# Chain Saw Lanyard and Safety



## Scheids (Sep 16, 2011)

I would like to know some pros thoughts on the length of chain saw lanyards. I have heard two schools of thought.

1) A short (6in) lanyard keeps the saw close to the body so it is less likely to get hung up but puts the saw blade against the body.

2) A long (49in) lanyard keeps the saw down below the feet away from the body but is then subject to hang ups.

What are your thoughts on proper length? Are there any rules governing the length?

I appreciate your thoughts!


----------



## troythetreeman (Sep 16, 2011)

the lanyard i use is like 4' with a ring on it so i can choke it up to 6", i only do this when im swinging, otherwise i just let it hang
i also only use a lanyard with rear handled saws, top handle saw i fix the ring rigid and clip it directly to a hook on my saddle, this i can do with one hand
a full time lanyard on your climbing saw will severely limit your ability to maneuver it
if you do use a lanyard youll want it just long enough you can extend your reach with the saw as far as you can without pulling on the lanyard, youll also want some way to be able to choke it up so if you make a big swing your saw is at your hip, this is safer for you and the saw


----------



## troythetreeman (Sep 16, 2011)

as for "the blade against your body"... this really would only concern me if i had a running saw at my hip, which, under no circumstances, would i ever do


----------



## oscar4883 (Sep 16, 2011)

I use a homemade lanyard that allows me to reach as far as I need to. Not sure of the length but it has a ring so it can be clipped short. I would saw it is about 42in. or so. I haven't experienced a saw lanyard severely limiting my ability to handle a saw.


----------



## Blakesmaster (Sep 16, 2011)

I use the cheap 20 dollar bungee lanyards on my climbing saw and always clip it short when not in use. They're a little short for my long arms but I haven't gotten around to making my own saw lanyard yet. Wouldn't be a bad idea. For large saws I just girth hitch a webbing loop and biner to it and let it hang low, Very rarely am I swinging with a large saw. Unless it's a crane job, in which case I put a bungee lanyard on a 361 for the day.


----------



## troythetreeman (Sep 16, 2011)

oscar4883 said:


> I use a homemade lanyard that allows me to reach as far as I need to. Not sure of the length but it has a ring so it can be clipped short. I would saw it is about 42in. or so. I haven't experienced a saw lanyard severely limiting my ability to handle a saw.


 
i used to climb with a lanyard on my climber
without it tho i can pass the saw from hand to hand easier, around the tree, over limbs, under, over my lanyard, under, behind my back
its probably not a bad idea starting out, but i wouldnt go back to it
if you make a lanyard be sure its something that isnt going to burn your fingers when you slid the saw down to the end


----------



## flushcut (Sep 16, 2011)

Scheids said:


> I would like to know some pros thoughts on the length of chain saw lanyards. I have heard two schools of thought.
> 
> 1) A short (6in) lanyard keeps the saw close to the body so it is less likely to get hung up but puts the saw blade against the body.
> 
> ...


 
Maybe it has been said but they make a lanyard that does both of those things it kind of looks like a dog leash with a ring about six inches from the loop/handle.


----------



## squad143 (Sep 16, 2011)

I like the bungee lanyards from buckinghams. They will stretch long enough for a long reach, but retract so they dont hang down too low when the saw is attached to your hip.


----------



## RacerX (Sep 16, 2011)

squad143 said:


> I like the bungee lanyards from buckinghams. They will stretch long enough for a long reach, but retract so they dont hang down too low when the saw is attached to your hip.


 

Ditto. Bungee lanyards are kind of the best of both worlds. The ring near the end keeps the saw hanging near your hip where it can't move around much and doesn't get in the way of your climbing.


----------



## 2treeornot2tree (Sep 16, 2011)

I have a break away lanyard, and a webing lanyard, but I always find myself just using a short chainsaw ring strap from stihl. I do use a length of cord with carabiners for when i am up in the bucket with the big saws (ms460, ms880).


