How to Work with Chainsaws - Limbing

Things to consider when limbing.

• Work calmly and methodically as it’s easy to get kickbacks.
• Try to place the trunk so that you can work between waist and knee height.
• Stand to the left of the trunk and work from the base of the tree upwards.
• Stand firmly with your feet apart and keep the saw close to your body.
• Work with both a pulling and a pushing chain and always try to rest the saw on the trunk or against your hip.
• Take care not to contact branches with the upper part of the bar nose.

 
Only move when you have the trunk between yourself and the bar of the saw. Branches on the upper side of the trunk can be cut with the saw lying on its side. You can limb the branches on the underside of the trunk at the same time as the rest if you have a good working height. If the tree has large branches, they can be under great tension, in which case you should limb them from the outside and in towards the trunk. Saw with the bar held vertically to reduce the risk of it getting caught. If the branch is very large, you might have to cut it from two sides. Observe how the branches are tensioned so that you can saw them from the correct side, otherwise there is a risk that the saw will get caught.

If the tree is lying right on the ground, you will have to wait with the branches on the bottom, until you are finished with the others and can roll the trunk over. Be careful when the trunk is close to the ground, since it’s quite a risk that you will touch something with the tip of the bar, which will cause a kickback. Now you got crosscutting left, study the tree before you start especially if the trunk is thick.

How use the chainsaw for Cross Cutting

• First, try to see how the trunk is tensioned.
• Watch how the trunk reacts when you start to saw, you might have misjudged the tension.
• Stand off to the side of the cuts since the trunk can jump up when it comes apart.
• Never stand below the trunk if the ground is sloping. If the trunk lies so that the pressure comes from above, start with a cut from above, saw about one third of the way through the trunk or until it starts to pinch the bar.

• Then cut from underneath to meet the first cut.
• If instead the trunk lies so that the pressure comes from below, you work the other way around.
• Start by sawing from underneath about one third of the way through the trunk or until it starts to pinch the bar, then cut from above to meet the first cut.
• If the bar gets stuck don’t try to pull out the saw. Instead stop the engine, bend open the trunk until the saw comes loose.

When you finished work, it’s a good idea to take a look at your saw to make sure it’s functioning properly, it’s safe and ready to go the next time you need it. Of course, maintenance requirements depend on how much you use the saw.