# Close call this past week.



## JS Landscaping (Jan 26, 2008)

Hey guys, Just recently had a close call this past wednesday at work. I was back with my crew about 3 miles into the woods doing forestry work and clearing trees the NJ State forester wanted to be felled. My crew and I had spread out into pairs of two across the marked area, roughly about 3 acres. I was making a knotch to fell a large Silver Maple with my MS 460 Magnum with a 24" bar. Made my bottom cut and proceeded to start the downward cut to finish my knotch. After noticing I needed to go about another half inch on the bottom of my notch I started cutting with the top of the bar, being that it was only a small amount to go to finish the notch. I was unaware of the piece of barbed wire that was right were I was about to cut and my chain hit it, and shot the saw backwards and out into my left thigh. It happened so quick and fast that it knocked me off my feet and down onto the ground. When I realized what happened I looked and saw the saw stuck into my left thigh. If I wasnt wearing my Stihl Chaps I could have easily lost my leg. It is amazing how the chaps did exactly what they were suposed to and jammed the saw before it did major damage. Ended up going through the chaps a bit through my jeans and 2 layers of long underwear, leaving a slight scratch on my left thigh. Very Very lucky. I dont want to think of what could have happened if I wasnt wearing them. Unfortuanly im one of the only ones with my company that does wear them religiously every time I operate one of the saws, no matter which one, even when I climb I wear them. Just goes to show how important it is to wear all your PPE. I will post some pictures of the chaps and close I came to having a very bad injury. Could have been very serious being so deep into the woods with our only transportation out being a John Deer gator. Hopefully my incident will prove the importance of wearing chaps, and all of the protective gear available, to my fellow co workers and who ever else runs chainsaws. Be careful out there guys!


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## wildbio (Jan 26, 2008)

thanx for sharing your story. more evidence of why we all NEED to be wearing PPE


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## oldirty (Jan 26, 2008)

thanks for the story.

constant vigilance and proper saw technique at times!

stay safe


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## beaverb01 (Jan 26, 2008)

*Wow!*

Glad to hear you're OK, sounds like you won the lottery. About the only time I wear chaps is when I'm felling, especially when using a big saw. I also wear them when working alone or when in a remote area like you described. I hate to think what might have been the outcome if you had not had them on! Thanks for sharing and reminding everyone of what COULD happen when least expected.

Be safe,

Beaver :greenchainsaw:


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## hoot gibson (Jan 26, 2008)

im glad you are safe , and mabey this thing will give the other guys an idea , hay i need some chaps .. . hoot


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## glenn31792 (Jan 26, 2008)

Thanks for the post, glad your ok!


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## clearance (Jan 26, 2008)

JS Landscaping said:


> I was making a knotch to fell a large Silver Maple with my MS 460 Magnum with a 24" bar. Made my bottom cut and proceeded to start the downward cut to finish my knotch. After noticing I needed to go about another half inch on the bottom of my notch I started cutting with the top of the bar, being that it was only a small amount to go to finish the notch. I was unaware of the piece of barbed wire that was right were I was about to cut and my chain hit it, and shot the saw backwards and out into my left thigh.



Glad you are ok JS. Something doesn't add up here though. Sounds like you are blaming the barbed wire for this violent kickback, not the fact you were unaware of where your bar tip was. I have cut through a lot of barbed wire, and other metal, have also had saws kick on me. But you can saw right though barbed wire with no problems other than a severly dulled chain. 

A saw can also kick back harshly with no barbed wire in sight if you aren't using it properly So, the barbed wire was not the cause of this incident, in my opinion, based on your statements. Maybe you could tell us why you were using the back of the bar, and if the saw has a wrap handle or not?


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## Scots Climber (Jan 26, 2008)

Glad to hear that you're ok. Bollocks to chaps, invest in some decent trousers, even if you change before and after the saw work. 

Some photos of my trousers after a slip in a Norway Maple, using my MS441W with an 18" bar.


