Chainsaws.......any advice pls ?

[Macster]

We have half an acre of woodland with permission to fell quite a few trees that need to come out, some very small, some quite hefty, and some very tall.
I thought I had a local Agricultural college on the case to bring in some of the students to do the work, but that might not be coming off, leaving me with either a hefty bill for Tree Surgeons to do it, or to get myself a half decent Chainsaw and tackle it myself.....

Now I'm not averse to using power tools, and hefty enough to handle one I think, but something about Chainsaws just makes me shiver a little.....

Anyone else own/use one, and is it THAT bad ?

 

[madandra]

Chris, I am sure Birdieman is the guy to give educated advise as i.i.r.c. he works for the Forrestry Commission but within my customer base in my job I have learned that you need to produce a chain saw license in order to hire one. Using the saw is only half of the problem but most of the threat of injury comes from kick back from the falling tree.

 

[RGDave]

Tell the students they are marajuana trees, they'll soon be felled.

Never used a chainsaw, regretably......pass

 

[birdieman]

I use one quite often.

They are fine to use but you defo need a 4 day course to get your basic tickets. If you dont do the course or wear the PPE you are plain daft. You'll put yourself in danger by working wrong or having an unsafe saw. The chain runs at 40 metres per second on full revs, 40 odd teeth in a a metre so one slip and your golf could be over. You need PPE costing a wee bit - boots, leggings, gloves, helmet with ear and face guard. You need a breaking bar too to turn hung up trees. Also a fuel can -2 stroke mix and chain oil. Oh and a wee maintenance kit that should come with the saw.

You dont need strength, if you do you're handling the saw wrong. The saw is worked close to the body not at arms length.

If you are cutting small trees get a small saw. A big saw in small trees is pointless. The smaller saws have a lot of poke nowadays. Get a Husqvarna or a Stihl if you're serious. Other makes are hobby saws, not professional ones and probably won't last.

To kit yourself out you won't have much change from £750.

 

[Golfmmad]

My next door neighbour had a 60ft conifer taken down recently.
I watched the tree surgeon cut it down with a chain saw. It was an education and he made it look so easy! Each to their own I say.

I was so impressed I got him in to cut down a 6ft privet hedge that ran the full width of my back garden, not very high you might think, but it was planted on top of a 5ft wall making it difficult to get to, especially cutting the top.

On top of that I've had tennis elbow problems for the last 6 months, and is almost back to normal. Using a hedge trimmer would only aggravate it, hence having the lot taken down.

Getting back to your question, I would say without hesitation, get a tree surgeon in. Unless you can see yourself up the top of a tree trying to control a piece of dangerous machinery as well as, hanging on for dear life

Lastly, even the most experienced make mistakes...........

In a local paper recently there was a report of a tree surgeon slipping and severing his arm off!

Think of your golf - you know it makes sense

Golfmmad.

 

[Imurg]

If you want someone to say Mass - get a Priest!

I wouldn't risk it - get the professionals in. Might cost more but all the risk is with them.

 

[Macster]

Thx for the advice so far.

I certainly would'nt be climbing the trees to fell, and most are probably no bigger than 10" diameter, but 1 or 2 are a little heftier.

It all started off with a quote from a Tree Surgeon.......and that was £600 to take down 6 trees ! Some quotes were even higher, and bear in mind I have about 20-30 to remove, so its gonna be Costa Packet to get them in.

I know the reputation Chainsaw's have, just wondered if its as well deserved as everyone thinks etc.

 

[ADB]

I do a fair bit of work with chainsaws and I echo the sentiments of the replies. Get an expert in if you are doing some serious felling.

I was with a friend of mine on Sunday, he was cutting and I was splitting and he told me he was lucky to be alive. A couple of years back he was felling a tree and as it was falling the trunk split, catapulting the chainsaw onto his head (only wearing ear defenders-silly boy) then his shoulder. He ended up with about 50 stiches, a broken leg and arm and a few nights in intensive care.

Put simply, it's not worth the risk!!

 

[JustOne]

It all started off with a quote from a Tree Surgeon.......and that was £600 to take down 6 trees !

That's cheap! You'd be looking at that to get an oak tree crown reduced by 30% down my way.

