514 EM 385-1-1 Chapters 30-37

Sections

31-8. General Requirements.

Felling Operations

Clear work area and plan escape routes before felling operations begin, ensuring safe conditions and evacuating nearby structures if needed.
Establish felling paths at least twice the tree's height, consider limbing if needed, and deenergize power lines when necessary.
Chainsaw operators must secure their footing, clear obstructions, and instruct workers to stay clear unless involved in the operation.

Tree Cutting Techniques

For trees over 5 inches in diameter, use a notch and back cut method, avoiding "slicing" or "ripping" cuts.
Follow specific guidelines for notch types, angles, depths, and hinge wood to control the directional fall of the tree.
When cutting sections of a tree, limit lengths to one-third the distance to nearby structures and consider using tag lines for guidance.

Operational Safety

Operate from the uphill side, ensure tag line workers are well clear, and provide audible warnings before a tree falls.
Use tools like wedges and ropes to control the fall direction and avoid property damage, especially with rotten or split trees.
Workers must maintain a safe distance from the falling tree, particularly from the butt area.

Brush Removal and Chipping

Keep work sites free from brush and logs to avoid hazards.
Operate brush chippers according to manufacturer's instructions, ensuring safety features like long in-feed hoppers, anti-kickback devices, and quick stop mechanisms are installed and maintained.
Workers feeding chippers must wear appropriate safety gear, avoid loose clothing, and never place body parts near the feed table.

Pruning, Limbing, and Other Operations

Use safe and appropriate tools for pruning and trimming, give audible warnings before dropping limbs, and manage ropes and tools safely to avoid accidents.
Organize limbing and bucking tasks carefully, considering the tension in branches and maintaining stable footing and safe distances.
Equip stump cutters with protective enclosures, handle cabling operations with caution, and follow specific guidelines for topping, lowering limbs, and using trucks and tools like chainsaws, chopping tools, and wedges.

Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.

31-7. For cutting trees over 5 inches in diameter, workers should use a _____.

slicing cut

ripping cut

notch and back cut

grinding cut

You forgot to answer the question!

EM 385-1-1 Paragraph 31-8 (f.).

31-8. General Requirements. (f.).

f.  Felling. (31-8.f)

(1)  Prior to felling operations, clear the work area to permit safe working conditions and plan an escape route.  Ensure that homes and structures are evacuated where trimming and felling operations are in close proximity.

(2)  Establish felling paths that are at least twice as long as the height of the tree to account for limbs and debris being thrown after hitting the ground.  Where this distance cannot be secured or maintained, limbing may be required.  Drop or deenergize power lines when necessary.

(3)  Instruct workers on the exact tasks to be performed.  Workers not directly involved in the operation must keep clear of the work area.

(4)  Before starting to cut, the chainsaw operators must secure their footing and clear away brush, fallen trees and other materials that might interfere with cutting operations.

(5)  When felling trees over 5 inches (12.7 cm) in diameter (measured at breast height), use a notch and back cut.  Do not fell trees with “slicing” or “ripping” cuts.

(a)  Do not cut through the apex (that is, the point where two cuts that form the notch meet).

(b)  Use only a conventional notch, an open-face notch, or a Humboldt notch.

(c)  Notches must be 45-degrees or greater for conventional and Humboldt notches, 70-degrees or greater for open-face notches and large enough to guide the fall of the tree or trunk.

(d)  Notch depth should not exceed one-third the diameter of the tree.

(e) The hinge width should be 80 percent of the tree’s diameter, as measured at the hinge.

(f)  When saw cuts are made to form the notch and back cut, leave suitable amounts of hinge wood to adequately control the directional fall of the tree.

(g)  With a conventional notch or Humboldt notch, the back cut must be 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5.1 cm) above the apex of the notch to provide an adequate platform to prevent kickback of the tree or trunk.  With an open-face notch, the back cut should be at the same level as the apex of the notch.

(6)  If sections of the tree are to be removed, limit section lengths to one-third the distance to the nearest structure (for example, if the tree is 30 feet (9.1 m) from the structure, sections must be no more than 10 feet (3 m) long).

