When to be most on guard with your saw? Newbie question

[marcy-m]

I hope this isn't a stupid question, but you don't know what you don't know. Safer to ask than be sorry later, so...

I've been working with a chainsaw since May. Before that, it's been 10 or 15 years. Now I'm learning the right way I hope. Thanks to this site, some great people here, and the Internet.

I always try to be on guard and super aware while the saw's on. I'm usually cutting scrounged wood in my backyard from a crib pile. I haven't felled trees or limbs yet, this time around.

I know to watch for another piece of wood that the tip may hit (kickback).

I know to determine where the weight is and how i think the pieces will fall.

I watch the kerf so the saw won't get stuck at the end of the cut.

I feel like the beginning of cuts are the most precarious, noodling or cross cutting.

What other scenarios? I would rather think about it before it happens in the middle of a log and I'm unprepared.

Oh I have a dog and kids around helping with wood (splitting and stacking) usually when I'm cutting. We've went over safety many times, and the dog hates the sound of the saw so she's not running around. Thought I throw that out there.

Thanks,

Marcy


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[loadthestove]

I'm sure others will be along to chime in.First and most important is having the proper safety equipment,Good chaps,eye protection and hearing protection.

 

[CTYank]

Biggest safety stuff IMO is procedural:
1. Never use "monkey grip" (thumb parallel fingers) on front handle. Keep thumb on opposite side from fingers.
2. Keep left elbow locked with arm straight, and never use saw left-handed (that'd make #3 impossible).
3. Keep all your body parts out of the plane of the chain. (Keep them out of the target area.) Implies stand off to the left from straight behind the bar.
4. Keep your feet spread, again off to the left, for stability.
5. Clear trip hazards before starting saw. For felling, clear multiple escape paths.
6. Always carry multiple wedges (in a pouch) with you for felling and for bucking anything that might pinch. Get 5" and 8" plastic. Cheap.
7. Always check that everything's adjusted and tight before firing up. That means also that the chain's sharp- really sharp.

Quality combo helmet, chaps, hard toe/chainsaw boots and gloves highly recommended. No fun picking splinters from fingers. BTDT. Safety equipment is only to reduce severity of injuries. IMHO best to work on reducing probability of bad things happening. Belt & suspenders thing.

 

[philoshop]

NO distractions when running saws. Bring the kids, dog, friends out to help after everything is on the ground and bucked, and the saw is put away.
If your head isn't 110% into the task at hand, you're asking for trouble. Sometimes even 110% focus isn't enough.

 

[zogger]

What they ^ said.

Cutting scrounged wood you never know when you might find metal in the tree, this can throw a chain sometimes.

I have also had a nose sprocket disintegrate mid cut, sparks, chunks of stuff.

Cutting a tangled storm mess I think is about the most dangerous a firewood scrounger might encounter, and cutting off a big log pile next.

Pro tree guys/loggers, etc have to do the difficult work, a scrounger always has the option of saying no, this is above my pay grade.

Back when I was much younger, liked to spar a little..so one day I was thinking, would I *really* want to climb in the ring with someone like sugar ray or marvin hagler..

NOPE, just not that stupid....heheheheheheheheheh

 

[HuskStihl]

When to be most on guard with your saw? Newbie question
Two words. Zombie apocalypse.

 

[TreeTangler]

When to be most on guard? Easy, absolutely every second the saw is running. Injuries and fatalities hardly happen when you're completely focused on what is going on and prepared for something to happen. Most incidents happen when you're doing something you've done a thousand times and grow complacent.

Another time to understand that it's best to quit is when you're getting worn and tired. Growing fatigued and pushing ahead usually leads to taking shortcuts. Shortcuts with a saw lead to shorter limbs... on you.

 

[rarefish383]

The old Boy Scout rule of knives. No one within your blood circle. With a knife, hold the knife out at arms length and turn in a circle, no one within that circle. Same with a saw, Joe.

 

[marcy-m]

Thanks for all the great advice y'all!

I wear eye protection, but I sweat so much they fog up. That can get a little dangerous, too. i'm going to try some car wax or some mesh glasses if the wax doesn't work. No hard hat/ shield or chaps, but they're on the list.

When I first started this in May, I wore my workout clothes every day cutting (in my back yard) ha ha! Now I have a dedicated pair of jeans at least, and cowboy boots. I know they aren't steel toe, but it's the best I have at the moment.

CtYank, thanks for your very informative post! I need to get plastic wedges and learn to use them. I didn't know about monkey grip. Definitely paying attention to that today.

Thanks again y'all!


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[marcy-m]

The old Boy Scout rule of knives. No one within your blood circle. With a knife, hold the knife out at arms length and turn in a circle, no one within that circle. Same with a saw, Joe.

Great reminder! The kids know to not get near me, but I forgot about the blood circle. That's a GREAT way for them to remember it.


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[JB Weld]

I think some of the best advice you have gotten so far is to stop when you get tired. I find that when I am bucking logs it is easy to get caught up in getting in that last cut or just one more cut. You start rushing or pushing it, and that is the most likely time to get hurt. Running a chainsaw can be very physically demanding at times. It is not merely making the cuts, but rolling the logs, clearing the limbs, loading cuts in the trailer, etc... So use your safety equipment, know your limits and stop when you are tired.

 

[zogger]

Thanks for all the great advice y'all!

I wear eye protection, but I sweat so much they fog up. That can get a little dangerous, too. i'm going to try some car wax or some mesh glasses if the wax doesn't work. No hard hat/ shield or chaps, but they're on the list.

