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CS31: Check the tree out...

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 15:25:00 +0000

In the last post we took a quick dive into choosing the direction of fell for your tree; but before we get too far ahead of ourselves, in this post we'll chat about inspecting the tree.

Click here to find out more...

Before you take chainsaw to tree, you really need to know what you're dealing with; we've already looked at how the tree canopy (or the tree's form) can affect the weighting and therefore the felling cut used, but there's a bit more to check out first.

Completing a quick visual tree assessment is a great idea; you're looking for potential hazards (dead wood in the tree or hanging branches that might come down), anything that might cause loss of control of the tree (rot caused by fungal growth - see the image at the top) and whether there are signs of birds nesting, hornet / wasp / bee nests, bat roosts and so on. Look for signs of old remedial work on the tree... are there wire braces in it? Indeed, are there any other wires running to it, or through it (power lines, telephone lines, aerials, etc.). Once you have this information you can take the appropriate action, which may mean talking to the local council, government agency, landowner or other relevant authority before commencing work.

CS31: Before you start the saw...

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:34:00 +0000

There's always a great clamour to get out into the woods and fell the biggest tree! But just stop and think for a moment... is that really the best thing to do if you've only just started your CS31. Cutting down a big tree requires a lot of clearing up! If something goes wrong during the fell, how are you going to deal with it? You can also get away with being slightly less accurate in your cuts with bigger trees, masking potential problems that you might have with your cuts. So, before we even start the saw, let's work through the next few posts discussing how to make it safer, as well as ensuring that you get the most out of the training that you're doing.

Click to find out more...

The first thing to do before you take a saw to the tree, is just to look at it, and the surrounding environment. Ask yourself questions such as... "Are there powerlines or other cables within two tree lengths?", "Are there public footpaths or bridleways that might require the use of a banksman, as well as signs?", "Are the weather conditions conducive to maintaining control of the tree during the felling operation?".

Of course, this is just the start of the process, as you need to be thinking about the direction of fell, the state of the tree, the weighting of the tree and so on.

In this post, we'll take a quick look at deciding on the felling direction. There are always instances where it doesn't really matter which way you fell the tree, but certainly on your assessment, the assessor will want to know which way you want to fell it. If you lose control of the tree and it falls down in a completely different direction, then that's not going to look good!

Of course, in many circumstances you are limited in your choice, be that due to other trees, buildings, fence lines, public areas or just the form of the tree. All these things, and more, need to be taken into account when you decide which way to fell the tree. Here's a quick tip to help you decide if you need to consider whether the weighting of the tree is definitely going to be a factor when choosing the direction of fell and the type of felling cut...

If you've got an idea of the direction you wish to take the tree down, then it's not a bad idea to walk in that direction and look back at the tree, checking for anything that might get in the way of it coming straight down... branches from another tree, a powerline, etc. But here's the real tip... now walk over to a point at 90 degrees from the tree (i.e. to the left or right of the tree) as this will allow you to properly assess the weighting of the tree canopy. Remember, if you only look at it from one direction you might not notice that the weight of the tree's canopy means that it actually wants to fall in completely the opposite direction!

With the direction sorted, and the weighting of the tree assessed, you can choose which type of felling cut to use. In the next post, we'll take a look at visually assessing the state of the tree.

Blast From The Past

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:01:00 +0000

Just before Xmas a friend of mine turned up at DriveLink HQ with this saw - cheers Glenn! It's an old Stihl 08 and we thought it might be worth cleaning it up and checking it out - not that we're going to use it as by today's standards this thing is seen as unsafe. Find out more after the jump...

I've not actually had a chance to look over it yet, I just popped it on top of some logs to take the picture above, but one thing is for sure... it's lacking in what we would consider to be modern safety features! There's no chain brake for starters. There's no AV mounts (at least none that are immediately obvious - perhaps I'll find some once I start disassembling it). And it weighs a ton compared to modern saws, being built entirely out of metal. Oh, there's also no safety throttle, and you can put the saw to full power and then lock it in that position.

