Injury while doing firewood.

[Ashful]

Maybe I should go back and watch it again, but to my memory, the cause of every single one of those fails was very obvious operator error or inexperience. I don't recall one that went wrong, where I wasn't able to see the plain and simple cause of it, if not see it coming from the beginning of the clip.

 

[Simonkenton]

Operator error. Half the guys didn't know how to make the notch to fell a tree.

And half of the guys need to learn what a plumb bob is. I admit it took me a few years to get one. A steel nut* for a 1/2 inch bolt and a 4 foot long white string. Cost 40 cents.
Value = Invaluable

* a .58 minie ball will also work. Drill a 1/8 inch hole through it

That guy at 2:00. He is maybe 60 years old. His head is 25 feet off the ground. Good God.

 

[Ashful]

Operator error. Half the guys didn't know how to make the notch to fell a tree.

And half of the guys need to learn what a plumb bob is.

Half of those actually using a face cut / back cut managed to be so out of square between the two, that they cut thru one end of their hinge before the tree even started moving. Those gunning sight lines are painted on your saw body for a reason, bub!

 

[Simonkenton]

Sight lines? What?
Explain sight lines.

 

[Ashful]

Sight lines? What?
Explain sight lines.

Whether you're making your face cut or back cut, point those sight lines where you want the tree to fall. Those lines are (roughly) perpendicular to the cutting edge of the bar spec'd for that saw.

 

[peakbagger]

Did the OP Paul Bunyon ever reply on what the extent of the injury was?

 

[DonTee]

There’s a YouTube channel I watch (guilty of treeson) where they explain the site lines. I had never heard of them before that. Maybe if I read my chain saw owners manual I would know?

I watch videos of people making mistakes so hopefully I don’t make the same mistake. Lol.

 

[Ashful]

Did the OP Paul Bunyon ever reply on what the extent of the injury was?

Not to my knowledge. Inquiring minds, and all....

 

[BKVP]

Chaps...buy chaps. 7 mattress sutures across the top of my left thigh in 2021. Please buy chaps.

 

[Ashful]

... and wear them. I was good about the buying part, and I will wear them when going out cutting all day in the woods. But I'll admit I'm usually to warm or lazy to fetch them for the dozens of times per year I am doing "just a small job" with a chainsaw.

 

[EbS-P]

... and wear them. I was good about the buying part, and I will wear them when going out cutting all day in the woods. But I'll admit I'm usually to warm or lazy to fetch them for the dozens of times per year I am doing "just a small job" with a chainsaw.

Hang them on top of your saws!

 

[Ashful]

Hang them on top of your saws!

They're hanging close enough to the saws. But if it's over 40F outside (which is any day outside December - March), or if I'm not going to be cutting all day, I honestly don't want to bother with them. I run warm already, and hate the extra layer, which only makes me sweat even more.

I'm not advocating this attitude, I know it's not good, but I suspect I'm not alone.

 

[peakbagger]

I wear hiking shorts under mine in warmer weather. I also installed bachelor buttons and a beefy pair of suspenders to keep them from sliding down. No nicks in mine but no plenty of others who have them.

 

[Simonkenton]

I have never used chaps. There was onetime when I needed them, 35 stitches on the top of the left thigh. And the saw was idling.
That was 26 years ago, I am a slow learner.

 

[bigealta]

There’s a YouTube channel I watch (guilty of treeson) where they explain the site lines. I had never heard of them before that. Maybe if I read my chain saw owners manual I would know?

I watch videos of people making mistakes so hopefully I don’t make the same mistake. Lol.

Those guys are good.

 

[cbscout]

The one at 2:00 about gave me a stroke. An older guy way up a ladder. He had to be hurt badly, might have been killed.

I saw that and cringed...holy crap. I freaked out.

 

[RockyMtnGriz]

Chaps...buy chaps. 7 mattress sutures across the top of my left thigh in 2021. Please buy chaps.

Y'know, a couple of days ago, I finally did it.. Pushing 60 now, and having bought my first saw at 13/14 (80cc and 36" bar) when I tired of the family saws that weren't doing it for me, I've worn out a few chains in my life, but, finally...

