Chain Break Mania

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Lots of ways to get hurt in the woods. Using the chain brake won't prevent them all.

Safety is not a binary thing ('Safe' / 'Unsafe'), but about risk.

Using the chain brake regularly addresses certain risks / hazards. Does not affect tired sawyers, people who don't know how to fell, electrical hazards, etc. It is part of a larger safety perspective / culture.

Philbert
 
USFS currently teaches (and requires) more than 2 steps and the chainbrake goes ON!

Primary PPE - The grey matter between your ears!

Secondary PPE - Chaps, chain brake, hard hat, face shield, etc.

I don't think that it was clearly mentioned previously but the chain brake is PRIMARILY designed to work by INERTIA. Like during a kickback incident. Manual use is ALSO current best practice.

You can easily test the inertia feature by dropping the bar and allowing the bar tip to hit a solid object like a stump or log. Husky and/or Stihl used to have some training videos that showed the inertia feature being tested.
 
So an honest question would be; are chainbrakes today, and chainbrakes on older saws, designed to function as intended after, say, 100,000 cycles? What is the manufacturer's recommended interval for replacing all the components of the chainbrake system? Of the systems I am familiar with, I can see certain components that certainly would have a hard time lasting 100,000 cycles in a dirty harsh environment. Pivot points and pins, brake bands and springs would all suffer from fatigue and wear with constant usage. And that is fine, as long as there are guidelines for replacement of parts. And I'm not talking about when parts appear worn. You cannot visually tell when a spring or band has weakened due to repeated flexing. If you have cycled your chainbrake 20,000 times, then suffer a kickback injury because the chainbrake failed due to fatigue, who is to blame for that situation? If chainbrakes are truly designed to last for years under constant usage, then I don't have problem with clicking 100 times a day - it would just become habit and wouldn't be intrusive. But I have no desire to wear out the most critical safety feature on my saw, nor do I relish changing out all my chainbrake components every 2000 clicks either.
 
Lots of ways to get hurt in the woods. Using the chain brake won't prevent them all.

Safety is not a binary thing ('Safe' / 'Unsafe'), but about risk.

Using the chain brake regularly addresses certain risks / hazards. Does not affect tired sawyers, people who don't know how to fell, electrical hazards, etc. It is part of a larger safety perspective / culture.

Philbert
I've never had a large safety perspective & i've got the scars to prove it.
 
So an honest question would be; are chainbrakes today, and chainbrakes on older saws, designed to function as intended after, say, 100,000 cycles? What is the manufacturer's recommended interval for replacing all the components of the chainbrake system? Of the systems I am familiar with, I can see certain components that certainly would have a hard time lasting 100,000 cycles in a dirty harsh environment. Pivot points and pins, brake bands and springs would all suffer from fatigue and wear with constant usage. And that is fine, as long as there are guidelines for replacement of parts. And I'm not talking about when parts appear worn. You cannot visually tell when a spring or band has weakened due to repeated flexing. If you have cycled your chainbrake 20,000 times, then suffer a kickback injury because the chainbrake failed due to fatigue, who is to blame for that situation? If chainbrakes are truly designed to last for years under constant usage, then I don't have problem with clicking 100 times a day - it would just become habit and wouldn't be intrusive. But I have no desire to wear out the most critical safety feature on my saw, nor do I relish changing out all my chainbrake components every 2000 clicks either.

With the Stihl systems that I have experience with they seem like they are designed for many, many actuations before failing . The primary wear point is the plastic detent on the brake flag. As this wears it would make the brake MORE likely to engage which would make a theoretically safer saw. If it ever wore to the point that it was nuisance tripping you would know it and just replace the brake flag.
 
I think CJ has a very valid point. It's something that has also occurred to me.

Safety dudes have a bad habit of mandating procedures, practices, and equipment while taking no responsibility whatsoever for their decisions.

does the chainsaw operator training industry know how long these brakes last? That's a damn good question with a very complicated answer.
 
