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We did a few of these today. Eleanore's dad has done tree work for years and I worked for a tree service once, so we have an idea of what we're doing. Many folks helping, or trying to clear their own yards, may not. Here are a few safety suggestions. https://twitter.com/RobSandIA/status/1294776143518863361
1: Know yourself. Understand your knowledge and its limits. Understand your physical abilities and limits. Take care of yourself. (Don't, for example, substitute Tumms for meal breaks. Bad idea.)
2: Know your equipment. Only the most well-heeled enthusiasts have the sort of equipment professionals in the trade do. Successfully getting a tree like the one Rob did off a house without additional damage or injury is a dance *when* you have all the fancy kit.
2, cont: Lots of us are forced to do stuff we don't have the equipment to do the right way. Sometimes it can be done safely, sometimes not. We passed lots of trees we would've loved to have worked today, because we knew we could not.
2, cont: Understand what your kit can handle. How much work can your saw (and you) tackle in a day? How much does that tree weigh and how much can your rope handle?
2, cont: I carry 50' of retired electrical lineman rope. 75,000 pound work rating, 150,000 pound failure rating. I got it from an uncle who is... an electrical lineman. I couldn't afford it to buy it new - probably $500. I know it can handle any job I can.
Which brings me to 3: whenever possible, have stuff that exceeds the demand of the job. If you don't stress your equipment it will serve you well.
3, cont: Maintenance is also here. (The numbers are arbitrary but it's my account so sod off.) I used 90% of my chain bar today with those two dumb mistakes I mentioned earlier. One more of those and I'm out of commission until I can get a new bar.
3, cont: My chain, too, is stretched about to replacement.
Also, maintain yourself. I overdid it Saturday. I don't know if my equipment or myself will have a Sunday in me. Know more in the morning when I can measure everything, including my wherewithal.
Also, maintain yourself. I overdid it Saturday. I don't know if my equipment or myself will have a Sunday in me. Know more in the morning when I can measure everything, including my wherewithal.
4: Physics and how trees respond to them. Dropping a healthy tree in the middle of a clearing is dangerous. The sorts of debris-entangled trees we're dealing with in Iowa now are a bomb, except all of the wires are the same color.
[Intermission for beer gathering]
4, cont: A wrecked tree is a complex interplay of loads, even one that's on the ground. If it's on something, say, your neighbor's roof, things become complicated.
(ditching the numbers) When you cut a limb off, there is force there. That force may be the limb sticking up in the air. Great, where's it going to fall? Have an escape plan.
If it isn't just jutting into the air, the load question becomes critical. You need to anticipate what the loads are and what they're going to do when you engage the saw.
The tensile strength of hardwoods is sufficient to rip your head off and send it through the air like a soccer ball. You'll note what it did to your house and car.
Again: have an escape plan. I often hide behind the trunk and work damaged limbs from the side (with a spotter!) so if there is a mishap I'm looking at a wrecked saw and a broken arm instead of death.
Good saws are worth every damned penny and also cheap enough it's best to let one go if it's going to save your life. While I operate @STIHL, I won't wade into the Stihl/Husky debate.
Doing a particularly dangerous bit this afternoon, I *planned* on dropping my saw 15'. There was no other way to do the job while protecting myself, and the job was important enough to risk the saw.
Talking basically the roll of a die, maybe 15-20% chance I'd destroy my saw, shows how dangerous this shit is. $300 is real money, even if I've got thousands of dollars out of this unit just today.
Unsurprisingly, getting long winded here. I'll try and tighten things up. Anyway, physics: understand, anticipate, plan and HAVE AN ESCAPE ROUTE.
PPE: Good chainsaw PPE is expensive, burdensome and hot. But those $160 nine-layer chaps are a hell of a lot better than your friends watching you bleed out from a femoral artery wound. A good set of chaps are my next purchase, even before a second saw.
Also: always have a second saw. Lucky for me in CR today, there were plenty around so when I needed one, I only had to ask. But especially if you're in BFE, have a second saw.
This should've gone higher because it's esp important: the people around you. This is important for two reasons in this storm's context: we're working with people who are inexperienced and who we don't know.
Several times today I had people way too fucking close to me dragging brush. Look before you turn, and handle your saw like it's the high performance killing machine it is.
If you're working with a crew - smart! - talk to them before you begin and set expectations. Person with the saw goes in and limbs while everyone else takes a break. This is good for morale and safety. When folks pull brush, the saw operator has a cigarette.
This deserves to be a book, and it probably is. (There are lots of good chainsaw books, but I haven't run across one that deals with 10,000 acre crisis cleanups.)
Quick recap: know yourself, those around you, your equipment. Have a plan. Always have an escape route, always. It helps you maintain situational awareness and the next bit...
Something going wrong is always Plan A. Plans B-Y are contingency plans for other things going wrong. Only Plan Z is everything going right. Assume you will not get to it.
Be willing to walk away. I won't say take no risks. We have to, and picking up a saw is a risk under any circumstance. But weigh those risks and walk away if you can't stomach them. Always sacrifice equipment before increasing your own risk.
Good luck and godspeed. Promotional note: I adore my @STIHLUSA 250 but it's time to make it the backup and get a 311. Stihl, if you're listening, these are in desperately short supply in Iowa right now. Please get us some saws pronto.