I'll post back about this saw occasionally, let you know what I find and if it's worth restoring / repairing it then we'll do that and you can up-to-date with the proceedings.

Back To The Future: Bore Cuts (3)

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:11:00 +0000

Continuing on with these bore cuts... one problem that I come across time and again is poor hand position when gripping the saw. It's not only bore cuts that can go awry with poor hand position, but sink cuts too. So how can we improve our chances of getting accurate cuts? Find out more after the jump...

Looking at the picture at the top of this page, you can see how the hand at the rear of the saw is not twisted, and the throttle is being operated by the inside of the thumb. The hand on the front handle has been moved right around the handle, which you can probably see better on the image below (yes, I know I'm not wearing gloves, but the saw is not running and I wanted to make the hand positions clearer...).

Try to get in the habit of holding the saw in these positions when you're either doing the horizontal bore cut, the bottom cut of a sink, or the back felling cut. It will help you keep the saw level.

Merry Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:01:00 +0000

I'd just like to thank everyone who reads this column, wherever you are in the world. I'd also like to thank all those that inspire me to keep on going with this, whether you're a student, a work colleague or an assessor.

I'd also like to wish you all the best over this festive period, and wish you a successful and happy new year.

Happy Christmas!

Back To The Future: Bore Cuts (2)

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:05:00 +0000

Now that I've started on this route, I guess I'd better finish it! So here is the second 'bonus' posting - but only because I didn't get to finish it all of in the first posting about bore cuts! In this article we'll have a look at the second of the bore cuts that you'll need to be able to demonstrate and use for the CS31, and quite likely for the CS30 too. That's CS30 as well, as opposed to CS32... just sayin'. That second bore cut is the vertical bore cut, and I feel that it's appropriate to let you know hat this one has the potential to be very dangerous, as you'll be cutting very close to the kickback zone and even with it. Be careful with this one. Find out more after the jump...

Why would we use a vertical bore cut? Easier to watch a demonstration than listen to an explanation, but I'll give it a go... Look at the image at the top of this page, you can see that the underside of this piece of timber is not touching the ground and yet there was not enough room to get the bar and chain under the timber, without the chain running into the ground. In this case, with the compression cut already made on the top of the timber, we needed to cut from under the timber, back up to meet the compression cut.

To get over this problem of a lack of space, we can bore into the timber and then cut downwards and out of the bottom, as there is enough space for the chain to pop out from under the timber without striking the ground.

The other thing that you can see from this image is just where the bar and chain are positioned - note that the cut will be started slightly behind the kickback zone, and not on it.

Ensure that the saw is running at full speed whilst you do this cut, it's actually safer, and also make sure the saw is sharp. But perhaps the best advice for this cut is keep your head out of the line of the bar. Start the cut and allow the saw to cut a little way in, before levelling the saw out and pushing through the timber completely. Now you can come out of the bottom of the timber, before cutting up to the compression cut (in this case).

Try to do this in one fluid movement, saw at full speed and head out of the way - it doesn't bear thinking about what would happen if you had kickback... Also, be confident with this cut and hold the saw securely and comfortably.

I will be revisiting bore cuts, especially as now that I've started to write about them, the more I can think of to tell you!

Keep safe.

Back To The Future: Bore Cuts (1)

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:03:00 +0000

This is a bit of a bonus posting, as I've got 10 minutes free to quickly add an article! And so, in this post we're going to go back to the future and look at bore cuts. Why 'back to the future'? Well, bore cuts currently form part of the CS30 chainsaw maintenance course, but are heavily used during the CS31 (and CS32) felling courses; because of this, it'll be useful to both groups of people - those undertaking CS30 and those doing CS31. I'll try to put together a short video of completing a bore cut as it's much easier to see it, rather than describe it, but for now you'll have to make do with text! Find out more after the jump...