We have had the STIHL MS261 chain brakes become hard to operate after cutting certain types of wood. Have to disassemble and clean out under the covers, and around the brake bands. If we weren't using them regularly, we might not notice this, which could lead to a bad situation.

I would prefer that they not jam up. But pretty easy to replace the parts, if needed.

Philbert
 
We have had the STIHL MS261 chain brakes become hard to operate after cutting certain types of wood. Have to disassemble and clean out under the covers, and around the brake bands. If we weren't using them regularly, we might not notice this, which could lead to a bad situation.

I would prefer that they not jam up. But pretty easy to replace the parts, if needed.

Philbert

That’s a good point and something I hadn’t really thought about. I’m not a habitual brake user, but if you’re not using it, then you don’t know when it’s not working.
 
Yes, they are inertia driven.

Kickback that doesn't engage the brake means either the inertia wasn't high enough to trip the brake, which means it wasn't high enough to cause you injury. OR it was high enough to cause you injury, and you allowed your chain brake to become faulty by not following the testing procedures in your manual.
 
I don’t recall when the first CB’s came out but when I started in the woods on or about 1981 they appeared to be a relatively new thing and a lot of people just sawed them off due to brush getting intertwined.
The go to saw at that time was the 266xp or Partner 5000.
A couple years ago I worked with some clickers who wore no ppe except for hearing protection albeit listening to their playlist while cutting.
It’s been my observation that the majority of clickers have limited experience or are just casual cutters.
Even non clickers do fall in the woods with saw in hand, but with a bit of coordination you’ll toss the saw as opposed to laying on the throttle.
Most saw instructors have never used a saw to make their living.
So click away, it’s your saw, your wood, your world.
 
I don’t recall when the first CB’s came out but when I started in the woods on or about 1981 they appeared to be a relatively new thing and a lot of people just sawed them off due to brush getting intertwined.
The go to saw at that time was the 266xp or Partner 5000.
A couple years ago I worked with some clickers who wore no ppe except for hearing protection albeit listening to their playlist while cutting.
It’s been my observation that the majority of clickers have limited experience or are just casual cutters.
Even non clickers do fall in the woods with saw in hand, but with a bit of coordination you’ll toss the saw as opposed to laying on the throttle.
Most saw instructors have never used a saw to make their living.
So click away, it’s your saw, your wood, your world.

Although I started out long before you did John, that is my experience and thoughts as well, I won`t become a clicker or throttle blipper nor do I walk about aimlessly with a running saw. If its 3 steps on rough or congested terrain I shut the saw off, my saws seldom see idle even for a minute. If I were to trip or fall the saw would be several feet away, instinctively . If one feels they need the brake on then use it, I won`t laugh at you, much.
Back when the first Pioneer saws came out with brakes the real wood cutters promptly cut them off , removed the handle or the whole guts. It`s a difficult job to find one around this area with intact brake parts unless it was a homeowners firewood saw.
 
Although I started out long before you did John, that is my experience and thoughts as well, I won`t become a clicker or throttle blipper nor do I walk about aimlessly with a running saw. If its 3 steps on rough or congested terrain I shut the saw off, my saws seldom see idle even for a minute. If I were to trip or fall the saw would be several feet away, instinctively . If one feels they need the brake on then use it, I won`t laugh at you, much.
Back when the first Pioneer saws came out with brakes the real wood cutters promptly cut them off , removed the handle or the whole guts. It`s a difficult job to find one around this area with intact brake parts unless it was a homeowners firewood saw.
I guess us old timers will be passing on the torch to clickers and blippers. Lol
One cannot work in woods without some sort of mishap. This will be my 4th decade eking out a meager existence in the woods with 8 lost time injuries so far with none that can be attributed to not repetitively being on the chainbreak.
Working with a saw in the woods is more about passion and loving almost every minute of it and waking up the next day eager to get back at it.
Some of us were cut out for it and some of us were not.
Also I think the clickers look very effeminate and hippie like. Lol
 
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