Note.  The chainsaw operators must use discretion.  In some instances, it will be safer to fell a large trunk away from the structure rather than to remove it in small sections, especially where the tree has grown very close to the structure.  Use a tag line and the appropriately placed notch and back cut to guide the direction of the fall.

(7)  The chainsaw operator must work from the uphill side whenever possible. When tag lines are used to help guide the direction of the fall, the workers on the tag line must be well clear of the fall path, at least twice the distance of the fall area.

(8)  Just before the tree or limb is ready to fall, give an audible warning to all those in the area.  All persons must be safely out of range when the tree falls.

(9)  If there is danger that a tree may fall in the wrong direction or damage property, use wedges, block and tackle, rope, or wire cable (except when an electrical hazard exists).  Remove all limbs from trees to a height and width sufficient to allow the tree to fall clear of any wires and other objects in the vicinity.

(10) Take special precautions when roping rotten or split trees due to the potential for falling in an unexpected direction even when the cut is made on the proper side.

(11)  Workers must move away and keep back from the butt of a tree that is starting to fall.

g.  Brush Removal and Chipping.  (31-8.g)

(1)  Keep sites clear of brush and logs so no hazards are created at the work site.

(2)  Brush Chippers.

(a)  Operate and maintain brush chippers according to the manufacturer’s instructions. All employees using brush chippers must be trained according to paragraph 31-3.

(b)  Where rotary drum and disk-type tree or brush chippers are not equipped with a mechanical infeed system, install an in-feed hopper not less than 85 inches (216 cm) long and a flexible anti-kickback device on the in-feed hopper.  These additional devices will protect the operator and other persons in the machine area from the hazards of flying chips and debris.  The length for the in feed-hopper is the sum of the horizontal distance from the chipper blade out along the center of the chute to the end of the chute plus the vertical distance from the chute down to the ground.

(c)  Where disk-type tree or brush chippers are equipped with a mechanical in- feed system, install a quick stop and reversing device on the in-feed.  Locate the activating mechanism for the quick stop and reversing device across from the top, along each side of, and as close as possible to the feed end of the in-feed hopper and within easy reach of the operator.

(d)  The feed chute or feed table of a chipper must have sufficient height on its side members to prevent operator contact with the blades or knives during normal operation.

(e)  Brush chippers must be equipped with a discharge chute of sufficient length or design to prevent contact with the blade.

(f)  Brush chippers must be equipped with a locking device on the ignition system to prevent unauthorized starting of the equipment.

(g)  Keep brush chipper cutting bars and blades sharp, properly adjusted, and otherwise maintained according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

(h)  Chock or otherwise secure trailer brush chippers detached from trucks.

(i)  All workers feeding brush into chippers must wear eye protection.  Workers must not wear loose clothing, gauntlet-type gloves, rings, or watches.

(j)  Never place hands, arms, feet, legs, or any other part of the body on the feed table when the chipper is in operation or the rotor is turning.  Use push-sticks that can be consumed by the brush chipper or long branches to feed material into the chipper.

(k)  Feed brush chippers from the side of the centerline.  The operator must immediately turn away from the feed table when the brush is taken into the rotor.  On roadways, feed chippers from the curbside whenever possible.

(l)  Do not feed material such as stones, nails, sweepings, etc. into brush chippers.

(m)  Do not raise or remove the brush chipper discharge chute or cutter housing  cover while any part of the chipper is turning or moving. h.  Other Operations and Equipment.  (31-8.h)

(1)  Pruning and Trimming.

(a)  Pole pruners, pole saws, and similar tools must have wood or nonmetallic poles. Actuating cords must be of a non-conducting material.

(b)  Before limbs are dropped, give an audible warning.

(c)  Attach a separate lowering or rigging line to limbs that cannot be safely dropped or are too heavy to be controlled by hand.  Control the lowering or rigging line from the ground unless safer from up the tree.  Avoid using the same crotch for both the climbing line and the lowering or rigging line.

(d)  Do not use ropes/climbing lines to lower limbs or other parts of trees or to raise or lower equipment, with the exception of hand tools.

