Chainsaw safety

Jim in LA

Member
Monday the 19th I was on the back of our place using the chainsaw and cut my left leg 2inches above the knee. I got the stitches out today. I contribute it to carelessness and stupidity. When the saw hit my leg it felt like a rope burn. I looked down and saw my pants leg ripped open and a huge bloody gash. I was very lucky it didn't hit an artery or muscle,the cut was about 1/4 inch deep. I started to panic but remained calm. I threw the saw in my atv basket and hauled a** to the house as fast as I could. I grabbed a couple of towels at the house and jumped in the truck and sped to the ER . The wound required 12 stitches. I will be buying a pair of saw chaps before I ever use a chainsaw again. That was the scariest situation I have ever been in . Don't use a saw if you are tired or distracted!!!
 
Had a neighbor years ago that was replacing some soffit boards on his house. Instead of trimming them before he nailed them up, why not just nail them up first and then just trim them with a chainsaw? Went alright for a few minutes till he lost his balance and the saw came down somehow and almost cut his head open from the top down to his nose. Carried the nasty scar till the day he died.
 
Your lucky it wasn't worse. That's why I wear full wrap chainsaw chaps . I meet a guy at Stihl dealer that never wore chaps and said he didn't need them. His wife bought him a pair of chap for his birthday and the very first time he took them out he came in contact with running saw and now has nothing but good to say about them. He said he most likely would of lost his leg.
 
Had a friend who had something similar happen.
After he told me about it I went out and bought
a set. Don't always wear them like I should
but if I am doing much saw work they go on.

Helmet with ear protectors and face shield is
also a good idea. Since I started wearing one
of those there have been a number of times I
had a limb clunk me with no effect.

jt
 
The last couple time I used my chain saw I have ended up wit ha new hole in my pants leg right above the right knee. Been being a lot more careful since I have had it happen twice in less then 2 weeks.
Yep chain saws do not care if it is a tree or flesh good that your ok other then a reminder of an oh no
 
I use the helmet with face sheild and ear protection. I got mine after getting my glasses knocked off. Helmet is a lot cheaper than a new pair of glasses.
 
I had a friend who worked for the lumber and plywood mill in Shelton, WA where I used to live. He got permission to take all the lumber he wanted from the buildings of a distant logging camp which Simpson was closing. The camp had been set up early in the 20th Century, and the lumber was first growth stuff. Anyway, at the end of the last day he could be there, he was using a chainsaw to cut clear cedar 2X6 car decking out of the ceiling of one of the buildings. The saw bucked and cut him right down the middle of the face from hairline to chin. Then, to add insult to injury, the two helpers he had brought along were so panicked by the accident that my friend had to take charge of everything from packing up the gear to driving to the hospital. He even had the presence of mind to stop at the first place that had a pay phone and call ahead to the hospital in Shelton for them have someone standing by to see him immediately when he arrived. Unfortunately, that also proved too complicated for whoever took the call, and there was nobody ready when he got there.

What I took from his story was, be careful.

Stan
 
There are times I should have them on, then there are times I feel they are not necessary, yet it only takes one time and that's going to happen when you don't have them on. So.... just wear em an be safe. Amazing how they work, look on you tube for a demo.

Whenever I am in brush or places similar, it seems you are at a higher risk, than when bucking logs for firewood, yet you never know, just takes a second to get past you and into flesh.

The cutting overhead with a saw as mentioned, well a lot of people do it, not thinking of the risk, maybe you need a helmet with steel face mask suitable for protection or you need a reciprocating saw, sawzall etc. One thing I try to do is always stay out of the path of a chainsaw bar if it were to kick back, even with that brake, saw chain vs flesh, the previous will win every single time. I've often made face cuts that deviate from the norm because if it were to kick back its going across my waist or below, depending on where the cut is. I had to take 2 trunks off one of the oldest black cherry trees on this farm and due to the slope, old barbed wire fence embedded, the middle trunk, there was no other way. Of course one of them, it did not fall, even with wedges, pinched a brand new bar, so I put a line on it, pulled it down, and there was hardly any holding wood, but enough, all of that because I just don't like being in the path of a bar if it were to kick back.

I think before I buy the case for my saw which I refurbished aesthetically, I'll just get the chaps first, I've been careful all these years, but.... we know how that can go!

Glad you did not get hurt any worse, and thanks for the reminder about this, much appreciated !
 
Dbeatty,

My father ran saws for years, we got him some chaps.

