all-time high over $450 billion in 2022.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/are-putin-and-xi-gray-champions-part-2
What’s worse is regulators who have nothing to regulate. They get bored and start looking for problems that aren’t there:
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/the-lawyers-who-ate-california-part?s=r
In part II Taibbi points out how the California DFEH went after Activision in the press, quoting a female employee who talked of party with “scantily clad women on poles” as if they hired strippers. No, in fact it was a performance of Cirque Du Soleil.
This is a major cause for the corporate flight away from Cali to places like Austin TX. No one wants to put up with that sort of treatment. It’s still fairly easy to vote with your feet, although he points out some of the harassment lawsuits are in the federal district not state. The truly amazing thing is what the actual investigations turn up. No, women in Silicon Valley aren’t underpaid. In fact female Googlers get on average a $1 more per hour than the men. No, women aren’t “under represented” in management. And no, they aren’t generally harassed or treated unfairly, and HR departments take each accusation seriously.
We’re in strange times. It’s as if the whole country has become Salem NY circa 1692. Except in the Internet age, everyone can be Elizabeth Hubbard for 15 minutes. If you’re amongst the accused you better have your faith in good standing, or you might have to disprove your wickedness.
Hi RK,
You make an excellent point about regulators without anything to regulate – who therefore discover new things to regulate. Vehicle “emissions” being an excellent example of this. Few – outside of this space – know that vehicle exhaust emissions have been a non-issue since at least the mid-late 1990s; that today, new car “emissions” are so trivially fractional as to be an irrelevance, insofar as air quality is concerned. But instead of announcing, Mission Accomplished, the EPA redefined “emissions” – which now encompass carbon dioxide, an inert gas that was never considered an “emission” previously because it has nothing – zero – to do with air quality.
And they ask my why I drink…
@Eric Not only do they need to find new regulations, they also find ways to measure ever more infinitesimal quantities of whatever is regulated. Dieselgate comes to mind, as well as the occational “tritium leaks” over the years from nuclear reactors.
Because tritium is used in nuclear bombs very sensitive detection and measurment equipment had to be developed. That equipment is used to monitor groundwater wells around nuclear power plants to help detect leaks. It is detected long before it could pose a threat, and thus considered low to no risk to life, yet the DOE will generate alarmist press releases that get twisted by reporters into The China Syndrome.
https://www.ethanbodnaruk.com/2017/05/12/tritium-leaks-at-nuclear-power-plants/
If your job is to find ghosts you’re going to find them.
Off topic, but did you guys see this?
https://tinyurl.com/mr3nr8rm
Looks like they’re practicing for martial law for when things go south from all the inflation, etc.
Update from the Workers Paradise by the Sea:
‘The average price at the pump in California hit a record $6.021 per gallon on Tuesday, according to AAA. Prices are up 31 cents per gallon over the last month, and $1.89 higher than a year ago.
‘While California’s prices are the highest in the country, the national average of $4.523 also is a record.’ — CNBC
Bummer, man.
ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investing has starved the oil industry of capital.
With the capacity cycle at a record low, demand and prices have exploded. (It’s wartime, you know.)
Who woulda thought?
Why do bad things happen to good people?
At least, ESG investors (probably including your pension fund) could stop digging themselves a deeper hole.
There’s no such thing as a “reasonable” regulation.
And we wouldn’t be in this mess if people ridiculed the would-be regulators right out of the room, as they used to do not so very long ago.
Part of me wonders if some people who know better aren’t holding back, so that everyone else can learn through experience.
Everyone is getting hurt but I don’t think very many are learning their lessons.
As a matter of fact, there is a regulation on chainsaws. Fedzilla requires all manufacturers of chainsaws to install a spark shield over the muffler. It is a screen to stop sparks from being thrown out and stating fires. All it does is foul up with carbon and chokes off the chainsaw from running. The easy fix is to remove it and toss it in the trash.
Chain brakes are also required (weren’t always).
I don’t like that they are required, but they are a good idea and I personally would not want to operate a chainsaw that didn’t have one.
Yes there are techniques to avoid it kicking back in the first place, and those should be learned and used, but if it ever does it will get ugly very quickly.
