How to fell trees with a chainsaw: basic rules, safety precautions, methods for cutting trunks


If you're planning on felling trees and you think a chainsaw is enough to do it, that's a mistake. Felling trees is a rather traumatic process, if not fatal. The slightest mistake and a tree trunk weighing several hundred kilograms can fall on you. Therefore, before cutting down a tree with a chainsaw, you need to carefully study the basic rules - this will help not only avoid injuries, but also greatly facilitate the process itself and speed it up.

Before felling trees with a chainsaw, you must follow all safety rules. There are few of them, but they are very important:

  • Check the condition and serviceability of the chainsaw: chain tension, its sharpening, oil and gasoline levels.
  • Wear protective equipment: gloves, goggles, hard hat, sturdy shoes with non-slip soles, safety vest. Headphones don't interfere.
  • The rules for felling trees with a chainsaw categorically prohibit working in strong winds.
  • There should be no strangers near the workplace, at least within a radius of 10-15 m.
  • When working, it is forbidden to smoke, be distracted by extraneous things, talk on a mobile phone, and so on.
  • Hold the saw with only two hands - it is forbidden to hold it with one hand.
  • You need to work only with the middle part of the saw - it is forbidden to work with the edge, because when kicking back, the blade can be thrown up or back and injury will occur.

How to cut down trees with a chainsaw: the main points

Felling trees with a chainsaw is carried out according to the thickness of the trunk and the type of tree. For thin barrels, it makes no sense to use heavy saws - there is more fuel and oil consumption, and you get tired of it more. When felling, the following pattern is used:

  • thick trunks over 600 mm - heavy canvas from 650 mm
  • medium trunks from 300 to 600 mm - medium blade 350-650 mm
  • thin trunks up to 300 mm - canvas up to 350 mm.

If you are working with dense and durable woods, such as oak, then in this case, even for thin trunks, it is better to use medium saws, and for medium and thick ones, heavy saws.

  1. Before cutting down a tree with a chainsaw, evaluate it: the thickness of the trunk, at what angle the trunk is tilted to the surface, in which direction it will fall when felling, whether there are foreign objects in the fall zone, whether the trunk will catch branches on other trees and so on.
  2. Calculate the trajectory of the fall of the trunk, based on the slope and other factors, in order to understand how to properly cut the tree with a chainsaw in the right direction.
  3. Cut branches and branches as much as possible so that they do not interfere with felling.
  4. Proceed to the felling according to the scheme.

Depending on how thick the tree is and at what angle it is tilted, a diagram is drawn up on how to properly cut the tree with a chainsaw. An example of such a scheme for a trunk with a thickness of 350 mm or more is shown below:

Estimate how you will cut the trunk, you can mark the line with a marker. On the side where the trunk will fall, make the top cut at an angle of 45-60 degrees to the line of the main cut, 20-30 mm below the virtual line.

After the corner cut is made, cut a small kerf parallel to the line, about 20-25% of the total trunk diameter, so that the bottom cut line joins the top cut. It turns out that you, as it were, cut a piece out of the trunk - thus, the necessary angle is provided for the trunk to fall in the right direction.

The main or felling cut is made from the opposite side strictly along the virtual line. The length of the felling cut is approximately 65-70% of the total thickness of the trunk - there must be a distance between it and the additional cut.

As you approach the additional cut, control the situation. In the event that the trunk starts to move or the crunch of the tree is heard, immediately remove the saw and insert a wedge into the main cut. It is recommended to use a long wedge - with the help of hammer or sledgehammer blows, you will expand the cut, and the trunk will fall in the direction you need.

That's all you need to know in order to cut trees with a chainsaw without injury and as quickly and efficiently as possible.

How to cut a log into boards with a chainsaw at home

A fallen log can be cut into logs on the ground if you plan to use the wood for kindling and firewood. How to saw a log across with a chainsaw - no need to explain, the technology is simple here, the main thing is to fix the log well so that it does not sway or move during cutting.

But if the trunk is good, you can cut the log into boards with a chainsaw at home and get absolutely free building materials needed in your own household.

In order to cut a log along a chainsaw, several devices are needed:

    1. The bed or frame where the log will be fixed. For its manufacture, a corner, channel or pipe is used, thick enough to withstand the mass of the log.

  1. Chainsaw with attachment. You can use a power cutter, debarker, vertical or horizontal nozzle. The most accurate and efficient dissolution of the log is provided by the horizontal nozzle, but it can only be used if the length of the saw bar is not less than the thickness of the log. If all this is not there, you can do without a nozzle - it is enough to make two simple devices with which cutting logs into planks with a chainsaw will be easy and simple.
  2. Sawing logs into boards with a chainsaw can be done independently without preliminary sanding - it is easier to do this later.

Consider the easiest way to dissolve a log into boards with a chainsaw, that is, without specialized nozzles. It is necessary to make two simple clamps, welded (the best option) or assembled using bolted connections.

These clamps are T-shaped and approximately 500-600 mm long. Another plate or corner is attached to the short “stick” with the help of bolts, and between them there should be a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the chainsaw tire.

The clamps are attached to a self-made carriage with a handle - when the log is dispersed on the boards with a chainsaw, with its help, the carriage will move.

Holes are made on the clamps - this will allow you to adjust the height when sawing the log longitudinally with a chainsaw.


The assembled structure is mounted on a frame. Before sawing a log into boards with a chainsaw, install its special stand so that you can lift it as needed. The best option is two car jacks.

After the first sawing of the log with a chainsaw along, it rises to the required height and the next cut is performed in the same way.

Sawing logs into boards with a chainsaw: choose ready-made options

In case you cannot make a fixture yourself, how to cut a log along a chainsaw with a chainsaw, you can simply purchase it at the store. To date, there are many ready-made technical solutions that allow sawing logs with a chainsaw.

This includes the aforementioned nozzles, thanks to which you can not only saw the log into boards with a chainsaw, but also peel off the bark or branches, cut grooves, and make timber from the log. What can I say - with such a nozzle, you can even make log crafts with a chainsaw that will serve as decoration in the yard.

The only disadvantage of such devices is that when the log is cut with a chainsaw, rough sawing is performed and the amount of waste increases. Therefore, if you plan to build and you need a quality board, it is better to purchase a small sawmill - it allows you to get a cleaner cut, and the amount of waste is much less.

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