Kendall and Rebecca talk with Wendy Weisinger from the Society for Protection of New Hampshire Forests about her experience teaching chainsaw safety to women landowners. Wendy shares anecdotes, tips, safety information, and a unique understanding of what it means to be a woman in a male dominated industry... all while maintaining a love for forest management and chainsaw operation!
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Kendall Kunelius 0:08
Welcome to this episode of Shared Soil, a podcast dedicated to creating community, honoring challenges and encouraging personal and professional growth for all people in agriculture. My name is Kendall Kunelius, and I'm a field specialist for agricultural business management with UNH Cooperative Extension.
Rebecca Dube 0:26
And I'm Rebecca Dube, providing communication and technology for the specialists of UNH Extension.
Kendall Kunelius 0:33
And today, we are going to be talking about why are tools taboo. So we already talked about tractors, and I shared a little bit about my love for large equipment and backhoes and tractors and all that kind of stuff. And today, we're going to be talking about something a little bit smaller, but just as fun. And that's why we have Wendy Weisinger from the New Hampshire Society for the Protection of New Hampshire forest with us today. And I'm going to introduce her with a little bit of a fun story before we let her introduce herself. I had the honor of Co and assistant instructing a chainsaw safety weekend retreat, really, it was back in June, for women. And I had met Wendy before and my husband has worked with her before in a professional forestry capacity. And I'd heard a lot about her. And I knew she was a cool person. But it really solidified in my mind when at the end, at the end of this whole weekend of chainsaw safety and training. And she's like, "Well, I gotta get home, I gotta put in a new floor and a new toilet in my renter's bathroom" and bla ba, bla, bah. And she's talking about it like it's, it's like something she does, like on a daily basis. And I was like, she is just great. Like, this is a real intrepid woman. And so I thought she would be the perfect person to talk about all things chainsaw and tool related and her experience teaching women about equipment and chainsaws and operations safety. So hi, Wendy, how's it going?
Rebecca Dube 2:03
Kendall, thanks for the thanks for the intro.
Kendall Kunelius 2:10
Absolutely. So just tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you who are you? What do you do? And just Yeah, give us some background?
Wendy Weisiger 2:22
Sure. I guess the short of it is, um, you know, I'm from New Hampshire, born and raised here. And I was an outdoors kid growing up, you know, and ultimately ended up at the University of New Hampshire thinking I wanted to be an outdoors major of some kind, you know, I wanted to be able to work outside. And so I went in to sign up for classes and met my advisor, and I'll never forget, he said, Well, what would you like to sign up for? I'm like, I don't know, you know, wildlife management sounds sounds like a lot of fun and interesting. And he's like, Well, that's full. And he's like, What do you think about forestry? And my response was, what's forestry. I had no idea coming out of out of high school of forestry was and so he signed me up for forestry. And that was it. I it stock. It's, it's been an awesome career and a lot of fun. I got my bachelor's in forestry and ended up at the state of New Hampshire for about six months as a forestry technician after college and then worked for an engineering firm for a couple of years as a survey technician and learned a lot of cool skills there. And then ended up at the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire forest as a forestry technician. And I've been there since 2004.
Rebecca Dube 3:33
So what is what does the society do? Can you tell us a little bit about that? Sure.
Wendy Weisiger 3:38
The for society is New Hampshire's oldest and largest state land trust. So we own and protect land statewide in New Hampshire. We've been around since 1901, and have helped protect over a million acres in the state of New Hampshire in our time. We have about 100, and I don't know 50,000 acres of conservation easements that we monitor, we also own about 60,000 acres or one of the state's largest private landowners. That 60,000 Acres is my purview. And I am responsible for managing that those acres, that's about 200 properties across the state. So we do forestry and wildlife management, we do recreation, you know, we own most of Mount Monadnock, and mount major and a lot of iconic places in the state that we manage for public access. We also do education and we do advocacy, you know, we advocate for environmental policy for New Hampshire. So those are the basic things about what we are we're based out of Concord and own and work throughout the state.
