Chainsaw Safety Tips

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- Hi, Sanford Smith here with Penn State Extension.

This video is sort of an add-on to a previous video about chainsaw PPE.

Today, we're gonna talk a little bit about the types of common accidents people have and how to know your limitations when it comes to using a chainsaw and staying safe.

And again, I have with me, Mike Powell, with me, a Chainsaw Safety Instructor with Penn State University.

So Mike, I have a couple questions I've been kind of dying to ask you.

What are the most common types of mistakes people make when they go into the woods with a chainsaw?

- Knowin' their limitations.

Just 'cause you think you can run a chainsaw, taking on a big tree, dead trees, you really have to understand the mechanics that are at work here.

And a lotta folks have been lucky, they've been cutting firewood and think, well, it worked, a tree came down.

Unfortunately, it's more luck than it is probably skill.

I see a lotta that with stumps when I'm out and about, so.

Really, just knowin' your limitations, cut stuff that's on the ground, get training.

Every time I read about an accident, I think it could have been prevented if they'd had some more training.

- [Sanford] Yeah, related to that.

Now, I know this isn't totally safety, but there are some things you wanna think about, if you're cutting something that's on the ground, aren't there?

Like, you don't wanna just cut right into the dirt.

- No, no, yeah, try to get it elevated some.

You can, there is a technique usin' a wedge, you can do that.

Or if you can at least roll it to get it, or cut halfway down through and then roll it, so that you can cut up through it, that you're never getting into the ground.

Because every time you hit the ground, you're gonna end up dullin' the saw, then you're gonna work harder to still continue to cut, if you don't recognize that.

- Right.

What about felling trees, actually dropping big trees, is that something that you recommend for people?

- No, no, not without training.

Again, there's so many things that can go wrong, and you have to put in certain cuts and notches.

And if you do that wrong and you hang it up, well, now what are you gonna do?

Do you have the equipment there to get it down?

Or what are you gonna do?

You gonna leave it?

And then that becomes, is that your woodlot?

Where are you cutting?

It's an unsafe, that's an accident waiting to happen.

'Cause now, how is it suspended there?

- Yeah, there's another thing I've heard over the years is that struck bys, in other words, things that fall outta trees can be a big accident causer for chainsaw users, tell us about that.

- Sure, I mean, anytime you're in a woodlot, there's always that potential for something to fall out.

The wind right now is picking up.

Fortunately, we looked ahead above us before we started to do this, but it also can be a calm day.

I mean, I've sat at home on a real still night, and you hear the tree fall down, and it's like, wow, it didn't even, there was no wind event there.

- Right. - So, wearing that hard hat when you're in the woods, it just gives you that extra layer of protection.

- Sure, so Mike, how should someone carry a chainsaw when they're in the woods?

- Okay, so there is a proper carrying technique, and that is in your right hand with the bar behind you.

And the reason for that is, if the saw is warm, you've been running it, and you're carrying in your left hand, that's gonna put the muffler right on your pants.

- [Sanford] Oh, okay.

- [Mike] Or on your chaps.

So hopefully, you do have those chaps on, 'cause otherwise you're gonna burn through your pants, and you're gonna have a muffler.

- [Sanford] Are all chainsaws configured that way?

- [Mike] Absolutely, there is no left-handed chainsaw.

- [Sanford] Okay.

- [Mike] For the left-handed folks, you have to learn how to run a chainsaw right-handed.

- Mike, another thing that I know affects chainsaw use is the weather.

Wind is something that keeps me home, recent rainstorms and such, can you talk about that?

- Yeah, windy days is not a day to be out cuttin' trees.

I mean, 'cause you just don't know.

We have some dead trees off camera here.

How solid are the roots in those?

And wind will certainly help bring those over, but again, on a calm day, a tree could just fall over.

So, but wind, you can have stuff falling out of the trees more, so it's just not a safe time to be there.

Weather again, why would you be working in the rain?

If you're cutting stuff on the ground and it's just a light rain, sure, but if you've got, if you're planning on felling, you feel comfortable with that, you have to still look up into the tree.

Well, if it's raining too hard, you're gonna get a face full of water.

Your glasses are gonna get fogged up.

You're not gonna be able to see what you're doing.

- Yeah, yeah, you really need to be on your game.

I know if a rotten branch is up there and it's wet, that can be kind of a heavy branch, if that falls out of the tree.

- And they can fall out at any time.

I had one just fall behind me one time walking because it was so waterlogged, that it just decided to let go.

Fortunately, I was already past.

- Okay.

Mike, what's kickback?

I hear a lot about that, but I've never experienced it.

- Sure, well that's good that you haven't experienced it, because it's a lasting impression depending on how it goes.

Kickback is when the bar, the arc of the bar, comes back towards you as the operator, and so if your body position is in the wrong place, it's gonna get you head, shoulders.

And you're not gonna stop it, it's over before you even realize it.

- Right. - And it can come from the tip coming in contact with something, you're trying to cut two logs, or it's not sharpened properly, the rakers could be too low.

It can also come from, when you're cutting something, and the log starts to pinch, it can come back at you as well.

So it's the arc of that bar coming back, and where's your body positioning?

You definitely wanna keep it off to the side.

- Is there anything else that we've kinda missed here to talk about?

We've covered a lotta different things.

- Well, I think, the biggest safety precaution for runnin' a chainsaw is you and how you approach it.

All right, your attitude.

You know, you're not invincible.

There's nothing we can put on that's gonna keep us safe.

We need to pay attention with what's going on within the woods.

We gotta know how to run that saw properly.

- Okay, thank you very much for listening today.

I hope you learned a little bit more about chainsaw safety and all the many things you need to consider when you go out and use a chainsaw.

There's lots of good information, and you should take some time to find out how to use your chainsaw safely.