There are two types of bore cut: horizontal and vertical. The image at the top of the screen shows the horizontal bore cut, and is used a lot in conjunction with felling techniques (rear-weighted, forward weighted, medium and large fell). The vertical bore cut is used to cross-cut timber, especially where there is not enough room under the timber to physically fit the bar and chain, and you want to cut upwards; although there is enough room to bring the chain out of the bottom of the timber without it hitting the ground.

The Horizontal Bore Cut

The horizontal bore cut is slightly safer than the vertical bore cut, but is perhaps more difficult to get all the levels correct. You will need to keep the saw level from the tip of the bar back to the rear handle, as well as keeping it flat from side-to-side.

This is easily achieved by positioning your hands correctly on the handle; remembering that your thumb on the left hand must remain around the handle (see the Bad Habits: Thumbs Up! post). First off, getting it level from side-to-side is just a matter of moving your left hand right around the handle as far as practicable, this will automatically put the saw in the correct position. Easy!

Now for getting the saw level front-to-back. Many operators continue to hold their right hand in the same position (finger on the throttle) and twist their wrists to account for using the saw on its side. However, this often results in the rear handle being held higher than the tip of the bar and so the saw is not level. Instead, as you twist the saw on to its side, getting it ready for the horizontal cut, allow the rear handle to move around in your right hand; you should find that you can operate the throttle with your thumb.

Stand so that the underside of the nose of the bar will be introduced into the timber, then cut down to about where the nose sprocket rivets are. At this point, keep the nose of the bar in the same place and swing the rear handle around so that the saw is now directly pointing into the timber. Now push. Not too hard, and keep the saw running at full power until you have bored through to the required depth.

Allow the chain to stop in the bore cut before pulling it out of the wood (it might be wise to flick the chain brake on too at this point). Now, we are going to need to refine this a little bit but that'll be what the video is for... I just need to shoot it first ;0)

I reckon my 10 minutes is definitely up, and I'll leave vertical bore cuts for another post...

CS31: Hints and tips...

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:57:00 +0000

Throughout 2012 I'll being going through the whole range of 'stuff' that is included in the CS31 assessment, and we've already made a start by looking at the legal constraints surrounding felling; but before I sign off for 2011, I thought I'd finish off by providing you with some hints and tips to help you through an assessment. There's nothing earth shattering here, and it's what I tell all those participating in my courses, so I hope you'll find it useful.

Find out more after the jump...

When people fail the CS31 assessment, invariably it is not on the questions (although many people do find it hard to remember everything), it's usually because they made a fundamental safety mistake, or messed up on the felling cut.

So here's the first piece of advice... take your time. The assessor will not expect you to be working at commercial forestry speeds, and every assessor that I know would rather you took your time to think through what it is you are about to do, before you do it. Of all the advice given, this is the main one! Don't rush it.

The second piece of advice... think about your danger zones and be aware that when you are dealing with a hung-up tree, the danger zones may change as the tree moves and rolls. All too often, during training, I see operators walk right past the back of the tree and right next to it. One 'trick' is to lay the felling bar down at the rear of the tree and in-line with it... then make sure you walk around the end of the bar. This will force you to leave a short distance between the rear of the tree if you have to walk around it.

The third piece of advice... think about your body position. It's very common, especially during training to mess up your hinge by cutting through it at some point, or to have a wedge-shaped hinge, but there's no need for this to happen if you just pay attention to your body / foot position. Getting your feet in the right place will normally solve most issues to do with the hinge.

Fourth bit of advice? Sink cuts can be difficult to get spot-on, so hold the saw correctly. The top cut of the sink is at 45 degrees, so hold the saw on the corner of the handle - the saw will automatically be held at the correct angle. The bottom cut of the sink needs to be level, and you can achieve this by moving your right hand around the handle so that you operate the throttle with your thumb rather than your finger - this may need a picture, so we'll talk more about holding the saw next year.

And finally, whilst there is loads more hints and tips (which we will go through later) the last piece of advice is to... relax! The assessors need to feel comfortable that you can safely fell a tree and then process it.