Kendall Kunelius 4:45
Cool, and you also teach chainsaw safety and operation. How long have you been like teaching that like give us give us a background? Well first and this is going to be silly question to ask, but like, what is it that you like love the most about Running a chainsaw, I
Wendy Weisiger 5:00
love the most about running a chainsaw. I'm not even sure I've thought about that in the past, but it's just extremely useful. Tree came down across my driveway one day and I just went and dealt with it, I didn't have to wait for somebody, it's really kind of convenient. It's one of those tools you just keep in your truck when you're working, because you never know when you're going to need to deal with the tree across the road or something like that. Bucking up firewood and taking down hazard trees is just like, it's a really useful skill, I guess, speaking to
Rebecca Dube 5:34
that, then it's really useful that anybody has some knowledge of how to use it. So if that emergency came up, you could access a chainsaw and thus know how to use it. And not feel that because you're female, you are opt out. And you don't need to know how to do that. Or you could just do that, which plays into what we're talking about here. And that it's really something open to anybody. It
Wendy Weisiger 5:58
is you know, and I think I just got lucky in my, in my direction in life that I put myself in a situation where I was going to learn how to do this, I certainly was somebody who opted out when I was younger, and you know, my dad ran a chainsaw and I, I picked up the firewood and piled it, you know. And then as I, as I got into to school and was around people running chainsaws, I was like, Well, it'd be a lot easier if I could also just do this. And so I started myself in that direction, you know, it definitely takes some, some conscious effort to put yourself out of your comfort zone. And you have to be willing to do that. Once you're willing, that you, you really do pick things up. And we've all done things to be outside of our comfort zone throughout our lives. And so this is just one other opportunity and direction to be able to do that.
Kendall Kunelius 6:54
Yeah, and I want to visit something you said about like, this is a useful skill, so much of what we teach at the women and ag program here. So I teach tractor safety and operation I teach truck and trailer driving, it's all about kind of getting at the root cause of what's holding women back from being successful in their farming enterprises. So we also know that there's a lot of women land owners in New Hampshire, I'm sure you know a lot more about the statistics about that than I do. But what's interesting is that many of these farmers are there also landowners, and they may have a woodlot. But they may not understand that they have a potentially, I want to say successful asset there for a new enterprise on their farm firewood sales and or clearing trails for hay, why hay rides or wagon rides or whatnot. So it's not just that we're talking about this, because it's a really important topic to talk about, we're talking about it, because this has the potential to give someone a skill who could really change the value of their business, and actually make them a viable operation. So I think that kind of adds an extra layer of importance to saying like, it is not just because we want to talk about it, because it's chainsaws, and they're cool. But also because I would I'm really hoping that we can equip women in agriculture and women in forestry, with the ability to be making their own revenue sources based on the skills that they have. Yeah,
Wendy Weisiger 8:19
and I think it's even more than that. It's like it's also an additional revenue source. But it's also when you have that skill, and you're able to deal with things or on your own. It's efficiency, but it's also safety. There are a lot of people who work in pairs or partners or in groups. And if there's if, if something happens, and you don't know how to pick up that chainsaw and use it safely and properly, and you may be in a situation where you you need to and someone else do that or is incapacitated. And I think it's really important if you're working with someone like if you if you have a partner and you're both out in the woods together, I think it's important that you both can run the tractor that you both can run the winch and that you both can run the chainsaw. And it may not be that it's your primary responsibility or duty. But I think it's important that you know how to do all of those things. And also that you know, how it's done safely because you want to make sure that your partner is also being safe. And sometimes you have to remind them
Kendall Kunelius 9:22
