Kick back

[J-L]

My father is a snowbird (lives in NV for the winter) and while talking to him the other day he mentioned that a friend of his came by our way and commented on the snowpack in our mountains. When I asked why he didn’t stop in for a visit I was told he was on his way to and from his son’s funeral. Seems he had been sawing firewood and his saw kicked back into his neck and he severed his jugular. They said he bled out before they could help him. He was in his early forties.
I don’t know what kind of chain or saw he was using. Not even sure about how much experience he had on a saw. I guess it can happen to anyone if you aren’t careful.

[Plowboy]

It happens I guess but is never easy. I think many of us that work with different kinds of equipment have near misses once in a while. When I took a forestry class in high school they showed us some pretty graphic pictures on safety videos of chain saw accidents. Even with modern saws and safety equipment accidents still can happen. Be carefull out there everyone.

[Dave Camire]

I lost a partner of mine nearly 8 years ago due to kickback. Back then I was doing more arborist tree work with Mike and we climb many trees around residential areas. Mike was as good a climber as anyone has ever seen, we were not just weekend warriors playing by chance both of us had logged, climbed and both graduated from Thompson School. All it takes is one split second of complacency and you are dead. I truly believe we have to constantly remind ourselves of the dangers inherent with logging or tree work and sometimes slow the pace down to stay alive. Don’t ever become too comfortable with the tools you work with to forget that they will kill you. My father once told me when you think you are better than the saw you had better hang it up. Moral is make a concious effort to think safety at all times because the second you forget it you may regret it. Stay sfe and every time you carry your saw to the woods remember your friend.

[Gabe Ayers]

The most dangerous part of logging with animal power is the chainsaw safety aspect. We teach the methods of Soren Erickson a Swedish man that developed a technique that identifies the reactive forces of the chainsaw bar.
Meaning that this is what happens when the moving chain touches anything.

They taught three but we have added the plunge force. So there are four forces to the bar. The top of the bar pushes back toward the operator, the bottom of the bar pulls the saw away from the operator, the bottom of the tip is used to plunge and the top half of the tip kicks. During the first three days of the training, every time you are asked to practice a technique and compete in a display of your skills, you have to first – identify the forces of the bar. It is drilled into you after three days of constant naming the forces. Each of the task are explained through the defining of the reactive forces. Recognizing and using the forces to do the work is important, but the safety of recognizing the kick force is obvious.

I think an important skill is to learn to never use any more power or throttle or engine speed and chain speed than necessary to make the cut you want. It is almost like starting your horses with only as much power as you need to move the load, but in the chainsaw it is about the finger on the throttle, but even more dangerous.

These are terrible accidents and I am so sorry for you folks loosing your friends. Any loss of life is tragic and this small community of interest needs all the folks we can get.

I agree, think about them each time you pick up a saw….but foremost….get some professional training for your own safety. It may save your life….and it will certainly make the work easier, more skilled and enjoyable.

Be careful out there folks. Get some training if you don’t already have some.

Use the training, develop safe work habits and take your time.

[Plowboy]

Good information Jason thanks for putting that out there for these folks. Many people get too overconfident and turn throttle jockey also. I am guilty of taking a little extra off the rakers on my saws and always worry if someone else picks one up and isn’t ready for it. I like a good sharp saw that will do the work for you so you don’t have to put alot of effort into it but if the rakers are low they are more apt to kick on you. Be carefull folks they are a great tool but dangerous.

[Anonymous]

I know this post is a bit old, but I want to concur witht he previous posts, and especially stress the importance of the training that Jason was talking about.

I lost my dad when I was a kid to a felling accident, and I would have never imagined I’d end up back in the woods logging myself. Attending a Game of Logging (all based on Soren Erickson’s methods) training session about 8 years ago really opened my eyes to a method of both thinking and moving with a saw that made sense and grabbed me. Made dropping trees suddenly seem possible. Of course dropping trees is only a fraction of your work in the woods and these trainings can do a great job of teaching all aspects of chainsaw safety. I ended up attending 6 sessions of GOL training, and I learned something everytime that made me safer and more efficient.

So be safe, by all means, but take the real step of getting GOL training. At 5 oclock when the sun is sinking and its getting cold and you want to buck up one more tree, it helps to have an ingrained skillset to fall back on, other than hoping you’ll remember to be safe and not rush.

[Author]

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