My chainsaw bites...literally!

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If it could have gone wrong today, it did.

I have been right in firewood production mode, cutting as much firewood as I can before Spring comes and kills the logging until next year. I had only cut four trees when my chainsaw handle breaks in half. I use it as is to finish out my twitch then go and weld it up (it was aluminum).

On the sixth tree I cut, I break a pin that holds my winch to my tractor. So I jam a file in it just to hold it together, get out of the woods and fabricate a makeshift pin.

Then just before 2 o clock this afternoon I drop a big Maple tree. I'm kind of tired, but really don't think much about it. I drop the tree just fine, limb most of it out and then go to cut the top part off the tree. I am not sure if I slipped on the icy tree (it's been snowing hard all day) or if the saw hit a branch and skidded towards my leg. Either way I feel some pain, feel some blood and see that my saw cut a pretty good gash in my jeans, in my long handles (long johns), and yes into my flesh. It hit at the mid way point between my knees and waist on my left thigh.

Luckily it was not too deep, definately not to the bone. So I finish my cut, check my leg a few times and then head out of the woods. The bleeding seemed to stop so I finish out the rest of the day. Just as I am heading home, the wooden box my saw rides in on my tractor's fender, falls off. I throw everything into the bucket and head home...well after dark.

What a day!!

All was not lost though. I got 8 cord out despite my break downs and chainsaw mishap. I guess I was due. The last time I cut my leg was in 1990 when I was felling a big Spruce. That time it just grazed my shin. Considering how many cords/thousands of board feet of wood I cut each year, that's a pretty good record. :)

The box that holds my chainsaw can easily be seen perched over the rear fender in this picture.

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........... I feel some pain, feel some blood and see that my saw cut a pretty good gash in my jeans, in my long handles (long johns), and yes into my flesh. It hit at the mid way point between my knees and waist on my left thigh.

Luckily it was not too deep, definately not to the bone. .........


Ummmm ... saw pants/chaps ????

just wondering ....

cheers
 
That was a pretty funny statement. :) Up and down the road people have been like "Oh you're still cutting wood, the power hasn't gone out so we didn't know." :)

My leg will be fine it looks like. Not as deep a cut as originally thought even. You can see where it bit me down by my knee, raked across my thigh in kind of a road rash kind of injury, then dug in at my mid thigh for a bit. Nothing too deep, but the problem with chainsaws is that they don't take a nice smooth cut, the rip and tear a 3/8 chunk out of you which leaves you pretty sore.

I am really not sure what happened. I don't know if I stepped into the bottom of my saw as I tried to cut off that tree top, or if the saw hit a limb and skidded back towards my leg? It might have even kicked back. I use the top of my bar a lot so maybe it pushed back? I also run a 24 inch bar on this saw so that gives it quite a few more teeth exposed.

As for the firewood business,that's taken right off. I talked to a different Uncle...one that trucks sawlogs, pulpwood and firewood for a living with his truck, (tri-axle) and he said no one is cutting firewood. He's had to turn away tree length firewood orders so he will buy everything I cut. That great for me, but we got 6-10 inches of new snow on the way tonight and that might stop me. My little tractor is pretty capable, but we already have waist deep snow in the woods, and another 10 might just be too much.

Here is an old picture of my small tractor and winch set up, just so you can see what I amusing. Its not much, but leaves a small skid trail...like walking paths in the forest,so it does very little damage. At the same time it uses about 3 gallons of diesel fuel a day. Interestingly enough, you can see some trees in the background in this photo. One of those trees on top of that hill was the one that fell over backwards and hit the powerline.

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Glad you weren't seriously hurt. That tractor ride looks cold. I can't believe the difference in the weather. I was running heaters a couple weeks ago and now its 75 in the shop. Just had to step out and take a pic lookin' out of the shop in February.
 

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We got a big storm blowing in tonight...4 to 10 inches expected. Its been so bad here as far as snow goes that today the Maine DOT admitted the Interstate caused several major accidents last Saturday because they ran out of salt to put on the roads. There is actually a sever salt shortage right now so the roads are pretty treacherous. I have not seen pavement on my town road since December.

Here are a few pictures of what Thorndike Maine looks like tonight....

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We all adapt to our environment. But snow country was never my 'thang' even though I grew up in the Chicago area. Glad the chainsaw injury was not really serious. When you originally posted the report, I saw the word "tired". IMHO 'tired' and 'chainsaw' should never meet.
 
When you originally posted the report, I saw the word "tired". IMHO 'tired' and 'chainsaw' should never meet.

Very true...I've never had a serious injury from woodworking, or anything for that matter, but all the "close calls" have occured when I was tired or rushing.
 
Travis, You Are very lucky with all these injuries. :thumb: You remind me of this little 70 year old granny up in Fort McMurry Alberta. She made a statement that discribes you to a tee. She was winning big on the Video lottery terminals. When she came up to the bar with her next big win. I said to her that she must have a horse shoe up the butt. She just smiled at me in a way only a frail little granny could with a certain twinkle in her eye and in a strong voice replied " No sonny I've got the whole dam team ". :eek: Then hurried off back to her terminals without missing a beat. It was priceless and it had everyone at the bar rolling on the floor laughing. :rofl::rofl:

Take care of your self Travis someone in a higher power could be giving you warning signs to slow down a bit. ;):D
 
I have been packing a lot into a two week period that is for sure Drew. Not only have I worked two full 40 hour weeks as a Machinist, I've also pulled out 18 cord of firewood and even managed to build a decent looking shop fixture to hold all my sandpaper. For you guys that aren't familiar with what 18 cord of firewood amounts too, its the equivalent of 9,000 board feet of sawn lumber!!

