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Is anyone allowed to operate a chainsaw or do you need a qualification? I ask because someone came to cut down our overgrown pine bush that had ended up about 15 feet tall and he didn't seem competent with his chainsaw at all. He ended up breaking it by hitting the brick wall around the bottom of the bush!

Unfortunately, anyone can buy a chainsaw, so I guess anyone can use one......If you hired this guy, hopefully he has good insurance....I just wonder what would happen if he got hurt on your property if he didnt?......We need to make sure these people are insured when we hire them....Then, when he chops his leg of, its on him, not us....

poncho62 said:

Unfortunately, anyone can buy a chainsaw, so I guess anyone can use one......If you hired this guy, hopefully he has good insurance....I just wonder what would happen if he got hurt on your property if he didnt?......We need to make sure these people are insured when we hire them....Then, when he chops his leg of, its on him, not us....

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Well said...anybody who is careless with a chainsaw has no business using one in the first place. A senior editor for our local paper just wrote a story telling where he, an experienced chain saw user (40 years) gashed his leg badly and came within a half inch of cutting something vital that would have made him bleed to death. He said he wrote the column as a reminder and a warning. Hmm, if someone with his experience came so close to death, why do novices think they are automatically immune to harm? :confused2:

poncho62 said:

Unfortunately, anyone can buy a chainsaw, so I guess anyone can use one......If you hired this guy, hopefully he has good insurance....I just wonder what would happen if he got hurt on your property if he didnt?......We need to make sure these people are insured when we hire them....Then, when he chops his leg of, its on him, not us....

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that is a very good point and very important if you donot have property liebility on your home owners and some gets injured on your property man thats a lawsuit for sure and form the way this guy was using the saw that could have been very bad sometimes we just take things forgrantedd but it's all ways good idea to check the people out that you are gonna have on your place doing work for you i always make sure they are lincense and insured thats a must.

I agree Ponch62 maks a very good point.chainsaws are one dangerous machine,they can hurt you in a flash in many differant wood cutting situations. I hope the guy you hired doesn't go to bigger jobs w/o some serious training. russ

173abn said:

I agree Ponch62 maks a very good point.chainsaws are one dangerous machine,they can hurt you in a flash in many differant wood cutting situations. I hope the guy you hired doesn't go to bigger jobs w/o some serious training. russ

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The editor I recently posted about said his saw kicked back and that was why he got injured, he further said his chaps (which he was not wearing) had several scars on them from prior kickbacks....what I cannot understand is this:

If you have a saw kick back on you, 98% of the time you were doing something wrong, either you stuck the nose of the saw in the wrong place or you were using a dull chain, or something got pinched. In my over 20 years if using chain saws, I have NEVER, EVER had one kick back...granted, I use low kickback chains, they do not cut as well as other chains but whats a few seconds more cutting time?

Obviously the editor has been doing something wrong...just my opinion though. :frown:

Training depends on the "Client"...anyone can buy one, if you actually do commercial work you may need to show you've been "trained" in operation and safety.

Most real tree services are bonded and insured...if they cause damage, they pay for it.

Some of the best advise I have ever been given was about the use of a chainsaw.:thumbsup:
Years ago, when I bought my first saw, an old logger gentleman advised me to start using the saw with my left elbow "locked" in the straight-out position. That way the saw is more likely to go up and out away from you during kickback. I know there are some situations that might not allow this but I try to exercise this practice mainly from habbit. I know it has saved me from injury many times:thumbsup:

Very good advice...

The main qualification, is the same one that is needed through life... common sense.
It will tell you there are SOME things you can learn using trial & Error... and there are other things that you can not rely on that learning method... :smile:KennyV

not for personal use in alberta but many companies require a chainsaw safety course before you touch one.

I for one am appreciative of the fact that I don't not have to compensate my local government for the privilege to operate a chainsaw. I don't not have to take a test, pay a fee or aquire a "license".
Any suggestions to the contary should be carefully considered.
I recently read a post where a member complained about having to register a vehicle that was not used for travel outside the boundries of his property. How do you think that member would feel about registering a chain saw? Where does it stop? You could hit your thimb with a hammer, should we require certification for the use of same? Have you ever considered how much mayhen you could inflict with a tractor?
If you use it and it hurts you, it's your fault. Please do ask our government to protect you from yourself as these things raise my taxes.

RobertBrown said:

I for one am appreciative of the fact that I don't not have to compensate my local government for the privilege to operate a chainsaw. I don't not have to take a test, pay a fee or aquire a "license".
Any suggestions to the contary should be carefully considered.

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Agreed ...
The bureaucracies that are created to control and enforce 'permits and licensing' are never going to be free to any community ...
I do not want to pay an agency to protect ME from MYSELF and I certainly don't want to pay to protect someone ELSE from them selves...
:smile:KennyV

KennyV said:

Agreed ...
The bureaucracies that are created to control and enforce 'permits and licensing' are never going to be free to any community ...
I do not want to pay an agency to protect ME from MYSELF and I certainly don't want to pay to protect someone ELSE from them selves...
:smile:KennyV

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A few years back the township I live in enacted new regulations, that read in part:

If you want to reroof your house or outbuilding, or install new siding, you have to apply for a maintenance permit (free).

If you build a deck, replace a window or door with any size other than the existing size, you need a construction permit to pay for inspections, etc...about $35.

When I opened up the end of my barn last fall to install an overhead door, I would have had to pay for a construction permit, an electrical permit to inspect the GDO wiring, etc.

Several years ago, I added a door and plexiglass windows to my garden shed, there were just openings before. The way the code is writtten, I was ALTERING the building and therefore needed permits and inspections.

STUPID STUPID STUPID. :thumbdown: My township, like others, is simply greedy for revenue.

Thanks for reminding me about the insurance in case he'd injured himself. If I use him again, for any odd jobs, I'll make sure to ask. He's pretty inexpensive so maybe he doesn't have public liability cover.

I would not hire someone to do work for me without first seeing proof of competence and proof of insurance, that way it is on them for safety.