imaudigger, post: 450698, member: 7286 wrote: Sometimes safety equipment can be more dangerous than helpful. I have found many chaps are bulky and heavy, which makes it difficult to walk through limbs and brush. Hearing protection is good, but not to the point that you can't hear someone warning you of a danger.
I would never let anyone on my crew saw without chaps. I've witnessed several saw hits on chaps and they've prevent hundreds of saw accidents.
How hard would be to walk through the brush with one leg? Hearing protection is arguable. What was it you said?
Little known fact: most chainsaw dealer have a picture of Todd Snider behind the counter and if you look similar to him they are legally obligated to deny you service
No one has mentioned kick back yet, which is probably the most common way people get injured. For the most part, be careful about putting cutting pressure on or near the tip of the bar. What happens is that a tooth will dig in a bit deeper than it needs to for a cut and rather than throwing a small wood chip (cutting), it acts as an anchor and the momentum of the moving chain turns into a reverse momentum of the entire saw, throwing it up and back along the axis of the bar. As soon as that happens (which is instantaneously), the chain starts moving again at full speed as the bar is flying at speed and with force back over your hands and toward whatever is directly behind the saw, which is very often some part of the sawyers anatomy.
If you know someone local who knows how to use it and can spend an afternoon with you to teach you the basics, that would be best. If not, search out chainsaw safety and tree falling videos on YouTube. Also have someone show you or find videos on proper chain sharpening. It's not difficult, but you need to be fairly meticulous about your angle on each tooth and being even over the entire chain.
If you are proficient at tree falling with an axe or hand saw, the basics won't be much different with a chainsaw. It just happens a lot more quickly.
Stihl is an excellent brand. Safety gear should include chaps, hard hat, preferably with a mesh face shield, safety glasses, each protection, and well-fitting work gloves that let you maintain a good grip. And also boots that allow you to maintain excellent traction. It's a bad thing to lose your footing while making a cut.
Always know where the follow through is going to be when cutting, make sure that your legs aren't in that path! (Like using a brush ax, or machete.)
I've never used chaps, but I do use glasses and ear protection, not unlike the shooting range. I also use heavy gloves. I'll probably get some chaps this season.
Skeeter1996, post: 450699, member: 9224 wrote: Take a step back and stay away from the saw. You don't have the time to listen to all my bass player stories.
FrozenNorth, post: 450668, member: 10219 wrote: Are there Mennonite groups that prohibit chainsaw use? I've got quite a bit of Mennonite background myself, and my exposure is that Mennonites and Amish can be some of the more Jedi sawyers around...
Grandparents left that community to join the modern world ... Dad kept a lot of the "haste makes waste" attitude about power tools. I learned how to use most hand tools, including saws, drills, chisels, planners, spoke shaves. He got a small chainsaw for firewood when I was 11 ... Didn't want me trying it and soon quit using it himself. I had already started playing guitar.
I do not have much advice about using a Chainsaw, as I have only used one a few times. I will say sometimes setting a TP and going around a Tree is just as fast as cutting a Tree down, and much safer and quieter so the Landowners will not come out asking what is going on.
Skeeter1996, post: 450665, member: 9224 wrote: Clearing line is much more dangerous than falling trees. I
Tell me more about this, please.
If an extension chord will reach the wood use an electric chainsaw.
I don't think that Scott understands that in much of NW WA, if you are going to traverse to avoid trees rather than cut them down, that you might end up with several hundred 15' to 20' traverse legs to get from one section corner to the next or that your as likely to run into underbrush for most of that distance that doesn't allow for a clear view in any direction much beyond 10'.
There's many places in this country where it's more expedient to work around a standing tree or clump of brush than to go through it. Undeveloped portions of NW WA doesn't offer many of those opportunities.
My limited experience is you need a lot of other skills, like being able to sharpen it properly - depending on the wood and collateral contact they can go dull quick and then things go downhill from there, and then you have a crack at sharpening it, get that wrong and things go downhill from there.
Tom Adams, post: 450680, member: 7285 wrote: It struck me a little funny judging whether someone would be good with a chainsaw based on their guitar-picking ability.
no kidding.
[MEDIA=youtube]A52p9jc-gOo[/MEDIA]
All the safety advice posted so far is good. I wish I'd had it during the years I spent surveying in the woods, but I got lucky and was never inured by a saw anyway. We would spend days on end sawing one-handed, above our heads, standing on one foot and with no ear, eye or head protection. We'd run two saws in close proximity and refuel them hot. We ran them while tired and/or hungover, and on occasion while drinking beer.
If you don't do anything I did as a young fool, you'll probably be fine.
Just a couple other thoughts regarding cutting line. If your total station is within the fall radius of the tree being cut, the larger the tree, the more the minor gravitational tug of the gun can cause the tree to spin 180 and fall in the direction of the gun. Twice this has happened to me, both narrow misses. The other is beware of cutting dense stands of sapplings, we call them peckerwoods around here.They tend to grab the chain and rip it off the bar. Dial the throttle up to 11 before engaging and show no mercy.
The tree will jump when cut through, be careful you have an idea of where it goes when it leaves the stump. Hardhat; falling rotted limbs can hurt you bad, They're named widowmakers.
R.J. Schneider, post: 450748, member: 409 wrote: The tree will jump when cut through, be careful you have an idea of where it goes when it leaves the stump. Hardhat; falling rotted limbs can hurt you bad, They're named widowmakers.
You shouldn't ever cut through a tree when felling. Leave hinge wood between the face and back cuts. This hinge wood gives you directional control and also allows for the use of wedges (in the back cut) to make the tree see things your way. It also makes unpredictable behavior less likely when the tree starts to "go".
Find a logger (preferably a friend, but that's not critical), and spend a day in the woods cutting trees with him.
You can read everything written here (all good advice), times ten, and you won't learn what you will probably learn in one day with someone who knows what they're doing and is willing to share some of it with you.
half bubble, post: 450714, member: 175 wrote: Tell me more about this, please.
Small trees snap back in you face. Rock or ground hits with the saw running causes kick backs. Trying to throw brush back out of the way with one hand and saw with the others. Some crews hire a man just to throw cut brush out of the way and off the line. He's called a mucker. Small trees can be under tension and snap back when cut. Your usually cutting closer to your legs and feet. It's easier to lose your balance and trip over a staub. That's a few things I can think of on the top of my head.
"That's gonna leave a mark" is usually an understatement with chainsaws.... and chicks dig scares...
http://www.bchw.org/Tech tips/SawCertification/Chain Saw Injuries.htm
If you are wearing a screen face shield also still wear saftey glasses. I have had stick poke through the screen. Wear long sleeves. Learn the bore cut aka plunge cut. When cutting with this tecnique you have control of the tree until you want it to fall. Expensive but well worth the money get a pair of chainsaw boots.[MEDIA=youtube]bIBeL-3RB1U[/MEDIA]
