Tree cutting accident

[Rockbadchild]

Here is a few larger ones we've done over the years with Polesaws. Its either you cut it with tool in hand, or walk back 3 miles to the trucks. What to do, what to do... I'm not all that smart.

I guess so why would you walk when there is a quad right there.
lol I am sorry I had too

 

[dodge man]

I get you use a pole saw because that’s what you have with you but if you did much of that, a chainsaw is much better. I realize most of what you are doing is cutting small trees and brush.

 

[scott_vt]

Good Afternoon,
About three weeks ago I attempting to pull a dead ash out of a hedgerow on the north side of my property ! The tree had broken off at the base and all I had to do was clear a couple of small saplings out of the way to be able to pull the ash out ! After I cut the saplings I was attempting to pull them back in the woods while walking backwards! My boot must of caught on a branch and I tripped going backwards! That was all I remember until I came to ! I had blood all over my head, and I was able to make it back to the house, about 400 ft or so. My wife took me to the ER where they stapled my wound ! I had landed on a jagged rock and received a pretty good laceration!

I consider myself lucky that it wasn’t any worse than this ! Looking back at it now I should have been walking forward, I could have broken my fall with my arms !

 

[dodge man]

Holy cow, that looks ugly. Glad you’re ok.

 

[ArlyA]

I get you use a pole saw because that’s what you have with you but if you did much of that, a chainsaw is much better. I realize most of what you are doing is cutting small trees and brush.

Its more about volume, we can only carry finite amount of tools. To bring a regular saw would take up half the volume of our 6x6 box up.

 

[BnRidge]

A chainsaw scabbord can be mounted to get them out of the way. I have two on the tractor, and a 2x3 box for everything else.

 

[ning]

The local rural hospital here had a fundraiser that consisted of skeet shooting at a gun range. The winner received a new shotgun. The event was very successful.

The local rural hospital is owned by a big chain headquartered in St. Louis. When they discover what the local hospital did as a fundraiser (shooting guns!!! Prize was a gun!!!) they went ballistic. Actually sent letters to all participants apologizing for the lack of judgement.

Following year the fundraiser was a golf event. They made 1/3rd of what the skeet shooting generated.

When I started reading the last sentence I figured someone got hit by a golf ball lol

 

[Hay Dude]

Just keeping it real….if You keep cutting 24” logs with a pole saw and it’ll be worn out very quickly. I guess a 24” pine log is doable once in a while.
Not what a pole saw is designed for, but sometimes it happens

 

[Hay Dude]

https://www.stihlusa.com/products/pole-pruners/professional-pole-pruners/ht250/

40CC pole saw with 14" bar...

Could do a 28" log if necessary.

Right, I could also cut a 24” log with a $15 Disston cross cut hand saw.

 

[Rockbadchild]

do these pole saw require chain oil ?

I still haven't got a explanation on why there is no kick back while using a pole saw... kickback occur when the wood squeeze the chain, I feel like it is as likely to occur with a pole saw then a chainsaw... maybe you mean the likelihood of injury due to kickback is way less then a chainsaw ? that I would agree with.

 

[Hay Dude]

do these pole saw require chain oil ?

I still haven't got a explanation on why there is no kick back while using a pole saw... kickback occur when the wood squeeze the chain, I feel like it is as likely to occur with a pole saw then a chainsaw... maybe you mean the likelihood of injury due to kickback is way less then a chainsaw ? that I would agree with.

Yes, they have a small plastic reservoir for oil. If it didn’t have oil lube, it would quickly destroy itself.
Kickback is very minimal since the small is saw and the length of the pole absorbs the energy of the kickback

 

[ArlyA]

do these pole saw require chain oil ?

I still haven't got a explanation on why there is no kick back while using a pole saw... kickback occur when the wood squeeze the chain, I feel like it is as likely to occur with a pole saw then a chainsaw... maybe you mean the likelihood of injury due to kickback is way less then a chainsaw ? that I would agree with.

Kick-back is when the chain bits into the wood and stops, then with all the remaining energy needs to go somewhere throws the bar out. Pole saws have smaller chains and energy stored in the drive shaft so it greatly reduces that. I've locked chains on my various pole-saws many times. Doesn't do much but stop. I suspect the drive shaft dissipates most of it.

 

[ning]

I still haven't got a explanation on why there is no kick back while using a pole saw... kickback occur when the wood squeeze the chain, I feel like it is as likely to occur with a pole saw then a chainsaw... maybe you mean the likelihood of injury due to kickback is way less then a chainsaw ? that I would agree with.

