Do you do chainsaw work on your own?

[hazzygawa]

Yes, often.

[Marc Lewis]

Yes I work alone, but only for certain operations. I don't climb anyway but if I did I wouldn't do that alone. I prefer to have a second pair of eyes/hands when felling. I find people are curious and have a tendency to come and see what's going on. The second person's job is to spot them and tell them to go away so that I can focus my whole attention on the tree in hand.

 

Felling in the woods there is a risk (near certainty) that eventually something will hang up. At this point you will need a winch. I prefer not to lug my large Tirfor into the woods on the offchance of hanging something that day. The second person's job would then become to stand near the hung tree and warn people off while I go and get the winch.

 

You can see from above that the second person doesn't have to know or do anything. One way of working would be to go out felling at the weekend, then buck and extract on your own during the week.

 

Alec

 

You want to get that second pair of hands fetching that winch agg

[mr_magicfingers]

Thank you all for your comments and thoughts.

 

My own thoughts are that I would generally work alone comfortably, but that's a part of who I am, I'm comfortable working alone and assessing risks etc. I hadn't really thought too much about it until my girlfriend said she wasn't happy with me doing that. To be honest, even if I had a 2 way radio, flare rig and epirb, if I chainsawed an arm off I'd probably bleed out before anyone could get to me.

 

I'll probably aim to have someone around for the first few weeks of work, whether that's my girlfriend being in the woods or someone else. Eventually though, I like the thought of working alone, I like the concept of the solitude, the figuring things out and the not worrying about making sure someone else is ok. It gives me the chance to work at my own pace, which is probably slower than when being concerned with someone else's time.

 

Thanks again.

[woodland dweller]

I work in my woods all the time on my own, but before i cut anything down i will always take a minute to work out what could go wrong, look for any dangers and then get on with it. Very safety conscious, as a furniture maker, carpenter and joiner for 25 years working on my own 1 mile from the nearest neighbour in a workshop with every machine the has the potential to remove parts of you body has made me this way. Once had a large 3 inch splinter pass through a finger and had to wait 1/2 an hour for the wife to return from picking up the kids to take me to A&E to have it removed.

[mr_magicfingers]

Sounds not dissimilar to my background, bandsaws, table saws etc all capable of removing digits and limbs. You take your time, thing about what you're doing and what could go wrong, then proceed.

 

could get hit by a bus tomorrow

[agrimog]

most of the time when Im milling, its a solo thing, 40-50% of the time felling in the woods, years of doing it, you learn not to be stupid, when Im in the enginering workshop some of my machinery makes a chainsaw look like a butter knife and these days I dont even think about it

[agg221]

You want to get that second pair of hands fetching that winch agg

 

That second pair of hands is usually my wife, who is currently sat next to me. I have just put this hypothetical suggestion to her with the anticipated response - I won't post it here as I don't want to be banned....

 

Alec

[raker]

I often work alone, but i always wear my ppe, and keep my phone and first aid kit to hand.I also let somone know where i`m working.Not ideal but needs must sometimes.

I also do a mini risk assesment.Location with grid reference, accesses, etc.If i need to call it in i know it will be sorted.

Edited June 3, 2013 by raker

[daddyola50]

i work alone 2/3 days a week and it dont bother me , thats the job we do in forestry i actually prefer it , if i screw up so be it ,we will all die sometime , in various ways never when it suits us . before you slate me , your mate is cutting 100 yards away while you are on the ground bleeding out , he cant hear your screams hes working more than two tree lengths away. so yes you are along . its a dangerous job and some of us like it that way . and yes i worked with someone who was killed by a tree , a man broke his arm , a man burst his eye , another badly cut his arm , another cut his wrist ,and ive had more than a handfull of close shaves . its that type of job .

[raker]

i work alone 2/3 days a week and it dont bother me , thats the job we do in forestry i actually prefer it , if i screw up so be it ,we will all die sometime , in various ways never when it suits us . before you slate me , your mate is cutting 100 yards away while you are on the ground bleeding out , he cant hear your screams hes working more than two tree lengths away. so yes you are along . its a dangerous job and some of us like it that way . and yes i worked with someone who was killed by a tree , a man broke his arm , a man burst his eye , another badly cut his arm , another cut his wrist ,and ive had more than a handfull of close shaves . its that type of job .

 

No disrespect mate, but if you were my oppo i would be devastated to know that you had died/were seriously injured while working together.I would have to have effective working systems in place for mutual safety.Its dangerous for sure, but i keep an eye on people working with me and investigate if i cant see them.