Good luck if you're undertaking your CS31 (or CS32) and let me know how it goes through the comments.

CS31: Legal Constraints (WaCA)

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:16:00 +0000

The Wildlife and Countryside Act (WaCA) 1981 is, quite frankly a total minefield of various bits of legislation, but it exists to protect the habitats of various bugs and beasties.

Just to give you a taste of this minefield, since WaCA 1981 there have been various amendments to the Act, most significantly through the Countryside Rights of Way (CRoW) Act of 2000... and the Nature Conservation Act (2004)(Scotland)... and the Local Government Act 1985, the Water Act 1989, the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and so it goes on! The CRoW Act also significantly changed SSSI (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) legislation in England and Wales.

But we don't particularly need to know all that for our purposes...

Find out more here...

OK, so you've probably got the idea that it's a potentially complex issue - that's why we have ecologists who love this sort of thing(?) - but we're just interested in how it applies to us cutting down a tree or two.

Possibly the most important, and most likely things we are likely to do is destroy either a bat roost, or a bird's nest. Red squirrels are also protected and you'll need to check for your area within the UK (and there are some pockets of red squirrels in the South of England too).

The Act protects wild birds, and it is an offence to:

kill, injure or take any wild bird.

take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use, or being built.

disturb any wild bird that has been listed in Schedule 1 while it is nest building, or at a nest containing eggs or young, or disturb the dependent young of such a bird.

Clearly, felling a tree that contains such a bird (nest), or felling a tree into another tree / shrub / hedgerow that contains the nest of one these birds could leave you open to prosecution under the Act. Bats are another highly protected species and were protected under Schedule 5 of WaCA, however since 2007 the effective protection of bat species has been accomplished through Schedule 2 of the Conservation Regulations 1994. Either way it is an offence to:

damage or destroy a bat roost (whether or not the bat is there)

intentionally or recklessly disturb a bat at roost

obstrust access to a bat roost

A bat roost is any structure or place which any wild bat uses for shelter or protection, and as bats can and will reuse the same roost it is protected whether the bat, or bats, is / are present.

CS31: Legal Constraints (Felling Licence)

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 12:55:00 +0000

The requirement for a felling licence is stated as part of the Forestry Act 1967 (Amended), and whilst there are some exceptions to felling under this Act, if you get it wrong then you are liable to prosecution. So it kinda makes sense to have some basic notion about when you need a felling licence.

Find out more after the jump...

You can apply for a felling licence via the Forestry Commission website, or direct from an FC office. You will need to apply for a felling licence if you intent to fell (in one calendar quarter) a tree, or trees, which total more than 5 cubic metres, and then sell more than 2 cubic metres. The calendar quarters run from:

01 January - 31 March

01 April - 30 June

01 July - 30 September

01 October - 31 December

There's plenty of infomation available on the 'net about felling licences within the UK, but here's a couple of good links to provide you with more backgrounds information should you need it:

Forestry Commission: Tree Felling, Getting Permission

Forestry Commission: FAQs

In the final part of the CS31 Legal Constraint series, we'll take a look at the Wildlife and Countryside Act, an enormously important, and indeed an enormous Act! I'll try to distill the essence of the Act to a few paragraphs...

CS31: Legal Constraints (Conservation)

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:45:00 +0000

In the next part of this mini-series about legal constraints when felling trees, we're going to sneak a peek at conservation areas.

The importance of trees within a conservation area is recognised by the Town and Planning Act, which makes a special provision for trees in a conservation area, and not already protected by a Tree Preservation Order (see previous post).

Find out more after the jump...

A Section 211 Notice lists the work that is proposed for trees within a conservation area, and require a six-week notice period from application to the decision. There are exceptions from a Section 211 notice, and these are:

If a tree to be cut down is being felled in accordance with a Forestry Commission Felling Licence (see next post).

if the tree work is exempt from a TPO.

if the work is being carried out by, or on behalf of, a National Park Authority, District or Borough Council.

if the work is to be carried out on a tree with a stem diameter not exceeding 75mm (3") measured at a point 1.5 metres up the main stem.

dead, dying or dangerous.

