"A good percentage of loggers that have taken this class have previously had injuries in the woods—I was one of them." Dave Sienko

"Anybody can buy a chainsaw with no practical training to buy it. Those are the most dangerous hand tools made." Dave Sienko

“I feel I’m making a difference,” said Dave Sienko – a professional logger who is one of the 16 instructors in the United States certified to teach the Game of Logging.

“A good percentage of loggers that have taken this class have previously had injuries in the woods,” Sienko explained. “I was one of them before I took this course and became an instructor.”

Sienko, the 1999 Pennsylvania Logger of the Year, and the 2000 Appalachian Region Logger of the Year, runs his own logging company. When he’s not logging, he’s teaching the Game of Logging—up to 50 classes a year.

The Game of Logging is a safety training for anyone who uses a chain saw to fell trees or cut firewood. It is an equally useful training for small landowners as it is for professional loggers.

The course, generally sponsored by Husqvarna Chain Saw and Oregon Cutting Systems, was presented locally at Tuscarora State Park on Oct. 6 by the Schuylkill County Conservancy in cooperation with the Schuylkill County Conservation District and the Bureau of Forestry. Frank Snyder - Service Forester DCNR helped coordinate the course.

“The class is fabulous,” said Snyder during a break. “I believe the participants are learning good safety techniques and new concepts on how to cut a tree down.” This was the first time this class was offered in the area.

The Game of Logging offers pointers about safe chainsaw logging by awarding points for doing things right and deducting points for safety violations. The game was the brainchild of Soren Eriksson, a logging expert, who in the 1960s while watching football for the first time on American television saw that players performed harder when working for points and avoiding penalties.

“We show the safe way to handle a chain saw, and the safe uses of it,” Sienko explained. Points are awarded for correctly notching the tree and landing it in the planned location. “When participants do things that are not safe, ten points are taken away.”

Sienko grabbed a chainsaw and began to explain the techniques that he teaches. He held the chainsaw against the notched stump of a recently felled tree. Across the top of the chainsaw’s casing are two parallel lines. “Each of the saws have a sight line, like on a gun that sets a line where the tree is going to fall,” he said. “It’s on the top of the chainsaw, perpendicular to the bar and chain. Where you aim, is where the tree is going to fall.”

A good chainsaw has five safety features: chain brake – prevents the chain from rotating, throttle lock – prevents the engine from accidentally accelerating, chain catcher – prevents a thrown chain from grabbing the user, muffler - keeps the noise level manageable, and a plastic case that permits air intake and sawdust discharge.

Sienko suggests that a chainsaw be purchased from a shop that has people who know how to use and service the tools. He said that the size of the engine is the most critical factor. For a homeowner’s, he feels that a 40 cc engine is best and can be purchased for under $200.

In the class, Sienko explains the four types of reactive forces of the chainsaw: cutting upward by using the top part of the bar causes the power head to push back to the user, cutting downward with the bottom of the bar, causes the saw to pull away. When making a plunge cut with the tip, always attack with the bottom tip. The top tip, called the kickback corner, tends to produce an uncontrolled reaction that will rotate the entire saw, and if used in an upright position, will kickback toward the head.

The proper dress for success in logging requires as a minimum, a hard hat with a steel mesh face shield and earmuffs. Steel-toed work boots are a next addition as are chaps or logging pants. Current designs feature a nylon padding that when the chainsaw comes in contact it, pulls the material from the length of the pant leg, wads up around it, and stops the saw in less than a second.

Felling a tree follows a five step plan: look overhead for hazards and remove them, determine the lean of the tree, determine an escape route at a 45-dgree angle to the rear of the tree felling and clear the path, select the size and type of notch, and make sure the plan is complete and can be explained to the instructor.

The actual felling requires cutting of a notch to 80 percent of the tree’s diameter, then back cutting to leave a hinge about ten percent of the tree’s diameter. When properly done, the tree topples right in the determined location.