----------



## troythetreeman (Sep 16, 2011)

part of this title was safety
without a lanyard you can keep a running saw further away from your body, your lanyard and your climbing line as you switch hands


----------



## Nailsbeats (Sep 16, 2011)

Take a break away bungee lanyard and put a Krab on it and you now have the cat's pajamas of lanyards. Long, short, or take the saw off altogether when you need to make those long reaching cuts or a bunch of cuts in a cramped up area or just do a behind the back or two just for show.


----------



## 2treeornot2tree (Sep 16, 2011)

whats a krab?


----------



## Nailsbeats (Sep 16, 2011)

troythetreeman said:


> part of this title was safety
> without a lanyard you can keep a running saw further away from your body, your lanyard and your climbing line as you switch hands


 
Lanyards keep the groundman safer than anything, also if it hits the fan you can drop your saw in a hot minute and make out OK.


----------



## Nailsbeats (Sep 16, 2011)

2treeornot2tree said:


> whats a krab?


 
Slang or short for carribiner, also one could use biner' but with all the illeagals these days someone might take offense.


----------



## RacerX (Sep 16, 2011)

troythetreeman said:


> part of this title was safety
> without a lanyard you can keep a running saw further away from your body, your lanyard and your climbing line as you switch hands



I've found that my bungee style lanyard stretches to a point where I my arms are fully extended, so unless you're one handing the saw the lanyard will not keep you from moving the saw the maximum distance away from your body. Lanyards are like saddles, adjusters, hitches, ropes, etc. They're all open to differing opinions. For me the bungee works. For some guys it doesn't. Just like I wouldn't be caught dead using a Blake's hitch yet some guys swear by them.


----------



## troythetreeman (Sep 16, 2011)

only saw i ever dropped was because i cut my lanyard when i first started
but thats part of why i prefer the echo cs341, you can kill the engine without changing your grip on the handle, youll never kill it inadvertently with your thumb, the handle is bigger so switching hands is easier, you can let it fall to hang in your fingers like a hook...
dont cut when youre not tied in you should never need to throw your saw
its all a matter of comfort and preference and style


----------



## Nailsbeats (Sep 16, 2011)

troythetreeman said:


> only saw i ever dropped was because i cut my lanyard when i first started
> but thats part of why i prefer the echo cs341, you can kill the engine without changing your grip on the handle, youll never kill it inadvertently with your thumb, the handle is bigger so switching hands is easier, you can let it fall to hang in your fingers like a hook...
> dont cut when youre not tied in you should never need to throw your saw
> its all a matter of comfort and preference and style


 
Chucking the saw comes into play mostly when roping out a top and you need to brace yourself for the ride or tripping a cut in a hairy situation, cut and bail.


----------



## troythetreeman (Sep 16, 2011)

RacerX said:


> I've found that my bungee style lanyard stretches to a point where I my arms are fully extended, so unless you're one handing the saw the lanyard will not keep you from moving the saw the maximum distance away from your body. Lanyards are like saddles, adjusters, hitches, ropes, etc. They're all open to differing opinions. For me the bungee works. For some guys it doesn't. Just like I wouldn't be caught dead using a Blake's hitch yet some guys swear by them.


 
if your saw is on a lanyard and so are you, you cant pass the saw around the tree for an off handed side cut, it has to go between you and the tree, and then has to come back the exact same path
i dont have any experience with a bungie lanyard but it would seem to me this would get heavy and the pulling against your saw would make it difficult to make good cuts at awkward angles
and there are often times i prefer to use one hand to hang onto the tree and keep myself steady while i cut one handed, i dont know anyone who 2 hands a saw 100% of the time, and most i know 1 hand more often then not


----------



## troythetreeman (Sep 16, 2011)

Nailsbeats said:


> Chucking the saw comes into play mostly when roping out a top and you need to brace yourself for the ride or tripping a cut in a hairy situation, cut and bail.


 
nod, i just turn it off and hang on with the saw still in my hand if i am off in my timing to clip it back onto my belt, which i usually am not
make your notch if youre using one on this cut, set you rigging line, make your back cut, when it starts to go kill the saw and return it to belt, the instant the top comes clear place free hand on cut, if your saw isnt on your belt or if it is, throw the other arm around the tree above your rope, hang on with your forearm, by that time you can get the other arm around if you expect the shock load to snap you that hard
but with chokers and pulleys and porta wraps heavy shock loads are a thing of the past


----------



## 802climber (Sep 16, 2011)

I think that the good outweighs the bad with chainsaw lanyards.