To be honest, you'd need to be pretty sure that tree needed to be worked on, as if you felled it only to find out that the tree was actually alright and didn't constitute a denger... well, let's just say that's probably not a good place to be ;0)

In the next post, we'll take a quick gander at Forestry Commission felling licences.

CS31: Legal Constraints (TPOs)

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:02:00 +0000

In the previous post I briefly mentioned the four legal constraints as written in the CS31 NPTC assessment schedule; and in this post I want to introduce more fully the Tree Preservation Order. There's plenty of information about this on the 'net including the updates and amendments, so all I want to do is to try and give you a flavour of what it's about.

Find out more after the jump...

The Tree Preservation Order (hereafter just called TPO so that I don't have to keep typing it out in full!) is designed to provide a level of protection for trees and woodland that have amenity value. The TPO is part of the Town and Country Planning Act, and it should be noted that it's used by local authorities in England.

The TPO prohibits the...

cutting down

uprooting

topping

lopping

wilful damage, or...

wilful destruction

...of any tree that has had a preservation order placed upon it by the local authority (note that this also includes tree roots). Interestingly, the Act does not define what a 'tree' is; or indeed a 'woodland' for that matter! In essence, if it would be normal to call it a tree, then it's a tree for the purposes of this, however shrubs, bushes and hedgerows are not covered. There is no minimum size for a tree, and it can include fruit trees, but this is dependent upon the amenity value.

A TPO can be placed upon a tree after it has been assessed for it's value, the individual impact and the wider impact on it's surroundings. A TPO can apply to an individual tree, a group of trees, or an entire woodland.

In order to work on a tree that is protected, one has to apply to the local planning authorities tree officer; there is [now] a standard application form and this must be completed showing the work to be carried out and a plan of exactly which tree, or trees, are to be worked on. The authorities can then assess the impact of the proposed work and allow, amend or deny the request.

And that's about it really - if you want to know more about TPOs, check out this PDF document Tree Preservation Orders: A Guide To The Law And Good Practice.

- DriveLink -

CS31: Legal Constraints Intro

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 14:45:00 +0000

Although the CS31 small fell assessment barely mentions the legal and environmental constraints, it is included in the assessment; just at a very superficial level. I wanted to talk a little bit more about the legal constraints that surround felling, just so that you have a little background knowledge on the answers that the assessor will be looking for!

Find out more after the jump...

Firstly, let's just take a quick peek at what the assessment schedule says; which at the time of writing was written in June 2010. You can download the PDF version of this assessment schedule freely from the NPTC website: NPTC CS31 Assessment Schedule. In fact, as we work our way through it over the coming months it might be handy to have a copy of this handy.

The assessment schedule says that you should be able to demonstrate knowledge of the following four legal constraints with regard to felling:

Tree Preservation Orders (TPO's)

Conservation Areas

Felling Licences

Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981

Whilst those are the answers, over the next four articles we'll take a quick peek at each of them. I'm not going to go into huge depth with any of these, but I'll hopefully provide you with a basic understanding of what they contain and how it relates to felling.

- DriveLink -

CS31 - Felling small trees...

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:32:00 +0000

Whilst my work here is almost done with CS30 (chainsaw maintenance and cross-cutting), the next big thing to tackle is going to be felling. Undertaking the NPTC CS31 Fell & Process Small Trees is not to be under-estimated, and there's really only one way to ensure that you pass... practice.

Find out more after the jump...

But there's so much more than just practicing your felling cuts, there's legal and environmental issues, how to deal with trapped saws, setting up escape routes, brashing and removing buttresses, snedding and delimbing, perhaps a bit of winch work thrown in for good measure too; and the list goes on to include a heap of safety bits and bobs...

In this next series of articles, we'll be taking a look at the whole range of issues concerned with passing your small fell (CS31) assessment. I'll try to include video, podcasts, images and text articles in order to help you through. Remember, you can contact me through the comments page if there's something that you'd really like to discuss.

