Ignition Issues??

Anyone have any experience with using a chainsaw with a Pacemaker? I had a St Jude 1110 implanted June 19th, 2013. I'm fully recovered, feeling stronger each day and a very active gardener and home project doer. Problem..... I have several Red Oak trees that have died due to Hypoxylon Canker resulting from the East Texas drought. I need to cut them down before the next Hurricane hits and they fall on my house. I (we) find $500/tree for a tree professional kind of steep for our retirement budget. I have a Stihl Chainsaw and Stihl Weedeater which I have not attempted to use since the implantation. I asked my Cardiologist and he just gave me that deer-in-the-headlights blank look like why the he** would a 78 year old man with A-Fib and a Pacemaker even think about this. I know that the ignition on my ZTR mower will shut it off if I get too close to the engine. Otherwise, only the theft sensors at Walmart and Belk seem to bother it so I just don't linger.

7 Comments

Haven't used a chainsaw yet...

by KAG - 2013-08-10 01:08:58

.....but I have used my electric leaf blower with no problems. I did go to my PM manufacturers webpage and they list all kinds of things with recommendations on how much distance to kept from the PM site.

I got the following from the Medtronics site but you should check the site for your device.

Chain Saws
1. The motor of an electric chain saw held 6 inches from a
heart device poses less risk of affecting your pacemaker or implantable defibrillator than the ignition system of a gaspowered chain saw.
2. If using a gas-powered chain saw maintain a 12 inch distance between the components of the ignition
system and a heart device. Also, it is better to use one
that is built with the spark plug located away from the
handgrips.
3. Immediately stop cutting and turn off your chain saw if
you start feeling lightheaded, dizzy, or you believe your
implantable defibrillator has delivered a shock.

The most common advise I've seen when trying out different equipment is to approach it cautiously and see how it feels. If it doesn't feel right stop.

Kathy

Chuck, you old Geezer...

by donr - 2013-08-10 02:08:59

...Remember that what Kathy repeated for you from the Medtronic Mantra was written by their lawyer! He took what their engineers said & threw in a whopping safety factor.

I have all sorts of GED (Gasoline Engine Driven) devices that I use w/ no trouble. Lean over them when running with impunity (I never do anything alone - either my wife or impunity is with me.) I have a Stihl weed eater & it only tires my arms out holding & swinging it. I have a Poulan Chain saw (Names after the Football bowl game in Shreveport) that I've used w/o ill effect. What kind of engine do you have in that ZTR mower? An 18 Cylinder P&W radial from a B-29? I drive our John Deere lawn tractor all over the place & lift the hood to see what's going on under it w/o problems.

Honestly, it sounds like you have a defective ignition in your ZTR.

Give all your stuff a try by getting them running courtesy of someone else & walking up to them slooooooooooowly to see what happens. Your PM will tell you what is going on. Mine does all the time & it says nothing. NOW - OTOH, I'm not bothered by theft sensors at all (except when I'm stealing & the merchandise triggers them while I'm carrying a 58 inch TV set through them.) so perhaps your little buddy is a more sensitive little bugger than mine.

Now you also did not tell us how BIG the oaks are. If they are 2 ft diameter snaggles, I'll give you the same DITHL look your cardio did! Unless you are Paul Bunyan & an expert tree feller, I'd leave that size for a pro - unless, of course, you want to pay someone to repair the roof on your house. I'd tackle an 8 incher, however. I'm lucky, though, I live deep in the heart of Redneck Nawth Jawja & every neighbor owns a Stihl 36 inch chain saw (in addition to a private armory that will outfit an infantry platoon, a backhoe & a pickinuptruck) & will cut my snaggles down for the firewood.

Have a happy Sat afternoon.

Don (AGE 77 & counting - Isn't geezerhood fun?)

Glad you mentioned the

by KAG - 2013-08-10 04:08:04

legalize in the Medtronics info Don. I intended to add that the info provided by the PM mfg was probably very conservative and meant to CTA (Cover Their A). Then I got distracted.

My chainsaw is just a wimpy 16 inch electrical one but does what I need it to. In the past I have helped my Dad fell trees with a huge two person saw. I always got the far end and ran around the tree. Not that I'm volunteering to help cut trees.

Kathy

OLD GEEZER?? LOL

by chuckh - 2013-08-10 05:08:18

Don, Nope, the ZTR has a 26 horse premium Briggs but one of the ignition wires is damaged due to my setting it afire last year. Had carb trouble and forgot to reconnect the fuel line after working on it and then tried to start it. We have an identical engine on our 20KW generator which which runs on Propane and does not bother me. We live right on the Louisiana border by Toledo Bend Lake fed by a Rural Electric Coop and susceptible to hurricanes that come up from the gulf so generators are popular around here..... Where the Columbia Shuttle came down a few years ago. About 4 hours from "Nwalins" and 2 hours from "Shvpwt" so I am familiar with Red Necks and I am one. LOL My wife says "Instant Red Neck. Just add beer".

I too am a southern redneck and have neighbors with tons of toys.... Case backhoe, tractors with blades, tractors with brush hogs, tractors with tillers, tractors with post hold augers, power scaffolds, we even have a blacktop paving machine and roller..... We ALL have pickinuptrucks, best friend a dodge Diesel dually, son-in-law with a F-250 7.3 Diesel, me with a F-350 6.4 Diesel, lots of farm and garden tools included. We have a 25 X 52 metal building with tons of woodworking power tools and so fat nothing in there bothers me.

Private Armories..... I'm so happy they put my pacer on the left side so I can still shoot my 12GA, 30-06 and .45 and .55 cal Muskets. Between my wife and I we have a plethors of guns and ammo. Add my neighbors and we could hold off an army. We are the people that the anti-gun activists hate!

