OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Off Topics Chainsaw Safety - What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

The bloke across the road has a tree he has been talking about trimming back or something, I never really take too much notice of what he is talking about but I have on numerous occasions told him to let me know what he wants done and I will come over and do it. Tonight I was out in the street looking at a trailer that needed big repairs because it had severe rust problems. I noticed the neighbor out with his chain saw and a ladder but I was busy at the time looking at the trailer and I heard him up the ladder with the chain saw with an obviously very blunt chain. I called out to him asking if the saw had a chain on it but he didn't hear. A couple of minutes later I saw a neighbor running across the street and when I looked across the the ladder was on a funny angle. You guessed it, arse up, fell down onto the honeycomb rocks hit his head and back on the rocks. My wife wrapped his head in a towel and she said he had been drinking by the smell of him. Gets me so angry when people think they can play with chainsaws and ladders and just throw in a few beers as well. He is still at the hospital but he will certainly be sore for a while

Darwin Award? I would be leery of selling that bloke a mower. He might lose a finger or two whilst removing the catcher and blame you!

I had a vacant block behind a house I lived in years back. People bought the block and started getting ready to build. Biggest problem was a 30 foot tall dead gum tree. So one day I hear a lot of noise and a chainsaw being started so I went out the back to have a look. Here was the new owner with a few mates getting ready to drop the tree. They had tied a couple of ropes to it and had one guy on each rope. I've felled quite a few trees in my time and know how to read where they will fall. I also know the tremendous weight involved in a tree that tall. So I pointed out to them that one, the tree was going to fall and take out the neighbours fences and two, that two people holding ropes tied half way up the trunk had absolutely no chance of changing that. I was told less than politely to PO. It was pretty funny watching two people ripped off their feet as the tree came down and demolished the side and front fence and just narrowly miss the corner of the house next door.

Not sure if you can put a chainsaw chain on backwards but if possible he would have done that, the branch he was cutting was no more than 3 inches in diameter and I heard the saw revving for at least a minute maybe more trying to cut through it. He is a brickie and good at that but that is the extent of his ability and talent

Yes you can!

When the big box stores started selling saws back in the 1970s, we servicing dealers used to laugh like drains at the pics in their flyers. So many of them had their chains on backwards! And we reckoned that was about the level of product knowledge that their store staff had, too...

People have no conception of how enormously heavy even a section of tree is. Have you tried rolling a one foot section of two foot thick tree trunk on the ground? You quickly understand what you're dealing with then.
I once witnessed a six wheeler tow truck designed for towing buses and coaches and other trucks being used to pull a root ball out of the ground with chains. The tyres sqealed and smoked but it finally managed. The root ball was about four foot in diameter.

Yep, and root balls hold a lot of dirt, which ups the weight a lot.

That's one major advantage of using explosives to pop stumps out of the ground, rather than heavy machinery - the blast shakes nearly all of the dirt off. Much cheaper, too, if ANFO [Ammonium Nitrate/Fuel Oil mix] is used as the main charge.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2016-08-29/explosives-in-agriculture/7788132

And of course, blowing stuff up is just good fun anyway!

BTW, there's nothing illegal about this - have had to let it lapse now, but I held a Vic Blasting Explosives Licence for 25 years; with the 'mix ANFO authority' endorsement, for up to 50kg on any one day.

Hmmm. I don't think you would have been able to use the explosives method where I saw this. It was on the nature strip in a suburban street!!

Fuel oil? That has me intrigued. Why?

Farmers mixed Nitropril and Diesel to blast stumps out for years before the industry took it up as the weapon of choice. You need the diesel as the thing to burn, the nitrous fertiliser is the accelerant, like adding nitrous oxide to your car engine.

Well, to be technical [industrial chemist hat on ] here; the components are the carbonaceous fuel/sensitiser [there are good practical reasons to use diesel], and the inorganic chemical oxidising agent.

Mixtures of these components which can achieve high-order detonation [i.e. > the speed of sound] are technically termed 'Sprengel explosives', after an early development chemist.

The AN/FO mix technology was first introduced in the 1950's, in the USA. The actual mix ratio is quite critical to achieving maximum power, and velocity of detonation.

Edit:The first major project to use ANFO in Oz on a large scale was the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme, in hard rock blasting for their tunnels and underground power station turbine halls.