Here’s how they get you to drive EVs: $10 gas — IF you can find any at all:
https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-washington-gas-stations-run-out-of-gas-add-extra-digit-in-anticipation-of-10-dollar-prices
Glad I am a runner like Eric, cause that’s where we are headed. Actually running is one of the things people do better than most animals. In the distance category better. We can run down deer and antelope and giraffe. That is the thing the putative owners forget. When the machines break down. We keep going. Drones, robot cops/soldiers all subject to mechanical/software failure.
Push to EV’s through regulation…
Mercedes EV vs VW diesel fuel economy
The average EV owner wastes 4 gallons to go 100 miles but pays only $5.55, the tax payers subsidize it and they also use the road for free……freeloaders….parasites…
EV owner uses 4 gallons to go 100 miles, that is 25 mpg, lots of ice cars get better fuel economy.
ice vehicle economy example……
Fiat 500 0.9 lt. 8V 51 mpg city, 69 mpg highway…
https://motoreu.com/fiat-500-0.9-8v-twinair-start-stopp-mpg-fuel-consumption-technical-specifications-3921
travelling 100 miles in an average EV uses 1.03 gallons equivalent of fuel = 34.7 kwh of electricity @ $0.16 per kwh = $5.55, that is the net amount, but….at the power plant 4 gallons of fuel were burnt to get a net 1 gallon of fuel equivalant 34.7 kwh used by the EV.
If they paid the full cost it would = $16.00 for the fuel…. 4 gallons@ $4.00 a gallon
(under not ideal conditions this can easily double = $32.00)
Example: under ideal conditions but at top speed a mercedes EV used 90 kwh of electricity in 100 miles which = 3 gallons of gas….back at the power station = 12 gallons burnt….
Under not ideal conditions the EV efficiency drops a lot, might use twice as much energy to go 100 miles. Using the electric heater and the rear defroster and wipers in an EV reduces range. In very cold conditions the battery range can drop 50%. If the range drops 50% it costs twice as much to go 100 miles
travelling 100 miles in a 50 mpg diesel powered car uses 2 gallons of fuel….no need to waste all that fuel.
Thermal efficiency of power plants using coal, petroleum, natural gas or nuclear fuel and converting it to electricity are around 33% efficiency, natural gas is around 40%. Then there is average 6% loss in transmission, then there is a 5% loss in the charger, another 5% loss in the inverter, the electric motor is 90% efficient so another 10% loss before turning the electricity into mechanical power at the wheels.
33% – 6% – 5% – 5% – 10% = 25% efficiency for EV’s.
(under not ideal conditions it might be 12% efficient).
An Ev is 25% efficient in turning original source of energy, petroleum in this example into mechanical energy to push the car down the road.
So to end up with 34.7 kwh of electricity which is equivalent to 1.02 gallons of gas to push the EV 100 miles down the road 4.08 gallons of fuel were burnt to generate the electricity in the power station, remember net 25% efficiency. 100 miles using 4 gallons = 25 mpg, where is the better fuel economy?
The mercedes EV used 90 kwh of electricity to go 100 miles = 3 gallons of gas, but to get that 90 kwh of energy 12 gallons of petroleum were burnt at the power plant.
90 kwh@ $0.16 per kwh = $14.40 12 gallons of fuel were burnt at the power plant
Mercedes at top speed……100 miles using 12 gallons = 8 mpg….haha…
real fuel cost…12 gallons @ $4.00/gallon = $48.00, but only $14.40 was paid, (taxpayers paid the rest haha)
travelling 100 miles in a 50 mpg diesel uses 2 gallons of fuel @ $4.00 per gallon = $8.00
So it cost $14.40 for the Mercedes EV to go 100 miles. It cost the diesel car owner $8.00 to go 100 miles.
There is an additional cost for the EV owner: the tesla $22,000 battery is used up, worn out in 100,000 miles. this works out to $22.00 per 100 miles it is costing you for the battery.
So mercedes EV pwner pays $14.40 plus $22.00 = $36.40 to go 100 miles…haha…… It cost the diesel car owner $8.00 to go 100 miles.
