Can You Run Out From Under Your Hat When You Need To?

 Nuts319 sure can. In this video he is cutting a big red oak, and at the 3:22 mark, the tree pulls fiber all the way down a root that Mr. Nuts319 is standing over. He makes an impressive escape. I will never stand over a tree root again when I am dropping a tree.

Barberchair In Minnesota News

                                           Photo Credit: Redwood County Minnesota Sheriff

Regular blog readers here know that I am always pushing proper falling techniques. Failure to make a plan for dropping trees makes every one you drop an accident, and sooner or later that will catch up with you.  This tree was cut from the tensioned side until it split lengthwise, gained elevation, and fell on the operator.  He paid a horrible price, being trapped for four days before he was rescued. Here is the link to the report:Chainsaw Accident

KARE 11 posted a video on their news site:

I think it is worth noting that the fire department personnel took two hours to free the man from the tree.  Moving a tree off of someone is not a simple thing, and I doubt that the firemen have had training in special chainsaw techniques. Study the Chainsaw Safety Rules on this blog, and click on the Chainsaw label to access all of our posts about chainsaws and dropping trees. 

Lift A Log Video:

Epic Tree Fails #32

Garth, over in the Netherlands is putting together some great compilations of tree cutting mistakes and accidents.  There are always ladders, often kickbacks, and some barberchairs.  If you are cutting trees, take a class and learn the techniques you need to avoid barberchairs, and always escape from the stump when the tree goes into motion.  As you come up on the 4 minute mark you will see a man create a barberchair that gets really tall, and he stands still, evidently not understanding what he has created.  It is a fatal pair of mistakes. 

With No Help From Me

After my little surprise yesterday it is a good time to remind myself that some trees are more ready to come down than others.  I saw this one last February, and it collapsed all by itself.  Stick a saw into one this rotten, and it may come down around your ears.  A sounding axe is a valuable accessory when cutting snags and high risk trees. I promise to thump a little more than I have been doing lately.

Never Pass A Place...

                                     

...to visit a rest stop, or words to that effect, because a fellow might need to take... a rest.  On a recent trip home from Iowa I was feeling great and zipped right by a convenient stop at Hannibal because Troy was just over an hour ahead, and I didn't need to stop.

Then, I started getting sleepy.  I chugged a coffee; then I chugged another coffee; then a Water Joe.  I woke up, because I now needed a rest stop!  No problem; 45 minutes, tops.  Oops, an alligator in the road.  Some trucker up ahead is having problems.  Then, the traffic bunched up and crawled to a stop.

Five miles in an hour.  I finally passed the unfortunate parties that bumped into each other when the remains of the left rear tire let go.  I made it to the Troy Wal-Store in better shape than the guys who met by accident, and I don't intend to pass through Hannibal without stopping again.

Bad Stump!

 I ran across this stump recently, and the cutter obviously did not know anything about hinging a tree to make it fall successfully.  You can see that there is no opening made to allow the tree to rotate, and it appears that the fellow hoped to cut it loose from the stump with one cut all the way through from one side to the other.

Luckily for the operator, the top of this black oak lodged in another tree, and all movement stopped, allowing the guy to go home in one piece.

Monument To A Tense Moment

I ran across this old barber chair in Jefferson County, Illinois recently. This tree was cut somewhere around twenty years ago, and the stump serves as a silent reminder to those who see it that trees have the ability to smash you if don't know what you are doing. When the tree began motion, it split lengthwise, standing on the springpole, and what happened next we do not know. If the logger escaped unharmed he was a lucky person, and I hope he changed his ways.

Here is what he did wrong. He made one horizontal cut on the heavy side of the tree, then cut from the opposite side without first opening the front to allow the tree to rotate downward on the hinge wood. When the first cut closed, the tree split. I imagine fast footwork ensued to get out of the way. Read the chainsaw safety rules on the lower left sidebar, and peruse the postings under the 'Chainsaw' label to learn all of the cuts you need to safely drop a tree. It doesn't take a very big tree to kill you, and chainsaws are the most dangerous tool we use, so please pay attention to safety when you crank up.

