It is no secret, my handyman skills are close to zero. When I got my first brush-cutter to clear some overgrown grass and Lantana on the property, I did my market research and bought one that was highly recommended. I managed to bring it to a grinding halt on the first day I used it.

Before I started it the first time, I read the manual including the bit that said how you start it and how you use it, but I didn’t read the section on how to stop it. So rather than stopping it the right way, I effectively flooded it. Sure it stopped, but then it would not start. In trying to rectify that error I then over-filled the oil and rendered the machine completely mute.
It cut my weekend of work short and I had to take it to the repair man back in Sydney to get it going. When I came back to his shop to pick it up he spent a few minutes explaining where I had gone wrong and assured me that newbies do the same thing all the time and I shouldn’t feel bad about it.
Blow me down if a similar thing didn’t happen with the Chainsaw. It couldn’t possibly be me could it (rhetorical question, of course it is) I did the research, bought the best one my money could buy and it stopped working the first time I used it. I did read the manual from cover to cover this time making sure I read and understood the section on stopping it. This time I took it back to the Stihl shop from which I bought it expecting them to roll their eyes, charge me a fortune to repair it and laugh behind my back as I left. Instead the bloke behind the counter asked me how it happened, took it apart there and then, did a few tricky things to it and handed it back to me happily.
“There you go pal, all fixed” and then proceeded to explain what I had done in terms I could understand and in a way that didn’t make me feel like a complete idiot. Brilliant! I couldn’t ask for more. Walking into the shop I felt for sure it was going to be both humiliating and expensive and it was neither. Walking out, I could not have been happier. That’s why you buy a great brand and happily pay a few dollars more!

Apparently I am learning.