I attended a two day training course to get certified to run a chainsaw on ferderally administered lands this weekend. As I found out, a lot of the weekend was breaking old habits and when I thought about the proper mthods taught in the course they made sense.
One thing that was a surprise is that there are couple of standards for chainsaw chaps. My perfectly good looking pair which were bought around 1998 are way out of date. The various standards are related to saw chain speed, the chaps have been uprated to accomodate faster saws.
The two bad habits I need to get rid of are,
Not using the chainbrake. Bascially, if I am not arent actively cutting through a piece of wood, the brake should be on. Its a PITA initially, but once you get used to it its not bad.
Not wrapping my thumb under the handle. I usually wrap my thumb when sawing vertical, but when I switch to a horizontal cut I was placing my thumb on top of the handle possibly to try to control the saw from tipping. Basically, the tip of the thumb should be touching the index finger when holding the saw handle.
Some interesting statistics are that the majority of tree felling accidents occur within 20 feet of a tree. The forest service requires that once the tree starts falling, the sawyer needs to move at least 20 feet away from the tree. A common mistake is stopping too close and watching the tree come down.
The various cutting techniques were basic and oriented towards trail maintenance. The technique used for dealing with spring poles has changed for the better. The prior method of making several shallow cuts under the pole has been replaced by shaving the compression side of the pole at a 45 degree angle, so that when the pole does break if breaks away from the sawyer. I always considered open faced wedges and borecutting was for problem trees but it is a superior method as the tree falls when the sawyer wants it to. One of the participants did a bore cut and had to stop when the tree didnt drop, while we were discussing the cut, some steep wind gusts came up and despite the tree being held by two strips of wood about 1.5 inches wide on either side of the trunk, the tree stayed up until we were ready to drop it with wedges.
The technique of doing a Z cut to eliminate tension in branches that are supporting the trunk of the tree off the ground was also a slick technique.
Overall, the majority of the techniques are designed to slow down key portions of a cut so that the wood moves in a controlled manner. It doesnt really slow down the progress once the sawyer gets some practice, but it sure cuts down on "surprises".
Overall, I would highly recommend the course, only about two thirds of the course is hands on, the rest is classroom, but the classroom portion is handy for making sure that the sawyer has their "ducks in a row" before they enter the woods. The training manual is available on line for free http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/php/library_card.php?p_num=0667 2C01, but it doesnt reflect some of the new techniques.
Before I am legal I have to find a red cross CPR and first aid course.
One thing that was a surprise is that there are couple of standards for chainsaw chaps. My perfectly good looking pair which were bought around 1998 are way out of date. The various standards are related to saw chain speed, the chaps have been uprated to accomodate faster saws.
The two bad habits I need to get rid of are,
Not using the chainbrake. Bascially, if I am not arent actively cutting through a piece of wood, the brake should be on. Its a PITA initially, but once you get used to it its not bad.
Not wrapping my thumb under the handle. I usually wrap my thumb when sawing vertical, but when I switch to a horizontal cut I was placing my thumb on top of the handle possibly to try to control the saw from tipping. Basically, the tip of the thumb should be touching the index finger when holding the saw handle.
Some interesting statistics are that the majority of tree felling accidents occur within 20 feet of a tree. The forest service requires that once the tree starts falling, the sawyer needs to move at least 20 feet away from the tree. A common mistake is stopping too close and watching the tree come down.
The various cutting techniques were basic and oriented towards trail maintenance. The technique used for dealing with spring poles has changed for the better. The prior method of making several shallow cuts under the pole has been replaced by shaving the compression side of the pole at a 45 degree angle, so that when the pole does break if breaks away from the sawyer. I always considered open faced wedges and borecutting was for problem trees but it is a superior method as the tree falls when the sawyer wants it to. One of the participants did a bore cut and had to stop when the tree didnt drop, while we were discussing the cut, some steep wind gusts came up and despite the tree being held by two strips of wood about 1.5 inches wide on either side of the trunk, the tree stayed up until we were ready to drop it with wedges.
The technique of doing a Z cut to eliminate tension in branches that are supporting the trunk of the tree off the ground was also a slick technique.
Overall, the majority of the techniques are designed to slow down key portions of a cut so that the wood moves in a controlled manner. It doesnt really slow down the progress once the sawyer gets some practice, but it sure cuts down on "surprises".
Overall, I would highly recommend the course, only about two thirds of the course is hands on, the rest is classroom, but the classroom portion is handy for making sure that the sawyer has their "ducks in a row" before they enter the woods. The training manual is available on line for free http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/php/library_card.php?p_num=0667 2C01, but it doesnt reflect some of the new techniques.
Before I am legal I have to find a red cross CPR and first aid course.