Are you going to have the trees removed/chipped? Bringing them down isn't half as much work as getting rid of them.

 

[ADB]

Why not sell the wood and get some money back? There are always folk who will take away green wood to season for next year? They might even chainsaw the fallen wood and take it away with them saving you more expense with the tree surgeon - just a thought?

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Forget chainsaws,

Use Dynamite

Or Hire a Beaver

 

[gash]

Get a cheap chainsaw brand new delivered for about £80 from flea bay. Use some common sense and there will be no problem using it. When you finish relist the chainsaw and get most of your investment back. They are only risky in the hand of imbiciles

 

[viscount17]

Get a cheap chainsaw brand new delivered for about £80 from flea bay. Use some common sense and there will be no problem using it. When you finish relist the chainsaw and get most of your investment back. They are only risky in the hand of imbiciles

idiot! how do you know the seller hasn't pulled the same trick!

do not get a cheap or secondhand chainsaw, and think twice about hiring - you really have no idea of their condition or how they have been used, though a decent, reputable hire shop should be safe.

did it once felling a row of leylandii, lucky, lucky me - the chain stretched so much it was downright dangerous and I finished up using a saw.

 

[bobmac]

Birdieman. How much would you charge Chris to pop down to East Yorks, chop down his trees and have a game of golf while you're there?

 

[madandra]

If you go to your nearest hire shop they may have an advertisment board where their customers put stick their business cards, if they dont they will robably recommend someone. You may find that if you call a couple and haggle a bit you could get someone to do it for a good bit less than the first tree surgeon you called.

 

[thecraw]

Rent out your land for a week to the MOD for bombing/explosive practice!

Either that or hire my mate Calum, he swings the club that fast that I'm sure he could fell a few with a sand iron!

 

[Snelly]

I use a chainsaw very regularly for coppicing, felling the odd tree and prepping wood for our fireplace and stoves at home.

There is no doubt that they have the potential to do massive injury and great care needs to be taken when using them.

That said, I think it depends what you are doing with them as to whether you need all the bells and whistles in terms of safety gear.

For example, if I had some large trees that needed taking down near property, i.e. bough by bough, meaning that you needed a harness, several sizes of chainsaw and the need to cut whilst high in a tree, I would call a tree surgeon as this is specialised work and not something to take on lightly.

However, for my needs which as stated are regular use of a relatively small saw, I don't think you need to go on a course to understand what to do. It is down to common sense and a bit of educational reading, at least it was in my case and I have never had an accident in over 15 years of regular work with a saw.

Safety wise, I wear steel toed boots, safety glasses and ear defenders. I've often thought of getting a pair of ballistic trousers but given that I have never come close to a problem, I have never bought them.

In terms of what to buy, my opinion and that of most guys I know that are in the trade is that you have two options, Stihl or Husqvarna. They are the best by miles. I am on my third Stihl and they have been absolutely faultless.

 

[TWM]

I bought a cheap electric chainsaw from B&Q. I only used it for small jobs and found the chain coming off and difficult to replace.
I get a good tree care company to deal with the bigger trees.
Do not allow people coming to the door to cut your trees. They will charge just as much as the professionals and do very untidy job.

 

[birdieman]

The HSE accident rate for chainsaw use is very bad and it is nearly always farmers operating saws on the farm, not forestry professionals, having the accidents. That is primarily because the farmers aren't wearing protective equipment, are untrained in their use and are standing on tractor loaders and the like to do the cutting.
Whist it may be possible to be working relatively safely from reading some chainsaw use books I would highly recommend the protective leggings. Steel toe boots are insufficient I'm afraid, you should have chainsaw protection right up the leg.
Every time you move you should apply the chainbrake, without training you wont know about correct filing, correct chain tension, cleaning. Without training you won't be putting the tree over under control with the right size and depth of hinge. You won't know how to drop a tree safely that is leaning toward and away from you - both need specialist cuts.
Sure people can work away for years with them and have nothing happen but it is a dangerous tool and should be shown some respect via training and PPE imo.

 

[Macster]

A quick Google of 'Chainsaw Accident' has answered all my thoughts......



Thx all for your comments.