It will come a time when you will have to bring down your tree. The tree might be old, damaged or simply getting in the way. Regardless of the reason, you are felling a tree, you need to observe a number of safety tips for you to avoid hurting yourself. Some of these tips include:

Wear the right safety gear

Safety gear is a must-have when you are dealing with chainsaws, trees, and a dangerous working environment. Some of the things you should have include:

Helmet: You need to have a hard hat to protect your head from falling branches, which are often the major causes of injuries when logging.

Earmuffs: Since you will be using loud chainsaws, you need to protect your ears for you to avoid suffering from noise-induced hearing loss. There are many types of earmuffs that you can go with. There are headphones with radio and others without that you can go for. It’s up to you to choose the one that is ideal for you.

Safety glasses: Safety glasses are meant to keep dust and other products of logging out of your eyes. For the glasses to provide you with the protection you are looking for and for them to last for a long time, you should go for high-end units.

You don’t have to go for a premium brand. Simple, good quality designs are enough to give you the protection you are looking for.

Kevlar chaps: Anything can go wrong when you are cutting the tree; therefore, it’s always wise to protect yourself. You should have Kevlar chaps in place that are meant to stop the chain saw chain in the event you drop the bar against your leg.

Felling wedges: These aren’t meant for you, but for the chain saw. Buying two plastic felling wedges will protect the chain saw from getting pinched when making a cut.

The cool thing is that you can find the wedges in any outdoor power equipment store that stocks chainsaws.

Steel toed boots: For you to protect your feet, it’s paramount that you have tough boots. Some of the best to go for are steel-toed boots.

Pay attention to the felling zone

Where will the tree fall? You need to think about this. Plenty of accidents and damage to property has happened as people underestimate the height of their trees. Trees are often taller than you think; therefore, when you are estimating where they will fall, it’s always wise to give extra room.

Have an escape route

As mentioned above, anything can go wrong when you are cutting a tree. For you to protect yourself, have a clear escape route. This is where you will run in the event things don’t go as planned.

The best way of preparing the route is to cut away any bush around the trunk and have two clear escape routes that are on the “non-falling” side of the tree.

Tree experts recommend that you have the escape routes 45 degrees away from each other and in opposite directions. The last thing you want is tripping when you are running away from a falling tree.

Make the right notch

The notch that you make when bringing down the tree determines the direction the tree will fall and how safe the felling will be. Due to this, you should be cautious about the type of notch that you make.

The rule of thumb is to make a notch that is one-fifth of the trunk’s diameter. When making the felling cut, ensure that it meets at the point of the notch. This way, when the tree begins to fall, the hinge will guide the tree to fall in the desired direction.

Have a lookout

You might have a lot of experience with cutting trees, but it would be stupid to bring it down by yourself. The best way is to have someone as your assistant who will help you in watching the tree and tell you when the tree starts to fall.

If you have never cut down a tree before, you should hire a professional tree removal Montgomery county company to help you out. This is integral especially if the tree is large or there are many trees that you need to remove.