It's a lot of work, just trudging through waist deep snow would wear anyone out, let alone carrying a big chainsaw (72cc) and stepping over limbs, brush and rocks. This was what I was doing when I cut myself. I am pretty sure I stepped into my saw just as I let off the trigger, one of the reasons the cut was not as bad as it was.

I've always liked cutting wood though. Its hard work, but very satisfying. Now its a sprint to the finish line though. Spring is right around the corner and I can sell every cord I get out for 95 bucks a cord...a pretty good price considering. That's why I'm tired and rushing...two bad combinations I admit.

Oh yeah...and don't forget I got a baby in the house whose sleep schedule is not aligned with mine 100% of the time :)

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Travis,
Your daughter is a doll. They grow up so fast. My daughter is to be married on Dec. 6. She will be 23yrs. old. I am only 41. Slow down and enjoy that wonderful gift you have. Take 1 hour off each night and share your time with her. If you dont before you know it will be Dec. 6. And dont cut off any limbs you will need them to walk down the isle and to give her a hug.:thumb::thumb:
 
Travis glad that you are ok. Running a chainsaw has it dangers and for the inexperienced like myself pick one up as little as possible. Maybe that is why mine is always a bear to start! Now that you have a "rash as you call it" and are not in some hospital I would like to make an observation. YOU CUT MAPLE FOR FIREWOOD!!!!!!!!!! That hurts more to people out west then your rash :(:rofl::rofl: Glad your injury wasn't worse.
 
Rob,

Here in Maine we have two kinds of maple...Soft maple (also called Red Maple or Swamp Maple) and Rock Maple (also called Hard Maple, or Sugar Maple).

With the Soft Maple, they don't put out a lot of BTU's per cord really so its not really ethical to give a guy 8 cord of that and expect him to heat his home. But the stand I was in was mostly Rock Maple where the BTU count per cord is a lot higher. In the end he got a pretty good pile of firewood, with plenty of BTU's so even though his firewood pile is about 99% Maple, it's not as bad as it sounds.

We don't have the stands of Beech, Black Cherry, and Hickory that you guys in the mid-west have, so as unethical as it seems to be cutting Maple for firewood, cutting Maple is considered pretty good firewood here...as long as its Rock Maple anyway. :)

I'm a certified logger,which means I am a professional of sorts, I try to give people what they are paying for. I try and keep the BTU count high, as well as keeping the limbs to a bare minimum (no one wants cord after cord of unsplit round wood), nor do I cut great big trees since no one wants to be hefting these huge blocks on a splitter either. Usually I cut high btu species, in sizes 10-18 inches in diameter at the stump, and select trees that are fairly tall and straight.

I'll try to get the camera out in the woods this weekend so you can join me on my firewood logging adventure. :)
 
travis, here's a video of the machine you need...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei9LlLLZwAU

Those feller-bunchers are pretty sweet, but for some reason I am lacking the $650,000 dollars to buy one.

To be honest with you though, I enjoy using my little Kubota. I have used many skidders and while the power is nice, my little Kubota does a nice job in the woods. Its so small, that you really can't do much damage with it. Meaning you are not going to pull over trees, run over saplins, or cause deep skidder ruts.

Of course it's lack of power does mean you have to plan you harvest better. I just can't bull and thrash in the woods...I got to plan everything out. I got to fell my trees so they fall to the forest floor where I can limb them up.I just can't pull down trees that are hung upon other trees. I also have to get all the limbs off my trees so that they slide out through the woods better and don't get caught up on rocks, stumps and other trees. I also have to cut roads through the woods, keeping stumps low and making sure there are no sharp turns. Years ago it seemed I worked and worked to get a load of wood out (10 cord) but now planning better has made it almost easy.

With a skidder, you just hook up 10 trees and suck everything together. The power is there so whatever is in the way moves or breaks. This can leave a mess. But the best thing about my little Kubota is, when I am done logging, my paths through the woods look like walking paths they are so small and narrow.

My woodlot is no park...its a working forest...but I like to keep it looking good too. Here is a picture of some logging I did a few years back. I think it looks good. Here is a link to a "walk" my daughter and I took out in the woodlot last year..

http://www.railroadmachinist.com/Woodlot-One.html

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Some times a small machine is nice to get around in the woods with. Thats why I like my 500C bulldozer. It's light for a dozer, about #8000, narrow it's only got about a 7.5 foot blade and you can turn it on a dime. On the plus side you can drag quite a bit. I would like to have a crawler loader so I could pick pieces up and carry them.

Travis, your not supposed to pick up the big chunks. Get a splitter like mine that stands up then you just roll them under it, and split them. Or do like my nephew did, he tapped into the hydraulics and put a little jib crane on his.
Put some forks on that loader, put on a skid and pick the pieces up to splitter height. Gives you nice work table at the same height as the splitter.
 
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