How NOT to fell a tree

[Womble_Lancs]

Mad Dave is always very good at explaining safety where trees and chainsaws are involved. Shame these guys didn't have the opportunity to come to one of his talks.

[video=youtube;Zz0rbuBk8pE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz0rbuBk8pE[/video]

 

[Retired Member southey]

thats fantastic. even my mum could see it was just going to end up stood on the floor.ace

 

[JonathanD]

Excellent, if a little disturbing.

 

[Mesquite]

Future Darwin award winners in the making?

 

[addo]

Classic !

 

[maddave]

I'll use this for a training video

 

[Hedgehog]

Oh my...

Please say they didn't go back for more.

 

[bushwacker bob]

He changed his clothes half way through. It must have been filmed over more than one day.

 

[Peter_t]

i can't beleve they are not wearing helmets! morons

saying that i had a neer miss at work the other day. it was a dead rottern birch, covered in polypor. the tree was probably 35 foot and it's top had snapped out leaving just a Y shaped fork neer the top.
there was no good place to lay the tree so i decided to let it go where it was leaning and rest it into a neerby tree (the birch was almost touching it). then i would roll it off the stump and pull the but back if needed. (the propper way to do it)


so i did the correct cut and as it lent into its neighbouring tree the trunk snapped about half way up:yikes:

this all happened very quickly, i turned to run with my arm shealding my head and one side of the Y smashed into my elbow! i was left standing within the Y feeling rather shaken to say the leest.

helmet or not if that had struck me on the head i would have been a gonner.


i think next time the thing to do would be to stand well back and pull it down with a winch or land rover.



be carefull guys
pete

 

[Peter_t]

this is another common killer. this guy should really have known better but your average joe would probably never suspect this. this is why i dont reccond people to fell trees unless they really know what they ae doing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YAf61zz5VU



pete

 

[maddave]

It can all go very wrong very quickly without the proper gear and training. Look at the following vid. No boots, no ballistic pants, no chainsaw gloves, no helmet, cutting on a ladder and above head height. This is what we call an "organ donor" in the trade.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI5W7Mw67QU

 

[Peter_t]

you should wear protective gear but gloves? sorry maddave but iv got to disagree with you there.
gloves only protect the back of the parm, not the fingers. to me this is neer to useless and imo gloves increase the risk because the couple of pairs i used to own where not grippy at all so the chances of the saw slipping out your hands and into your leg is much higher.

also in the industry gloves are not mandatory and most don't even meet the standard of class 1 protection anyway???



pete

 

[Rebel]

When I did my NPTC training gloves were mandatory. See HSE document AFAG 301, although they aren't mandatory in the industry as the document "Chainsaws at Work" points out. It not just protection for the back of your hand they also help protect against white finger.

Anyway back to the video; those guys were seriously disturbing and they actually posted their stupidity on YouTube for all to see. I know I often slag off all the health and safety madness but those guys could seriously do with a HSE course before they do themselves a serious injury or even get killed. Who let them out in the woods with a chainsaw anyway, or maybe in the States that's a backyard.

Well at least they saw the funny side of their efforts I guess.

 

[jamin]

i agreen on the no gloves. they reduce grip on the saw. the safty on the saw should stopand cuts to your hands.

 

[Wayland]

It can all go very wrong very quickly without the proper gear and training. Look at the following vid. No boots, no ballistic pants, no chainsaw gloves, no helmet, cutting on a ladder and above head height. This is what we call an "organ donor" in the trade.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI5W7Mw67QU

No wasp proof suits either...... okenest:

 

[TaTanka]

Wow I've helped fell trees before and if the people I was with were doing that I think I would just walk away and not come back.

 

[maddave]

i agreen on the no gloves. they reduce grip on the saw. the safty on the saw should stopand cuts to your hands.

And yet if the dude on the final vid was wearing gloves, chances are the back of his hand may still be intact.... Sorry but when there is a chain spinning at close on 100mph that close to your hands I'll take any protection I can get

 

[SOAR]

Some very scary felling going on in these vids!!
The debate on wearing gloves is a big subject, the saw has two safety features which should stop the chain catching you if it comes of the sprocket and bar, a chain catcher and a flat plate on the bottom of the handle, if the chain snaps in my experience it just thows it off the end of the bar. Gloves do have protective padding on the back of the hand and will help, but propper training, work positioning and safe use of the saw IE understanding kickback and using the dogs teeth when cutting will help.
tbh gloves wont stop you from getting white finger, the only thing which will help slow it down is a well maintained saw, sharp chain, anti vibe system in the saw and HAVS checks on the saw which will let you know how long you can use the saw in a day, but even that is a guide as it will differ in different work conditions.
All in all trainning common sense are the order of the day!.

 

[Womble_Lancs]

No wasp proof suits either...... okenest:

 

[addo]

No one Ive met in the industry wears gloves except cheap grippers. The last I heard anti vibe gloves increased the problem of white finger as the vibs were of a different and worse type than the origonal ones. Anyhow leaf blowers and strimmers are far worse than chainsaws for vibration. Ive had two chains come off in 12 years from being too loose but not any snap, they just go limp after the chain catcher gets it.

Peter, Watch out for rotten Birches you'll come across many more. On smaller ones when theres no vehicle nearby, best to carry a piece of rope in your felling bag, tie it round the tree above your cuts (which are side to side ones) stand well back and pull, watch it drop to the floor and go over.. I got fed up with being clobbered on the head by the tops as they separate.