Said they were unnecessary. First time he wore them, got tripped up in some brush and the saw cut into his right leg. The chaps gave off a fine thread that jammed the clutch.

A band aid later and now he's a believer of safety gear.

D.
 
I have been using a chainsaw , since I was 19, and bought my first homelite. I have never been cut by my saw. That being said---A couple of years ago, the wife and I took the travel trailer, to a local lake, for the week end, and of course, I took my small Sthil along, for fire wood, for the out door fires we enjoy after dark. A week later I took a pair of newer jeans out of the closet to change pants, and the left leg, of my newer jeans, had a whitish streak, across it, which could have only come from being raked with a spinning chainsaw. Can you say wake up call? That is tooooo close.
 
Knock on wood I have not cut my self yet with a chain saw just close. As for repair I have always hated working on any 2 cycle engine and I have had many from motorcycles on down. Still have a few chain saws I need to look at but doing them one at a time as the $$ allow
 
I was just telling my 13 and 10 year old grandsons how dangerous a chainsaw is.
I have many tools from screwdrivers to backhoes and I told them, a chainsaw is the most dangerous tool I have.
I cautioned them to never let their mind wonder when using one and to ALWAYS keep their left elbow [b:defad75deb]locked[/b:defad75deb] straight out.
I demonstrated to them how a kickback can occur and how the locked elbow will greatly increase the likelihood of the bar to go up instead of back--into your face!
This was demonstrated to me when I was 15 or 16 years old and I have stuck with this excellent advise.
Some cuts are a little more difficult and this procedure is a little more uncomfortable, but I have had the bar go straight up before.
I am very aware that cuts on legs are more common and this procedure could possibly help prevent this.
I saw this on a Home improvement TV program and then saw it on You Tube. This guy was lucky--Its Not Gory!
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=chainsaw+accident&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=2CFDD655DAC5124C48852CFDD655DAC5124C4885
 
I cut myself in exactly the same spot a couple of years ago. I was cleaning a fencerow, and my saw caught a grapevine that I'd overlooked and jumped over and bit me, about a 3 inch gash right above the knee. Wife was gone, so I cleaned it up good and taped the wound shut before she got home. Burned the jeans in the outdoor boiler (destruction of evidence). Never went to the E.R., and in time it healed to just a faint scar. I'm convinced that a little saw is more dangerous than a big one.
 
I signed up to do volunteer service for the
Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, Disaster
Relief. We go in and help clean up after storms,
floods, fires, etc.

When I signed up, they gave us some brief
training on the hazards we would face, and some
chainsaw training.

One of the things they stressed was one person
per tree! Never really thought about how
dangerous it is for 2 or more people cutting up
the same tree. The noise, the trip hazards,
you're concentrating on what you are doing,
totally oblivious to the other person that could
easily fall right on top of your saw! Or could
just as easily be me falling on or backing into
another saw!

Something to think about!
 
One thing I do is stand offset to the saw with my leg out of the way.....AND ALWAYS WEAR MY SAFETY GLASSES.
 
About 40 years ago maybe fifty I was with my FIL cutting firewood out of a hedgerow. I felt something like a branch swatted my knee. No damage to my pants or boots no pain so I kept on cutting for quite a while til I felt something sloshing in by boot. Check inside the boot and there was quite a bit of blood, so it must be quitting time.Back to the house checked it out, no damage to my pants or boots and just a small cut on my leg "bled like a stuck hog" as my father used to say. Took care of it with a bandage and a cup of coffee and no more wood cutting that day.
 
around 75% of chain saw injuries are to the lower left leg. It is usually a little forward of the right leg & the knee area is highly vulnerable.
 
Ever hear The Power Tool Song? "... and the most dangerous of all is that old chain saw. It's like owning your own man-eatin' shark."
 
BTDT. Also know of a couple down the road that had a
bad accident. Husband was using a weed eater with
the saw blade on it. Wife was clearing away the
brush. The blade pinched and kicked back,he didn't
see his wife behind him , cut her foot off just
above the ankle. Rushed to hospital, they were able
to reattach the foot. The saving grace was the hot
blade cauterized the wound and stopped the blood
flow.
 
