Wow!! As we often said in the aircraft maintenance "Cautions and Warnings were originally written in blood." My only real addition was when I was a teenager I was chopping a limb with a small saw (maybe a 24"??) and I got into a rhythm of sawing a few chunks off and placing the saw on my left leg while I bent down to drag the limb over the small chunk of wood so I could continue. The first few cycles I paid attention to where I placed the saw, I waited until the saw spun down to idle before I moved the limb. Then the complacency started to creep in... I started to set the saw on my leg before it reached idle and the chain stopped. One time I set the chain on my leg and caused it to stop... I think it must have either bucked or sounded funny (this was almost 30 years ago) but I picked up the saw, looked down at the tear in my jeans and the inch or so long gouge in my leg. It didn't bleed and it didn't hurt... right away... So I'm looking down at the ventilation hole in my jeans and the new line on my leg and thought "huh, that's neat." and went back to sawing the next chunk off and I made it about halfway through and the shock wore off. I scared my ma and pa when the scream escaped my lips and I pulled the saw out and set it down and started to limp off. Luckily it didn't bleed but the when the air hit it, it hurt like hell. All in all I was lucky. I learned from it so it was a good thing in the long run. Oly
I got a concussion from a widow maker in college while working for a landscaping crew. No helmet/ppe's, no training, just a bunch of young guys....jake legs cutting down a tree. When your 20 you think your bullet proof and don't think much of things like that, but now I realize now how lucky I was not to have been killed or more seriously injured.
Yep, all I can say is a chain saw is one of the most unforgiving tools out there. Big or small, they leave UGLY cuts!
Thing is with kick back injuries if you keep your thumb hooked behind the handle the brake will be activated before the chain makes contact.
Most of the time a kick back happens so quickly it's over before you even have a chance to think about it. That's why most chainsaw accidents happen this way.
I remember being at lunch on my first day on the job and seeing a news story talking about the most dangerous jobs. It was high on the list and I remember turning around from the TV with this look on my face and the rest of the crew just started laughing hysterically. I managed to work there for about 2 years before deciding I had enough. It was a great experience though, I learned a lot.
I have a shredded pair of carhart bibs to show how lucky I've been. I've done a lot of really stupid stuff with a chainsaw in hand. I've somewhat wisened up. My brother knicked himself and had to get a couple stitches. My neighbor alsmost made it to the bone.
Scary stuff for sure! I've used a chainsaw since my late teens, cutting up log length firewood, and last year clearing a football size area on my property for some eventual food plots. I was using face cuts and wedges to direct the fall of the trees. I always took my time, walked around the tree several times looking for any potential hang ups, dead branches or potential diseased rotted trees. I then looked for my escape route, walked around the tree one more time and dropped it. the previous land owner had no clue on how to drop trees, there were quite a few that were already hung up, aka widowmakers. Very scary because they had been hung up for at least a few years already. My trick was to drop another tree ON the leaning tree, and down they both went. It was convenient having that luxury! I learned alot, and was very respectful of the potential dangers. It was hard work, that I found very enjoyable and rewarding. here's a pic of an old widowmaker and a ? shape tree, that i saved for the last tree cause it scared the crap out of me!!!
That right there is the kind of tree that hurts somebody! Just a thought, if you have access to a "power pole", you might be able to make undercuts from both sides and get it to drop. Then keep doing that until it becomes safely manageable. That way you're not in danger. As crazy as it sounds, I actually enjoy trying to figure out dangerous situations and have it work out nicely. It's partly the danger element that attracts me to trees. Be safe, wear a hard hat if you're going to seriously mess with those trees. Your family loves you.
Those stuck on the stump suck. To be honest I learned more cutting with a logger than I did in saw class. The few that still use a saw can make a tree swing on the fall on put them right on the dot without a wedge. Works good on poplar not so good on oak.
