Bad Habits: Part Four:

This next bad habit is not one that I see too often, but every now and then it finds its way back into the students mode of working. It is, of course, the knees down approach to cutting timber. So what's wrong with this? After all, it looks to be a nice stable and comfortable position to be cutting in, and the operator is down next to the wood, rather than bending over it (another favourite). Whilst these things may indeed be true, it's not really the safest thing to do, so how should you be cutting timber that's on the floor, just like in the picture?

Find out more after the jump...

Well, the problem with putting both knees down on the floor to cut the wood is one of unsafe working practices, and it simply boils down to the fact that the operator cannot move out of the way quickly enough should anything happen.

Instead of putting both knees down, the best thing to do is to adopt a sort of crouching position, although if you need to put one knee down for stability or comfort, then that is acceptable.

If you're a bit sceptical about this, try it for yourself! Kneel down with both knees on the floor, then try to stand up, or move sideways... now just crouch down so that neither knee is on the floor. Now stand up; you should find it a lot easier to get yourself out of the way. [Probably best not to do this if you have poor knees!]

Of course, for logging timber then it's better to use a saw-horse or similar, to allow you to stand up and cut, but that's not option if you're dealing with a tree that you've just felled and you're cross-cutting the stem.

In the next of the 'Bad Habits' series, we'll have a look at cutting using the top of the bar...

Bad Habits: Part Two...

In part two of this short series looking at common problems that I find when teaching chainsaw usage, we have the classic... forgetting to either pull down the visor, or close the ear defenders (or both). So what's the big deal here? Find out more after the jump...

As you can see from the anonymised image of John Smith from Andover, Hampshire here, it's all too easy to forget to pull down the visor that's supposed to provide protection for your eyes and close the ear defenders - by the way, none of the images in this series have been posed, they're all examples of real learners making common mistakes.

John here (not his real name... and he doesn't live in Andover either) was totally unaware that he was putting both his vision and hearing at risk; but there's more to it than that. The thing that can cause major problems is that once the operator realises their mistake they will naturally release the saw with one hand and correct the PPE. And there's the 'gotcha' - not only have you been operating the chainsaw with improperly worn PPE, but you've also now only got one hand on the chainsaw and the chain brake is off. You've just compounded the problem!

So, given that it's almost natural to forget to pull down the visor, or ear defender(s), at some point what can you do? Simply apply the chain brake, sort out the PPE and then once you've corrected that problem continue to cut the timber.

Just to give some kind of comparison on sound levels, the Stihl MS260 saws are rated at 114dB, but just how loud is this? This is akin to a loud rock concert (115dB) and it's worth noting that sound levels of 125dB are physically painful. U.S. occupational health recommend no more than 15 minutes of exposure at 115dB, so using a saw with no ear defenders for any length of time really isn't clever. I said, "using a saw... never mind".[Source: Galen Carol Audio)