(e)  When handling limb removal ropes, ground personnel must not wrap the rope around their hands or waist and keep the rope away from their feet to prevent entanglement.

(f)  Do not leave cut branches overnight in trees.

(g)  Install a service line for operations lasting overnight.  Use the service line to bring the climbing line back into position at the start of the next day’s work.

(h)  When not in use, carry each handsaw in a scabbard or sheath that is hooked to the climbing belt.

(i)  When not in use, securely hang pole pruners and pole saws in a vertical position with the sharp edges away from employees.  Do not hang on utility wires or cables or leave overnight in trees.

(2)  Limbing and Bucking.

(a)  When more than one worker is limbing or bucking the same tree, organize the tasks and position them so that the actions of one worker will not create a hazard for any other worker.

(b)  Consider all branches bent under tension as hazardous.

(c)  Operate chainsaws with the bar outside of the legs and never make cuts between the legs. Whenever possible, keep the tree limb or similar barrier between yourself and the saw blade, while ensuring proper balance.  The preferred working position is from the uphill side of the work on the opposite side of the tree trunk.

(d)  Block the trunk or logs to prevent rolling, when necessary.  Before bucking or limbing wind-thrown trees, take precautions to prevent the root ball or butt log from striking a worker.

(e)  When bucking, use wedges, as necessary, to prevent binding of the guide bar or chain.

(f)  Workers must have stable footing and stand in a balanced position that allows freedom of movement before and during limbing and bucking.  Do not stand on loose chunks or logs that could roll when a cut is completed.

(3)  Stump Removal.  Equip stump cutters with enclosures or guards that effectively protect the operator.

(4)  Cabling.

(a)  Bring branches together to the desired distance by means of a block and tackle, a hand winch, a rope, or a rope with a come-along.

(b)  No more than two persons may be in a tree when installing cables.

(c)  If an old cable system is being replaced, the old system must not be removed until after the new system is installed.

(d)  When the block and tackle is released, workers in trees must position themselves off to one side in order to avoid injury in case the lag hooks pull out under the strain.

(e)  Ground persons must not stand under the tree when cable is being installed.

(5)  Topping/Lowering Limbs.

(a)  When topping a tree, determine whether the tree and individual branches can support the strain of the topping procedures.  If the stresses are too great, then use some other means to lower the branches.

(b)  If large limbs are lowered in sections, the worker in the tree must be above the limb being lowered.

(6)  Trucks.

(a)  Provide a steel bulkhead (or equivalent) to protect the occupants of vehicles from load shifts.

(b)  Logs or brush must be securely loaded onto trucks to ensure the running, brake, and head lights are not obscured, the driver has a full view out the windshield and side windows, and the load does not overhang the sides.

(c)  Do not store wood chips in trucks or trailers for extended periods to avoid spontaneous combustion or the production of undesirable byproducts from piled wood chips.

(7)  Power Saws.

(a)  Secure chainsaws from falling.  Climbers may attach chainsaws weighing less than 15 lbs. (6.8 kg) to themselves by means of a saw lanyard.  When more than 15 lbs. (6.8 kg), support by a separate line crotched in the tree.  Use a false crotch where there are no lateral branches on which to crotch a separate support line.

(b)  Do not use corded electrical power saws or other corded electric tools in the vicinity of overhead power lines.  Hydraulic or electric power saws may be used.

(d)  Refer to chapter 13 for additional chainsaw requirements.

(8)  Chopping Tools.

(a)  Do not use chopping tools that have loose or cracked heads or splintered handles.

(b)  Never use chopping tools while working aloft.

(d)  Do not use chopping tools as wedges or to drive metal wedges.

(e)  Properly sheath all edged tools and blades when not in use.

(9)  Cant Hooks, Tongs, and Carrying Bars.

(a)  Firmly set hooks before applying pressure.

(b)  Before moving logs, warn those in the area and ensure that everyone is clear.

(d)  When rolling logs, stand to the rear and uphill.

(10)  Wedges and Chisels.

(a)  Wedges and chisels must be properly pointed and tempered.

(b)  Use only wood, plastic, or soft metal wedges with power saws.