Yeah, I definitely want to get into this safety conversation because I think that that this is like so, so critical for us to talk about and I'm gonna I'm actually gonna open it with a little bit of a humorous story. I had gone up to State Forest nursery with AJ and I was cutting trees up there for just experience just to say like, I this is something I need to know how to do. He's a great teacher. I'm gonna go learn how to cut trees and so I pulled back into my driveway that afternoon and didn't I see my neighbor across the street using his oh my gosh, I'm gonna blush think he wrote this because I'm a little embarrassed now but using his chains on he was wearing boat shoes and shorts And like no PPE, and didn't I pull all the stuff out of the back of my car and I marched myself across the street. And I said, here, I'd like you to put these chaps and these ear protection and eye protection on and maybe you should consider putting on pants and like steel toed boots or like composite toe something to protect you. And he goes, Oh, no, this is how I've done this my whole life. This is how I'm going to do this. And I was like, Okay, well, well, if you ever need it, it's just in the garage, like, let me know, blah, blah, blah. And you could tell he was like, quite shocked that I had never met this neighbor. By the way, this is the first time I met this person. And he's probably thinking, Who is this crazy lady like walking over here with all this chainsaw stuff yelling at me to put it on. But in the back of my mind, I'm like, I'm gonna be driving that person in the hospital at some point in time, I might as well make the I might as well make the effort and offer something to him because some people just don't know. And frankly, some people don't care. But that's how I want to frame this safety conversation to start with, and, and go that's all gonna say like, I want to hear you talk to No, never He doesn't even wave
Wendy Weisiger 11:10
what yeah, that's been my experience. I I see things all the time. You know, once once you're really tuned in to safety. It's like you judge stumps now that I know how to fell properly. I have like a judge people stumps I do the same thing driving down the road and everyone doing tree work. And it's not it's not, you know, I don't, it's not good. But anyway, I've also noticed that trying to instill my awareness of safety and chainsaw operation on people who aren't asking for that don't doesn't usually doesn't usually go very
Kendall Kunelius 11:49
far. But we can say we try.
Wendy Weisiger 11:53
You know, I'll try. So what I'll I'll try to do is like just like provide little tidbits to people and see how they respond to it when I'm when I'm working with them, or if I'm nearby. And then I've also learned to write into contracts that you have to wear safety gear or proper safety gear. Yeah.
Kendall Kunelius 12:10
So that's an excellent risk management strategy. So So you say like, they have to wear appropriate PPE for the type of equipment that they're operating. Can you just talk just a little bit about
Wendy Weisiger 12:21
that, like, if you're hiring someone to do treat, you know, I have to hire people to do tree work for our, our business and divorce it and, you know, you just want to hire people who are reputable. First of all, how do you know that it's hard to it's hard to know who to work with, you know, other than getting references and seeing their work and things like that. But I just write in the contract that they have where PPE both of my loggers and arborist. It's the same with anyone you're hiring, if you're hiring someone to replace a roof on your house, right under the contract that you expect them to be wearing PPE. I mean, they should be wearing safety slings and, and things like that. So can
Rebecca Dube 12:56
I just cut in here a moment to say that PPE is proper protective equipment? Yeah, personal protective. Yeah. For anyone who may not know.
Wendy Weisiger 13:06
Yeah. And it's different for any type of but the PPE applies to any kind of work, really, whether it's a carpenter, a roofer, an arborist, a logger, if there's PPE that applies to the job that they're doing, and you would just, you know, expect that in a contract that they're wearing PPE and a good reputable contractor wouldn't have a problem with that, right.
Kendall Kunelius 13:32
That's the I love that as a strategy. I haven't I hadn't, admittedly ever considered that before. But I think that's great.
Wendy Weisiger 13:40
It comes through life experiences, I hired roofers to do my roof, which is a very high roof and watch them in the winter in the snow with no safety gear. And that was a mistake I'll never make again, nobody got hurt, but I was just like, what, why are they not wearing you know, I just assumed that they would be doing this and I now know, never make those assumptions. Right. Same with same with, you know, tree care companies. They're, they're across the board in terms of safety. And you just need to need to spell it out.
Rebecca Dube 14:10
Are people who are learning chainsaw safety, for the first time, much more open to the safety equipment? Because they're trepidatious, about taking on this this very powerful tool in the first place?
