Cut hand on clearing saw

[Elmer Fudd]

Not a professional arborist, but I like to pretend I'm one on our (pine tree) farm.

I purchased a new Husqvarna 355FX forestry clearing saw to clean out 40 acres of 5 year old planted longleaf - basically cut down all the hardwood stems. The prescribed burns in the past have not been hot enough (not enough fuel) to kill many of the hardwood stems. I figured I would cut it, then burn in March. The saw works great for this, takes down trees up to 6 inches or so with cuts on both sides.

Well designed piece of equipment, the only real danger as I saw it was falling in a hole or over downed trees while maneuvering around with the saw. However, I managed to find probably the only unsafe practice using the saw. I cut a 4 inch hardwood down and it fell over a longleaf sapling. I reached forward to pull the sapling up, and the next thing I know my right pinkie is cut open to the bone. I had to come off the dead man switch and thumb throttle to reach forward, so the saw was not under power but was still spinning down. I did not even notice the blade, strange to say. Luckily it only cost me 5 stitches - could have been a lot worse.

My new rule (which is probably in the manual) - DO NOT REACH FORWARD OF THE HANDLES. If I need to do that, then turn the saw off and let it come to a full stop, or unhook it from the harness and set it down away from the work area.

I was wearing leather work gloves, which of course got sliced right through. Anyone know of a protective glove with more cut resistance than leather?

 

[ozarktreeman]

Sorry that happened Elmer but you should have let that rabbit stay in the hole! Sorry I just had to go there.
But glad it was not worse.Some lessons end up far more severe.
stay safe.

 

[mndlawn]

Glad you still have your finger, any pictures of the wound?

 

[gwiley]

I was wearing leather work gloves, which of course got sliced right through. Anyone know of a protective glove with more cut resistance than leather?

Forestry Suppliers sells a glove that has kevlar in the fingers - I use it when I run my chainsaws. The gloves are a little stiff, but I get to keep my fingers at the end of the day

 

[tree md]

I keep the bar and chained tensioned to the point that the chain stops when I let off the trigger on all of my saws. Especially my climbing saw. Not so tight that it is binding mind you but there is a sweet spot where you can adjust the bar and chain and it will stop spinning as soon as you let off the trigger. An old trick I learned from the first guy I ever worked for. He came up working when there were no chain breaks.

Glad to hear your injury was not more severe.

 

[EdenT]

Glad your OK Elmer. Thanks for the reminder. I too have a bad habit of reaching past the bar.

Thanks for the tip MD. I will be trying that out.

 

[treemandan]

If the thing has a brake, which I would think it does, smack it next time you need to put parts of your body forward of the controls.

 

[EdenT]

Yes I do 99.9% of the time. It's only when I do something like a crap cut (snap cut gone wrong), that I instinctively react by slapping the falling piece away from the asset I am trying to protect. A bad habit! However you have given me an idea for a training game that might improve my habit's so thanks.

Speaking of instinctive reactions... I was removing a tree piecemeal that was hanging over the neighbors fence a couple of weeks ago. The neighbor had come out and was complimenting me on not dropping a single leaf in her yard. I swung around the stem to talk to her and grabbed a stub to stabilize me till I could get my lanyard on. The 4' stub broke off in my hand. I instinctively threw it and grabbed a small green branch and tied in. The neighbor now has a slightly upset look on her face. I realized that the stub I had thrown actually hit her and was now on the ground at her feet. I laughed out loud at the irony of throwing crap at her when she is complimenting me. After that I apologized and explained what had happened. She saw the funny side!

 

[Elmer Fudd]

If the thing has a brake, which I would think it does, smack it next time you need to put parts of your body forward of the controls.

No brake. This is a forestry clearing saw (high end brushcutter):

http://www.husqvarna.com/us/forest/products/forestry-clearing-saws/355fx/

Here it is in use (not a fan of the soundtrack, but you get the point):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2KzJRYbwho

 

[EdenT]

How long are your arms?

They must be extraordinarily long. And yeah now that I see it, I can see how most people would have difficulty cutting their hands on it. You have to change your work practices (or get your arms shortened). No amount of PPE is going to save you if you make errors like that.

 

[jefflovstrom]

What are gloves? Are they those things girls wear?
Jeff:greenchainsaw:

 

[clearance]

They must be extraordinarily long. And yeah now that I see it, I can see how most people would have difficulty cutting their hands on it. You have to change your work practices (or get your arms shortened). No amount of PPE is going to save you if you make errors like that.

I don't mean to be a d- but yeah. I don't like them, ran them a bit. But its pretty hard to cut yourself with one.

 

[flushcut]

I don't mean to be a d- but yeah. I don't like them, ran them a bit. But its pretty hard to cut yourself with one.

:agree2: I have used my 345Rx to clear acres of buckthorn and never even come close to cutting myself. Did you set the saw down? Or what?

 

[Elmer Fudd]

:agree2: I have used my 345Rx to clear acres of buckthorn and never even come close to cutting myself. Did you set the saw down? Or what?

No, I bent over at the waist and reached forward to pick up a sapling that had been pressed down to the ground. My arms are long, and it was enough to get nicked by the blade.

 

[flushcut]

Well that answers that. Be careful man those saws will cut your hand or foot off with a quickness! I've seen mine kickback and cut a 3" maple sapling and all I heard was fwing and the tree went over just like in the ninja movies.

 

[DeAvilaTree]

This is what happened when I wore gloves

 

[EdenT]

This is what happened when I wore gloves

OUCH!!! What did you do that with, and what are the details?

 

[DeAvilaTree]

That was with my MS200. Hanging the top of a white pine thru a crotch. Made my face cut, tied in the bull line, went to make the back cut and the line was in the way so I reached to just pull the line out of the way. I was wearing those knit gloves with the rubber palms, a thread was hanging off the back of the glove, it caught the chain and pulled my hand into the bar. If I wasn't wearing gloves it wouldn't have happened. But we had a light snow the night before, and the tree was soaking wet, so I wore the gloves for some grip.

 

[EdenT]

That was with my MS200. Hanging the top of a white pine thru a crotch. Made my face cut, tied in the bull line, went to make the back cut and the line was in the way so I reached to just pull the line out of the way. I was wearing those knit gloves with the rubber palms, a thread was hanging off the back of the glove, it caught the chain and pulled my hand into the bar. If I wasn't wearing gloves it wouldn't have happened. But we had a light snow the night before, and the tree was soaking wet, so I wore the gloves for some grip.

Unlucky, I wear those gloves to! Looks like the chain must have just about stopped when it hit your hand. Glad it wasn't worse. It's like TMD says, have to learn to put that brake on EVERY TIME you (or I) reach past the saw. Thanks for sharing.