Chain saws

[ladylola]

Just to throw another into the mix,
has anyone used the portable chain morticers? Essentially a wide chainsaw in a frame that is driven vertically into timber. They can be a tool to use, last time I used one the timber was wider than the clamps on the machine and we ended up fixing a short plank to the bottom of the frame and using the operators own weight to hold it all secure.
this sort of thing- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Makita-71...ies_Carpentry_Woodwork_ET&hash=item35b77859b0

A couple of years ago the plant shop where I worked was broken into and a quanity of power tools stolen but 2 chain mortisers were left. Looking at the cost maybe they should have been taken.

 

[Mrdjc]

Anything with a sharp edge and designed to cut stuff can cause severe damage to life and limb... Why stop at just chainsaws?

If you manage to injure yourself you probably shouldn't have been using the bloody thing in the first place.

If I drop a kerbstone on my foot and loose my toes, does that mean we should ban kerbstones?

If I trip over and fall onto a rake, does that mean we should ban rakes?

Stop looking to blame devices and machines because of the damage they can cause to humans, rather look at the person using it and hope that they ask themselves the question: Do I know how to safely use this?

 

[pred]

Pred was a lorry driver last time I heard - what went wrong with his aeronautical skills!!

He's still got them, they fly up and down the motorways.

Congratulations, you're both right, 6yrs in the RAF, Scampton 617sqdn, Wattisham 111sqdn and Guetersloh 19sqdn & after 6yrs down the NAAFI every night singing the same old songs and getting p1$$ed out of my brains i thought there has got to be more to life than this, so i bought myself out while serving in Germany & stayed there for another 5yrs, ended up on the building sites & when winter set in i did general haulage, came back to civilisation end of 81, just in time for a down turn in the construction industry, so i took my HGV1, simples.

 

[Alarm]

Chain saws are over rated. Get a grab lorry and just rip out the thing.

 

[pred]

Chain saws are over rated. Get a grab lorry and just rip out the thing.

Now we're talkin, nothing like a bit of demolition

 

[Alarm]

 

[LooPrEvil]

Pred was a lorry driver last time I heard - what went wrong with his aeronautical skills!!

He's still got them, they fly up and down the motorways.

Congratulations, you're both right, 6yrs in the RAF, Scampton 617sqdn, Wattisham 111sqdn and Guetersloh 19sqdn & after 6yrs down the NAAFI every night singing the same old songs and getting p1$$ed out of my brains i thought there has got to be more to life than this, so i bought myself out while serving in Germany & stayed there for another 5yrs, ended up on the building sites & when winter set in i did general haulage, came back to civilisation end of 81, just in time for a down turn in the construction industry, so i took my HGV1, simples.

Well done Pred - diversification - I take my hat off to you.

 

[gregers]

Just to throw another into the mix,
has anyone used the portable chain morticers? Essentially a wide chainsaw in a frame that is driven vertically into timber. They can be a tool to use, last time I used one the timber was wider than the clamps on the machine and we ended up fixing a short plank to the bottom of the frame and using the operators own weight to hold it all secure.
this sort of thing- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Makita-71...ies_Carpentry_Woodwork_ET&hash=item35b77859b0

A couple of years ago the plant shop where I worked was broken into and a quanity of power tools stolen but 2 chain mortisers were left. Looking at the cost maybe they should have been taken.

yeah used to use 1 when i was a subby,the firm had a ryobi version,cool bit of kit but i didnt like the way it left indentations on the doors,you couldnt use bits of tiber as the machine used to creep down the door.
even using masking tape still dented the faces.
i suggested we took all the doors off and set ourselves up in a room and do it horizontaly but was over ruled,

 

[sooey]

With trees getting blown down all over the place chain saws are going to come in pretty handy over the next couple of days.

 

[ABCwarrior]

Chainsaws are superb things, everyone should have one....well, maybe not. I've owned one for 3 years now, felled about a dozen 50ft pines in that time(including ones half down, they're tricky, ones over that need separated from the root plate totally over, tricky when the root plate wants to go back), and cut up a lot more. If you read the instructions fully, heck even watch a few YouTube videos- I watched a superb one on sharpening them) and respect your limits they're safe IMHO. You just need to work out where a tree is in tension/compression etc but this is where people should stop if they can't work this out- it's knowing your limits that is the real problem- same argument when they banned handguns- it's the people who are dangerous not the guns.
I've two neighbours who also have chainsaws and are fine with them(both practical, manual hands on types), and another one who bought one- and the rest of us are very wary of the fact he shouldn't have(more of a talking/pen pushing type). He doesn't really understand how the saw works, at all how it is maintained and where the dangers lie. Thankfully he won't try and fell any...yet.
But as for banning them for sale to anyone "uncertified"- that includes me- definitely not, and I do all my own maintenance to the saw, ensure my feet are well placed and not liable to slip, have a clear exit strategy, never walk with the chain running(always locked out)- COMMON SENSE.

The people who shouldn't use them are the ones who would be dangerous with a staple gun.
I remember hearing on the radio some stat that 1/3(or was it 2/3?) men(don't know if this applies to women at all?) do NOT have the spatial awareness to do manual/diy work at all safely. (They're the real liabilities, the pipe/cable puncturers....)

 

[ABCwarrior]

They seem quite handy when zombies attack too....Plunge cuts

 

[Alarm]

Only with head shots!

 

[noseall]

But as for banning them for sale to anyone "uncertified"- that includes me- definitely not.............
the people who shouldn't use them are the ones who would be dangerous with a staple gun.

I know i have edited this to death, but you have made a valid point.

In one part of your post you are saying they should be available to everyone but you also say that there are people who should not use them.

In my posts i did not say they should be banned. However i did say that it is the availability of these things that lead to problems.

If folks see them being hired out to the general public then these people will not think that they are particularly dangerous.

The whole analogy of guns & knives and all things sharp is daft.

You just need to work out where a tree is in tension/compression etc but this is where people should stop if they can't work this out

Now this is the part i found most relevant. See if all you others can work it out.

 

[anobium]

Some interesting statistics, yes I know they are from USA and some years old but it shows how dangerous they are even in the hands of experienced operators.
The point that the average accident results in 110 stitches is cringeworthy.

www.elvex.com/facts08.htm

 

[ABCwarrior]

Point taken, I plan to get a set of "C" grade chaps before I do any further sawing.
When I'm in a pair of Dickies work trousers I'm all too aware of how f****ed up I'll be if I slip up, especially being 45mins from my nearest A&E- if I take out my femoral artery I'm dead, it's as serious as that!
(but with increased PPE then does that psychology of "oh I'm much safer now and unwittingly then subconsciously paying less attention, therefore at more of a danger kick in?" I use a proper Stihl helmet/ear defenders and face guard with safety specs)

I also wonder about them stats- most unqualified chainsaw users(ie home users)probably have saws like mine- a 16" bar max and only a couple of BHP engine. Have you seen the pro saws? Powerful beasts with 4' bars FFS!!! Working in ravines/hillsides in the middle of nowhere,swinging about up trees with huge diameters...