One Handed Saw Operation

[lxt]

Just read this months TCIA mag. one of the features was about top handled chainsaws & the improper use. The writer made comment about one handing the saw was un-professional, heres my take!!

I have one handed a saw in the tree but do so with care & respect, when I can I use both hands, I think some of the accidents in our industry pertaining to saw use & chippers are due to the lack of training & the average Joe starting a tree biz with little or no exp.

When I started you ran a saw on the ground first & did this for about a year along with running a chipper & learning how to run ropes for the guys in the air. when I started climbing I wasnt allowed to use a power saw for 6 months & during this time I may have cursed the boss under my breath but my balance & knowledge didnt justify me using a saw aloft.

This is where I think alot of the problems stem from today, for production sake get up there, give em a saw, cut that, jump over there,cut that, etc... TRUE TRAINING has been put on hold for production at least in the utility sector.

In the residential realm the opposite has occurred, so & so got laid off with no return in sight, cashes in his 401k, buys some equipment & now he`s a tree trimmer with no exp. other than cuttin firewood!!!

I would really like to see what the training level of those that get hurt by a chipper or one handing a saw is. no training, lack of exp. or one of the vets who was too complacent in what they were doing.

what do you guys think?

LXT..........

 

[BostonBull]

I one hand a top handle in the tree and bucket. But only when I feel there is little danger to it. I would never do it close to my body or if my hands are close together or worse yet if my arms are crossed across my body because of positioning.

I think alot of the injuries today are from people with little time on a saw, and NO common sense. After doing the work fro some time you begin to undersatnd what should, shouldnt, and DEFINATELY should NOT be done.

You CANT teach common sense!

 

[newguy18]

I to have one handed in trees before but I'm a little leary because I climb with a rear handled saw so i make every effort to get into a position to two hand it but its not always possible.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

It's one of those things where risk is highly elevated, and if it your SOP you will eventually get bit.

I know several people who had very close calls onehanding where they thought they had good body positioning. The force of the kickback through it back at them to get a little nick, just enough to scare

 

[newguy18]

Not a little saw but I one handed a stihl s10 in a tree a couple of years ago and got a small chunk of my knuckle bone nicked off.Not enough to go to the hospital but enough to scare me.

 

[Job Corps Tree]

I still do every so often, But I hate for my students to see this. I tell them not ever to use any saw with just 1 hand.
We know that sooner or Later you will need to one hand a chain saw expecailly up in a tree.
I started on the ground and around a chipper. Working with an Home-lite XL12
16". That is what we climbed with our Boss thought we could not hold it with 1 hand, of course in time you could. We have Top Handed saw at work ,but my own are rear handed. That what I learned with and that's what I own.
I guess my point is one should not use a chain saw with just one hand. Both times I have been cut by a saw have been with just hand on it at that time!
D%$#-it that Hurts

 

[treesquirrel]

Liars in the shadows

Anyone who has spent any significant time in a tree doing chainsaw work has one handed a top handled saw.

Those who say they have not are almost certainly liars.

Great care must be taken of course and if you can possibly get into a position for two handed use then that is what you should do.

If you do one hand then I suggest at minimum you double check your position and the security of your footing. Have the required two TIP and a third if possible. Always be damn sure you are cutting with the flat of the bar and are nowhere close to the tip of the bar touching off causing kickback. Never ever one hand of you are in a precariously balanced position. Always keep the saw supported after you cut through not allowing the saw and arm drop onto your leg or body.

One handing is risky and should be done only when you have no reasonable option.

One handing small stuff with the power saw is silly. Use the Silky for removing the little stuff you feel compelled to one hand. It is easy to get haphazard and overconfident zipping through little stuff one handing a power saw. I can zip through a 2 inch limb very fast with my Silky and I do not have to exert energy starting it up.

Just my .02......

