Chain saw safety

[Raised on a Deere]

Using the chain brake to keep the chain from moving on an idling saw makes sense. Unfortunately, there are saws still in service that don't have them. My big John Deere 65SV (made by Echo) doesn't have one. Man, is it a nice saw, though.

I have the Echo 550EVL. Super nice saw. Thought I was just being cheap when I bought it for half of a Stihl its size late 70's or early 80's, but soon found out it was about as good as they get. Have worn out 3 bars and several chains and one sprocket. But today it still is running great and starts on first pull just about everytime after cold start which is a predictable one or two pulls on choke, then first or second pull on half choke and I am off cutting. Haven't been injured but numerous times I was lucky. I use those to help keep me super aware of the danger and to maintain concentration. The guard as far as I can tell has never been anything but a nuisance where the brake on a stihl I have seems to have spared me some grief a time or two. I am glad for the brake.

 

[KennyG]

While I know about using the chain brake I am guilty of never doing it. My safety procedure for starting the saw is to always put the saw on the ground. Put my right foot through the rear handle, left hand on the front handle and pull the rope. These guys who hang onto the rope and throw the saw at the ground scare the cr*p out of me.

I'm kind of the same way. I have two saws, one with a brake and one without. For consistency I'm very careful with both, but I know I should get in the habit of using the brake more on the newer one.

 

[KiotiJason]

While I know about using the chain brake I am guilty of never doing it. My safety procedure for starting the saw is to always put the saw on the ground. Put my right foot through the rear handle, left hand on the front handle and pull the rope. These guys who hang onto the rope and throw the saw at the ground scare the cr*p out of me.

Hey Jim,
The problem with not setting your chain brake before you start your saw is that it hits WOT straight away without having a chance to warm up. IMO starting any saw without it on is dangerous regardless of whether it's on the ground or in your hand. Please not criticising everyone has what they are comfortable with. Even with my big saw I start it in my hand, but my habit of always flicking the chain brake is well entrenched and have done it that way for years. I have tried from time to time staring from the ground and find it awkward and without the chain brake on is dangerous. If I could impress any advice on you Jim it would be to get into a habit of rolling your left wrist to enagugement the chain brake before you start the saw and after each cut or any time you are moving around with the saw. No need to take you hand off the grips just roll the wrist. (Safer that way) cheers.

 

[Jim Shooz]

Hey Jim,
The problem with not setting your chain brake before you start your saw is that it hits WOT straight away without having a chance to warm up. IMO starting any saw without it on is dangerous regardless of whether it's on the ground or in your hand. Please not criticising everyone has what they are comfortable with. Even with my big saw I start it in my hand, but my habit of always flicking the chain brake is well entrenched and have done it that way for years. I have tried from time to time staring from the ground and find it awkward and without the chain brake on is dangerous. If I could impress any advice on you Jim it would be to get into a habit of rolling your left wrist to enagugement the chain brake before you start the saw and after each cut or any time you are moving around with the saw. No need to take you hand off the grips just roll the wrist. (Safer that way) cheers.

i only heard about using the chain brake a year or so ago on this forum and had been using a chainsaw for 30 years before that. ( I now put the brake on if I remember)
Old habits die hard but I can learn new ones.
The thing about starting is that while it may go WOT it wont go too fast because the choke is on (yeah i know) and more importantly "it's on the ground and I've got my foot on it".
To have the saw fire up while it's waving around in the air on the end of one arm is not a good practice.

 

[jb1390]

Got a pair of chaps last year, after 17+ years of running a chain saw without issue. Within 4 uses..., yep, they now have nice little slash on them. So...did I get more relaxed wearing them? (And no; no alcoholic beverages were involved. I hope everybody knows the comments above are a joke right?!) Or, my theory is they are much thicker over winter pants, that the chain would of never nicked them if I didn't have them on. Yep, that's my story and I'm sticking with it! But seriously, it's doesn't "hurt" to wear them. For me, that time when the chain "made contact" and another (when chain wasn't spinning), showed me one of my worst habits is when I pull the saw out to walk elsewhere and I swing the bar vertical and close to my knee, but saw revs might still be spinning down. Fixing your bad habits is easy, learning what they are is not.