Cheers. DriveLink.

Choosing A Chainsaw

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:29:00 +0000

I've been working with WoodlandsTV to produce a basic guide to choosing a chainsaw, aimed at small woodland owners... and it's available online (for free!). We're also planning to shoot some more video in the near future, we just need to decide when!

The video takes a very quick look at a mix of Husqvarna and Stihl chainsaws, and I must thank Winchester Garden Machinery for the loan of these saws for the filming. If you're reading these pages you may well find the video a little too basic, but as mentioned above, if you've just taken on a small woodland and want to purchase a saw then check it out, it might just give you an appreciation of what to look for - of course, you can always contact me through the comments for any further advice (if I can help I will!).

You can view the video by going to http://www.woodlands.co.uk/tv/2011/09/choosing-a-chainsaw-mov/.

New Gear...

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 08:16:00 +0000

After such a long layoff, there's more than a few things that have happened! Firstly, the year didn't start too well, as there have been a spate of equipment thefts targetted at forestry and arboriculture companies... and that included us. In all, over thirty chainsaws were stolen, as well as other equipment, and compared to some, we got off lightly! Not good.

The replacement saws suffered a fault, and so 18 chainsaws went back to the manufacturer to be fixed. Still, after that it did get better!

Find out more after the jump...

Makita took the DCS5001, DCS4301 chainsaws away after the long term loan came to an end. Fortunately, they did leave me another two chainsaws and a couple of brushcutters, so we'll be taking a look at these new saws.

I'm also working on writing a book about maintaining and operating brushcutters, and I'm off out in a moment to get some more images for the book.

So, we'll back to putting a few posts up in the near future and to report on some subtle changes in the CS30 NPTC assessment.

Example Section From New Course (Winches)

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:02:00 +0000

Now that we have this new Level 2 Certificate course, due to come online in the new year, I thought you might like to have a sneaky preview. The course consists of lots of practical sessions, but also some theory and portfolio building to show as evidence to the examiner; one of the areas that we will be looking at is maintenance of hand tools, and in this section we take a look at maintaining winches. Find out your link to it after the jump...

Although you won't be able to see the entire course, this is one section from it that shows the sort of thing that you might be doing - as well as the practical element to maintaining the winches, you'll have to build up your own resource around winches based on the 'Building Your Portfolio' tasks.

You can find the link HERE.

New QCF Level 2 Certificate in Arb/Forestry

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 18:28:00 +0000

Some really exciting news... I've been working on building a series of new courses designed for those who want to enter the arboriculture or forestry industries. The first of these courses, the QCF Level 2 Certificate in Forestry and Arboriculture is just about ready to roll. Each of these courses covers a series of NPTC certificate of competencies, as well as underpinning knowledge that will allow you to submit your work to gain a Level 2 qualification. Not only that, but it's cheaper than taking the individual NPTC courses! For more information, find out after the jump...

The course is designed to take you from complete novice, to a competent chainsaw operator capable of carrying out typical ground-based arboricultural operations, in just three weeks. The course covers the following NPTC certificates:

CS30: chainsaw maintenance and crosscutting

CS31: felling and processing small trees

Manually operated wood chippers

Stump grinder operations

The information and practical experience gained by completing the NPTC elements will provide around 90% of what is required for the QCF Level 2 qualification; additional material supplied both online and through various workshop and site activities completes the remainder.

You'll be carrying out chainsaw maintenance on at least two different makes / models of saw (and probably more), felling small trees and looking at the different felling methods available for different situations, dealing with hung-up trees, delimbing or snedding (safe branch removal methods), maintaining and operating a chipper and stummp grinder, as well as maintenance of winches and other necessary equipment.

It's a great opportunity to learn the basic skills, earn a recognised qualification and take your NPTC assessments. The course starts on the 10th January 2011, and runs for 3 weeks (Mon-Fri) at Sparsholt College, Hampshire.