I will also say that the bungee lanyards are not rated for much more weight than a trim saw...


----------



## the Aerialist (Sep 17, 2011)

Scheids said:


> I would like to know some pros thoughts on the length of chain saw lanyards. I have heard two schools of thought.
> 
> 1) A short (6in) lanyard keeps the saw close to the body so it is less likely to get hung up but puts the saw blade against the body.
> 
> ...



I use a short strap on a large non locking 'biner for clipping my saw close to my body but also have a quick release lanyard that's 3' long on my harness that I can hang it from.


----------



## beowulf343 (Sep 17, 2011)

I honestly agree with a couple things troy said here. I don't use a lanyard on my saws either, and i've never liked the "chucking" the saw mentality. I climb with a bigger saw-hate having to reel the thing in from below me as it's dangling off the lanyard and having a 395 hit the the end of a lanyard is a worse shock on the body in my opinion than any ride i've ever taken in a tree. It gets hooked into a ladder snap right on the belt when not in use. 
As for the groundman safety issue, perhaps, but usually when my saw is unhooked, the groundies shouldn't be under me anyway because things larger than a saw are about to drop from the sky.


----------



## tree md (Sep 18, 2011)

When I did all crane work I used an 038 with no lanyard. The owner (my boss) at that time did not want me cutting big wood with the saw attached to me. That was back before the break away bungee lanyards (or at least before either of us knew about them). I would just clip my saw to a ladder snap as BW described. These days I like to use the break away bungee lanyards with the two rings so I can clip it in short or long to an aluminum biner on my saddle. I am not big on dropping my saw on the lanyard either. With a larger saw it can break a breakaway lanyard right into. I try to be more controlled than I was when I was younger when I would cut and just get rid of the saw as fast as I could and hang on. On spar cuts with the large saws I can clip them in to my saddle and break the wood over with a snap cut 99% of the time. If I need to get rid of the saw and hang on I usually have time to grab a hold of the lanyard and ease the saw down before I have to grab a hold and hang on. But like I said, I like to climb a little more controlled than I did when I was younger and less experienced. I don't like Oh #### moments.


----------



## beastmaster (Sep 18, 2011)

I can't see using a lanyard of more then a few inches on a top handle saw(ie: 200T) The very nature of movements you use while trimming would be greatly hampered if it had to stay attached to a long lanyard. Being clipped to your saddle makes it easy and less fatiguing, sense your grabbing for it non-stop and all day on some jobs. On rear handle saws I use a long enough lanyard i can cut either right or left handed effectively or pass it behind my back. On conifers I often keep my saw running while its hanging as I go up a few feet to the next set of branches(not so with a top handle saw on my hip).
I always stress to my groundman when sending up a big saw on a lanyard, not to send it up by the lanyard, so I can safely hook the lanyard to my belt before untying it from the rope. Dropping a saw on a groundie would mess his day up.
I have seen a few times in my life a big saw go over with the top, leaving only the handle hooked to the lanyard on the climbers belt, so a break a way lanyard could be a good thing, and I have a few times my self cut a big branch and have it rip my top handle trimming saw out of my hand, and though embarrassing, I am glad I wasn't using a lanyard. I have always made my lanyards out of 1/2in three strand rope, but if I was to buy one I think it would be one with the two rings so you could shorten it up some times if need. Beastmaster


