# Stihl 088 burns



## treepanda (Apr 28, 2008)

A mate of mine was cutting up large macrocarpa logs for loading on a truck. 1.5-1.9m in diameter. he was cutting through them and rolling them over with a digger to finish the cut.

On the last cut (friday afternoon, cold and wet) he accidentally cut through the log, it dropped onto his left hand , trapping it between the top handle of the 088 that was resting on the ground and the log.The crush injury would not have been too bad but the kill switch on the saw malfunctioned and his lefthandle knuckles were pushed down onto the plastic cover that sits over the muffler. He was trapped for 5-10 minutes before the truck driver heard his yelling, came and got the digger and moved the log. He had burnt through his skin and flesh, exposing bone and basically cooking the joints, damaging the tendon etc. He has been in hospital 10 days now and has another two- three weeks to go.Micro surgery on the knuckles and skin grafts etc.3- 6 months off work, two wee kids, just signed up for a new house... pretty grim.

As I said, it wasn't the crush that caused the problem, it was the burning. The 088 top cover is about 3mm thick and sits right over the muffler, it looks like the chain brake was melted off too. the saw stopped as soon as the log was lifted off it, so there is something to be looked at there.. In New Zealand there is some discussion about the use of leather mitts over the top handle. It's a throw back to the old forestry days before chain brakes and I have always advocated that they are a pain in the arse and that proper use and training is more effective. There are two schools of thought, some guys have mitts on their ground saws and take them off when climbing, some like me, don't use them at all. I am changing my position in light of this accident. the mitt may not have saved his hand but it would have made some difference I am sure.We have put mitts on all our ground saws now.
It seems like there is some design flaw, maybe there needs to be some kind of gaurd between the muffler and the top cover and also there needs to be some research onto why the kill switch did not work when the saw was under the weight of the log. the saw was well maintained and the kill switch was working up until the incident. I have not tried it since.. I might try and load some photos later on..


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## 2dogs (May 10, 2008)

Oh man that sounds terrible! Best wishes for your mate and prayers out.


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## TimberMcPherson (May 11, 2008)

Did the kill switch malfunction or had it been on the fritz for a while before the accident. I guess if the saws filter cover was crushed down on that bad then it would effect the movement of the stitch up to the off postion. Its one of those things you dont really think about with machines, but being able to kill them in an emergency can be the difference between life and death.

Mitts arent a pre chain brake throw back as much as they are to stop our ninja like reactions putting our hands infront of our faces when a saw kicks. The idea being that they keep the hand on the top bar so insuring the brake is operated. To many guys were found missing several fingers on there left hand and a bad hit to the forehead and face.

Hope your mates going to be okay.


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## treepanda (Jun 6, 2008)

The saw turned off as soon as the weight was lifted off it... he has spent a fair bit of time in hospitalnd has just gone back cos of infection, he may lose the middle finger to the knuckle...


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