I'll be the tutor for this course and the cost of £1,457 includes the three weeks tuition, loan equipment and PPE, NPTC assessment fees, registration & handling fees, course notes, access to the online learning environment that's been specially built for this course and all transportation to and from any sites. All you need to do is turn up and bring some food/drink!

If you want any more information, contact me via the comments, or email me at david.vickers@sparsholt.ac.uk

Bad Habits: Part Four:

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 22:13:00 +0000

This next bad habit is not one that I see too often, but every now and then it finds its way back into the students mode of working. It is, of course, the knees down approach to cutting timber. So what's wrong with this? After all, it looks to be a nice stable and comfortable position to be cutting in, and the operator is down next to the wood, rather than bending over it (another favourite). Whilst these things may indeed be true, it's not really the safest thing to do, so how should you be cutting timber that's on the floor, just like in the picture?

Find out more after the jump...

Well, the problem with putting both knees down on the floor to cut the wood is one of unsafe working practices, and it simply boils down to the fact that the operator cannot move out of the way quickly enough should anything happen.

Instead of putting both knees down, the best thing to do is to adopt a sort of crouching position, although if you need to put one knee down for stability or comfort, then that is acceptable.

If you're a bit sceptical about this, try it for yourself! Kneel down with both knees on the floor, then try to stand up, or move sideways... now just crouch down so that neither knee is on the floor. Now stand up; you should find it a lot easier to get yourself out of the way. [Probably best not to do this if you have poor knees!]

Of course, for logging timber then it's better to use a saw-horse or similar, to allow you to stand up and cut, but that's not option if you're dealing with a tree that you've just felled and you're cross-cutting the stem.

In the next of the 'Bad Habits' series, we'll have a look at cutting using the top of the bar...

Bad Habits: Part Three:

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 18:40:00 +0000

Continuing on with this short series of common mistakes made by operators is the classic "head in line with the bar" syndrome. This is such a common error and it's easy to see why; especially when you're concentrating on getting your cuts right and trying to line them up.

Of course, the real problem with this is that should you suffer any kickback then you can guess where the bar is heading..? If you look at the picture on the left, you can see that this student has his head right in line with the bar (I realise that it's unlikely that he's going to get any kickback here, but it's just to show a poor head position). Find out more after the jump...

With you head in line with the bar, should you get some kickback then that chain, which is doing something approaching 50mph, is heading straight for your face. That's not good, and definitely would constitute a 'bad day at the office'. I tend to find that students want to get their cuts as accurate as possible, and hence they can line up the cuts if their head is over the bar, so how are you supposed to line everything up if you can't put your head in line with the bar?

Easy! Line it all up, then move your head before you start cutting! Now, I'm not suggesting that you try and hold the saw way out to your right hand side, just that you move your head slightly to left to take it out of the line of kickback. That's really only just a few inches.

This point is very important and can be a potential failure point on your assessment; it's written in the assessment schedule under part 2 (CS30.2) where it expects safe usage of the saw, and specifically states that your head must be out of line of the chainsaw. So remember, line everything up, move your head slightly to the left, chain brake off and cut. Stay safe...

Bad Habits: Part Two...

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:47:00 +0000

In part two of this short series looking at common problems that I find when teaching chainsaw usage, we have the classic... forgetting to either pull down the visor, or close the ear defenders (or both). So what's the big deal here? Find out more after the jump...

As you can see from the anonymised image of John Smith from Andover, Hampshire here, it's all too easy to forget to pull down the visor that's supposed to provide protection for your eyes and close the ear defenders - by the way, none of the images in this series have been posed, they're all examples of real learners making common mistakes.

John here (not his real name... and he doesn't live in Andover either) was totally unaware that he was putting both his vision and hearing at risk; but there's more to it than that. The thing that can cause major problems is that once the operator realises their mistake they will naturally release the saw with one hand and correct the PPE. And there's the 'gotcha' - not only have you been operating the chainsaw with improperly worn PPE, but you've also now only got one hand on the chainsaw and the chain brake is off. You've just compounded the problem!

