Chainsaw Safety
Chainsaw Safety
Cornell Cooperative Extension to Host Chainsaw Safety Courses in 2025
Ellicottville — Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cattaraugus County will host chainsaw safety classes this spring for various levels of chainsaw user from new or refresher safety classes to Hands On training and certification through Game of Logging. Registration now open!
Chainsaw Safety Certification courses are returning to Cattaraugus County in May 2025. Training will be conducted by Bill Lindloff’s ProCuts through Game of Logging and hosted by CCE Cattaraugus. Each class is a full day of hands on experience and will be held at the Pierce Whitney Forest in Machias, NY. Participants can take the course as a one- or two or three-day class. Each course covers aspects of using and maintaining your chainsaw safely in practical situations.
Wednesday, May 28th. Level 1 will focus on basic maintenance for chainsaw users and focus on safe felling, notching and bore-cut methods for property management/tree removal as well as properly cutting a tree under tension, limbing and bucking and other techniques for handling a tree in less-than-ideal situations. Participant will perform various cuts and notches and take down trees.
Thursday, May 29th. Level 2 will focus on common maintenance and upkeep for chainsaws. Hands on experience includes instruction and discussion on topics, Art of Filing – scoring the tooth: Proper depth gauge setting (2 points); Sharp Point (2 points); Correct side plate angle (2 points); Correct top plate angle (2 points); Chisel angle (2 points), Spring pole Practice, Felling Practice. Participants interested in this course must have previously taken Level 1 course with Game of Logging.
Friday, May 30th New in 2025, CCE has added LEVEL 3 Certification focusing on handling dangerous situations including, felling Difficult and Hung-Up trees, dealing with Lean: Front Lean – use of the controlled release technique; Back Lean – use of wedges and shims; Side Lean – aiming the hinge to compensate for lean, addressing a overhead hazards; Hazards on the ground, Tensions in stem, bucking and limbing Cuts: Top-lock; Limb-lock; Tongue and groove. Participants interested in this course must have previously taken Level 1 and level 2 courses with Game of Logging.
Tyler Paar, who attended in 2024 said, “I attended the Game of Logging Levels I & II trainings with Bill Lindloff’s ProCuts hosted by Cattaraugus County Cornell Cooperative Extension. Lindloff was a great trainer who provided every participant with hands-on training experience felling live, standing trees.
Lindloff also took the time to have each member take part, service, and put a chain saw back together properly and demonstrated how to sharpen the chain by hand, extending its lifespan.
By learning proper felling techniques, I feel that I am a safer and more confident woodsman. The knowledge I acquired from these trainings I have applied in my professional career where I work as a District Technician with the Cattaraugus County Soil & Water Conservation District and my personal life as I frequently spend time in the woods cutting firewood, cleaning trails, and being a steward of the land. I can confidently say that Cattaraugus County Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Game of Logging training with Bill Lindloff was the most informative, hands-on educational courses I have taken in my career thus far. I look forward to taking advanced level classes in 2025. I would recommend any woodsman to attend these trainings.”
Descriptions of each class can be found on the CCE website along with registration information. All classes are open to the public and are appropriate for wood lot owners, people who use chainsaws through their work and volunteers who assist in clean up projects.
Registration is open to the public through Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cattaraugus County. If you are interested in participating or would like to find out more, visit the website: https://cattaraugus.cce.cornell.edu/ Registration for each day is $170.00 per day/per participant. Participants are required to wear protective equipment and provide their own lunch during each course.
The Cornell Cooperative Extension educational system in Cattaraugus County enables people to improve their lives and communities through partnerships that put experience and research knowledge to work.
CCE Cattaraugus is a subordinate governmental agency with an educational mission that operates under a form of organization and administration approved by Cornell University as agent for the State of New York. It is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The association is part of the national cooperative extension system, an educational partnership between County, State, and Federal governments. As New York’s land grant university Cornell administers the system in this state. Each Cornell Cooperative Extension association is an independent employer that is governed by an elected Board of Directors with general oversight from Cornell. All associations work to meet the needs of the counties in which they are located as well as state and national goals. For more information, call 716-699-2377 or visit our website at https://cattaraugus.cce.cornell.edu/Cornell University Cooperative Extension provides equal program and employment opportunities.