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## cmetalbend (Jan 26, 2008)

JS Landscaping said:


> Hey guys, Just recently had a close call this past wednesday at work. I was back with my crew about 3 miles into the woods doing forestry work and clearing trees the NJ State forester wanted to be felled. My crew and I had spread out into pairs of two across the marked area, roughly about 3 acres. I was making a knotch to fell a large Silver Maple with my MS 460 Magnum with a 24" bar. Made my bottom cut and proceeded to start the downward cut to finish my knotch. After noticing I needed to go about another half inch on the bottom of my notch I started cutting with the top of the bar, being that it was only a small amount to go to finish the notch. I was unaware of the piece of barbed wire that was right were I was about to cut and my chain hit it, and shot the saw backwards and out into my left thigh. It happened so quick and fast that it knocked me off my feet and down onto the ground. When I realized what happened I looked and saw the saw stuck into my left thigh. If I wasnt wearing my Stihl Chaps I could have easily lost my leg. It is amazing how the chaps did exactly what they were suposed to and jammed the saw before it did major damage. Ended up going through the chaps a bit through my jeans and 2 layers of long underwear, leaving a slight scratch on my left thigh. Very Very lucky. I dont want to think of what could have happened if I wasnt wearing them. Unfortuanly im one of the only ones with my company that does wear them religiously every time I operate one of the saws, no matter which one, even when I climb I wear them. Just goes to show how important it is to wear all your PPE. I will post some pictures of the chaps and close I came to having a very bad injury. Could have been very serious being so deep into the woods with our only transportation out being a John Deer gator. Hopefully my incident will prove the importance of wearing chaps, and all of the protective gear available, to my fellow co workers and who ever else runs chainsaws. Be careful out there guys!



Been there, done that. Higher power saws are very dangerous. Glad to hear the good news part. If and only if you didn't totaly pull the webbing out of the chaps. I found super glue works pretty well on the kevlar'ish covering. I post a pic later. I repaired mine after a very slight mishap 4 years ago. Still haven't torn. mine was on coast down.


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## oldirty (Jan 27, 2008)

clearance said:


> Glad you are ok JS. Something doesn't add up here though. Sounds like you are blaming the barbed wire for this violent kickback, not the fact you were unaware of where your bar tip was. I have cut through a lot of barbed wire, and other metal, have also had saws kick on me. But you can saw right though barbed wire with no problems other than a severly dulled chain.
> 
> A saw can also kick back harshly with no barbed wire in sight if you aren't using it properly So, the barbed wire was not the cause of this incident, in my opinion, based on your statements. Maybe you could tell us why you were using the back of the bar, and if the saw has a wrap handle or not?



i dont like quoting myself so i will clearance. 

i too thought the story was withholding some evidence. thats why i said "constance vigilance and proper saw technique" in the 3rd post of this thread.

oops, just quoted myself. oh well.

JS didnt you just start running saws? be careful man!

stay safe


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## Bigus Termitius (Jan 27, 2008)

Chaps are the STUFF!

Nevertheless, they in no way are intended to circumvent mindful saw operation. I'm not going to preach...thou knowest.

One thing, remember, that gator isn't the only way out. 

Furthermore, I trust you don't go in without a first aid kit and that everyone knows how to use it. You can also use a cell phone to call in a medivac chopper if it's a serious situation. 


Be careful out there, that chopper isn't the only other way out either. :angel:


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## sharkfin12us (Jan 27, 2008)

JS Landscaping said:


> Hey guys, Just recently had a close call this past wednesday at work. I was back with my crew about 3 miles into the woods doing forestry work and clearing trees the NJ State forester wanted to be felled. My crew and I had spread out into pairs of two across the marked area, roughly about 3 acres. I was making a knotch to fell a large Silver Maple with my MS 460 Magnum with a 24" bar. Made my bottom cut and proceeded to start the downward cut to finish my knotch. After noticing I needed to go about another half inch on the bottom of my notch I started cutting with the top of the bar, being that it was only a small amount to go to finish the notch. I was unaware of the piece of barbed wire that was right were I was about to cut and my chain hit it, and shot the saw backwards and out into my left thigh. It happened so quick and fast that it knocked me off my feet and down onto the ground. When I realized what happened I looked and saw the saw stuck into my left thigh. If I wasnt wearing my Stihl Chaps I could have easily lost my leg. It is amazing how the chaps did exactly what they were suposed to and jammed the saw before it did major damage. Ended up going through the chaps a bit through my jeans and 2 layers of long underwear, leaving a slight scratch on my left thigh. Very Very lucky. I dont want to think of what could have happened if I wasnt wearing them. Unfortuanly im one of the only ones with my company that does wear them religiously every time I operate one of the saws, no matter which one, even when I climb I wear them. Just goes to show how important it is to wear all your PPE. I will post some pictures of the chaps and close I came to having a very bad injury. Could have been very serious being so deep into the woods with our only transportation out being a John Deer gator. Hopefully my incident will prove the importance of wearing chaps, and all of the protective gear available, to my fellow co workers and who ever else runs chainsaws. Be careful out there guys!