Now for the trees... I started my working career way back when as a highline power company construction guy so climbing 60' sticks with gaffs is nothing new to me but doubt I could do it today. (Somehow, I ended up spending the last 35 years as a Telecom engineer.) The trees are all over 18" dia and close to 60'. I have already taken down 3 damaged from Hurricane Ike a few years ago. I notch the tree the way I want it to fall, my buddy with the Case Backhoe raises the bucket way up and pushes against it while I finish the cut. I also have several younger friends that help for the fire wood. Being a true Texan though, I save a good quantity for my smoker for pulled Pork and Beef Brisket. My stihl is only a 24" so guess mine is puny.

Think I will try what you suggested and approach things slowly and see what happens.

Today is our 56th wedding aniversary and Monday is my 78th birthday. Think we will go out for a nice lunch after church tomorrow. Gonna cook her favorite for dinner tonight. Salmon cooked over a very hot charcoal fire still very cold in the middle.

From one geezer to another, "y'all have a goodun".

Rate Response

by ebfox - 2013-08-10 05:08:43

Chuck,

One thing, if your pacemaker has Rate Response (and it is turned on), the vibration from the saw will have your heartrate at maximum in a short time. You may feel jacked up or you may feel dizzy and ready to pass out.

If you don't have Rate Response, no worries, just get out of the way when you drop them.

EB

Yep!

by chuckh - 2013-08-10 06:08:56

I do have rate response. Cardio says I'm just too active to not have it. I think they have me set max at 100BPM. When I exercise, it ramps up from about 66 or so. When my best buddy Klaus, a German Shepherd, and I go for walks my PM ramps up somewhere in the 80's that I know of. I've already experienced several such unexplained dizzy incidents and they were related to using an electric garden tiller which sends a lot of vibration up my arms so that likely answers my question of why this was happening. I was blaming it on the electric motor but other motors don't bother it. That is good info. Thanks. I will be aware and on the lookout.

Chuck

Frome one Geezer to another:

by donr - 2013-08-10 07:08:20

Chuck: Ah ain't uh Redneck - Ah jus' livs among 'em! Ahm a 'Yankee transplanted inta the Nawth Jawja mountins frum Nu Joisey..

For some reason they allow me to live here w/o a passport & visa. I spent 28 yrs, 3mo & 28 days in Uncle SAm's Army, where most of my troops were real, honest to goodness Rednecks, so I'm comfortable here. I understand their language - definitely don't speak it.

By an accident of fate, when I retired, we managed to move into the GA county that Wife's Grandfather lived in all his life. Wife wound up in Miami, FLA where we met & wound up back where her family comes from.

I know roughly where you live, having driven through that country many times enroute to & from El Paso. Back at Christmas 1959 we drove from El Paso to Baytowm non stop. Never again!

I know about all the toys you Rednecks have - my neighbors have all of them - except for the asphalt roller. These guys are true artists when it comes to using a backhoe.

We built a 35X90 steel building to house our glass & stone etching business - but stuffed it full of all sorts of other junk. Probably has a rattler or two living in the mass confusion.

Funny story - hire a couple teenagers to help me do some yard grading w/ hand tools. To save myself I could NOT figure out why they didn't know how to use a garden rake to finish things off as well as move fairly significant quantities of earth & rocks. I mean, here I am, a 'Yankee city slicker having to teach them how to use a garden rake. Then it struck me: They didn't know how because they never used one in their lives - they depended on tractors to do that kind of work. They thought I was nuts, out there moving all that dirt & rock w/ a hand rake.

When we arrived here, we brought our own contribution to the small armed camp that lives here, so fit right in. When we bought our property, we wound up w/ 24 acres of prime GA woods, just about all pine trees. We had to cut about 4 acres of them, so hired a neighbor to do it. The whole family came out to do the job, including his mother, who was about our age - 60 something. I think she came just to find out what these 'Yankees invading their turf were like. Anyway, in making small talk, Dave (The neighbor) told me he learned logging when he was a kid from his father (Who was on the crew that day) & they used a team of mules to drag the logs out. We compared armories & I guess I made the grade when he learned I had a pre 1964 Winchester Model 70 .30-06.

Over 95 % of the households in the county have MORE than 1 weapon in it.

I read that you know how to safely cut down a 24" tree. I've watched Dave do that w/ his Ford bucket loader many times. Goferit - w/ my blessings! We have a 3 ft diameter White Oak at the entrance to our lot that is going to have to come down some day - severe heart rot. Dave will get a lot of firewood out of that.

Our #2 Daughter is an ER Doc in southern MS, pretty close to New Orleans. She was there after Katrina went through & commented on how fast the local folks cleared their own streets & roads - after all, she said, everyone of them had a chainsaw & there were enough tractors to clear things out. She said that the day after everything in Rural MS was back to normal except for lack of electricity. Sounded about right to me!

BTW: I'll betcha that when you burned the ignition wire on your ZTR that you messed up its shielding against interference.

Well as a final note, you have us by two yrs in the married dept. WE passed the 54 yr mark this past 14 June.

About the only thing I've found that we PM Hosts cannot do is operate a big ol' honking Bosch jack hammer. That one is a bit much for the little guys.

Someone mentioned the vibration setting off the Rate Response function. I've used a good sized Bosch hammer to break up some concrete w/o ill effect, so you can do more than the Medtronic lawyers will allow.

Have a good'un yourself.

Don

You know you're wired when...

You have rhythm.

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This is my second Christmas with my pacemaker and I am so happy to be with my family.