The Way of the Chainsaw

    It was a nice sunny day with a mild breeze. I was so pumped up because on this day of April 26, I was going to be immersed in the ways of the chainsaw, a skill I had wanted to learn for years.

    At eight o'clock in the morning I made my way to the maintenance shop to meet my Chainsaw Instructor, Sir Pete, who was going to teach me a really great skill to know in resource management.

    I approached a table that was set with two chainsaws, Student Workbooks at each seat, PPE, and chainsaw fluids. I was so excited I let out a little shriek.

     

The Ways of the Chainsaw

Resource Intern, Dana

    At the Maintenance Shop, Pete taught Intern Kendall and I the ins and outs of the chainsaw. From the engine of this powerful tool, to cleaning it, and to the techniques that the Forestry Service uses while using chainsaws.

    The engine of the chainsaw is a 2-Stroke engine. This means that the piston is 'exploded' at every position it moves, giving the machine more power, but also being less fuel efficient. There are two fluids chainsaws commonly use and those are a 50:1 mixture of gas to oil that powers the engine, and Bar Oil that lubricates the chain.   
    Sir Pete had also brought to our attention to be aware of hazards that could potentially be around the area of the tree such as loosely hanging tree limbs known as 'Widow Makers', snags we could trip on while getting away through our escape routes, and other such obstacles like power lines.

   

With the hazards, we also learned how to determine which way the tree could fall. This could be based on the weight atop the tree, insects in the tree, and also wind direction for some examples.

  

    The tools and PPE [Personal Protection Equipment] were also taught to us. For tools, the chainsaws come with Screnches, a screw-wrench hybrid, as well as wedges to help elevate trees while cutting them. Our PPE were chaps (very stylish), hard hats, ear pro, safety glasses, leather gloves, and of course leather boots.

    

    We had also learned various kinds of notches used by the Forestry service and other sawyers but stuck with the Standard Notch where we cut a third of the way into the tree then we make a 45 degree cut into this cut. Finally, we make a back cut about two inches from the initial cut and get ready to move into our escape routes.

    

    Then we were able to do the fun stuff and cut some trees. I had a blast felling the trees and took a slab of my first tree home with me!

As an end remark Id like to Thank Sir Pete for the very informative and hands-on class about Wildland Fire Chain Saws S-212! I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture just as much as the hands-on field experience!