Here is an excerpt from an article I found in a Canadian newspaper and thought it was interesting considering that I found several articles recently about people who were
killed by a tree while logging and people who were
killed or
injured by a lawn mower.
Like I have said before, "Power equipment safety doesn't 'just happen'. You can make it happen!" It is a pattern of behavior that leads to the safe operation of the power equipment.
On Monday, the class was in school learning about how to cut trees safely. We learned how to make the proper cuts and how to use the chainsaw sights to make sure a tree falls where we want it to go. We also learned the three steps to cutting a tree safely and properly. The three steps are notching, back cutting, and the last is making sure you leave enough hinge wood. The hinge wood is the most important part when cutting a tree. Without the hinge wood in place the tree is considered out of control and can fall in any which way, this is dangerous for the cutter. We also learned tree different notches: the Humbolt, V-notch, and the Conventional Notch. To make a Humbolt Notch, you make a straight cut on the top and a 45 degree angle cut from the bottom up. This cut is used for high value timber. The V-Notch is a cut where both top and bottom cuts are made on a 45 degree angle. This is used for cutting trees down hill. The Conventional Notch is when you make a top cut at a 45 degree angle and the bottom cut is a straight cut, this is a multi-purpose cut. We also learned how to cut a tree so that if it is leaning slightly in a way you don't want it to go, you can make a certain cut so that it will fall where you would like it to fall. One of the terms we learned that we found interesting was a 'barber chair', that is when a tree splits because it was poorly notched. The tree breaks off high above the ground and leaves part of the broken trunk attached to the stump so that it looks like a chair with a high back on it. Barber chairs are very dangerous.
