Posted on 02/25/2022 10:05:42 AM PST by fireman15
hmmm.....very difficult escape....
I’ve got a Tree I am Slowly
and thoughtfully trimming.
Just pulling off dead Branches and sizing it up
For a Good trim.
I used a chainsaw for many years on my rural property.
As with anything else, proper gear and proper training are the key.
If you pay attention to detail and stop working when you start getting tired it is not that bad.
I had no incidents—not even a close call—and I cut down many large trees.
Grew up in the woods and farm and sawmills. Ran my own logging corporation for 25 years.
I can tell in a nano second if a guy knows what the hell he is doing with a chainsaw.
With a running chainsaw and a machine-gun both being held by coked out drug dealers between you and the door.....vacating the premises could be a bit more complex that it may seem.
I spent 16 years doing ‘maintenance’ work on the Appalachian Trail. The sawyers have to be “certified” every 2 years I think. Ours were particularly cautious ... downed trees “under pressure” are exceedingly dangerous. To add to the risk/danger, we were often miles from the nearest trailhead & rarely had cell service. We carried significant first aid kits. I looked it up some years ago & the average chainsaw accident injury was 110 stitches. There were some ‘close’ calls, but mostly because people along to move debris weren’t paying attention and staying far enough away.
Here at home, we cut down some damaged limbs (large ones) a couple of weeks ago - used pole saws. Tricky - had two large limbs that twisted as they came down & if not paying attention & moving in a hurry, it would have been easy to get “swacked”. The experience on the trail is invaluable as far as being aware of safety precautions - accidents can still happen, but so far so good.
"With the price of lumber and the number of people with portable sawmills around here this seems like a huge waste"
My neighbor cut down a 100’ x 30” pine last weekend and it went 90 degrees off from where he was wanting it to fall. It went through the power lines and into my yard, starting a small fire. Luckily no one was hurt or killed and no structures were damaged. The replacement of the power pole and transformer, as well as communications lines is probably going to be expensive. Felling trees that large is not something to be approached lightly.
One did the cut while one watched the tree, and we already determined our escape path planned.
You would not believe the cavalier attitude my own father had when cutting down trees when I was a kid. Fortunately, he is in his mid 80s and cannot do it anymore.
Personally, in the last few years I have worked exclusively with two friends who I trust. I have done all the climbing and actual falling but we are all constantly look out for each other. It really pays to have several sets of eyes looking for problems. And we also have the proper falling and climbing equipment which really helps as well... big steel cables, along with pulleys and winches. Even if the cuts get a little botched the tree typically can still only go the way that we want it to, but even then, unpredictable events can still happen.
You just never know when youre going to need one.
Fingers toes, legs, heads kids and so on.
What you saw was the typical landscape company tree removal, except for the idiots - the chunks usually end up in a brush pile and is later ground to mulch - if the company has such a market - else to the landfill with it.
For amateurs, buy leg chaps and hard hats with protective face gear, along with steel mesh gloves and mesh vests.
May not be much to cut, but it only takes one ‘kick back’ to send the chain off the rail and into some part of the operator, or even the whole rail with the saw still running as it takes off most of you leg or arm or even the careless worker or kid helping you ; never ever let anyone within 6 feet of you while you are cutting and then only behind you.
Yes, I have some long lengths of wire rope and several super heavy duty snatch blocks (pulleys) to work with them. We have needed the wire rope not just to put tension on the trees but to pull the logs sections up the steep hill behind our house and in other locations.
I’m enough of a chain saw expert to know the telephone number of the guy I call to do any work beyond my tree pruning electric pole saw’s capabilities.
Right out of high school, I got a job with a friend’s family construction business building 6x6 pressure treated deadman retaining walls throughout a group of subdivisions with varying terrain. With almost no prior chainsaw experience, I was given a 5 minute intro to a Homelite XL and a 1 day apprenticeship in wall building before being sent off on my own. Did it for 2 years and never received a saw injury. Not by skill or safety, but sheer luck. All that gear mentioned in the article, well...I had the boots. Much different view now.
Steve Courson was a guard for the Steelers and played on two superbowl teams. He was one of the first to come out openly about steroid use in the NFL and was blackballed for blowing the whistle.
In his retirement, he was cutting down a tree on his property. A sudden gust of wind changed the direction the tree was falling and Courson got crushed trying to get his dog out of the way :(
My uncle was killed by a falling tree .... he and some neighbors were out cutting trees for firewood (back in ‘the day’ when they heated their houses with wood). He wasn’t far enough away .... top branches sliced/whipped through his skull. Left a wife and 4 little kids ... tragic.
One of the guys I used to hike with (not a sawyer for the AT club) got up on a ladder, using a small chainsaw to cut a limb - saw popped off the limb & cut his arm, severing an artery. Fortunately, his wife stayed calm & rushed him to the hospital before he bled out. Nice scar ... he was lucky to survive it.
The Forest Service has changed chainsaw chap requirements several times - the layers of Kevlar in the chaps have been increased. The old chaps cannot be used by the sawyers, so I have an old discarded pair that I use around here for protection - if something slips, the old chaps are better than jeans/khakis - I’m glad to have them!
I never did feel comfortable handling a chain saw after that and eventually got rid of mine. I have no problem paying professionals to do my tree work.
The ‘more power puller’ was one of my best purchases - nice one handed, cast iron come-a-long. I cut about 100 trees/year, for the past 20 years, and cable off (many times with two lines) the trees near homes that are leaning the wrong way. The come-a-longs make a big difference. The MS391 stihl is a nice saw.
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