Chainsaw safety

Anybody have any tips or products to decrease the chance of an ER visit while using a chainsaw? Related to my other post, my dad wants a chainsaw for Christmas. He's not as quick and coordinated as he used to be, and I would appreciate any tips, warnings, etc. to keep him out of the ER. 

He wants a battery powered saw, so keep that in mind.

Wear sturdy boots.  Wear chaps and get the helmet with the face guard and ear muffs.  Well, you probably don't need the earmuffs for a electric saw.   

Gloves.

And everything Spitfire said.  The real key to chainsaw safety is to be methodical and study the forces acting on the branch you're cutting though.  "Will it pinch my bar, will it snap back?  When the saw clears the cut, will I hit myself in the leg?" Those are all good questions to ask before pulling the trigger on the saw.

Buddy system. Having a second set of eyes dramatically decreases the chances of an ambulance ride, and increases the chance that you'll get in an ambulance before you bleed out or get squished. 

Don't do this:

I have nothing more constructive to add...I'll let myself out.

https://www.labonville.com/ has the best protective equipment money can buy.

However... I am unsure if their clothing will protect against an electric saw.  I know Stihl's chaps will NOT protect against an electric saw.

I think chaps are the most important, but no experience with electric saws.  

If you buy Chinese tools, you may encounter a poor translation that happens to be good advice:

"do not attempt to stop moving chainsaw blade with hand or genetalia"

Chaps don’t work with electric chainsaws since it’s much more difficult to stall an electric motor. That would be why I would recommend a small gas saw of good quality ( Sthil). 

Common sense is big here. Think before you cut. Lots of good videos on line to show you the way. I’ve been cutting wood for 12+ years and I always stand back and plan  my job to prevent accidents especially if you are working on small branches that can snap back or bind the saw. 

Is he wanting to cut up downed trees, or just do some trimming? If only trimming the polesaws are pretty awesome. They put the dangerous part a safe distance away AND keep you off a ladder. 

gearheadmb said:

Is he wanting to cut up downed trees, or just do some trimming? If only trimming the polesaws are pretty awesome. They put the dangerous part a safe distance away AND keep you off a ladder. 

Cut up downed trees. He has enough on his [new to him] property that it kind of really is necessary.

gearheadmb said:

Is he wanting to cut up downed trees, or just do some trimming? If only trimming the polesaws are pretty awesome. They put the dangerous part a safe distance away AND keep you off a ladder. 

I'll second the pole saw, I let my kids (ages 5 and 8) help me cut firewood with our Harbor Freight electric pole saw. I hold the saw, they pull the trigger. The dangerous part is six feet away from everyone.

I've been thinking about one of these "jaw type" saws for carving up fire pit wood from our brush pile.

Is it bad that I just use my cordless sawzall with a long blade on it instead of a chainsaw? to me it feels much more controllable. Maybe it takes a tiny bit longer, but it is also one less tool I need to own and maintain.

You can also 'one-hand' a sawzall much more effectively than a chainsaw (though I probably shouldn't post about doing either in the safety thread).

Safest way to use a chainsaw? Make someone else do it! Otherwise yeah, plan ahead, take your time. A smaller, lighter saw may be easier to handle. Tried the sawzall thing for some limbs and bushes. Slow but it does work. Would only use for very small jobs.

Maybe a pole saw.  That way you are at least several feet away from the saw.  

My Dad has been terrifying me with his chainsaw antics since I was a kid, and that was a few years ago.   He still uses one on occasion.  I've seen him 25 feet up a tree with no safety gear sawing off dead limbs with a gasoline-powered saw.  If my pops wasn't well acquainted with handling a saw in his younger days, I'd have some trepidation about getting him one as a senior citizen.  It's just that a little "oops!" with a chainsaw can have some pretty serious consequences.  If you go ahead, be sure the weight of the saw is easy for him to handle.  Big saws can get pretty heavy.

