Landowner Chainsaw Safety & Maintenance Level 2 workshop

UNH Extension & NHTOA will hold a Landowner Chainsaw Safety & Maintenance Level 2 workshop on April 13th at the Grafton County Extension Office in North Haverhill, NH from 9 am to 3:30 pm EDT.

The goals of “Level 2 Landowner Chainsaw Training” are:

• To review skills and competency in Level 1 Chainsaw Training content
• To teach safe basic felling, bucking and limbing practices

Prerequisite (self-attestation):

• Landowner Level 1 Chainsaw Training or equivalent* (Examples include NH Professional Logger Program, Game of Logging, Forest Service Chainsaw Training, or equivalent)
• Minimum experience of 20+ hours of chainsaw work practicing safe habits*
• The class is limited to 5:1 participant to instructor ratio. This assures quality instruction and individual attention to each participant. Instructors should ensure that the site, instruction and demonstration is safe for them and all participants and within his/her abilities.
• 8-hour in-the-field program includes:
• Review of PPE and Safety, review of saw parts, modern saw safety features, safe starting, holding, carrying, reactive forces.
• Felling demonstration to introduce felling steps and technique and to create a high stump for student learning (high stumps can also be established ahead of class)
• Students will learn and practice felling techniques on high stumps, and move on to felling when competency has been demonstrated.
• Participants will understand the dynamics of correctly notching the tree to accomplish safe and directional felling.
  • 80% of DBH for length, 10% of DBH for thickness
• Compare open face notch to conventional notch techniques and why.
• Discuss and demonstrate open face notch technique.
• Directional felling, using the sight line (either goes here or in tree felling section)
• Instructors have the ability to stop an attendee from participating at any point for any duration of the program.

What to bring:
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):
Hardhat conforming to ANSI #Z89 in good working condition
Eye protection/face screen that meets ANSI #Z87.1 or higher
Hearing protection 9 muffs, plugs, etc.
Non-skid steel-toe or composite-toe boots with lug soles or caulks that provide ankle coverage
Chainsaw chaps that fit from waist to over the top of the boot

Note: We have a limited number of PPE kits available for participants to borrow. Please email Cheri Birch know if you would like to use these before the day of the workshop: cbirch@nhtoa.org.

We do not provide boots.

Chainsaw: Chainsaw with working chain break, rear hand guard, throttle interlock system, chain catch peg, pin or stud, antivibration/insulation mounts. (If your saw was made by a reputable manufacturer in the last 10 years, then it likely has all these features)
Tools to perform basic maintenance: scrench, files, guides.

Do not bring fuel; fuel up before you come. Do not bring battery powered saws.

Other: Warm clothes for outdoors, lunch, snack, refillable water bottle.

Space is limited to 10 participants with two instructors. Pre-registration required

This workshop will be taught by Jim Frohn from UNH Cooperative Extension and Ernst Kling from Kling Land Management

Cost of this workshop is $150 for NHTOA members,  $200 for non-members.

To participate in this workshop, register at NHTOA | Kindful

This Level 2 class requires the prerequisite of the Level 1 class or its equivalent and a minimum of 20 hours of chainsaw work practicing safe habits. Participants who are ready will be felling trees.