A Quiet Night at Memory Lane

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Today was a slower day at Memory Lane.

The plan for the day was simple:
Get up, get moving, and get things done.

But today also felt a little different because my partner headed downstate for a few days, so it was just Wyatt and me holding down the farm.

Finishing the Garden 🌱

This morning started with one last battle against the garden.

After yesterday’s rather violent introduction to the tiller 🤕 I went back out and finished the rest of the garden before making one final pass across the entire thing.

In total, the whole garden has now been tilled three times.

Honestly, the soil already looks dramatically better than when we started. There is still a lot of work ahead, but little by little it is starting to feel like a real garden again instead of an abandoned patch of weeds and compacted dirt.

I also ordered weed fabric that will eventually be laid across the garden to help prevent the area from immediately being overtaken by weeds again.

Once it arrives and we have had some time to actually use it, we will do a proper review and see how well it performs long term.

Once the tilling was done, I loaded the tiller back into the truck and headed into town to return it to Agway.

My partner left around the same time, so Wyatt came along with me for the ride.

A Quick Run Through Town

After dropping off the tiller, we stopped over at Price Chopper to grab:
, Bottled water
, Fried chicken for dinner

Nothing fancy tonight.

When we got back to the house, I relaxed for a while, but before it got too late I decided I should probably get at least one more thing accomplished for the day.

Cleaning Up the Apple Orchard 🍎

So I grabbed the chainsaw and headed over to the apple orchard.

Today I used our 62cc 2 stroke Vevor chainsaw to take down the dead trees.

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There is definitely a lot of negativity online surrounding cheaper Chinese tools and equipment, but honestly so far we have had pretty good experiences with several Vevor products.

This chainsaw is no exception.

This was not its first day working either. We have already used it multiple times around the property over the last month without any major issues.

Today it handled cutting down three dead apple trees without much trouble.

The only issue came after I completely ran it out of gas. Once empty, I had some difficulty getting it restarted afterward, although it is entirely possible I accidentally flooded it while trying to restart it.

At the moment, I would probably rate the chainsaw around an 8 out of 10 overall.

If it fires back up tomorrow without issue, that rating could easily go higher.

For the price though, it has honestly impressed me so far.

Chainsaw Safety Matters ⚠️

Before going any further, safety should always come first when using equipment like this.

Even though viewers may notice in some of the photos that I am wearing:
, Ear protection
, Eye protection
, Steel toe boots
, Gloves

There is always more safety equipment someone can wear, and people should absolutely use the best protective equipment they can reasonably get.

Chainsaws are not something to take lightly.

Even smaller saws can cause serious injuries extremely quickly if something goes wrong.

2 Stroke vs 4 Stroke Engines

This particular chainsaw uses a 2 stroke engine.

Unlike many lawnmowers or cars that use 4 stroke engines, a 2 stroke engine requires oil to be mixed directly into the gasoline because the fuel itself helps lubricate the engine internally.

For this chainsaw, the required fuel mixture is:
40:1

That means:
, 40 parts gasoline
, 1 part 2 stroke oil

Using the wrong fuel mixture can seriously damage the engine, so it is important to follow the manufacturer recommendations carefully.

Generally speaking:
, 2 stroke engines are lighter and more powerful for their size
, 4 stroke engines are usually quieter, heavier, and do not require fuel mixing

That is one reason chainsaws, weed trimmers, and other handheld equipment often use 2 stroke motors.

Do Not Forget Bar Oil 🛢️

One thing new chainsaw users sometimes overlook is bar oil.

Chainsaws require a separate reservoir filled with bar and chain oil that constantly lubricates:
, The chain
, The guide bar
, The sprocket area

Without proper lubrication:
, The chain overheats
, Components wear rapidly
, Performance suffers
, Serious damage can occur

The bar oil helps the chain move smoothly at extremely high speeds while reducing friction and heat buildup.

It is just as important as the fuel itself.

Saving the Orchard

Unfortunately, several of the orchard trees are completely dead.

We still have no idea when these trees were originally planted or when they were last properly maintained, but years of neglect have definitely taken their toll.

Today I removed three dead trees from the orchard.

The remaining apple trees are going to need serious pruning later this fall. The hope is that by cutting them back hard and topping some of them, they may eventually sprout lower limbs and start producing better fruit again in the future.

If they recover, great.

If not, eventually they will come out too and newer trees will take their place.

That is part of the reality of bringing old properties back to life.

Sometimes you save things and sometimes you start over.

Evening Walks with Wyatt 🐾

Throughout the day Wyatt and I took several walks up Memory Lane.

Our final walk was the usual 7 PM walk all the way up to the main road and back.

By then the sun was dropping, the woods were getting quiet, and honestly the property felt very different tonight.

No campfire tonight.

It just is not quite the same sitting out there by yourself.

No real dinner plans either. I will probably just snack on something later and call it a night.

Some days at Memory Lane are exciting.

Some are productive.

And some are just quiet.

UPDATE: This morning the Vevor chainsaw fired right up with no issues at all 👍

After running it completely out of gas yesterday, I believe the restart problem was most likely caused by me accidentally flooding it while trying to restart it too quickly, or an air lock from running out of fuel.

Since it started perfectly today and has continued to perform well around the property, I’m officially upgrading my review from an 8 to a 9.

So far this saw has honestly impressed me, especially considering the price point and the amount of negativity people often throw at cheaper imported equipment online.