ATTENTION: So the EV owner has to pay another $22.00 per 100 miles to pay for the battery, the diesel car owner doesn’t have that extra cost. Add $22.00 to the $5.55 for the electricity to go 100 miles, the diesel owner only paid $8.00 to go 100 miles….
The Mercedes EV owner paid $1.20 per gallon for fuel. The diesel owner paid $4.00 per gallon. One reason is the diesel owner is paying up to 50% tax in the fuel cost, partly to pay for the roads, the EV owner paid no tax in the fuel and uses the roads for free. The tax payers are subsidizing the cost of the electricity the EV owner is using.
burning 4 gallons or 12 gallons of fuel to go 100 miles is cleaner, safer, less wasteful then burning 2 gallons of fuel?
Why are they pushing EV’s? They use twice the fuel so pollute twice as much…
They advertise EV’s getting 102 mpg….they should be sued, it is impossible using the technology they use, it is another huge lie….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BSdq-MpPdg&t=113s
This is similar to the fake germ, forced extermination injection narrative…full of lies….leftists lie 24/7 365….
You beat me to it, Anon. They keep pushing EVs for the same reasons the “vaccines” are touted as “safe and effective.”
It all starts with a rent seeker (St. Elon would be one of them) and a couple million dollars for a slick Bernaysian PR campaign. Add in some bribes to politicians and voila, you’ve got yourself an excellent way to bilk the citizenry. Finally, sprinkle in a bit of political and fund-raising opportunists and you get a rotten, tyrannical and wasteful society. The elites have a bunch of evil shit going on behind the scenes that most citizens can never see.
The purpose of government is for those in power to plunder those who are not. -H.L. Mencken
@ Anonymous
I appreciate all the facts and analysis, but they are useless and irrelevant.
Government bureaucrats and elected officials don’t care about facts. They do not have to.
Wider awareness of facts and stupidity of government policy has not done a thing to end the march towards total communism fascism totalitarianism American style. People, voters, obviously do not make political decisions based on facts.
Force is the the only tool governments need. When Fraud, Distractions, and appeals to Patriotism fail to work, Force is always the go-to too. And it works quite well.
“Facts don’t care about your feelings” – B. Shapiro
“Force doesn’t care about your facts”- AGW’s
I know, I know, the idea is to inform, educate, then hope the citizen will “vote” the liberty candidate into power, who will then…blah blah blah. Waste of time. Never has worked, never will. Do you really believe this massive system of theft, the greatest system of thievery ever crafted is going bye-bye just because….voters? Mass noncompliance? Might have had a chance prior to 1865, maybe even up until the 1890’s.
It is fun, as a hobby, to show up with facts to prove things, isn’t it?
Hi Andy
I love calling out these leftist/communist/satanists about their lies..EV’s..climate change….germs..total bs, they think people are all stupid and can’t do math/research/analysis? On pro-EV sites I am instantly banned…no freedom of speech anywhere, you can’t reveal the truth, point out their bs, you can only agree with the leftist/communist lies, nothing else is allowed…..
Removing us from regulations will involve extra bold moves, reclassifying kinds of vehicular transportation. I am trying to meet with one candidate for governor in Oklahoma who seems to understand what is happening. What I see is this – state reclassifies IC powered transportation as something other than a “motor vehicle.” Allows companies to manufacture 4 wheeled vehicles under a new classification and allows them to traverse the highways of the state. State forgoes federal transportation dollars and refuses to fund the system. … a soft secession of sorts. The states that are freer after the collapse will fare better and recover more quickly..
I thank our Leviathan every time I have to remove the BS “non-polluting” and non-working spout from my gas can and pour it into my lawn mower’s funnel using a funnel. People don’t understand why I get so ticked off when California bureaucrats issue more fatwas, but since they’re the largest state economy, that Cali-compliant crap will be sold even in the solid red South. It’d be better for all concerned if the People’s Republic became independent.
Break out the “guts” from the “non-polluting” spout and use a disposable nitrile glove as a “cap”. You have five “fingers” to use if you accidentally pierce the “finger” in use. You can easily stretch the “finger” over the open end of the spout.
Here is one example of the *injustices* in the Declaration of Independence which portends to the Bureaucrats of today:
“He (the King) has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.”
Whether it is your local armed government worker, DMV office or building permit division they are all sinecures who have high paying jobs doing nothing but causing havoc and issue for the formally free.
