Do you cut wood alone?

[Anduril]

Hi all. I've been cutting/processing my own wood for 6-7 years or so, and I have been getting most of my supply from a National Forest permit. This usually involves four or five trips to the local mountains each season for chainsawing a mix of down and standing dead trees. About 80% of the time I'm faced with going alone, except when one of my sons can go. I realize using a chainsaw alone is not recommended. I do use the appropriate safety gear - chaps, gloves, helmet when felling, etc. I also try to limit the size of trees I take. But my cutting spots can be pretty isolated - sometime I see no one all day. I keep a good first aid kit and sat phone with me. Just curious how many of you chainsaw solo, or do you always make sure to have someone nearby?

 

[Woody5506]

I'm by myself 95% of the time.

 

[Rangerbait]

I'm alone a good 75% of the time...I just try to take my time and keep my cell with me at all times.

 

[Tar12]

Use to cut by my self all of the time...getting to much age on me to do it alone anymore.

 

[highanddryinco]

By myself a lot more than I'd like, probably half the time.
Also on a mountain with no cell coverage. I carry the "H" compression bandages along in my kit and do wear PPE. I should probably be carrying a tourniquet as well.
I don't have death wish or anything but if didn't make it off of the mountain for some reason, it would suit me better than dropping dead at the office.

 

[highanddryinco]

it would suit me better than dropping dead at the office.

...unless of course it was because that big cat that we see on the game cam pounced on me and started chewing. I think I'd settle for the office heart attack in that situation.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

I have cut alone the past 20 yrs and i never wear safety equipment beyond gloves.. Few close calls here and there but im probably safer cutting wood than i am riding my motorcycle. When my times up its up, wont matter if im cutting wood or sleeping in bed so i dont worry about it to much.

 

[Anduril]

I don't have death wish or anything but if didn't make it off of the mountain for some reason, it would suit me better than dropping dead at the office.

I was thinking exactly the same thing today - I can think of worse ways to go. Most of what I do in the mountains I often do alone - cut wood, off-road, hike, fish, backpack, etc., and figure if it's a choice between go alone, or don't go at all, I always choose to go alone.

I finally started carrying a tourniquet in my kit, but I'm not sure I'd be successful in self-application. But better than not having it I guess.

 

[Sodbuster]

I do, almost all time, and I do carry my phone with me. I like the tourniquet idea. I have a feature on my phone that if I hit a button 3 times, it will send a 5 second video message to 3 contacts, plus my exact GPS coordinates. I have it going to my wife, daughter, and a buddy who knows exactly where I cut. Not sure if our local 911 is set up to take those yet or not.

 

[fbelec]

things are usually delivered here small loads or grapple. bout 150 away from the house but always alone

 

[lost in the woods]

I fly solo bout 3/4 of the time. state forest permit. no cell service. but I always tell my wife or a buddy where I am going

 

[Tar12]

To me a cell phone is a false sense of security...if you have a accident great enough to make a phone(if you have it on you at the time) call you are in serious trouble at this point...you can bleed out pretty fast....figure in the terrain and remoteness and time factor and you could easily be gone in short order. I use to have the youthful bravado that nothing could happen to me and I could whip anything....after seeing people die over the years from freak accidents cutting wood it has opened my eyes to the reality of the possibilities...I take all precautions now and don't ever cut alone...its not worth it to me.

 

[Woody5506]

It's a shock to me when I do have someone else with me to help out, because it makes me realize how much work it is when you're alone. BUT, doing stuff like this alone is so relaxing and meditative, it can very well be worth the extra work.

 

[Manly]

Always by myself. I am a loner. I buck, split, stack and burn alone. I travel this trail of life in solitude.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

I travel this trail of life in solitude.

sometimes thats the best way my friend. I think Thoreau would approve.

 

[firefighterjake]

98% of the time I am cutting by myself . . . the other 2% being if a buddy of mine calls me up to say he has some trees he needs felled.

 

[toddnic]

Normally by myself, but always let my family know where I am. I'm normally within a few miles of home....

 

[Dobish]

...unless of course it was because that big cat that we see on the game cam pounced on me and started chewing. I think I'd settle for the office heart attack in that situation.

yeah, those big cats are kind of scary...
If I am taking something down, i'm with someone. If its on the ground, i'm by myself.

 

[Zack R]

Almost always alone (the dog goes with), national forest permit, 10-45 min away from my house. We have good cell coverage however I realize it can provide a false sense of security. I rarely see anyone else when I'm out.

I'm new to this so I have been extra vigilant on each safety step. The part that actually seems the most dangerous (other than felling a tree) is walking around with a running saw or drop starting a larger saw. For this reason I shut mine down when walking more than a few feet and have the chain brake engaged anytime the saw is not cutting wood. I'm comfortable drop starting the smaller saw but found its easier/safer to start the big saw while its on the ground.

Before I start felling trees (larger than the tiny ones in my yard) I plan to find someone local with experience so they can show me the ropes.

I like the idea of a push button notification like @Sodbuster mentioned.

 

[Highbeam]

I fly solo bout 3/4 of the time. state forest permit. no cell service. but I always tell my wife or a buddy where I am going

Your username makes this perfect.

I always cut and load alone. I would rather be the only guy throwing chunks and running a saw. At home when running the splitter I have had help from the children to roll rounds to my side.

 

[lowroadacres]

To be honest, if I were faced with traveling any distance for cutting firewood, I would not likely cut alone. I do cut alone much of the time as I process firewood but I am cutting within a few hundred yards of my home and I always in cell coverage. That being said I should have more of a first aid kit with me when I am cutting.

 

[gerry100]

bucking/splitting/stacking I do alone.

If I'm dropping a tree in the back wood lot, I'm within earshot of my wife

 

[Wood1Dennis]

Always (95% of the time) fell, cut, split, haul, stack alone. Good cell coverage & within walking distance of home, someone always knows where I am. I really never thought too much about it, but I have to admit you guys have me questioning that a little.

I don't see anyone coming out to help me and besides I really like the peace and quite of being alone in the woods. It is my escape from the day to day and having other people to worry about kind of messes that up!

 

[Sodbuster]

To me a cell phone is a false sense of security...if you have a accident great enough to make a phone(if you have it on you at the time) call you are in serious trouble at this point...you can bleed out pretty fast....figure in the terrain and remoteness and time factor and you could easily be gone in short order. I use to have the youthful bravado that nothing could happen to me and I could whip anything....after seeing people die over the years from freak accidents cutting wood it has opened my eyes to the reality of the possibilities...I take all precautions now and don't ever cut alone...its not worth it to me.

Having a cell phone is not a false sense of security, it is a safety tool, no different than having gauze to pack a wound or a tourniquet to attempt to stop bleeding. No single one of these items are help you all the time,especially when you go into shock, and you will. But they are better than nothing, including an untrained 2nd person with you in the woods. If you sever a major artery, your outlook is very grim regardless of cell phone, emergency supplies, or a second person. I have a friend that faints at the sight of human blood, he can gut deer and elk all day and not blink and eye, but make that blood human, and his mind flips, and he goes down. He, unfortunately, would be useless as a second person to have in the woods when I'm cutting should something happen.

 

[Montanalocal]

For some reason I think I work safer when I am alone. That is because I can work at my own pace. I often take 5 or 10 minutes to evaluate and look at all options when making a difficult cut. If there is another person present, for some reason I seem to think that I should rush the work. Whether to keep from wasting the other persons time, whether it is some type of competitive thing, I do not know. All I know is that when cutting alone, I take all the time in the world to make each cut safe. Not so when another is present.