Robbie said:

Is it bad that I just use my cordless sawzall with a long blade on it instead of a chainsaw? to me it feels much more controllable. Maybe it takes a tiny bit longer, but it is also one less tool I need to own and maintain.

You can also 'one-hand' a sawzall much more effectively than a chainsaw (though I probably shouldn't post about doing either in the safety thread).

Dude, that's not "a tiny bit longer".  It's vastly slower and honestly the back-and-forth vibration of a sawzall feels much worse that the buzz of a decent saw.  For clearing piles of brush and fallen trees I'd use my 18" Poulan Pro and be completely happy.  I've never encountered an electric saw with enough grunt to feel like it was faster than an ax.

In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :

You're right that a sawzall is not good for brush cleanup. The back and forth of the saw just moves the smaller branches around without cutting them, and the blades aren't long enough to cut the bigger stuff. (I'm cutting through 10"-14" wide branches in some cases.)

But on the electric saw, the Kobalt 80v is every bit as powerful as a gas saw. (I will admit, compared to "small" gas saws, not the big tree service grade stuff!) With a sharp chain there is nothing that will slow it down. If you haven't tried a modern 80v saw then completely disregard your impressions of electric saws until you have!

Grew up around large, gas powered chain saws. Like.... 36" blade and they weighed 30lbs.... eyes, hands and feet. Those are the most important. pieces of wood in the eye sucks. Been there. Had the ER visit as a teenager (ironically not from a chain saw, still sucked). Feet (boots, falling limbs/logs are heavy). Gloves for me are more about the blisters and fatigue because they ain't going to stop a chainsaw from cutting your fingers off. 

Keep the chain sharp! A sharp chain is a lot less work and a lot less dangerous. 

In reply to Bobcougarzillameister :

They actually make some gloves with Kevlar in them that will do a decent job of stopping a saw. 

You guys are right, I'm not felling 14 inch diameter limbs with a sawzall! I'm not suggesting tree services switch to sawzalls. This is basically like a 1 day per year yard cleanup to get extra branches out of the way.

I am suggesting if you only have to remove a few up to 6 inch branches from a few trees that a sawzall with a good demo blade will handle it. And I can tell you how it would go if I tried to use a gas chainsaw: move stuff to get chainsaw out, find the bar oil, clean all the leaked out oil, find the 2 stroke gas can (hope I don't need to run to the gas station), add gas, prime the saw, pull 15 times to get it started (which way turns the choke on?), remember my forgotten safety gear, go back inside to find my chaps, cross-fingers that no spiders have taken refuge in said chaps, etc. Sawzall me will likely be icing down my itchy forearms (you are quite right about vibrations!) with a cold beer while chainsaw-me is still fighting to start my saw. OK it's likely not that bad but any gas tool that only gets used once a year is almost always a huge pain in the butt to get started.

mtn said:

gearheadmb said:

Is he wanting to cut up downed trees, or just do some trimming? If only trimming the polesaws are pretty awesome. They put the dangerous part a safe distance away AND keep you off a ladder. 

Cut up downed trees. He has enough on his [new to him] property that it kind of really is necessary.

Wait.  How big are these tress?  How many? 

While I know battery tools have come a long way, I'm not sure one is up to the continuous use cutting downed trees will require.  

Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to Bobcougarzillameister :

They actually make some gloves with Kevlar in them that will do a decent job of stopping a saw. 

Chain mail gloves?

Ian F said:

mtn said:

gearheadmb said:

Is he wanting to cut up downed trees, or just do some trimming? If only trimming the polesaws are pretty awesome. They put the dangerous part a safe distance away AND keep you off a ladder. 

Cut up downed trees. He has enough on his [new to him] property that it kind of really is necessary.

Wait.  How big are these tress?  How many? 

While I know battery tools have come a long way, I'm not sure one is up to the continuous use cutting downed trees will require.  

size varies, but knowing my dad we're not talking continuous use. He works slowlly and a full day of work for him is about an hour nowadays.

I'm not looking forward to the day my kids are discussing with others the need to take away my tools of destruction.