@ Hans Gruber- we forget that the Declaration was nothing more than propaganda of its day, designed to effect political change.
The issue was never “…swarms of Officers to harrass our people…” the issue was that it was the “He (the King)” who sent the swarms.
The American revolution was mainly about who owns the people, not the terrible acts of the king, of which every single one was duplicated and in some cases, expanded upon by the new owners. The clue is in the phrase, ‘our people’.
Eating the substance is now part of the great American tradition of self-rule. We love our thousands of political units.
I recently discovered that it is very hard to find a new chain for my old chainsaw that ISN’T a new and improved “low kickback” design that won’t stay sharp at all.
for homeowner style chainsaws that’s probably correct. higher end saws and saw companies offer both if you know what to ask for.
ps: chains should not get dull just cutting wood. the problem is dirt and rocks. dirt is just tiny rocks and will dull fast. although i have dulled them in very hard sugar maple.
If I touch a chain to the ground (happens) I stop and sharpen. Dull is dangerous to a point.
And there is not much better than a oem chain from a good company.
Stiehl is the best in my opinion.
Other than Senate confirmation, no one has elected Mayor Pete to any office since he ran for a second term … in 2015.
He’s obviously on the short list for VP if Kamala “moves on up” before 2025.
If Butt a Gag comes close to the presidency, God will destroy this country. It will be much more swift than the dumpster fire that we have now. We will also be the object of ridicule worldwide.
Of course he is a man with Husband and child that he nursed at his breast while on paternity leave from his job as trans secretary or something to that effect. That makes heshit (new gender designation) a perfect candidate for President of the USA. Also he rides a bike from his Limo to the door of his office and has very becoming Biking attire.
In a reasonable world, one might hope that bureaucratic regulation might be returned to legislative regulation. We don’t, so it won’t. Bureaucracy has evolved from an aspect of government to the form of government. And most of these bureau members are there because they couldn’t get a job in the real world. And they deeply resent you being able to. Their driving motivation is to punish you for your competence. The same psychopathic leanings as politicians, without recourse to dispose of them. A few years ago, I read a study analysis that claimed you were more likely to die than get fired from a government job.
‘why the federal government ought to have any such power to “regulate,” at all’ — eric
Their usual rationale is the commerce clause of the constitution, originally intended to stop states from setting up Customs posts at state borders.
But the Supreme Court started expanding it early on:
In Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), the Supreme Court held that intrastate activity could be regulated under the commerce clause, provided that the activity is part of a larger interstate commercial scheme.
In Swift and Company v. US (1905), the Court held that Clowngress had the authority to regulate local commerce, as long as that activity could become part of a continuous “current” of commerce involving the interstate movement of goods and services.
And so on, until the ridiculous Wickard v Filburn (1942) case, prohibiting an Ohio farmer from consuming his own wheat because it would reduce the amount he would buy on the market [Usgov wanted to limit production and boost wheat prices].
That’s what took us ‘full Soviet’ during Frank Roosevelt’s New Deal. And it’s only gotten worse since then.
A constitutional convention needs to limit the commerce clause to prohibiting state Customs posts — nothing more.
Quite right Jim, Wickard v Filburn is the dagger in the heat of any Constitutional protection. Every thing you do has an effect on interstate commerce, however remotely. Including how many sheets of toilet paper you use per bowel movement. It’s totally absurd, and beyond any rhyme or reason, but SCOTUS won’t touch it. In fact has refused to hear any case that may bring it up.
Chainsaws is a great analogy. But please, don’t give them any ideas. I like my chainsaws as much as good cars. And yes, almost chopped a toe off, but my fault, not the chainsaw.
Re: mower crap, all probably from the lawyer industry. All crap easily defeated BTW.
Indeed Chris, I can come up with no piece of machinery in good working order more dangerous to operate than a chain saw. Surprised they are still allowed at all. Especially since they are a quite effective weapon as well.
John, certainly in numbers yes, but I’m thinking lathes and the such are maybe worse, only cause all of them are so much more massive that any mistake is very bad?