That is because 75% of people are right handed. If they where left handed the other leg would get it. LOL. Me I am more likely to hurt my right leg but I am left handed
 
Saws will eat you alive and My brother in law found out with a real nice 5 inch long cut in his upper leg.He is scared to death of saws and I have told him if you fear saws you shouldn't use them. I have been very lucky but I also have a DAMN healthy respect of saws. I always have the rear of the handle jammed into the top of my right knee cap. If the saw kicks it can't go anywhere cause my whole legs keeps it steady. A saw I love IF YOU KNOW HOW TO USE IT is a bow saw. They are ment for BUCK cutting on the GROUND. not for tree trimming etc. You stand OVER the log like a cowboy on a horse and cut straight down. The only thing you do is guide the saw and pull the trigger while it does all of the work.I can cut twice as fast as a conventional bar and after several hours am not tired at all. Had a guy who cut pulp wood for years show me how to do it. Took all of about five minutes. Another thing. If you do not have BUCK teeth on you saw GET THEM !! That is one of the most dangerous ways to cut.
 
A few years ago, one of my neighbors came flying past the house one morning and down to his brother's almost next door to me. As soon as he hit the driveway he started blowing the horn. In a minute, they left with his brother driving, not wasting any time either. Later, I learned that the man had been cutting wood and when the saw dropped through a log it dropped on his foot and severely cut some toes. I don't think he lost any toes, but it took a while for everything to heal.
 
Jim, my experience was almost identical to yours.
Ten stitches just above left knee. I was stepping
over a tree limb, raised my knee right into the
chain, which was traveling at idle speed. I
nearly had a mishap a couple of days ago: I
tripped on a tree branch and fell with a running
saw. Another thing I'm getting too old to do.
 


" If you do not have BUCK teeth on you saw GET THEM !! "

What in the world are you calling buck teeth? Chisel type chain?
 
Got bit
a181222.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 13:32:53 01/30/15)

" If you do not have BUCK teeth on you saw GET THEM !! "

What in the world are you calling buck teeth? Chisel type chain?

I think he meant [i:9f8bc96556]Bucking Spikes[/i:9f8bc96556].
 
Hi Steve;

My wife's childhood best friend moved to this area from Seattle years before we did. One evening about 30 years ago my wife got a call from her saying that her husband had been killed by a tree falling on him. He and his neighbor on the adjoining acreage were cutting trees on a slope, using a tractor pulling a cable to try to make them fall the right direction. With the hearing protection, and the noise of the tractor and the chainsaw, he never heard the neighbor's warning call. To add a gruesome detail, the neighbor didn't know exactly where he lived, so a sheriff's deputy had to take some of the bloody clothing around to several possible houses to find someone who recognized it. That's how my wife's friend learned that her husband had been killed.

Stan
 
I don't think I've seen a left handed chainsaw ?
Like most everything they are made for right handers.
 
When my very active dad was 84 he was taking his new 14" Husqvarna and cutting each fire wood block in half. He doesn't like "big" wood for his little stove and shorter is easier for my mom to handle. He would cut one in half and move the pieces and do another. The saw idles too high and evidently when he set it down the tip hit a block. It hit him right in the cleft of his chin just as clean as can be. 11 stitches and a drain to fix it. The doc was real good and he has/had good skin-not even a scar.
 
Ya I have never found a left handed chain saw but still use one so my left hand is on the gas and right on the bar so handle it left handed which is why more likely to hurt right leg
 
(quoted from post at 12:10:50 01/30/15)
(quoted from post at 13:32:53 01/30/15)

" If you do not have BUCK teeth on you saw GET THEM !! "

What in the world are you calling buck teeth? Chisel type chain?

I think he meant [i:bb5e127a0f]Bucking Spikes[/i:bb5e127a0f].

Ah! Bucking spikes, log dogs, dogs. I guess I get it now.
 
I took a pretty good bonk to the head a years ago from a live red oak. Was looking up up to watch tree lean while making back-cut when a widowmaker came down through the leaves and branches like a bolt of lightning. Ever since I wear hardhat w/shield, chaps and have a pair of Viking logging boots or steel-toed work boots. Arborsite has a forum that will open your eyes about saw safety in a hurry - especially pictures of saw kickbacks to the face and neck area. Saw chain removes - not cuts flesh.
 
Jim,

I agree chaps are a must. Most of the fire wood cutting I do is
in moderate temperatures which makes wearing chaps harder.
The hard hat is the worst for me, always feels to tight or too
loose. Wearing good ear protection helps me fatigue less
(somehow). Glad your injury was not permanent as a friend of
mine has to walk with a limp from his chain saw accident .
After that I got serious about chain saw safety.
 

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