More chainsaw kickback

Re: More chainsaw kickback

John Lucas

>Keith

Good idea on bringing an extra bar and chain. I never thought about just removing the saw from the bar and putting another one on. I use a large pry bar to lift or twist the wood to remove the saw but that often takes 2 people. Sometimes I'll put wedges in if I know it's going to pinch and I can't cut it any other way.

One thing we've left out and I'm bad about this one. Always have someone around to help in an emergency. My son knows how to stop the bleeding and has the cell phone to call 911 in case of emergency. Never needed that option fortunately.

I cut up a lot of wood from trees pushed over by a bulldozer, we have a lot of construction in our area. STAY AWAY FROM THE ROOTBALL. These things weigh thousands of pounds. You don't know which way they will fall when you release the trunk from them. There have been many stories of people killed by root balls. I watched on the news on night where they were lifting a rootball off 2 children who were playing behind it. The tree had been cut 2 days prior and the father had left the rootball as it set. Apparently what was left of the tree decided to right itself and crushed the children. Don't take anything for granted when working around trees.

Re: More chainsaw kickback

Glenn Hodges

>John's concern about us getting to relaxed using a chainsaw brings an old memory back into view. My wife the nurse came home one afternoon from her work in the ER with a story about a pulpwooder that was doing some limb work with a chainsaw. The kickback caused the saw to hit him in the face and lay his face open splitting his nose, lips, cutting away his front teeth, and chin. Need I say more, don't get to relaxed out there.

locking the elbow

Terry Daniel

>Good suggestion Keith! I think this is why small saws are so dangerous...you can't lock your elbow with a small saw and short bar. With a bit larger saw and an 18 or 20 inch bar it is comfortable to lock your elbow. As you stated, with the elbow locked a kickback will just push your entire body back. Another thing we haven't pointed out but it is in the manuals is to have the rpm up before touching the wood. This is especially important when cutting small diameter stuff where there might be less than 3 teeth engaged in the cut. We remember the top half of the end of the bar causing kickback but we often fail to realize that the bottom of the bar can also kickback if 2 teeth are not engaged in the cut. This is why cutting vines and small brush is so dangerous. If you must cut small stuff have the saw fully revved before touching the work.

TD

Re: More chainsaw kickback

adrien

>That rootball statement was a surprise. Glad you mentioned it.

Re: More chainsaw kickback

Ben Aragon

>Keith and John,

Some great advice you guys have presented here, chain saws demand a lot of respect. The extra bar and chain is a great idea I wish I had thought of that, I ended up buying two chain saws one to unstuck the other. Does pinching of the bar have anything to do with kick back?

Ben

Re: More chainsaw kickback

Jim Davies, Clayton, NJ

>One thing I would like to mention and have not seen yet is to be extra careful in cold weather! A friend of mine was working with another cutter in the Pocono's a few years back. Twenty degrees out and had been cutting for a little over an hour. One nicked his leg with the saw and did not even realize it due to the cold till the other saw the blood. A quick rush to the hospital and 15 stiches later he was OK.

Jim D.

Re: More chainsaw kickback

Chuck Ludwigsen

>Very good and concise points, Keith. Thanks to both you and John.

Chuck in Memphis, TN

Re: More chainsaw kickback

Bill Buck

>Hi; Regarding chain saw safety- all you have to do is make sure the top quarter of the tip does not touch the material being cut and you will avoid kick back. Keep the RPM up.

We used cain saws for cutting things you would not think about, such as steel roll up doors.

We use carbide tip chains because we don't know what we will be cutting but for wood you will get larger chips using a standard steel chain.

If you have trouble with pitch try adding a little kerosene to the bar lube oil, the kerosene keeps it soft and won't burn and stick as eaisily, makes for easier cleanup.

Re: More chainsaw kickback

John Lucas

>Darn Ben I was looking for a good excuse to buy a second chain saw. I already have a second bar and chain so now I don't have a good excuse.

Re: More chainsaw kickback

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey

>Ben,

If you pinch the bar with a log sag, you're more likely to damage the bar, the chain or both. I have a small stock of 4" wide wedges cut from pressure treated scrap the I will often put in the top of the cut to prevent this from happening in situations where I can't raise the log to put some support under the cut line. Had to do that today, in fact, while bucking a 30" maple. Made all my cuts 2/3 of the way through the log, then rolled it over and finished the cuts from the other side.

Mark

Re: More chainsaw kickback

Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey

>Very good tips there Mr. Moderator, sir.

Will add a small footnote on cutting safety that the guys working with me today got. If you feel a brief "catch" when zipping through the log, stop and check your chain very carefully. Had just that kind of catch while bucking some big maple that had stood at the edge of a farmer's field. Pulled the saw out of the cut, shut it off, and invited people over to see how my skip-tooth chain had been turned into a poor copy of Granberg rip chain by the nail I had just hit. Chain was almost broken, and if I had ignored the warning, I would surely have thrown the 28" chain with the saw running at 13,000 rpm in the next cut; would not have been a pretty sight.

Mark

Re: More chainsaw kickback

Keith Tompkins

>Thanks Mark, hitting a nail is not a good thing. Just like on the lathe, when something unusual happens, an odd sound, etc. it pays to stop and check! good job!