Stephen M. Henning wrote:
zxcvbob wrote:


Stephen M. Henning wrote:

One of the most dangerous times in using a chair saw is when starting a
gasoline saw.

No it's not. The chain doesn't start moving until the motor is reved high
enough to engage the clutch. A modern saw will have a chain brake, and if
it's engaged the blade will not turn even if you rev it up. And they don't
rev very fast when first starting. It is possible to cut yourself when
starting a saw without the chain brake set, but there are lots of cutting
situations that are *much* more dangerous (like felling a big sycamore tree
or a leaning tree without first wrapping a logging chain around the trunk
to keep it from splitting, or trimming limbs while standing on a ladder.)


Bob, the first thing the logger that trained me to use woods tools
including chain saws taught me was:

"What would happen if what you thought was going to happen didn't
happen?"

In this case if you start a saw in such a way that you are depending
upon a safety brake working, you are not operating safely. The reason
the safety brake was put on saws was to protect inept operators. A
properly trained operator doesn't assume that such features are going to
save his life.

You mentioned a couple more of the most dangerous times a person uses a
chain saw. In the years I worked in the woods, I saw more injuries
happen when not actually cutting trees.

By the way, when I worked on a Forest Service crew we didn't carry
logging chains or ladders with us. We had ropes, spotters and escape
paths.


I'm sure if you search for it you can find someone who cut his foot off
"drop-starting" a saw, but you can probably also find someone who
drowned by drinking a glass of milk if you search hard enough.

Saws don't kickback when you start them. And it takes a second for them
to rev up from zero to fast enough to engage the centrifugal clutch.
Starting a saw -- chain brake or not -- is not particularly dangerous
unless you are up a ladder or in a tree when you're doing it.

You can get a nasty cut from a freshly sharpened chain when the saw is
not even running.

My big saw has no chain brake, and IIRC it has a symetrical bar. I used
to climb ladders with it when I was young and stupid. Now, I only use
it on the ground. I have a tiny saw (Echo CS3000) I can climb with. If
I need a big saw up in a tree, I'll hire a professional to do it.

I don't believe you worked for the Forest Service without a chain or
cable to wrap around the trunk of leaning or hollow trees when you
felled them. The danger here is that the tree trunk will split suddenly
without warning and come crashing straight down on top of you, or the
back side of the split flies up and hits you in the chin and takes your
head off. An escape path doesn't help very much.

Best regards,
Bob