Chainsaw? if your geared up correctly, little risk, but the trees themselves are much much worse. I manage a tree farm, and I won’t even touch big leaners anymore. Too many close calls. Just let nature take it’s course and deal with them on the ground. But then, even spring loaded 4-6″ branch can kill/maim. Property damaging leaners? Bring in the big machines. One of the most effective tools for tree work I have now is a mini-excavator.
Better saws have good anti kickback brakes, etc…. However, as I’m sure you are aware, any device added to the chain/bar would make them much less effective, probably useless.
Chris, what makes chainsaws so dangerous is that you are often working on poor footing, at times without knowing it, and a slip can cost you a limb or your life.
true, and a condition I try to avoid or I usually pass or try something different. my balance is waning too.
Chris, I probably cut, split and burned hundreds of (mostly dead) trees from our property until we got a super-efficient ground-source heat pump a few years ago. I don’t miss it at all. So much can go wrong. And I’m such a klutz in the woods, if there’s a twig within 50 feet I will trip over it. One time my brother-in-law was helping, and a dead tree that we had not touched just out of the blue fell beside him, shaking the ground and barely brushing his elbow. With saws running we hadn’t noticed that it was falling all on its own.
My Dad taught me a trick for leaners a long time ago: wrap a chain around the trunk just above where you’re going to cut. That prevents part of the trunk from poking back at you if it splits vertically as it starts to go over. Better yet is to – as with copperheads – just leave them be.
Generally, trying to make a tree fall in a direction it doesn’t want to go is a very bad idea, but I used to be brave enough to cut not-huge trees that were leaning slightly toward things I didn’t want them to hit. I have a long, thick, braided cable that I used to tug on them with a tractor to make sure they’d fall the right way. Now if it’s near a building I just hire the “Tree Brothers” (local company name) to take it down one piece at a time. Those guys are amazing – and well-insured!
Roland, yup. Thanks. My days of risk taking vs trees is mostly over. I still do enjoy a day in the woods with the saws and mini though. But I pick my battles now. With the thumb can lift during bucking to save the back. Game changer.
To many close calls to count. Worst one was a big branch (12″?) came down on me. I heard it coming and just pushed off the tree in the second I had, and it hit where I was. Buried the chainsaw 6-8″ deep. Scratch one nice 034Super, and make a stiff drink.
Don’t remember if that was pre-kid or post kid? Either way, not good. I was a novice woodsman at the time. Still am, but smarter, haha…….
Yeah Chris, dead trees have always struck me (so to speak) as particularly dangerous, and that’s almost exclusively what I would cut for firewood since there were always plenty of them. You never know just how rotten the branches up there might be and whether they might break off and fall on you when the tree starts to jiggle. I would get a sore neck from trying to saw and look up at the same time. One of the carpenters who built our house was killed when a tree he was cutting on his property fell on him.
We have a bad infestation of Emerald Ash Borer here, so it looks like a war zone with all the dead Ash trees. Fortunately we have a neighbor who cuts and sells firewood, and he’s willing to cut the ones that threaten to fall across our driveway in exchange for the wood from those and other dead trees. We’re not supposed to transport Ash wood across county lines, but he can sell some of it locally. Come to think of it, the state suffers from exactly the same kind of delusion about this that they showed with covid. They boss us around with rules that supposedly will prevent this bug from spreading, but if you look on the Conservation Department’s map that shows infested counties in green, the state is already – you guessed it – solid green.
Roland, we must be in the same region. Emerald Ash Borer problems here too. I have a good Forester that helps me and he recommended harvesting all the Ash trees we had (100?) before the Ash Borer killed them. We did, but there were about 20-30 we couldn’t get too. Of those left, half have died but we still have some hanging on. I hope they make it, to preserve the species. They might too. Wait and see.
I’ve been working on my forest for 30 years to make it healthy and productive and the last 10 or so have been constant threats from non-native ‘bugs’ from overseas and invasive species like the barberry bush. The barberry bush could destroy entire forests long term and we are attacking it, but unfortunately, most around me aren’t, so my efforts may be futile, but I’m doing my part. But a little of the fun part is some of our stuff is primo going to make musical instruments and the like. We got approx. $1K for one tree once. But the reality is the whole thing is not profitable at all, just labor of (a little) love.
