Got kick back of a saw

[Eddy_t]

Let it be a lesson to you! You're lucky it's a POS saw, I think you'd have needed a new face with a pro saw!

1. Never operate a faulty machine

2. Stand to the bloody side when cross cutting and limbing, if you can't read the words on the bar, you're in the firing line! Running old saws taught me that, no brakes means the only thing slowing the saw is what it hits!

3. Take heed of your surroundings, look for kickback risks, if the wood isn't secure, make it!

4. Make the saw kick in a safe manner before using it, you know what force to expect then, some saws just flick, some will rip your sockets apart

 

 

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[miker]

jeez fella, lucky this time,no lectures but make sure your saws are maintained,brake,chain catcher etc are all there for a reason,heal good mate

[peatff]

That looks proper sore..... You've learnt a valuable lesson and come out relatively unscathed so it's good. I'd better not let my wife see that picture or she'll stop me using my saw. Get better quickly and best wishes for the future.

[D A Tree Surgeons]

Ash thanks for posting thread

It's a good reminder that its dangerous work

And there's a lot of us on here who have had near missis

Your honesty is refreshing

I think the scars will look awesome

Take care mate

[ASH TREE SURGEON]

Thanks for all your comment guys, it was a stihl ms290, I am silly to have used a dodgy saw as I own around 9 chainsaw.. In good working order! I should of used a 170 to chop. The small logs up with. The 290 had to much power forcing the timber to spin which resulted in kick back. The skin peeled right back in 3 places! No the best way to draw a close to a Friday eve! I'll post another picture in around 8 weeks to show the healing process! Big learning curve anyhow! At least I have a story to tell ah! I always wondered would a saw really cut me lol yes fresh is no comparison to wood. Speak soon ashley.

[alex_m]

Hope you recover well mate, but please don't blame the logs for being too small or the 290 for having too much power. You were 100% at fault like it has been said already. Bad technique and positioning was the problem here.

[skyhuck]

That looks real sore, hope it heals fast.

 

Good on you for posting, most would just keep quiet, very honest of you and will help others to learn from your errors.

 

This close shave (as it really could have been very, very much worse) could actually be a blessing in disguise, many years ago when I had only been climbing for a couple of years, I made a very foolish error. I had been climbing all morning, dismantling a Maple, finished it and came down for lunch. In the afternoon there was a Lime to winch over, the chain needed installing at about 15'. No need for a harness, just spikes, nip up chain in, nip down, right, what could go wrong??

 

So I tide a piece of thin blue polyprop to the chain and the other end to a belt loop on my pants. Up I spike, into all the greenery you get on Limes. I stand on a nice thick 8" limb and pull the chain up using the rope, as the chain leaves the floor the limb snaps off and I head down!!!! (the limb was dead, but was surrounded by live growth so looked alive)

 

I landed stood up and squatted right down then jumped back up. I was shook up but seemed OK. Unfortunately the numpty I was working for had cut an Elder, leaving a pointed stub, that stub had gone 6" into my thigh.

 

I ended up in hospital overnight for an operation to clean the wound and a fortnight off work while I healed, BUT it could have been much, much worse.

 

Any way the point I'm taking an age to get to is, that accident was 18 years ago and its the only one I've had, I learned my lesson and don't take risks.

Edited November 30, 2013 by skyhuck

[TGB]

Get well soon!

 

I've many a scar from things that have happened to me/around me. Most are reminders of some daft action/inaction by me; some of others' daft action/inaction. All have been part of a learning curve.

 

A query - if a saw's manual chainbrake is dysfunctional, (other than through a broken brake-band) is the inertia brake's ability to function effectively compromised?

 

Note. I would not knowingly use a saw with a broken chainbrake.

Edited November 30, 2013 by TGB

[skyhuck]

Get well soon!

 

I've many a scar from things that have happened to me/around me. Most are reminders of some daft action/inaction by me; some of others' daft action/inaction. All have been part of a learning curve.

 

A query - if a saw's manual chainbrake is dysfunctional, (other than through a broken brake-band) is the inertia brake's ability to function effectively compromised?

 

Note. I would not knowingly use a saw with a broken chainbrake.

 

With no spring, there is no brake, of any sort.

[simsimo]

I've always thought that eating a visor might give you that split second extra time to react that could make the difference in those situations. Maybe it saved you worse damage?