This type of thing is why one should always hit the chain brake after every cut - especially when moving or setting the saw on the ground. It's easy enough to get in the habit of doing, and greatly improves safety. Plus, you'll know the chain brake works in the event you need it in an emergency.

I cut trees as a side business, and me and anyone who works with me try to religiously set the brakes. It becomes second nature to pick up the saw and release the brake - and doesn't add any time really. Things can go wrong quickly, especially when climbing or in a lift.

 

[N80]

I admit to not reading the whole thread. But for me, the safety issue that is bigger than all techniques and gear is fatigue. Same with tractor work. I make mistakes when I'm physically worn out or mentally worn out. The hotter outside the worse it is (I live in SC, high temps, suffocating humidity, soaking wet with sweat head to toe). And it always seems that the fatigue and slop set in when I am almost done, when the end is in sight and I just need to finish that last little bit. So for me, at age 51, recognizing the fatigue and quitting while I'm ahead has become one of my primary safety focuses. So far, so good.

 

[6string]

January 19th I was alone on the back of our farm and cut my left leg just above the knee. Luckily the saw was slowing down when it caught my jeans. It cut a 4inch long gash about 1/4 inch deep and l am lucky it didn't cut an artery or muscle. I beat it to the house on my four wheeler and then to the emergency room. I got 12 stitches and was back home in an hour. I bought a pair of (Stihl) saw chaps two weeks ago and won't be using the saw again without them.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Okay, folks: Stihl full chisel chains (yellow): RS or RM series?

 

[s219]

Okay, folks: Stihl full chisel chains (yellow): RS or RM series?

Yellow means there is no safety raker. You can get yellow in full-chisel (RS) or semi-chisel (RM), and there are other variations. For that matter, you can get green chains (with safety raker) in both RS and RM too. Full-chisel (square corner on cutter) is better for raw cutting performance, but dulls easily and is not practical for cutting dirty wood. For that reason, I only use yellow when I am doing basic firewood work on clean wood. When doing any sort of land clearing or logging under "field" conditions, I always use semi-chisel (rounded corner on cutter). They increase in productivity from not having to take breaks to sharpen the chain as often.

The only need for yellow chains are in the hands of someone who is making plunge or bore cuts. For regular cutting along the length of the bar, there is zero difference between the chains, as the safety rakers only pop out and have an effect when they round the tip. I hear so many people online get a macho attitude about yellow chains, when in reality they never make the types of cuts where they even matter (and most aren't even running saws with enough balls to make complex cuts).

There is also a lot of confusion about the cutting performance of full-chisel and semi-chisel, when in reality most folks don't sharpen their chains frequently enough to know the difference. I'll take a frequently sharpened semi-chisel chain over someone else's full-chisel chain any day of the week.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Yellow means there is no safety raker. You can get yellow in full-chisel (RS) or semi-chisel (RM), and there are other variations. For that matter, you can get green chains (with safety raker) in both RS and RM too. Full-chisel (square corner on cutter) is better for raw cutting performance, but dulls easily and is not practical for cutting dirty wood. For that reason, I only use yellow when I am doing basic firewood work on clean wood. When doing any sort of land clearing or logging under "field" conditions, I always use semi-chisel (rounded corner on cutter). They increase in productivity from not having to take breaks to sharpen the chain as often.

The only need for yellow chains are in the hands of someone who is making plunge or bore cuts. For regular cutting along the length of the bar, there is zero difference between the chains, as the safety rakers only pop out and have an effect when they round the tip. I hear so many people online get a macho attitude about yellow chains, when in reality they never make the types of cuts where they even matter (and most aren't even running saws with enough balls to make complex cuts).

There is also a lot of confusion about the cutting performance of full-chisel and semi-chisel, when in reality most folks don't sharpen their chains frequently enough to know the difference. I'll take a frequently sharpened semi-chisel chain over someone else's full-chisel chain any day of the week.

These days I'm rarely working on material large enough to do a plunge cut after an aiming cut to set up a proper hinge to fall the tree. The only time I'm doing plunge cuts are to take down leaners, of which I still have dozens on my property. Most of the material Im working with is small and tall sawtooth aspen and poplar which takes a simple 70 degree facing cut, an 10/8010 under cut to set up the hinge, and then a back cut straight in. Even so the stuff grows super close together and as a result, I'm cutting down 20-50 trees every day I'm out there as part of the "nibbling" process of getting rid of it all.