Chris, I’m not great at identifying trees, and thus had no idea how many Ashes we had. There was one right next to our driveway a couple of years ago that the woodpeckers started attacking. They pecked it down to such a small diameter in one spot that it broke off in a moderate windstorm. It was a mystery until one day last summer after we returned from a camping trip I walked up our 1,000-foot-or-so driveway to get the mail. I was astounded at how many trees had their bark coming off like that first one: probably 20 or more just along the road. It didn’t take much research to identify the problem, and to understand why the woodpeckers were so interested in our Ash trees all of a sudden.
Speaking of invasive species, when I was a kid the state Department of Conservation encouraged farmers to plant Multiflora Rose for fences. It quickly spread to take over entire pastures and was a literal thorn in the side of property owners for decades. Oops!
“Same as regards riding mowers – which have a seat-mounted sensor that shuts off the engine if you aren’t sitting on it. Even if the mower is parked. Or cuts off the mower blade, if you are – and put the mower in Reverse without pushing or holding some other button.”
At least there’s a workaround for that stupid rule. A pair of wirecutters & some electrical tape did the trick.
Same with the stupid gas cans with no vent hole. Amazon sells vents with caps to put common sense back into what California bureaucrats have foisted on America.
Mike, any gas can can be fitted with a vent using a tubeless tire stem. Don’t forget to take out the valve.
Don’t forget the cap though! Only trouble is, how would one get the valve in position in the hole from inside? And would the cheesy plastic survive pulling it into position, so as to allow it to seat before deforming the can? (If one could do it at a point of structural rigidity…maybe) Interesting idea though!
Nunzio, I little string through the center of the cap, then fish it through. There are metal versions of this contraption for motorcycle tube tire installs.
I little lube on the stem while seating it and all is fine. I use window cleaner.
I tied down those annoying levers on my mower and snowblower; next thing the nannies will require is some kind of biometric sensor that can tell if it’s your hand or a hunk of tape. An endless game of leapfrog.
I have it on pretty good authority (admittedly secondhand) that a lot of the tractor stuff is driven by product liability lawsuits.
The argument being something like “people expect this stuff because their cars have it, and the equipment does have a steering wheel and pedals just like a car so the average person thinks it drives like a car.”
All it takes is one person doing something e pensive and stupid, which people do all the time, which triggers an insurance claim, which is like sending out the bat signal for lawyers. And the actual victim/operator may well have nothing to do with any of it, except for having the accident in the first place.
I forget who said: There is no power in the word “Yes” but lots of power in the word “NO”.
Once .gov has the power to regulate something it will for the reason given above and that is why the world is the way it is. Those in power regulate us for our own good they tell us, I have my doubts about that though.
You see this every day. Examples abound; such as: “Lockdowns Work”- they did for the rich and powerful and large corporations but not so much for small businesses and their employees. Can’t afford to buy gasoline well just buy an EV and you will save money; and pretending not to understand that if you can’t afford gasoline you probably can’t afford to buy an EV with a battery that will need replacement in 6 years either.
EV’s pollute twice as much as ice vehicles……
some super chargers charge $0.52 per kwh (in Australia)
travelling 100 miles in an average EV uses 1.03 gallons equivalent of fuel = 34.7 kwh of electricity @ $0.52 per kwh = $18.04
travelling 100 miles in a 50 mpg diesel uses 2 gallons of fuel @ $4.00 per gallon = $8.00
So the EV driver paid $10.04 extra for fuel
There is another hidden cost….$22.00 per 100 miles for the battery in the EV.
So that is $32.04 extra fuel/battery cost….
There is an additional cost for the EV owner: the tesla $22,000 battery is used up, worn out in 100,000 miles. this works out to $22.00 per 100 miles it is costing you for the battery. So the EV owner has to pay another $22.00 per 100 miles to pay for the battery, the diesel car owner doesn’t have that extra cost.
at the power plant 4 gallons of fuel were burnt to get a net 1 gallon of fuel equivalant 34.7 kwh used by the EV….
so in reality the EV wasted 4 gallons of fuel in comparison to 2 gallons of fuel used by the ice diesel car, this equals twice as much waste and pollution.
So EV’s pollute twice as much as ice vehicles……