Videos to help learn how to safely use my new saw?

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fprintf

Member
Mar 14, 2011
31
Central CT, USA
I just bought a new Stihl MS290 (yeah, yeah, some love it, some hate it) and this is the first saw I've personally owned, though I have used a saw somewhat unsafely in the past. E.g. when it wasn't mine, I am sure I buried the chain in the dirt trying to cut up downed trees etc. in Vermont.

Is there an FAQ or recommended set of online advice/videos that could tell me the basic do's and don'ts? It seems like a tall order, and in my other hobby we'd tell the newbie to take some lessons.

Here is what I gather and remember from what my Dad told me when I was younger:
1. The end of the saw can cause kickback, so be careful about cutting with the end
2. The saw can bind on unsupported wood, and kick back or just bind up and need wedges to get loose.
3. Some method of lifting the tree above the ground or rolling it is required so that a cut can be made all the way through without burying the saw in the dirt.

and of course lots of stuff about ear, eye, hand, feet and leg protection.

I've done a search on youtube and already picked up a lot. So that is when I decided to come here and ask if there are any favorites you like to pass along.
 
Start with some small stuff until you learn the saw and are comfortable.
Boots, jeans, chaps if you have them, safety glasses.

I saw a guy up cutting last weekend with shorts and flip flops. Not smart!
 
OMG! I watched the part when the limb breaks his leg like 10x !! WOW. Pain beyond belief. :ahhh:
 
Actually Stihl has a really good review on their site that shows the safe way to work the saw.

http://stihldealer.net/videolibrary/#realvid

You can individually select each scene to watch what would be included in their DVD they sell all for free, the only thing is you individually select each scene, close it, and then select the next. I've watched this entire series several times. Or for 4.99 you can order the DVD they offer. Either which way I really thought this was a wonderful series to start with ... go to youtube for all sorts of other offerings. Hope this helps.
 
PPE is very important, and really should include protection for:
hearing- muffs/plugs,
eyes- safety glasses/screen,
head- helmet,
legs- chaps,
hands, from vibes a/r.

Kickback results from spinning chain on UPPER quadrant of tip contacting wood; cutting with LOWER quadrant will work just fine.

Couple of basic how-to rules that work for me:
Take frequent rest stops to hydrate & think about lessons learned. Always do more thinking than shuffling about.
No monkey-grip on front bar- keep thumb opposed to fingers. (Monkey-grip has them all parallel on top of bar.)
Keep feet well apart, and off to one side of the plane of the cut. Avoid serious injury from "barber chair" vertical splitting of stem.
Clear escape paths before starting cut.
Keep all body parts out of the "plane of the chain" so, if the bar is kicked back, you're not there. Eventually, kickback will happen.
Learn how to use wedges and lines/chains.
If saw chain is not razor-sharp, sharpen or swap it now.
 
What CTYank said! Just like a knife, a sharp chain is much safer than a dull one. I never pop open a beer until the power equipment is put away for the day.
Quit when you're tired. Getting tired will make you sloppy and careless. Don't go out to work with a cell phone within reach. Let someone know where you're at.

+1 on the Stihl website. Great videos. And don't apologize for buying an MS290. It's a workhorse and a good beginner saw.
 
turbocruiser said:
Actually Stihl has a really good review on their site that shows the safe way to work the saw.

http://stihldealer.net/videolibrary/#realvid

.

I agree.

Take the time to watch the stihl videos. ALL FIVE OF THEM. They can seem a little tedious at times, but stick with them.

I even recommend them to seasoned sawyers if they haven't seen them. Just one tip from those videos can save your saw or you from disaster.

If you have never read a modern chainsaw manual, read your entire MS290 manual. There's a lot of good maintenance and safety info in there.

What I wear:

Clear safety glasses under a forestry helmet w/metal mesh shield
Steel toe boots
Labonville full-wrap chaps
Antivibration gloves.

Sometimes I'll wear ear muffs and the safety glasses instead of the forestry helmet, but everything else in that list is worn ALL THE TIME.
 
bfunk13 said:
I saw a guy up cutting last weekend with shorts and flip flops. Not smart!

I'll never forget the time I saw a guy in shorts (and zero other PPE of course) standing on top of a pickup bed full of branches, sawing away at them like he was using a weed whacker. I had to look the other way.
 
"Don’t go out to work with a cell phone within reach."

Make that, "...without a cell phone in reach."
 
Thanks to everyone for the advice and the videos. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I found the Stihl video (the whole thing) to be an excellent companion to the owners manual.

Honestly, the Stihl manual is somewhat hard to read with all the "WARNING" captions! I am sure in this day and age of lawsuits that their crack legal team made them put them ahead of every single paragraph, at least, and sometime in front of a single sentence. Wow!

All good advice. I used the saw for the first time this weekend cleaning up a neighbors small downed tree. I told him it was 20 bucks a cut given how much I paid for the saw and how many cuts it took. :) It is surprisingly hard work just running the chain saw, not even including moving the cut wood into a pile.
 
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