----------



## DangerTree (Sep 19, 2011)

beastmaster said:


> I can't see using a lanyard of more then a few inches on a top handle saw(ie: 200T) The very nature of movements you use while trimming would be greatly hampered if it had to stay attached to a long lanyard. Being clipped to your saddle makes it easy and less fatiguing, sense your grabbing for it non-stop and all day on some jobs. On rear handle saws I use a long enough lanyard i can cut either right or left handed effectively or pass it behind my back. On conifers I often keep my saw running while its hanging as I go up a few feet to the next set of branches(not so with a top handle saw on my hip).
> I always stress to my groundman when sending up a big saw on a lanyard, not to send it up by the lanyard, so I can safely hook the lanyard to my belt before untying it from the rope. Dropping a saw on a groundie would mess his day up.
> I have seen a few times in my life a big saw go over with the top, leaving only the handle hooked to the lanyard on the climbers belt, so a break a way lanyard could be a good thing, and I have a few times my self cut a big branch and have it rip my top handle trimming saw out of my hand, and though embarrassing, I am glad I wasn't using a lanyard. I have always made my lanyards out of 1/2in three strand rope, but if I was to buy one I think it would be one with the two rings so you could shorten it up some times if need. Beastmaster


 
All of the comments are interesting. I typically have someone working below me grabbing branches or rigging up. For this reason I always have a break away on my saw unless I am in the bucket. It should be noted for new guys and stupid people that if you make a non break away lanyard it would be wise to know the breaking strength of it! particularly if you are using older saws that are made of metal they are much stronger than the new ones and tend to hurt real bad should you get one stuck in a top. That's just my 2 cents worth for those that care.


----------



## Jeffsaw (Sep 19, 2011)

I've been using a Buckingham tearaway lanyard for a little while and have found it works well. It extends and retracts comfortably, is bright yellow (so it can be seen easily) and it comes in several lengths.


----------



## chad556 (Sep 19, 2011)

Aerial_Arborist said:


> I use a short strap on a large non locking 'biner for clipping my saw close to my body but also have a quick release lanyard that's 3' long on my harness that I can hang it from.


 
Looks like it might be time to consider replacing the rope on your lanyard (personal safety lanyard not your saw lanyard) Looks a little frayed in the picture. I was thinking about doing something similar to what you have on your saw lanyard though. Instead of a ring to shorten it it put a non locking carabiner on there instead. then you can hang it on whatever gear loop on whatever side is convienient/ergonomic, not just on your hip mounted caritool or whatever you have.

And as far as using a saw completely unclipped, never done it, ever. Just the thought of my 200T splattering on the ground into a million pieces of plastic makes me sick. If I am making a cut where I think it is likely the saw will get taken away with the branch I will girth hitch a sling to the tree and clip my saw lanyard to that. That way if the saw gets torn from my grasp the tree will hang on to it for me and I will be out of harms way. Worst case is a new bar and chain and that is way cheaper than a whole new 200T.


----------



## NCTREE (Sep 19, 2011)

I like to keep that saw as close to my hip as possible otherwise when im using it its not attached to me. Have never dropped a saw out of the tree except for the first time I ever climbed and that was because I didn't have it clipped right.


----------



## flushcut (Sep 19, 2011)

Nailsbeats said:


> Slang or short for carribiner, also one could use biner' but with all the illeagals these days someone might take offense.


 
Nah, f-em biner has been used in the states for decades.


----------



## DangerTree (Sep 19, 2011)

chad556 said:


> Looks like it might be time to consider replacing the rope on your lanyard (personal safety lanyard not your saw lanyard) Looks a little frayed in the picture. I was thinking about doing something similar to what you have on your saw lanyard though. Instead of a ring to shorten it it put a non locking carabiner on there instead. then you can hang it on whatever gear loop on whatever side is convienient/ergonomic, not just on your hip mounted caritool or whatever you have.
> 
> And as far as using a saw completely unclipped, never done it, ever. Just the thought of my 200T splattering on the ground into a million pieces of plastic makes me sick. If I am making a cut where I think it is likely the saw will get taken away with the branch I will girth hitch a sling to the tree and clip my saw lanyard to that. That way if the saw gets torn from my grasp the tree will hang on to it for me and I will be out of harms way. Worst case is a new bar and chain and that is way cheaper than a whole new 200T.


