Storm felled forest: A very dangerous mission

Equipment when working in a storm-felled forest

• Full personal protective equipment
• First aid kit
• Jacket with fluorescent colour
• Chainsaw with effective safety features
• Complete logger belt
• Combi can
• Axe
• Wedges to prevent jamming
• Breaking bar with longer handle
• Extra chains and guide bars
• Extra long guide bar to reach through from a safe position

Some important advice

• Always start with an inventory of the damage and plan your work carefully.
• Never work alone.
• Be careful when cutting. Tensions in the tree can cause the trunk to kick out with great force.
• Always keep a tractor with grapple loader or harvesting machine on hand whenever possible.
• Use the machine when several trees are jammed together on one another.
• Make sure that uprooted trees that are cut and at risk of springing back are secured. This is especially important near buildings or where people are often present.
• Uprooted trees that can fall back are death traps. In winter, uprooted trees may be frozen and come loose from their position when they thaw
• If you have the slightest doubt, you should hire professional help.

Always carry extra chains and guide bars at the logging area. A lot of soil, gravel and dust will have settled on the fallen trees. This should be removed before cutting, otherwise the chains are quickly blurred and the guide bar’s nose-wheel is heavily worn. An axe is a great help for chopping out the earthy bark before cutting the wind-felled tree.

Fell in the correct sequence

A storm-felled forest should be felled in the direction of the storm wind. Do not take any risks and ensure that you always have an escape route. Start with the top trees to reduce the risk of falling into a dangerous position and entrapping yourself.

The trees in the picture are brought down in the following order: 1, 2, 3, 4.

1. Leaning tree
2. Broken tree, hanging /felled tree
3. Lying tree uprooted
4. Vertical broken tree, high stumps