Wendy Weisiger 14:25
Absolutely. I think anyone who's learning who's who's coming somewhere to learn something is going to be open to learning how to do it properly and safely, right, whether it's a man or a woman or young person or older person, if they're coming to a course or they're asking for you to teach them something, they're usually very open to that. It's people who've been practicing a really long time and are lacs with like your neighbor who's in both shoes and shorts, and I've seen tons of that right. When they come to a safety course because they've been required to they They may be less willing to change their habits. And that's our job as they're my job as an extra as an instructor to, you know, explain why this is important and why it's comfortable and efficient. And actually, you know, really not a difficult thing to do wearing PPE is not a big deal. And it doesn't, who cares if it's a little bit hotter, maybe like, that's okay, you know, it's better than emergency room. So I and I think a lot of people I've taught chainsaw safety to volunteers who are much, much older than me and much have run chainsaws for many years longer than me. And I've taught it to people who have never even touched the chainsaw. And I feel like some, they all everyone who takes the course always take something away, either a tip or something about safety or something about ergonomics that they haven't heard before. And all we can do is present the information and explain the why behind the things that we're doing. And make them put them in a situation where they're comfortable learning and using the equipment.
Kendall Kunelius 16:08
So I think that's a great transition into picking up this idea of like, getting the right tool for the job. And I think there's a little bit of a mindset that at least I saw at that class that you guys hosted was about this whole Well, a battery powered saw is safer, because it's smaller, and it's lighter. And I kind of couldn't help but get the sense that there's this, this taboo or this feeling that a lot of women have in their minds that says like, I have to use a really, really small light saw because the gas stuff, I'm not strong enough to rope over a gas off. And I loved how there was some really great tools presented to like a how to ergonomically start the saw, but be the easy start options. Like there's so much more out there if you just look for it. So I'd love to kind of talk a little bit now about picking the right tool for the job, and how that also contributes to a safe work environment. Like past just putting on PPE. So I don't know your perspective, your opinions, your thoughts, we can get a little spicy about the battery.
Wendy Weisiger 17:10
I've just been teaching the women's chainsaw course for about three years. And I've learned a different perspective teaching that course and a different approach. And what I realized is that people have all different levels of comfort with with tools in general. But there's this general fear of chainsaws that everybody has, which is actually pretty healthy fear, right? But also a general like, not very deep knowledge. People don't have a lot of knowledge and understanding of like how they work and how many different options there are for them out there. And once you get people in, and you're you're talking with them about okay, well, you know, if you have a shoulder issue, you might try, try this saw that has an easy start, or you might try a smaller saw. Or you might move up to a little bit of a larger saw that has a decompression valve that'll help you be able to start it a little easier. All depending on their experience, their comfort level and skill level and their, what they want to do what they what they want to use the tool for, right? What I didn't say, and that is how strong they are. I'm not a very large person, I'm five feet tall. And I've been running a chainsaw for 20 years, and I've run all kinds of different size saws. And while I may not run a large, soft for eight hours at a time anymore, it's not really about the size, it's about the ergonomics of how you use it, and how you're efficient and, and safe with it. And so you can use different sizes and different styles of size, except battery size. I don't know that we want to size but the battery size will injure you just as quickly as a gas powered saw. And they they are they are definitely promoted as being like, not necessarily safer by the manufacturers but they're promoted by I think sales as being more accessible to people and battery powered drills. We have battery powered everything, which is wonderful. But I wouldn't look at a battery powered circular saw as being less dangerous as a as a plug in power circular saw. The reason people look at cars that way, I'm not sure I understand why they think it's less powerful, which actually isn't true. So there are safety issues with battery powered saws. And I would say that rather than getting into the details of it, not all battery powered saws are created equal and are created as safe as gas powered saws and so you need to be really educated and careful if that's the route you want to go. We don't recommend them because chainsaw chaps still aren't designed to work with battery sauce. So yet,
Kendall Kunelius 20:03
and I think too, there's a kind of continuing that conversation. If people are going to go out and purchase a chainsaw, there's so much right? Like, there's so many different things that you could be using this for. There's a lot of different questions, so on and so forth. But also knowing how to really say no, this is exactly what I want to the salesperson. So can you kind of talk about the process a little bit of Have you had any success stories of people who have attended this class and then kind of said, I was able to go out and purchase the right thing, or I'm much better equipped now to know that I'm going to buy the right piece of equipment for me.