 
Yeah and never mind about all the sawdust in his boots. That sucks getting sawdust in your boots!


----------



## DangerTree (Sep 19, 2011)

chad556 said:


> Looks like it might be time to consider replacing the rope on your lanyard (personal safety lanyard not your saw lanyard) Looks a little frayed in the picture. I was thinking about doing something similar to what you have on your saw lanyard though. Instead of a ring to shorten it it put a non locking carabiner on there instead. then you can hang it on whatever gear loop on whatever side is convienient/ergonomic, not just on your hip mounted caritool or whatever you have.
> 
> And as far as using a saw completely unclipped, never done it, ever. Just the thought of my 200T splattering on the ground into a million pieces of plastic makes me sick. If I am making a cut where I think it is likely the saw will get taken away with the branch I will girth hitch a sling to the tree and clip my saw lanyard to that. That way if the saw gets torn from my grasp the tree will hang on to it for me and I will be out of harms way. Worst case is a new bar and chain and that is way cheaper than a whole new 200T.


 
And hey are those track pants rated for saw work? Workers Compensation would find this photo incriminating to say the least! You know I always remind my girls that putting photos of themselves on the internet is like toothpaste. Once you squeeze it out the crap will never go back in. So please people if you are going to show photos of the right way to do stuff try not to incriminate yourself in the process.


----------



## treemandan (Sep 19, 2011)

Nailsbeats said:


> Lanyards keep the groundman safer than anything, also if it hits the fan you can drop your saw in a hot minute and make out OK.



Let them take care of themselves on that one. If you can't tell when a saw could be coming at you them just stay away till you are called in.


Its not wise to hook a solid link from your hip to your saw. Bad idea. Even if your are using a breakaway the force will pull you with the limb and saw while cutting. Don't want none of that never nope.

The only other time you could lose a saw is while swinging so a climber should have a proper rig so it don't pop out. 

Saws love to jump out of these brass clips.


----------



## DangerTree (Sep 19, 2011)

treemandan said:


> Let them take care of themselves on that one. If you can't tell when a saw could be coming at you them just stay away till you are called in.
> 
> 
> Its not wise to hook a solid link from your hip to your saw. Bad idea. Even if your are using a breakaway the force will pull you with the limb and saw while cutting. Don't want none of that never nope.
> ...


 
Admittedly you will be yanked a tad if a tree decides to steal your saw while connected to a tear away strap BUT they WILL break before the webbing in the harness will or the flip line that is around the tree. It is the weakest link and designed to be so for a reason.


----------



## treemandan (Sep 19, 2011)

DangerTree said:


> Admittedly you will be yanked a tad if a tree decides to steal your saw while connected to a tear away strap BUT they WILL break before the webbing in the harness will or the flip line that is around the tree. It is the weakest link and designed to be so for a reason.


 
And when it yanks ya you'll be thinking bout a steak dinner and some hair pie, then you just think you really wish you weren't being yanked like that and never wish it again.


----------



## DangerTree (Sep 21, 2011)

treemandan said:


> And when it yanks ya you'll be thinking bout a steak dinner and some hair pie, then you just think you really wish you weren't being yanked like that and never wish it again.


 
But lets get real here if you know what you are doing and know how to make a proper cut that won't happen. If you are leaving the saw in the part of the tree that is falling you are not cutting the tree properly and should NOT be in the tree in the first place. When making a cut in a tree a certain amount of attention to detail must be observed. All tree workers should be fluent in the art and science of cutting a tree from the ground BEFORE they attempt it off the ground. There is no safe place for stupid people in the tree business.


----------