Situational Awareness

I got lucky at Pinckneyville and captured a real close call on video, and invented (I think) a new word. One of the tractor pull crew was enjoying some longnecks while I waited for the little train to do a run-by, and the alcoholic haze made him totally oblivious to the train as he walked over and stood on the tracks. He had his BeerMuffs on! BeerMuffs are similar to Beer-Goggles, messing with your perception in ways that can screw up your life. I wonder if his friends would have rushed over and rescued his beer if he had been hit. Oh well, he has used up a life, and may begin to figure out that machinery and beer don't mix well.

Rules To Live By

If you read the gun blogs you will see the Four Rules posted on many of them. The Four Rules are a great aid in preventing firearm accidents, because anyone can remember just Four Rules, and you generally won't have an accident unless you violate more than one rule. Being a stickler for details and adhering to the rules all the time will make you a safe shooter.

1. All guns are always loaded...
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy...
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot... and
4. Be sure of your target and what lies beyond it.

Knife safety is even easier.

1. Never cut toward yourself...
2. Always cut away from youself...
3. Never cut yourself.

And one more that can be added to both knives and guns...
If you drop it, let it fall.

One of my landowners called me today to thank me for giving him a safety lecture in his woods recently. He ordered a set of chainsaw chaps and a hardhat with a face shield and ear muffs. He called me because "A Limb As Big As My Arm" fell on his head, which was saved by his hat. That made me feel pretty good, but then in the news tonight I saw a story about a chainsaw fatality which started me thinking. There is lots of safety information about saws, but there is no concise list of essential rules for chainsaw safety like the list we have for guns.

This brief video illustrates the necessity of keeping both hands on your saw while the chain is running. This operator ALMOST got cut. This event caused a brief lecture before any more cuts were made.



I am going to start a list of rules, and am asking for comments for additions if I miss any important points. As I have been thinking about this I realized that chainsaws are complicated little buggers... I think they will have lots more rules than we need for safe shooting.

1. Always wear your safety gear when running your saw: hard hat, eye, face, hearing protection, cut resistant protection for your legs, heavy boots, gloves (depending on work conditions).

2. Safety devices on the saw must be in working order: front hand guard,chain brake, chain catcher, throttle lockout, and right hand guard.

3. Hold the saw on the ground or lock it between your knees for starting. No 'Drop Starts.' Set the chain brake before cranking.

4. The engine must idle reliably without turning the chain.

5. The chain must be sharpened properly, including properly set depth gauges.

6. The chain must be adjusted to remove slack and still run freely.

7. The operator must understand the forces on different parts of the bar as the saw runs: push, pull, kickback and attack.

8. Both hands must always be on the saw when the chain is running. The thumbs must be wrapped around the handles. Both feet should be firmly planted on the ground.

9. The operator must always know where the end of the bar is, and what it's doing.

10. Don't let the upper (kickback) corner of the bar contact anything when the chain is running unless the tip has been buried with the lower corner.

11. Let off of the throttle before pulling out of a pinch on the top part of the bar.

12. Make a plan for every tree you cut. Assess hazards, lean, escape routes, forward cuts, and back cuts. Evaluate the forward or backward lean, and the side lean of every tree you cut. Know your limits.

13. Clear your work area and your escape path of brush, vines, and other hazards that can trip you or catch your saw.

14. Escape from the bullseye when the tree tips. 90% of accidents happen within 12 feet of the stump. Go more than 15 feet, and stay out of the bullseye until things stop falling.

15. Keep spectators away more than twice the height of the tree in the direction it will fall.

16. Don't cut alone.

17. Keep your body and the swamper's out of the line of the bar in case of a kickback.

18. Set the brake when taking over two steps or when moving through tripping hazards. Keep your trigger finger off of the throttle when you are moving.

19. DO NOT operate a chainsaw from a ladder! Operating with your feet off the ground requires special training.

20. Do not cut above your shoulders.

21. Springpoles must be shaved on the inside of the apex between the ascending and descending sides. If the apex is higher than you shoulders, stand under the springpole and cut it low on the descending side. It will release upward, away from you.

