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Chainsaw Safety

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Re: Chainsaw Safety

Unread postby Shaved Monkey » Wed 20 Sep 2017, 03:10:49

Widow makers in Australia are certain gum trees that drop a a few tonnes of healthy branch without warning usually after a bit of heavy rain but sometimes for no reason.
Lots of people have been killed pitching a tent under them.


heres a 700 year old red gum with a few branches on the ground
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Re: Chainsaw Safety

Unread postby vtsnowedin » Wed 20 Sep 2017, 09:21:17

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hvacman', '
')
- Look up before you cut. There is a reason the old pros call certain types of weak or dead branches "widow makers". See above about what gravity does to things and can do to you.

Good advise.
A Widaah makah is the broken off top of a tree that has straddled a limb lower down in the tree or in one next to it and is just hanging there waiting to fall off at the least jar. The motion of the tree you are cutting is often enough to trip the trigger.
I have left trees for years waiting for the top to fall down so I could cut the rest of the tree safely. Even a fifty pound piece is enough to kill you if it has just fallen thirty feet as it will be traveling down at about 35 feet per second or 24 miles per hour.

Edit to add: I dusted off my 1971 algebra and worked out the math more precisely.
A limb falling thirty feet will take 1.369 seconds to hit your head and be traveling 43.82 fps on impact (29.9mph) and have kinetic energy for a fifty pound piece of 1500 foot pounds which is equivalent to a 30-30 deer rifle bullet at close range.
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Re: Chainsaw Safety

Unread postby vtsnowedin » Wed 20 Sep 2017, 09:27:48

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Shaved Monkey', 'W')idow makers in Australia are certain gum trees that drop a a few tonnes of healthy branch without warning usually after a bit of heavy rain but sometimes for no reason.
Lots of people have been killed pitching a tent under them.


heres a 700 year old red gum with a few branches on the ground
Image

Those limbs certainly qualify.
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Re: Chainsaw Safety

Unread postby MD » Wed 20 Sep 2017, 11:51:19

I once watched a friend drop a 100ft oak between two buildings 40 feet apart. They were his buildings, his trees, and he was a master of the craft. The rest of us stood back pissing our pants. He never broke a sweat, and split the difference perfectly :-D Same guy could eyeball a lathe cut in stainless steel by hand and hit it within .003". I kid you not. My #1 life mentor. talk about missed :-(
Stop filling dumpsters, as much as you possibly can, and everything will get better.

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Re: Chainsaw Safety

Unread postby vtsnowedin » Mon 25 Sep 2017, 20:55:59

The pile is one maple tree that had it's top broken off (top not in the pile). The grapple has the top of an ash tree that was succumbing to emerald ash borers. notice the dark heart The saw has a twenty inch bar for scale.
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Re: Chainsaw Safety

Unread postby vtsnowedin » Tue 26 Sep 2017, 04:49:39

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', 'T')he pile is one maple tree that had it's top broken off (top not in the pile). The grapple has the top of an ash tree that was succumbing to emerald ash borers. notice the dark heart The saw has a twenty inch bar for scale.
Image

Edit to add:
Apparently photobucket has decided to montise their site. They are hitting me up for $399.00 for a years ability to post pictures to third party sites.
That ain't happening!!!
I'll poke around the web and see if I can find a free alternative.
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Re: Chainsaw Safety

Unread postby vtsnowedin » Tue 26 Sep 2017, 08:26:28

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', 'T')he pile is one maple tree that had it's top broken off (top not in the pile). The grapple has the top of an ash tree that was succumbing to emerald ash borers. notice the dark heart The saw has a twenty inch bar for scale.
Image

Edit to add:
Apparently photobucket has decided to monitise their site. They are hitting me up for $399.00 for a years ability to post pictures to third party sites.
That ain't happening!!!
I'll poke around the web and see if I can find a free alternative.
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Re: Chainsaw Safety

Unread postby SeaGypsy » Tue 26 Sep 2017, 08:59:58

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Shaved Monkey', 'W')idow makers in Australia are certain gum trees that drop a a few tonnes of healthy branch without warning usually after a bit of heavy rain but sometimes for no reason.
Lots of people have been killed pitching a tent under them.


heres a 700 year old red gum with a few branches on the ground
Image

Those limbs certainly qualify.


As a young fella i fancied myself to be a horseman, spent hundreds of days trail riding, mostly in sclerophyll (eucalypt dominated rainforest). When a three inch diameter dead limb 8 feet long gets wet & heavy, snaps off & drops 100-200 feet- it's pretty much a javelin. After many rides where such javelins are falling & hitting hard enough to stand upright in a gravel road- it's Russian roulette, the more times you play the more likely you die.

I feel safer using a chainsaw, in that it's a relatively controlled risk. Watch top notch tree loppers work- very first thing is a nice stand back & walk around, checking for likely spontaneous falls.
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Re: Chainsaw Safety

Unread postby vtsnowedin » Tue 26 Sep 2017, 19:53:30

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', '[') And also the angler the tree wants to fall Watch top notch tree loppers work- very first thing is a nice stand back & walk around, checking for likely spontaneous falls.
And again the angle the tree wants to fall. If you need to fight gravity it becomes a much trickery proposition. I must confess that two of the last five trees I have cut down went just opposite of where I thought they would. Only that it is a big piece of woodland and left vs.right dose not matter unless you parked the tractor left when you thought the tree would go right saves me from some embarrassing explanations and or confessions.
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Re: Chainsaw Safety

Unread postby dissident » Tue 26 Sep 2017, 20:04:28

People are usually too impatient and think their chainsaw will force its way through any situation. Never, ever force the chainsaw. If there is no slack then you are doing it wrong. Cut wedges even if that means you don't get instant gratification. Put some intellectual effort into planning the cut. The temptation to "wing it" is great and can be fatal.

I cut firewood by selectively harvesting dying standing trees or wind fallen trees on the two concession lots I own.
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Re: Chainsaw Safety

Unread postby vtsnowedin » Tue 26 Sep 2017, 20:37:17

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dissident', 'P')eople are usually too impatient and think their chainsaw will force its way through any situation. Never, ever force the chainsaw. If there is no slack then you are doing it wrong. Cut wedges even if that means you don't get instant gratification. Put some intellectual effort into planning the cut. The temptation to "wing it" is great and can be fatal.

I cut firewood by selectively harvesting dying standing trees or wind fallen trees on the two concession lots I own.

Not even the sharpest chainsaw can push through if the tree has decided to fall back and close the kurfe it cut out on the way in. By watching closely I can often see the kurfe beginning to close and draw the blade out before it is pinched. Then I have the option of making a notch cut opposite the one I first made or just going back to my first notch cut and cutting it into the new hinge point. If you get pinched the best thing to do is unbolt the blade and chain and place the saw"s motor well out of danger or bolt on a spare bar and chain if you don't have a spare saw handy by.
The worst thing (other then having a tree fall on you personally) is to have a saw get pinched and then have the tree twist around on it's hinge (which you cut wrong)and drop off the stump right on top of your saw. The bar ends up with almost a perfect right angle bend in it and the motor ends up as a collection of mashed parts that tinkle out of the box as you poor them onto your work bench. Kiss $500 good by!
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