As a tree falls it will often brush other trees and leave broken live limbs or dead limbs
hanging in surrounding trees. Sometimes falling trees will shoot off the stump and
roll sideways or ahead creating pressures on tree limbs. Loggers should never limb a tree immediately after felling. It is often a good idea to drop several trees and then refuel the saw prior to limbing. This will provide ample time for overhead hazards to come down.

Prior to limbing, loggers should evaluate five potential hazards as follows:

1. Overhead hazards.

2. Spring poles.

3. Butt movement forward (creates back pressure on limbs).

4. Butt twist (creates sideways pressure on limbs).

5. Butt off the ground (creates tension on the tree stem).

Limb Lock:

Back and sideways pressure on limbs can be handled using a limb lock.

If limbs have back pressure on them, they can severely injure a logger when they are severed from the tree. A good precaution to use in these circumstances is a limb lock. The purpose of a limb lock is to prevent a limb under pressure from kicking back and striking the leg or pinching the saw. The first cut is made on either the top side or bottom side of the limb (top and bottom refer to top and bottom of the limb as if the tree were standing up). It is preferable to make the first cut on the side with compression pressure and the second cut on the side with stress.