Starting a chain saw.

Re: The flaw in the "logic"...drop start

Tom dunlap

Jason

Logic this any way youd like...then find one reputable SOP that condones drop

Starting. You won't find one

The ANSI Standard for arborists, Z133, hasn't allowed drop starting for many years. One exception, using a chainsaw in an aerial lift since the saw is on the outside of the bucket or basket

You're on your own...not safe

Re: not quite correct....

Tom dunlap

LOL!

2:45!

saw certifications

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

First, if you don't like starting on the ground, and I don't, use another approved method . The three point lock in your legs is every bit as convenient as what you are doing. You will not get Sthil or Husky tech rep to support your notion that starting with the break on adversely affects the saw or starting. It should become automatic to kick your wrist to test the break any time you pick up a saw. It is equivalent to checking the safety on a gun any time you pick one up.

I have been involved in two certifications trainings- Forest Service for trail maintenance and Mead Paper for their contract loggers. Either drop starting or starting with out brake on would result in failing the certification. That's all most open minded people would need to know about the topics.

Bystanders, take note of these facts and work in the safest way you can. When working safely is just as convenient as working unsafely the choice seems easy once informed.

Benefiting from greater experience

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

the person I cut for hated butt splinters on saw logs. He advocated powering the saw into the tree until it hit the ground (well almost). Then I took a class and learned that leaving a robust hinge was judged safer by a body of experience many orders of magnitude greater than mine/ours. And then I recalled two dangerous tree falls that would have been rendered uneventful by leaving a wedge. I "got religion" on tree felling.

Reminds me of electrical codes. Some seem unnecessary but then one has to consider that the code came from a body of experience that showed otherwise.

the events- cut tall above canopy poplar on extreme steep bank. Butt sawed loose and it floated above ground as it fell supported by its umbrella-like top. Butt eventually hit ground and fortunately it carried forward.

huge tall exposed beech sawed through and a puff of wind stood it back up on its stump. There it teetered for more than a minute before another puff blew it over in an unpredictable direction(I had long since abandoned the saw and left the scene). Pressure from tree embossed logo on bar into the butt surface.

More properly said as...

Barry Irby

"(I had long since abandoned the saw and left the scene)"

I had long since un-assed the area.

Is the a video of that last anecdote?

Washing chaps

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

If you use a chain saw you should use chaps. It is recommended by the manufacturer that chaps not be washed. There is fluff inside and it is this fluff that stalls the chain. Washing can ball up the fluff rendering it compromised. But, they get nasty. I have heard a recommendation to take them to a car wash.

Our washer has a gentle cycle that gently sloshes, rests and then sloshes again. At least in our machine this gentle action does not ball up the fluff. Just washed mine and they look good enough to wear to church, having recovered from the oil filler plug that came loose . Chaps not only protect against saw cuts but keep pants from getting soiled from oil spills>(.

Re: Washing chaps...follow directions

Tom dunlap

Bill

All of the chaps and saw pants I've ever owned have washing instructions.

There was a day when one of the materials would deteriorate from

Washing. I don't think that material has been used for a long time.

The instructions that I've followed read like any normal washing instructions

I put them in alone, set it to as large a load as possible and gentle. Detergent in

Hang dry

Other arborists I know wear saw pants every day all of the time. They usually have two so they can rotate. You don't want to. E anywhere near a pair of summer-worn saw pants