However, earlier Sprengel explosives [e.g. 'Rackarock' was in common use in Oz] were in use by the late 19th century.

'Ag grade' Nitropril is/was just ICI's fertiliser grade of prilled [that bit is important] Ammonium Nitrate [AN], and was dyed pink. 'Explosive grade' Nitropril isn't dyed.
But for many uses, the then cheaper Ag grade worked just as well - that's what I used to use.

I've seen pink AN prills in sticks of the old AN60 Gelignite - so ICI used the Ag grade there at times, too!

I remember blowing many stumps out on the farm that had been left by the old timber cutters with the above and it was a real buzz.
But to go back to the original topic when chainsaws first came on the market and farmers were introduced to them the local dealer in my home town would not sell one to you without you attending a half day seminar on them (sharpening, maintence, and above all safety}. I know it was a long time ago but WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO WORK SAFE???? Now any mug can buy one from anywhere and go use it.

Amazing how many people get on the turps before tackling a potentially dangerous job. I knew a bloke once who decided to have three straight whiskies before getting up the ladder to fix his roof. He never even made it to the ladder. Tripped going down the staircase and ended up in hospital in a coma for about 3 months.

I think I could probably throw this blokes chainsaw in the bin, can't see him using it again. He is in intensive care, fractured skull, bleeding on the brain, 2 broken ribs and a punctured lung. I think the kids will probably want me to get rid of the ladder as well

Like Kevin Rudd in his Sunday best with no protective equipment having his photo op during the Brisbane Floods you mean?

I don't know how you can ever regulate chain saws, trees will continue to grow and the market is awash with cheap chainsaws. I remember when I bought my Stihl Farm Boss back in 1983 it cost me $800, so it was a machine that the average punter would not go out and buy to just cut off a few branches. They have to up the top of the pile with being a dangerous machines and because there is plenty of lightweight units out there the temptation to climb a tree to cut a few branches off seems too easy. I use a bow saw for most in tree work

Even without the affluence of incohol, we older [50+] blokes have a particularly bad track record for ladder accidents.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/m...ladders-study-finds-20160222-gn0jco.html

For over-65's, it's even worse; https://www.productsafety.gov.au/news/ladder-safety-matters-national-campaign

Gadge I would love to be in the 50+ bracket, I was still running up and down ladders then with my eyes shut

I imagine a great bulk of people don't exercise basic precautions such as ensuring all legs are touching the ground on a level surface and not leaning too far as well as observing the highest rung to safely use.

I had a MiniMac 110 , 44 years ago . mainly used it at ground level on gardens, but occasionally had to go up a tree with it. It was so light you could use it in one hand. BUT I read stuff about chainsaw safety, and used to tie my ladder to the tree, then tie myself to the tree . It used to start easily, do a cut at a time.........
Only had one incident when I was cutting a staghorn up when it bucked and the brake didn't come on, but it stopped 2 inches from my nose.....
cheers
speedy

My old man had an Echo 302 [now in my brother's hands] that was easy to use one-handed, too.
As you say, one cut at a time, and stop the saw between cuts.

That was just a matter of getting the 'drop start' technique worked out.

Did Poulan have a presence in the Australian market in the 1970s?
Found this American ad from 1978

[video][/video]

Hello Mowerfreak
The answer is a most definite 'YES'!

Poulan sold here in the 1970s and beyond.
They were cleverly marketed to residential consumers.

--------------------
Jack

So it's probable the exact same chainsaw model from 1974 film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is circulating in an Australian state?

Well, what that really meant was that they were sold through big box stores and hardware chains, as their smallest model was the first true 'el cheapo' small [12" bar] petrol chain saw on the Oz market! Basically a chuckaway unit, with a 30 hours of service design life.

BTW, Echo then had a standard design life of 2000hrs, and it took them a lot of soul-searching before they would market a 1500-hour saw, just to address this market segment.

What that meant in practice was, by the time the chain wore out [even if expertly sharpened and maintained], it was time to bin the saw. A quality stellite nose bar, new Oregon chain, and clutch drum/sprocket would cost more than the price of a new saw!

I'll never forget the look on the face of the first customer who brought one of these saws in to our Cobram, Vic Echo dealership, at that point in its life, for a repair quote. Classic 'deer in the headlights' expression, as the Yanks put it.