Your saw should be producing chips, not dust. Many people don’t realize that a dull chain produces a fine sawdust. Chips are too big to get into the saw. Dust, on the other hand, can get in just about everywhere and cause several issues. Photo courtesy of Stihl.
makes it harder to match up your cuts. This is due to the forces on the saw causing the pitch or direction of the bar to change instead of just following the path of the chain. This can also cause excessive wear on the guide-bar rails, causing you to throw or jump chain more oen. Sometimes, speed in executing the cut is really important. Let's take a look at a tree with a heavy forward lean. This type of tree has an increased risk of experiencing a barber chair (a vertical split at the location where compression wood meets tension wood). If we choose a conventional back cut, a dull chain won’t be able to cut fast enough to keep up with the hinge wood. This will cause the tree to prematurely fall with too much holding wood still present, leading to the trunk split- ting vertically (barber chair). The po- tential for a barber chair is why it’s recommended to use a bore cut on heavy-leaning trees.
With the bore cut, your holding wood is protected and enables you to set up a “trigger” so you can better control the timing of the fall. However, per- forming a bore cut properly with a dull chain is going to be very difficult. Because the cutters aren’t cutting, you will develop increased “chatter” (rapid vibration) and an increased chance of kickback. It’s also import- ant to understand that with a bore cut, you must be fully committed to execute the cut on full throttle, which is very difficult when your saw is chattering due to a dull chain. IMPACT ON EFFICIENCY AND SAFETY A dull chain impacts our work efficien- cy and safety in subtle ways. A dull saw will burn through more gas and oil, resulting in more frequent stops to refuel. A dull saw requires the op- erator to stay on the stump longer. The longer you’re at the stump, the more time there is for something to go
wrong. Put another way, the less time we are on the stump the safer we are. The 90/15/5 rule and it states that 90% of tree-felling accidents happen within the first 15 feet of the stump within the first five seconds of the tree falling over. Knowing this, it is best for an operator to be 16 feet or more away from the stump within those critical five seconds. A sharp chain should be considered a safety feature. The saw should be working for the operator, not against them. In short, having a sharp chain significantly impacts safety, worker health, quality of work and produc- tion efficiency. Tanner Bartee is a first-generation arborist from Clintwood, Virginia. He is ISA Certified, an NCCER Certified Crane Operator and Qualified Line Clearance Arborist. He shares his passion for the tree care industry as an instructor for Academy Trained.
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