The chainsaw is a portable power instrument that cuts wood with a fast-moving chain that spins around a guide bar, can quickly prune, fall, limb, and buck trees. It is also the most hazardous power instrument that is available without a license.
While it’s intended to cut with either the top or bottom of the blade, anything that comes into touch with the top half of the blade’s end tip (known as the kickback zone) might change the cutting motion and cause the saw to crash back against you.
Kickback can cause catastrophic harm. Thus users must know how to use a chainsaw properly or take extreme measures and always employ good chainsaw form to avoid tragedy.
Here are some pointers to let you know about the usage of the chainsaw.
How to Use a Chainsaw Safely? A Guide for Beginners 2024
Gas Chainsaws are ideal for chopping up fallen trees and big branches. However, determining where to begin and how to go securely is difficult. Let’s give it a quick read on how to use a chainsaw safely.
Avoid the kickback zone by cutting with the top or bottom of the bar and chain.
The most frequent and natural-falling technique to cut is with the chain at the bottom of the bar. The saw pulls somewhat and is easy to manage if you have a tight grip on it. Cutting from the bottom of a branch necessitates using the top of the bar. It is first unsettling since the saw pulls at you. However, it is safe as long as you are properly braced and take all necessary measures.
However, there is one area on the bar that you should avoid at all costs. The kickback zone is located on the upper half of the bar’s tip. If the kickback zone collides with something while the chain moves, the saw will kick up and back toward you. As a result, contemporary electric chainsaws have a chain brake designed to halt the chain if a kickback occurs.
Chainsaw Accidents and How to Avoid Them?
With a few cautions, the most frequent chainsaw injuries to the thigh and left arm can be virtually eliminated. To begin, always wrap your left hand’s thumb around the front handle when cutting. In the event of a kickback, this encircling grip keeps the saw under control.
Second, when moving from one location to another with the saw running, even if it’s just to the next branch, always remove your right hand from the back handle and carry the saw at your side, with your left hand holding the front handle. If you trip or stumble, the saw’s engine won’t be able to accelerate and start the chain spinning.
Know that chainsaw cannot only cut through metal but it can also cut through bone without any hassle. Hence, you should always ensure your safety before working with it.
Put on Your Safety Equipment
Purchase and wear safety equipment. Particular chaps are frequently used to stop a moving chain and save your thigh.
A helmet that includes a face screen and ear protection is a convenient way to keep head, eye, and ear protection all in one comfortable package.
To protect yourself from scratches, wear steel-toed, cut-resistant boots and a long-sleeved shirt.
This equipment is available from chainsaw vendors. Don’t forget to wear safety gloves before starting the work too.
Get to Know Your Chainsaw Machine
- Fill the saw with gas that has been pre-mixed with two-cycle oil (consult your owner’s manual for the proper mix for your chainsaw).
- Add bar and chain oil to the oil tank.
- After filling the saw, move it at least 10 feet away from the filling area to a location free of ignitable debris.
- Involve the chain brake, turn on the ignition switch, pull out the choke (for a cold engine), and lock on the fast idle.
- Set the toe of your right boot into the back handle loop and grasp the front handle with a stiff left arm while the saw is still on the ground.
- To start the engine, pull the starter handle.
- Get the chain brake back toward the front handle to release the chain brake for cutting, then push in the choke to take it off fast idle.
- Get a sense of how your saw reacts to throttle. Only cut when you’re in a comfortable, well-balanced position, with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Note: Never stand directly behind the saw, but rather to one side of it.
- When cutting, you’ll feel a variety of forces. The saw will draw you into the work if you cut with the bottom of the bar. The saw will force you away from the work when cutting with the top of the bar (undercutting). This second force is referred to as a pushing chain. Brace the back handle of the saw or your arm against your thigh when cutting with a pushing chain to gain more control and reduce fatigue.
How to Use a Chainsaw to Cut Down a Small Tree?
Step 1: Prepare Your Equipment
When preparing to fall a small tree, prioritize safety and accident avoidance. Examine the location of the tree and the items that surround it. Falling trees or limbs can cause damage to houses, barns, electrical lines, fences, and other structures. Set up warning signs along any roadways that are in the fall zone. If you are a newbie and there are items around, contact an experienced person to help you take care of them.
Step 2: Decide the Best Way to Cut the Tree
After you have a solid sense of the surrounding items, look at the tree itself to choose which direction to fall the tree. If the tree is uniformly leaning in one direction, it may be preferable to feel it that way if nothings are in the fall zone. If there are things in the fall zone and the tree is leaning in that direction, you may want to hire a professional tree removal service to come and remove the tree. Wind speed can also have an impact on directional falling. Finally, evaluate how much effort will be necessary to remove the tree once it has fallen and how simple or difficult it will be to access the area in the fall zone.
Step 3: Making a Break
Before you begin sawing, make sure the vegetation around the tree has been removed. Clear the ground surrounding the tree of any branches, fallen limbs, or other impediments. You should be able to walk away from the tree in any direction without needing to avoid or step over anything.
Clearing a Tree’s Limbs and Buttress Roots
Clear away any tiny branches or buttresses that have grown on the lower part of the tree trunk with your chainsaw. A pulling chain can be used to clear branches or limbs. Cut from the top and use a downward stroke along the chainsaw’s lower edge. Work at an angle so that the tree trunk comes between you and the chainsaw. Never use a chainsaw to cut tree limbs higher than your shoulders, as this is an unsafe way to use a chainsaw.
Take a look at safety recommendations offered by Lowe’s Home Improvement regarding the usage of chainsaw:
Directional Felling: How to Cut Down a Tree in the Correct Direction
The directional notch, or the first series of cuts you must make when felling a tree, is the key to getting the tree to fall in the desired direction. A directional notch can be made in a variety of ways. An open directional notch is the type of notch described here. The directional notch, for the most part, determines which direction the tree will fall.
Conclusion: How to Use a Chainsaw in 2024?
Using a chainsaw the right way allows a user to maintain the stability of the tool.
Not only that, but it also ensures proper protection and safety of the user as the tool, if not used properly could cause a messy situation.
We have tried our best to guide you about the usage of chainsaw as well as its working. Make sure that you get the best out of it and enjoy cutting thick wood logs without any hassle.
his personal experience and loves to share their nitty gritty details with his audience.
Although Richard does focus on other home improvement tools, his focus remains on cutting fallen trees or maintaining his backyard via chainsaw tools. He pledges to come up with new knowledge about chainsaws every once in a while.
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