I was bucking a log, while facing into a 20-30 deg slope. I noticed that the heel of my right foot was rocking on a branch that was straight up and down the hill. Having finished the buck and needing to move to the left for the next one, I unconsciously did the wise thing and got my body mass moving where I wanted to go, so I could stand on the left foot as I moved instead of lifting it, which would have left me standing on only the branch - potentially not a good thing.

It was all working as unconsciously planned, until the moment that my slightly exaggerated shoulder movement, hillside induced slight forward bend at the hips, and slightly exaggerated lift and swing of my right leg to make it all balance, added up to the unmistakable and frightening buzz of my chaps and the still moving chain coming together.

A few seconds of saying to myself "yep, you really DID just DO THAT", and "that really DID just happen", followed by quite a few more contemplating what the damage might be, and waiting for the damp sensation and the pain, passed before I chose to look (we did all learn young that it'll hurt less, and you'll be able to get home - if you don't look at it / take the boot off / etc. - right??).

When I finally looked, I was shocked to realize that I'd completely gotten away with it! I couldn't even discern a mark on the chaps from all the other normal battle marks on them. Maybe the semi-chisel chain I was running at at the time helped. Maybe a fold on the chaps contacted the side of the chain rather than the top of the cutter. I don't know, but I got lucky.

I can't say I'd never make a buck cut on a log on level ground without chaps (no limbing though), but I can say that my dedication to wearing chaps, which I only found very late in life, has been reinforced!

My sympathies and a speedy recovery to all of you who have sustained actual damage, and a be careful to the rest!!

 

[Garbanzo62]

A few years back I was cutting a tree when a vine with prickers dropped onto my face. I went to brush them away from my face and the weight of the saw dropped down towards my leg. Fortunately A) my finger was off the throttle and the chain was spinning down and B) I caught my mistake. Walked away with a pair of ripped jeans and a deep scratch on my thigh. (still have the scar). Now that I have an insert and will be cutting more I've invested in chainsaw chaps

 

[Stinkpickle]

My injuries usually come from more mundane activities, like...

- picking up laundry baskets
- standing up from a chair too quickly
- walking out to the mailbox

 

[EbS-P]

My injuries usually come from more mundane activities, like...

- picking up laundry baskets
- standing up from a chair too quickly
- walking out to the mailbox

I was reaching for the shampoo bottle😢

 

[BKVP]

Sad. Very sad you guys are being injured doing domestic chores. Improve the unemployment picture and hire others to help you.

 

[PaulBunyun]

Unless I missed it, Paul never posted back to tell us what happened with his ankle. Maybe they put him down, like a lame horse?

Those who've been on this forum more than a few years likely remember the story of my FIL cutting his finger off at my house, Black Friday ca.2012. He was there to help me split and stack firewood, but the amputation actually happened during a lunch break, when he decided to use the table saw for a quick cupola trimwork job.

I also dropped a tree on a cutting partner's son, but already used that story once this summer.

Sorry didn't see that this thread came back over the summer! I ended up tearing all the legiments in my ankle. They told me I needed a complete reconstruction or try to live with it the best you can for as long as i can. Just brought some wood in for this seasons first fire so I'll let you guess which one I chose 😜

 

[Ashful]

Sad. Very sad you guys are being injured doing domestic chores. Improve the unemployment picture and hire others to help you.

I'm old enough that I hurt myself doing stupid things, but young enough that I'm not ready to admit to any of it in public.

 

[stoveliker]

Sad. Very sad you guys are being injured doing domestic chores. Improve the unemployment picture and hire others to help you.

what, hiring someone to hand me the shampoo in the shower??
The WAF (wife approval factor) would be rather low on that venture, I surmise.

 

[GrumpyDad]

what, hiring someone to hand me the shampoo in the shower??
The WAF (wife approval factor) would be rather low on that venture, I surmise.

I pulled a muscle in my neck reaching behind me for my coffee cup.
Meanwhile, I've tomahawked on a snowboard going 40mph for about a hundred feet or so and gotten up with nothing wrong. Talk about a VIOLENT crash. Google ski tomahawk (snowboarding ones are harder to find)