 

[lync]

One hand

I saw a diagram of the most common locations on the body for chain saw injuries. The right hand had none and the left hand had many, as did the left shin, knee etc.
The following day I took down a 24" dbh spruce behind a store using the bucket. One third of the limbs were over telephone and triplex 220 volt drop.
Needless to say the limbs over the wires got cut and chucked into the dz and the others just got cut , with 2 hands on the saw ( an 020T). One cut I had to make with my left hand while I held the 3" limb with my right. The saw jumped out of the kerf and bounced down the limb toward my right hand.
I was able to control the saws progress and stop it before any damage was done. But I could have been a statistic.
My point is that most climbers/bucket operators do one hand the top handle saw, but only when there is no alternative. I use snap cuts, loop runners to hold limbs being cut but occasionally my other hand is put in harms way, I just try to make it as infrequent as possible.
Corey

 

[treeman82]

When I can I use the handsaw, sometimes I get yelled at for it... but those guys aren't up the tree with me, so they can either change places with me, or shut up. Today though, I was taking down a DEAD sugar maple that had some branches over a couple of cable and phone lines. I was using 2 hands until I got close to the end, then I'd hold the piece with one hand and cut with the other. Small pieces that I could handle.

 

[Bigus Termitius]

When I can I use the handsaw, sometimes I get yelled at for it... but those guys aren't up the tree with me, so they can either change places with me, or shut up. Today though, I was taking down a DEAD sugar maple that had some branches over a couple of cable and phone lines. I was using 2 hands until I got close to the end, then I'd hold the piece with one hand and cut with the other. Small pieces that I could handle.

Reminds me of the other day when a temp on our crew gave me a hard time about finishing up a tree quicker. (He usually runs a timberjack trimmer.) I held out the pole saw and said: "You want this." He said no of course.

I'm glad he didn't. We spend most of last week doing over work that he claimed he had done with another crew. He had been there, but did everything all wrong. Quicker for him, but wrong and twice as slow and expensive for the company because of the do over.

I'm patient, but on occasion even I must one hand a power saw. (Husky 338)
It's mostly because I'm chunking something up and redirecting to the dz so as to clear the lines and what not. My left hand is on the backside and away and my position gives room for a kick back. Also, I don't need high RPMs on the husky to get the job done, thus the violence and destructive "profile" of a potential kickback is decreased.

 

[M.D. Vaden]

I think that whether it's right or wrong is judged by the majority of skilled and knowledgeable arborists.

And my observation is that the preponderance of practice overwhelms written material.

From a common-sense aspect, manufacturers are not putting that centered handle for balanced one-hand operation there for nothing.

The little else I can add is how on earth would you ever get cut one-handing unless you were being so sloppy, that the same sloppy attitude would bite you in the a$$ some other way, like with your rigging.

I just can't see how someone gets a kickback, unless they place their saw in position for a kickback.

There is nothing wrong with one-handing, except for trying to one-hand everything and not getting out the handsaw or both hands on occassions.

Besides, nobody is going to get on a small build woman arborist's case for two-handing a chainsaw, and we know there are guys that can one-hand control a saw possibly twice as effectively as the same woman two-handing. Yet some safety manuals judge the woman as safe and that man as not.

 

[fireman]

Guys most of our injuries come from lack of respect of the equipment and unfamiliarity of equipment.THE OTHER comes from at the end of the day on the last cut get to tired or hurry to the get the job done.This one of the most physical and mentally stressed jobs there are.The weekend warrior or the guy that buys a chainsaw and says hes a tree trimmer is in for a surprise.U have to be in shape and stay fit if u want to survive.I'm a full time fireman and paramedic of the 17yrs being a paramedic and owning a small tree trimming business all of the patients Ive treated have been to tired or unsure of equipment when they got injured made a bad judgment call.U have to be on top of your game every day or it will bight u in the but or the guys on the ground if u make the wrong decision.My 200 t i one hand all the time only in a bucket climbing u have to know your limits. Stay safe only do the work u have been trained to do.The owners of company's train Ur men and dont let them work out of the realm of their training and if there tired or exhausted do to heat size of tree or clear cut there is always tomorrow.I hate to see a fireman or doctor say your husband wife didn't make through the accident which 85% Of the time could have been avoided. STAY SAFE KEEP UP THE EXCELLENT POSTS!!!!!!!!!

 

[Night Owle]

This is A useful Thread...

