Thursday, June 7, 2018

Chainsaw Rules Update

My friend Clint, who just had his skull fractured by a tree a couple weeks ago has posted a picture of the tree that did it.  He made some mistakes, and he told me about it.  He was being pushed because of having a couple of interns to watch as he was cutting trees in a timber stand improvement project.  He did not evaluate the lean on a ten inch diameter maple, and he did not make a hinge cut.  He cut one side, then the other, to make a match cut, which severs the tree, leaving nothing to control the direction of the fall. The crown jammed up on one side, creating torque, his saw was jammed and he stayed at the stump trying to pull it loose instead of escaping from the stump.  The butt end of the tree broke loose, and nailed him around his left eye as it made a swing to ten feet away from the stump.

I get negative comments on my chainsaw videos, and accident prevention is why I persist.  There is a short list of steps in falling a tree, and a long list of safety rules.  If you cut by those lists you may never see an accident while you have a saw in your hands.  The rules for chainsaws are not like the rules for firearms.  You have to violate two firearm rules to have an accident.  Violating one chainsaw rule can be fatal.  Check the list on the left side.  I should have thought of Rule 25 a long time ago, but it's there now.  You could add 24 and 25 to the Firearm Rules, too!

1 comment:

Merle said...

Some people just refuse to listen to the voice of experience.....