When I first started this in May, I wore my workout clothes every day cutting (in my back yard) ha ha! Now I have a dedicated pair of jeans at least, and cowboy boots. I know they aren't steel toe, but it's the best I have at the moment.

CtYank, thanks for your very informative post! I need to get plastic wedges and learn to use them. I didn't know about monkey grip. Definitely paying attention to that today.

Thanks again y'all!


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Chaps or cutting pants and a cutting helmet with the muffs, boots, etc are *the* cheapest insurance you can get, after just developing good chainsaw cutting safety awareness of course. The wounds from chainsaw accidents are hideous and frequently enough fatal.

 

[CTYank]

Thanks for all the great advice y'all!

I wear eye protection, but I sweat so much they fog up. That can get a little dangerous, too. i'm going to try some car wax or some mesh glasses if the wax doesn't work. No hard hat/ shield or chaps, but they're on the list.

When I first started this in May, I wore my workout clothes every day cutting (in my back yard) ha ha! Now I have a dedicated pair of jeans at least, and cowboy boots. I know they aren't steel toe, but it's the best I have at the moment.

CtYank, thanks for your very informative post! I need to get plastic wedges and learn to use them. I didn't know about monkey grip. Definitely paying attention to that today.

Thanks again y'all!

I'd caution that none of the mesh eye-thingies meet ANSI standards for eye protection. The ones I have are marketed for use over glasses. I've found that a bandana folded into a sweat-band under my combo helmet does wonders for keeping glasses clear. Whenever a saw is running, the ear muffs are down, followed by the mesh visor. Regular breaks to hydrate, cool down & dry off are good stuff.

The grip suggestions, I received from various sources, including chainsaw manuals. They worked well in a couple of kickback events, so I pass them along. Kickback happens in an eye-blink. Hearing about others' consequences got my attention.

I love plastic wedges. I've got a few that are pretty chewed-up, but it's been a while since I got a saw pinched. A couple of us around here automatically hang a wedge pouch off our belts when clearing storm damage. They're that useful.

I've also got a batch of jeans that have all been treated with permethrin-based insect repellent, the only stuff that actually repels ticks.

 

[Marshy]

Thanks for all the great advice y'all!

I wear eye protection, but I sweat so much they fog up. That can get a little dangerous, too. i'm going to try some car wax or some mesh glasses if the wax doesn't work. No hard hat/ shield or chaps, but they're on the list.

When I first started this in May, I wore my workout clothes every day cutting (in my back yard) ha ha! Now I have a dedicated pair of jeans at least, and cowboy boots. I know they aren't steel toe, but it's the best I have at the moment.

CtYank, thanks for your very informative post! I need to get plastic wedges and learn to use them. I didn't know about monkey grip. Definitely paying attention to that today.

Thanks again y'all!


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Go down to the dollar store and get yourself a bandana and fold it in half to make a triangle. Now fold it over and over in a 1-2" strip on the longest edge towards the corner to make a sweat band that you can tie around your forehead. That will keep the sweat out of your eyes for a good few hours. Once its gets saturated you will have to slip it off and ring it out. This is the only way I can wear glasses while Im working in the hot weather.

If your still getting fogging then get some Cat Crap lense cleaner, its an anto-fog gel you put on and wipe off.

 

[Torch68]

Safe use started early turn into safe habbits, there are no shorts cut when a sharp steel chain is moving at 60 ft/sec within a few inches of your body. Always remember you can replace a saw but not a life.

 

[DanTheCanadian]

http://www.wesspur.com/items/saf307.html

Only mesh safety goggles that meet ANSI Z87.1.2010 if ordered with the .7mm screen. Unfortunetly .35 does not meet code but I've used the .7 before and I never had any dust get to my eye. Doctors can sew on a hand or foot and you can live without a finger, but once you lose an eye it's gone forever.

 

[philoshop]

PPE: chaps, helmet, gloves, glasses, boots, etc are great. They will help to reduce injuries when accidents happen.
Preventing that accident from happening in the first place is the goal.

 

[esshup]

Beating a dead horse here, but good quality PPE (why buy inferior quality stuff when you are trying to protect yourself is beyond me) and stopping when you are tired. I don't care if you're cutting in your underwear if you have high quality full wrap chaps on. Jeans won't slow the saw down enough to make a difference if you're tired and slip.

A friend of mine doesn't know when he's tired. He usually gets that figured out when the saw stops running and he sees that it kissed his chaps and it pulled enough material out of the chaps to stop the saw. "Why did the saw stop?" "Oh" No lie....... IIRC he's on his 3rd or 4th set now.

 

[JB Weld]

I was helping to clear a little 2 acre food plot and after a few hours I was tired of cutting down brush and saplings. I had on a set of double thick Carhart overalls. I rested the powerhead on my thigh and the bar just cut through the top layer of the material. I dodged a bullet with teeth that day! I think that anyone running a saw should have a healthy fear of what one can do to fragile human flesh.

 

[Whitespider]

In my opinion, fatigue is the biggest danger when using a chainsaw (or any power equipment/tool)... the only times I've been "bitten" by a saw (or other equipment/tool) is when I had become tired and should have quit, or at least taken a break to rest and recharge. Fatigue dulls senses, fogs the thought process, degrades concentration, slows reaction time, and interferes with balance and coordination. Ain't no shame in taking a break... running power equipment that can "bite" ain't the time to prove your manhood. Truth is... a real man knows his limits.

A general rule to live by...
Don't stand in the line of the probable kickback plane... if you can't read the lettering on the bar, you're standing in the line.
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