Leaning and heavily loaded poles that are too small to bore cut for a hinge should be shaved on the compressed side until they fold.

22. Do not cut a tree that is holding up a lodged tree. Do not work under a lodged tree. Think about a mouse trying to steal the cheese out of a trap.

23. Instruct your swampers and helpers to NEVER approach you from behind or the sides to within the reach of your saw when you are cutting. If you pull out of a cut with the chain running, or have a severe kickback, the swamper can be killed if he is coming up behind you!

Well, that is a start. Please leave comments if you can think of more rules that should be included in this list.

Saved By A Method

A couple months ago there was a logger killed not too far from here when a dead branch like this one nailed him on the head. This particular limb fell behind me after I made my escape from a dead black oak I had just dropped to make some firewood. The method I use to fall trees is what saved my noggin. There are lots of people who cling to the old methods of cutting trees, and I see their comments on my YouTube videos. The most surprising thing to me about this is that the U S Forest service still teaches the old method to their people because someone in the organization thinks that the bore cut is difficult or dangerous to learn.

The open face and bore cut method for falling trees has some great advantages over the older methods. It is a necessity for trees with excessive forward weight in order to prevent barber chairs, which are often deadly. The bore cut allows you to make your hinge the exact length and thickness you want while your tree stand motionless, and allows you to set up your wedges in advance of releasing the tree. The greatest safety advantage I see is that the faller is up on his feet when the tree is released, and can make a quick exit away from the stump as soon as the tree is in motion. Those seconds saved in your getaway will eventually save you from injury or death if you cut down trees.

This dead black oak has a bit of forward weight to the north, so wedging won't be needed to make it fall.

The first cut aims the tree, which will fall at a 90 degree angle to the bar of the saw.

The second cut matches up to the first, creating the front surface of the hinge.

Bore through behind the hinge and cut most of the way to the back of the tree.

Bore through from the other side, and cut back. Look around before you sever the back strap to make sure no spectators have wandered into your impact zone. The tree will stand safely with this method until you release it.

Sever the back strap. Cutting down will prevent your saw's bar from being sat upon by the tree when you miscalculate the balance of the tree. Get away from the stump on a predetermined path to safety. Twelve feet is the critical distance, and you should plan on at least twenty feet to be safe.

The finished stump and butt log. Angling down slightly with both bore cuts would have eliminated the bypassed wood.

Hinging with the bore cut is also useful for bucking logs that are suspended on both ends. Make a notch, bore through to make a hinge, and cut out the bottom.

I was able to put all but three armloads of this tree in our wood trailer. The little Kubota had to snort pretty hard to make it up the hill on the way back to the house.

Wooden Rain

A very important part of every tree falling plan is your escape from the stump area. As I have told before on this blog, nearly all injuries and deaths related to tree falling occur within a 12 foot radius of the stump. You need to move out of this zone on a pre-established escape route as soon as you set the tree in motion. You should move 20-25 feet, and use other trees for shields if that can be done easily. The escape route should be 45 degrees off of the fall line of the tree, and the opposite direction from which the tree is falling. After the tree is on the ground you need to stay back for a few seconds until you are sure that no more woody debris is going to rain in on the stump area.

The United States Forest Service still teaches the old falling methods which finalize your hinge while the tree is beginning to fall. The reason I have heard from Forest Service chainsaw instructors is that boring a tree to make a hinge is a difficult skill to learn. One of the safety problems with the Forest Service method of falling trees is that your escape from the stump area is delayed or prevented because you are still cutting with your saw deep in the tree.

The picture below is the site of a snag I cut in my woods. Note that the chainsaw is on the stump, and the wood in front of me is part of the treetop which fell backwards as the tree went down. It landed 10 feet from the stump. One of my landowners was nearly killed in 2006 by the same type of incident. He was knocked down 12 feet from the stump, and spent several months in a hospital and rehab facility.


 Dropping dead trees is always a bit more risky than working with live trees, so use the open face and bore cut method when you are working on snags; it will allow you to escape from the bullseye more quickly, and may save your life.