Learning How to Use a Chainsaw

[computeruser]

Find a local AS member and go cut with them for a couple hours. If you were near to me, I’d gladly lend a bit of time. It will speed the learning curve a lot. Even just cutting on a log pile with someone who can talk you through how saws behave and how wood behaves would be good.

There are some great online resources. Husqvarna has a good basic video series. The BC Faller Standards videos are good. The guy from Expertvillage who makes sloping back cuts is not good! Download some of the UK’s saw training materials, their stuff is pretty straightforward and comprehensive.

I learned saws by myself. Trial and error. Started on a Homelite 192 with a 10” bar. Learned a ton with that saw, as it cut so slowly you could watch how the wood was reacting! Would have learned better and faster with instruction.

Buy proper protective gear. Chaps and steel toe boots and ears and eyes. If you’re going to be felling trees, add in a helmet. Wear your gear religiously. I’ve put a saw into my leg once, not planning to do that again, so I wear my chaps. Had a sapling spring back and drive a branch between my skull and scalp, don’t care to do that again, so I wear my helmet with face screen. Don’t be an idiot like me (and, I would guess, many of us here at one time or another!). Learn from the experience of others.

 

[computeruser]

Thanks to everyone for the helpful responses. This was a lot more help and information than I expected.

I still have a few questions:

1. What is the safest "first cut" to make?
2. What should I expect the cut to "feel like" when the chain is cutting through the wood?
3. How much pressure should I put on the bar when making a cut?

As far as first saws, I'm thinking about a Makita/Dolmar. They're being discounted heavily by a local dealer
who is closing up shop.

Buying a Dolmar 421 or the Makita equivalent (4300?) would be a great first saw if your dealer has those in stock. A saw that size can be very useful. And it is a great saw within its class with top notch build quality, metal crankcase, and so forth.

Go find a log or a 4x4 post. Clamp it or strap it to a sawhorse or two. Make a lot of cuts off the unsupported end of the log/post. Get the feel of your saw. Make a bunch of little cookies. Watch the size and shape of chips it makes. Feel the saw self-feed into the wood with limited extra pressure on your part. Try again pushing on it. Feel and listen to how much the revs drop as you load the engine and push harder . It will start making sense quickly once you have it in your hands and can see and feel what it is doing.

 

[Woodslasher]

My dad gave me some chaps, a Husky face shield/muff/hard hat setup, watched me use his 445 a few times, told me to watch my bar tip and avoid cutting with the top of the bar, and that was it. I have had a few times where the chaps or my steel toed boots saved my legs, but those were from kickback, pinching, or terrain-related goofs. Initially, my older brother and I would go out cutting together and he would give me a few pointers while watching me cut. I agree with @computeruser, find a local guy who knows his stuff and go cutting with him, it’ll really help. Also, always keep your chain sharp. I used my MS250 without sharpening it until I rocked the chain (8 or so hours of cutting), so I took it to a neighbor with a chain grinder. The next time I cut with it, the saw had so much more power and speed, I couldn’t believe it!

 

[Husky Man]

Yep, I will definitely add to the Get and USE PPE Chorus

I can’t imagine life without my Eyesight, I don’t need to make my ugly mug any uglier, and I have already done my hearing enough damage, that I USE my Husqvarna cutting helmet all the time, they are about $50, Money WELL SPENT

I use steel toed boots for work, so I buy ones with a good tread for wood cutting

And I am a (Very LUCKY) Believer in chaps

I was firewood cutting on a slope, and my footing wasn’t as solid as I thought it was, and the dirt I was standing on, gave way. Believe it or not, I didn’t get a Scratch out of that, didn’t touch skin, I can’t explain it, but that could have been a LOT WORSE, where I was at in the mountains, there was no cell service and about 8 miles of Forest Circus road back to the main Hwy, and more miles to cell service, if that had gotten my leg deeply, I easily could have Bled out long before help could have gotten to me.

Even if it hadn’t been Fatal, it could have had “Seriously Life Altering Consequences “ anyway, if you catch my drift

PPE, Buy It, USE IT

Doug

 

[59Billy]

Don't be an idiot like me (and, I would guess, many of us here at one time or another!). Learn from the experience of others.

Wisdom right there.

 

[computeruser]

Welcome to A.S!

Simple but difficult answer. It is hard for an individual to find good chainsaw safety training, in my experience, due to liability concerns. I know some established dealers who will only teach you how to start a saw. There are professional trainers who will not work with homeowners; only people employed in the industry.

Lots of videos on line, but some are dangerous. The BC videos, mentioned above, are pretty advanced. STIHL and Husqvarna ones are pretty good.

One way, is to find volunteer groups who train their members: some of these folks do trail maintenance, disaster response, wildlife habitat work, or similar projects. Or find someone you trust to mentor you.

There is a thread on good training materials: I will try to post a link.

Philbert

This is very true. I have been cutting with volunteer groups since 1995, doing trail work, habitat work, and logjam work (e.g. cutting underwater!). Some of the cutting I saw from volunteers early on scared me, between scary technique and poor equipment choice relative to the cutting task at hand. The saws, and particularly the bars, were invariably too big and they were sticking the bar tip in the dirt, or getting kickback off adjacent growth, constantly. Eventually, the volunteers who didn't know what they were doing either learned or took up other pastimes. A couple who "learned" also downgraded to much shorter bars on their existing powerheads!

With one of the volunteer groups I work with there are only two other saw operators; it is me and another fellow who are regularly there, and a third who occasionally comes out to help. We thought it might be helpful to train up a few more for those days when we have 30, 40 or more volunteers on hand to drag and stack what we cut. So a few years back we tried to get some of our would-be volunteer sawyers into some training. A trainer was brought in and a two-day class was run to serve a bunch of local groups who all wanted to use volunteer sawyers for habitat work. Most of it was classroom stuff, with a bit of watch-and-see, and very little hands-on saw operating. The couple folks who I know who took the training came back no more competent than before the class. Recognizing that this form of "training" was not helpful or effective, we looked at the possibility of me developing a class and curriculum that I could then teach, to be run under the municipality's cover, that would be directed at folks with zero saw experience and specific to the sort of habitat cutting work we do, since we had long ago decided that I had to vet and sign off on the skills and equipment of any would-be volunteer sawyer for the municipality. But then we had some staffing changes with the municipality, I got busy with other stuff, and then 2020 happened. Maybe the idea will be revived in 2021. Because it would be a good thing to offer.

 

[irhunter]

Videos, books, advice from random people on forums...less than ideal, I'd say.

Around here, the county extension office sometimes runs saw classes. And, the wildfire agencies run classes...which are sometimes open to the non-fire public.

And, it seems that the Game of Logging classes are often good:

https://www.woodlandtraining.com/courses.php

 

[MnSam]

Having respect for the saw and asking questions is a damn good start. Kudos to you.