So, given that it's almost natural to forget to pull down the visor, or ear defender(s), at some point what can you do? Simply apply the chain brake, sort out the PPE and then once you've corrected that problem continue to cut the timber.

Just to give some kind of comparison on sound levels, the Stihl MS260 saws are rated at 114dB, but just how loud is this? This is akin to a loud rock concert (115dB) and it's worth noting that sound levels of 125dB are physically painful. U.S. occupational health recommend no more than 15 minutes of exposure at 115dB, so using a saw with no ear defenders for any length of time really isn't clever. I said, "using a saw... never mind".[Source: Galen Carol Audio)

Bad Habits: Part One.

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 11:14:00 +0000

It always amazes me just how quickly new students pick up bad habits. I've lost count of the times that students returning to me for more chainsaw tuition have got into bad ways! I kind of expect 'old-hands' at using saws to have already fallen into bad habits, but not people who have just passed their CS30 and are coming back after a couple of months to do their CS31! So what are these common pitfalls? Find out more after the jump...

There are several, common poor practices that I see again and again, and in the first of a short series I'll be picking up on these and try to explain why they're ~~such a heinious crime~~ not a good idea.

In this first one, we'll take a look at the Wandering Thumb Syndrome. You can probably make out in the picture above that this student has moved their thumb on to the top of the front handle. Not a good move, and a potential failure point on your assessment.

So why is this so bad? After all, it's often quite comfortable working this way, but the problem starts should you suffer from kickback. What's going to happen to the handle when the tip of the bar contacts some timber and throws the saw back? The saw handle will come out of your left hand as there's nothing to stop it.

Compare that with keeping your thumb around the handle... try it out, just hold a saw with your thumb on top of the handle, and then wrapped around it. You'll see that if you were to get any kickback, the handle just pushes back into that squashy part of your hand between thumb and forefinger.

So, for your own safety (and to get you through the assessment!) always keep your hand securely on the front handle, and that means keeping your thumb round it.

Just how widespread is this site..?

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 13:37:00 +0000

I thought I'd just check to see how widespread the site has become; where are people viewing this site situated? I can tell you that I was completely blown away! Find out more after the jump...

Apart from the two most popular countries, the US in first place, closely followed by the UK, there's also some readers from all around the world. Japan, New Zealand or Mexico anyone. What about the Phillipines, Chile, Malta or the United Arab Emirates? These are all countries where people have checked out DriveLink from. In fact, in the last month, there have been readers from 51 seperate countries!

So, I'd just like to say "Hi" and "Thank you!" to everyone who visits this site. There'll be more posts very soon... covering some of the common problems that I come across when teaching others to use chainsaws safely.

CS30 Risk Assessment

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:40:00 +0000

I've noticed that lately, students seem to having difficulty recalling the information regarding risk assessments - so I've created a podcast to try and help out. Find out more after the jump...

And here it is! Click on the podcast player to listen to the podcast; I hope it helps you remember the relevant information for your CS30 assessment.

New video is out now...

noreply@blogger.com (D. Vickers) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:50:00 +0000

Well it took somewhat longer than expected for reasons, but the new DriveLink video is now out for viewing. Find out more after the jump...

The DriveLink videos are proving to be pretty popular, having now been viewed more than 175,000 times; and I'm pleased to say that I can include a new video on to the list..

This five minute video looks at the split level cut, but I wanted to show more than that. If you're taking your NPTC felling assessment, then you know that you have to get a tree hung-up, and then deal with it. I thought that one of the worst things that could happen is to complete a split level cut... then get it really hung-up. This is perhaps more important now that the new assessment schedules are up and running, you'll be expected to use a winch if you need to.

So guess what's included in this video..?

Send me your comments about the video - I might just make a slightly longer version of this one, to cover winching in more detail; or should I just create a specific winching video for those of you about to undertake your CS32?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

- David -