Adventures in wood harvesting

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“I have a jackhammer, could get that done real easy.” The voice, coming from behind the fence, could have produced a startle reflex, but not really. Instead, I slowly stood up from what I had been sawing, a large, perhaps slightly rotted oak log. Given that I had been using a hand saw, it was rather inefficient. “I do think I need something better than this,” I reflected out loud. My neighbor, a young teenager who had been out strimming in his ajoining yard, repeated his offer. “Hmm, given that I do want this wood to be somewhat intact at the end of it, I don’t think a jackhammer is what I need, but thank you for the kind offer.” I sputtered out. “I think I need a chainsaw.” After this point, sighing in exasperation, I withdrew to the shed nearby to abort the mission of sawing the log. This would save me the trifold purpose of avoiding further public humiliation, changing tasks to stripping some sticks I had harvested earlier, and contemplating the dangers of chainsaws. Should I not have had the disgrace of sawing the log by hand in full view of my neighbor, I might have considered simply employing more of my patience in lieu of risking my project to a machine that I admittedly did not know, and still do not know, how to use. Further, while this log is on the ground, thus not exposing me to the risk of it falling on my head, it could be rotted which could send wood chips flying everywhere in response to the rapidly moving chain. I also contemplated moving the log out of view of my neighbor so I could patiently work on my log in peace. I was quite disappointed in his highly destructive solution to the issue, as oak wood is rather valuable, and highly useful in furniture making. Furthermore, this particular type of oak is water resistant and has fire resistant bark, which makes it good for outdoor use. Should you have been in the situation described, what would you do? 1. Try to learn how to use the chainsaw. 2. Move the wood out of sight of the fence and continue hand-sawing the log. 3. Pursue a different course of action. Advice welcome!