As far as I know, kickback happens when the nose of the bar with a rapidly moving chain contacts solid wood (like more than just brush typically) and it basically runs the bar up the wood really fast.

A pole saw can definitely kick back, and he probably meant that your face is probably not right behind the bar. I could see possibly losing control of the pole saw if it kicks, but then the pole saw probably also is running a low-kickback chain, and it's really light chain and the engine is small so there's much less momentum in it so any kickback will be minor. Zero kickback? No, but very low risk.

 

[ArlyA]

do these pole saw require chain oil ?

Of course they do. Your bars and chains sure wouldn't last long without it. Are there any low-cost pole-saws out there without them?

 

[Rockbadchild]

As far as I know, kickback happens when the nose of the bar with a rapidly moving chain contacts solid wood (like more than just brush typically) and it basically runs the bar up the wood really fast.

A pole saw can definitely kick back, and he probably meant that your face is probably not right behind the bar. I could see possibly losing control of the pole saw if it kicks, but then the pole saw probably also is running a low-kickback chain, and it's really light chain and the engine is small so there's much less momentum in it so any kickback will be minor. Zero kickback? No, but very low risk.

yeah that one type of kick back yes the other is when the wood squeeze on the chain itself often happen when one is hesitant (not fast enough) wile cutting on the wrong side of the stress … if enough throttle is given it squeeze on the bar then you saw is stuck but it didn’t kick back.

 

[4570Man]

do these pole saw require chain oil ?

I still haven't got a explanation on why there is no kick back while using a pole saw... kickback occur when the wood squeeze the chain, I feel like it is as likely to occur with a pole saw then a chainsaw... maybe you mean the likelihood of injury due to kickback is way less then a chainsaw ? that I would agree with.

A pole saw isn’t very powerful and weighs a lot. They couldn’t kickback very hard. And you’re so far away there’s really no way they could kickback enough to cut you.

 

[WinterDeere]

A pole saw isn’t very powerful and weighs a lot. They couldn’t kickback very hard. And you’re so far away there’s really no way they could kickback enough to cut you.

More importantly, the physics are different. There are several things that can cause kickback, but the one of primary interest (and danger) is when the upper quadrant of the bar nose contacts wood. The angular velocity of the chain is very high here, and the physics created by the grip position cause the saw to rotate back toward your face. This is the kickback for which chain brake levers were originally designed, before they got more advanced with inertial kickback mechanisms.

With a pole saw, the pivot point is shifted so far aft of the bar nose that there's little chance for rotation about the fixed point that is your grip. The prior comments about lower power and higher mass add to this. Yes, they can kick back all the same, but the resulting recoil is massively diminished by these factors.

Pinching the top side of the chain, as someone referenced in one of the prior answers, is more often called "pushback" than "kickback". Kickback typically involves rotation about the grip.

 

[JJT]

Right, I could also cut a 24” log with a $15 Disston cross cut hand saw.

Hay Dude, If you find a $15 Disston hand saw, buy it. Last time I looked for a decent new hand saw they were over $100. I had my 50+ year old Disstons tuned up, (sharpened and set), pine boards now cut like butter.

 

[masscity]

I was a crane operator for a poured wall basement company and was laid off, because of the recession of 1980/81. I couldn't buy a job so I went too California bay area to work for my cousin. He was a tree wrecker/trimmer.

I worked with him for 3 months and the biggest tree we took down was a Live Oak. Until the climber was done there were 4 of us, then it was me and my cousin. It took a total of 11 days to take it down and split all of the wood and deliver it. There were expensive small trees and flowers on the ground, so we had to rope every piece of the tree down. It was 5 ft at the stump and one limb had 5 full cord of wood in it. The lower limbs went out 75 ft from the tree. The climber who was very good and was being paid $450 cash a day. That's $1400 in todays money. I was a ground man flunky, my job was to send a saw up to the climber, rope down chunks of wood, split, deliver and feed the chipper.

My cousin got paid $4500 for the take down ($14,000 in todays money) and then sold 95% of the termite ridden wood for $150 a cord, that's $468 in todays money. The customers knew about the termites, but wanted it anyways. I delivered all of it to their driveways.

He told me that one tree was dangerous to take down and he bid $20,000 on it, but didn't get it

 

[two_bit_score]

All this death & injury talk has me thinking about the tree work we have this fall

I was thinking about it and this thread specifically today (yesterday) as I was cutting up a dead pine that fell last week and another smaller one that has started to die. It's making me more careful.

They pines, I think, died due to the drought this summer. I can't really see any other reason.