Thanks for you post good to read about accidents that help us be more aware.Glad your ok.Im wondering if it would be safer instead of cutting with the top the notch cut with the bottom.


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## JS Landscaping (Jan 27, 2008)

No I havent just started running saws, Have quite a bit of time on them, just started working for this tree service...previously I would do tree work along with my landscaping company. The bar tip was out of the cut, as I was using the top of the bar to finish the notch...being that it was only about 1/2 inch of wood to cut I really didnt think of anything and just used the top of the bar to finish the undercut the break the notch free. The chainsaw wasnt all the way up full speed at the time it hit it seemed, I really wasnt expecting it. So it was definatly my fault for not being prepared. It caught as i was throttleing up to wide open, and hit so fast, and shot out so quick. Definatly put the blame on myself for not holding on harder and taking a short cut...an easy thing to do when you have been dropping trees for 4 hours strait. Learned my lesson big time, and was very lucky..in regards to the first aid kit I do have quick clot with me when I am deep in the woods...I am also a Firefighter/EMT, so I do know a thing or two about trauma, just would probably be dificult doing it on yourself with the adrenaline and shock that can set in when an incident happens...all in all, i was lucky, and learned my lesson. pics of the chaps soon to come..:greenchainsaw:


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## reachtreeservi (Jan 27, 2008)

Glad it turned out okay for you , JS.

Definitely money spent on PPE is the best equipment investment there is.

Stay safe !


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## joesawer (Jan 27, 2008)

It sounds like he might have had something similar to pinch kickback happen.
I have never had a saw kick back from wire or other foreign objects. But it is possible that the chain caught the wire and fed itself out of the cut at the speed that the chain was turning. ( Clearance- it is highly unlikely that he had a wrap handle in NJ or NY, and yes a half wrap would lead to extra back chaining).
If this is the case, then a person would not normally be able to hold the saw in the cut, the best you can hope for is to have your body pushed out of the way before the saw gets to it.
Good thing you where wearing chaps.


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## rtrsam (Feb 13, 2008)

I'd never try to fix up a pair of chaps cut like that. Anybody on my crew cuts their chaps, they're going to explain, in great detail, to me how they managed to do that, what they did wrong, and how they will prevent it from happening in the future. Then having honed their story telling skills, they are going to formally explain to the rest of the crew (safety meeting) how they cut their chaps, what they did wrong, what they learned from the experience, and how they will prevent it happening in the future.

Cut chaps will be hung in a prominent location on the wall of the shop with the wearer's name and date attached. "The wall of shame..."

Plus, I am sure the manufacturer does not recommend you try to repair chaps. That fifty dollar pair of chaps saved a minimum ten thousand dollar hospital bill, maybe much more than that. Good invesment, they did their job, buy a new pair (and keep them new longer).


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## techdave (Feb 14, 2008)

*One thing about body position and hand position...*

its a good idea to have a basic stance for common cuts that precludes this kind of injury.

Dents book is based in no small part on the idea that using safe procedures will prevent injuriies.

I do my facing cuts from beside the face when ever I can, even on smaller stuff. 

I almost always cut my removal (not for timber harvest) faces with the top of the bar, not the gut.
For me this is another reason to use the humboldt whenever possible.

I do use the top of the bar sometimes for the top cut of an open face, but its lots harder, especially with the 3120 LOL.

Remember, I am not trying to optimize lumber volume so if I am up a little off the ground it just helps me get above dirty bark and butt flare.

I can have a pretty open face and still be knee height or so. 

Other thing is I dog the 372 and 3120 on face cuts if possible, one more margin of safety.

My legs and body are simply not where they can get hit by anything but chazin shot.


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