Two points I like so far..

If You have to "one hand" keep the RPMs down.

and Stay away from the tip of the bar.

Keep Safe.........

Night Owle....

 

[D Mc]

I found that article particularly irritating. I can't imagine not one handing the saw. That is what the top handled saw was made for. Using two hands on a top handled saw and saying that's what it takes to be safe is like slapping a helmet on a motorcycle rider and saying you're good to go. There's so much more to it than that. In that same issue a tree worker got seriously injured who was an award-winning, safety-conscious employee. Tree work is dangerous. Safety needs to be looked at from a much broader approach than the "do this and you'll be safe" attitude. It takes time to learn and practice to learn technique. Being 60' up a tree, tied into an 11 mm line is not the time to say "I think I'll try practicing one-handing my saw"! Actually, you can cut through your line very easily with a Silky, and many pictures have been posted on injuries caused by handsaws and polesaws. And those situations do happen and accidents do occur, but was that the saw's fault or a lack of technique, experience and training?

Bottom line: Do not do something you cannot do. Do what you can.

DMc

 

[newguy18]

You make a good point dmc this definatly is not a career that you should take lightly no matter how much experiance you have.Theres always the chance of an accident.Even when you go and buy something like a silky you should use it in a way that you wont get cut.Ive cut my self almost to the bone with my handsaw and it sucks espically when the costumers sees blood coming out of the tree then when I get done and come down try and explain to them its just a nick [which of course it wasn't].

 

[alanarbor]

What's clear here is that a great many of the one handed chainsaw injuries have occured to experienced operators. It's usually when cutting and chucking or blocking down a spar.

When most of the stuff you are going to handle is 2-3" in diameter why not use a handsaw? You're putting a good bit more strain on your elbow, and shoulder slinging around the 200t.

When blocking down, why not use a bypass, snap the piece off with both hands on it, and the saw on your belt?

I was guilty as anyone of one handing. That's how I learned.

Where I work now, if you can't keep both hands on the chainsaw, you use a handsaw, you rig it out, you reposition, whatever it takes. We just don't do it.

 

[Blinky]

Two points I like so far..

If You have to "one hand" keep the RPMs down.

and Stay away from the tip of the bar.

Keep Safe.........

Night Owle....

You might re-think the low RPM thing... the saw still has plenty of torque at low RPM and kickback or jumping the kerf are more likely if the chain grabs. At full throttle the chain cuts more, grabs less... if it's sharpened right.

Personally, I do one-hand when I have to but I usually run a chainsaw at full throttle. If it's a cut that will go at low RPM I pull out the handsaw... SUGOI!

Not trying to tell what to do, just want you to think about it.

 

[Blinky]

From what I've read, a lot of one handed chainsaw injuries happen when holding the piece in one hand while cutting with the other.

For cutting and chucking with a chainsaw or a handsaw I took a lesson from some line clearance guys. Use snap cuts. Make your mismatch cuts, stow the saw and break the piece... total control even with big wood. Also has a very cool, professional look to it when you methodically make the cuts, calmly put the saw away, confidently snap off the piece and chuck it into the pile.

 

[Magnum783]

From what I've read, a lot of one handed chainsaw injuries happen when holding the piece in one hand while cutting with the other.

For cutting and chucking with a chainsaw or a handsaw I took a lesson from some line clearance guys. Use snap cuts. Make your mismatch cuts, stow the saw and break the piece... total control even with big wood. Also has a very cool, professional look to it when you methodically make the cuts, calmly put the saw away, confidently snap off the piece and chuck it into the pile.

Great idea I use it often also just a little addition I got from my mentor. Cut it with a chain saw with two hands till it almost breaks. Stow the saw pull out hand saw and finish one handed with the hand saw. A little slower but safe.
Jared

 

[DonnyO]

Great idea I use it often also just a little addition I got from my mentor. Cut it with a chain saw with two hands till it almost breaks. Stow the saw pull out hand saw and finish one handed with the hand saw. A little slower but safe.
Jared

this method is great. To be real, there is a place for it, and there is a place for one handed cutting and chucking....................opcorn: