Just back from the GSTC where John Ball did his presentation on accidents in the industry. He is the guru on the topic of the many ways we kill and maim ourselves. He's also a working arborist. That is one of his recommendations, use a handsaw to finish. This is based on his experience and what the incidents suggest.
But let's look at some of the rationale for not using a handsaw:
My handsaw is curved only 13", which isn't great for a precision back cut of size.
Like chainsaws there are more than one style. a straight blade with more aggressive tooth count (like a full skip chain) would be a good purchase for carrying on a removal.
I feel it would add to fatigue having to constantly finish my cuts with a handsaw.
The fatigue of constantly holding up the weight of a chainsaw and the vibrations are the alternative. It would be a matter of strength and endurance training much alike to everything else we do.
I could cut myself just as easily with a 14 inch silk with 1/4 inch teeth if I am rocked by pieces being rigged.
No, you can't. A chainsaw has two cutting surfaces and a handsaw has one. I haven't heard of handsaw kickback. As for the degree of injury, I've nailed myself with my handsaw and it took a few butterfly bandages to close it up. The average chainsaw injury results in 110 stitches. Bit more to close that up I'd say. I use my incident since I couldn't find any stats on handsaw injuries, rather telling…. What I did find was that hand tool injuries are a matter of the wrong tool for the job or the right tool used improperly. Either way, aren't we training ourselves to use the right tool for the job in the right way?
What if I need to cut my metal core flip lanyard due to structrual failure, or the need to cut the rope is groundie is about to drag the rope into the
chipper.
The video dispels the wire core issue. Although the concern for structural failure would dictate a different work position set up even to the point of not being in the tree. The rope being drag into a chipper scenario is one where the bigger problem isn't your ability to cut through the rope in the nick of time! Maybe it is a Hollywood thing, the hero struggling to cut the rope before the untimely death of some hapless victim or even themselves! But there's a video that shows the handsaw blows through a taught line instantly.
I'm not sure it is a necessary precaution.
Then chalk it up to erring on the side of caution.
For a larger company, incidents cost them in ways that you may not even imagine. If you have one incident in a 30 yr career for the big players it's equivalent to over a 100 in a single year. If they self insure then they are dealing with the average cost of a chainsaw accident in the $12,000 range as of 2000 and the loss time costs. It has opportunity costs where they can't even bid on certain jobs if they have poor accident records and record keeping.
There's a couple of ways you can look at this. Do an analysis of the costs. Does it actually cost more for him to do it this way? Does it save you any money it terms of equipment and fuel consumption? Does it bring a culture of safety to your company? If it were some other new technique, e.g., SRT, would you be reluctant to adopt it too?