Wendy Weisiger 20:37
Yeah, I think that's that's happened a lot. In the in the women's chainsaw class. A lot of the people who come to the class don't, they haven't aren't a saw, or they don't have a saw yet. And we tell them like, wait until you take the class until you purchase this off you're planning to purchase. Then taking a course like this, what we do is provide you the language, right? There's a whole language to how tools in general Yep. But also chainsaws, specifically. And it's very difficult for someone who's not exposed to that or doesn't know it to walk into a store and try to talk to a salesperson who knows all of the lingo, right? So part of what we do is provide that language like here's what everything, here's all the parts of a chainsaw, here's the different sizes and the different qualities of saws, and here are the different features you might you might be looking for. That's that's a huge advantage of this class. We also have many saws with us, when we when we teach these classes to give people opportunities to try different things, right? You know, a salesperson, a good salesperson is going to ask you what your experience is. And honestly, I don't think they usually do ask that question. But they're going to ask you what their experience your experiences, and they should ask you what it is you want to do with the saw. And then they should give you options and explain to you what the differences are in those saws. And, and if you know, if you can walk into that store and already know some of the things you're looking for. That's great. It's certainly I've had a lot of feedback from ladies who've taken the class with me who've done that and, you know, the biggest piece of advice we give them is one, buy a chainsaw at a at a local store that will service it. And that also sells safety equipment do you want to have a relationship with a dealer, these aren't really, unless you're a mechanic or a small engine mechanic, you're not really going to be doing a lot of your own service on the engine of this unless you're Kendall I know you can can
Kendall Kunelius 22:40
but that's, that's
Wendy Weisiger 22:43
you know, I'm sharpening my own sawn and maintenance thing it but I'm not adjusting my my carburetor and things like that. That's what I bring it to, to the shop for. So you want to have that relationship and you want to feel comfortable talking with them. And quite honestly, I've told people if if, if a salesperson isn't making you feel comfortable, then just go somewhere else and ask around about where a good reputable saw dealer
Kendall Kunelius 23:07
is. You know, it's interesting, I also think that there's something to be said, like, I wish I didn't have to say this, but I'm gonna say it's okay to stand up for yourself. So I went and had new tires put on my truck the other day. And the person said, Well, you know, there's the mark the tires or whatever, with a white pen. And he's like, Well, it doesn't matter to you. Or, you know, he's like, how do you want me to put the tires on do you want that out? Or? And I said, Well, does it really matter? And he kind of laughed at me? And he's like, No, of course it doesn't. And I straight up said to him, I was like don't laugh at me. I'm asking you a serious question. You asked me a question. I'm asking to clarify it. Now just give me the information so you shouldn't ever be laughed at for asking questions either. And like you said, I'm totally there with you, if you don't feel comfortable, go somewhere else because like people want your business they should treat you like a paying customer you no matter who you are, what you look like or how you identify and what you're going to be using this for. And I completely agree that establishing that relationship is critical and from like, you know, I'm an ag business person I look at everything through the lens of money for farmer this is really important if this is a tool that you're going to be using often and it contributes to the viability of your business, having that relationship and bringing it somewhere to be maintenanced in a timely fashion and in a way that's going to get you like get the fix that you really need you know an honesty and transparency sort of situation is really critical. So getting the right person to start with I think is worth taking the time to shop around and find someone you're you're really willing to work with and and if you're investing in a chainsaw chances are you're going to have that piece of equipment for quite a while. You may need to purchase something else if you come across something that it's not appropriate to be used for like a different size or something like that. But at least for the first purchase like that's something I would definitely tell people to take their time and do it right because that's it's a critical piece for your business and for your peace of mind. is
Wendy Weisiger 25:00
and you want it to work when you need it to work, and it's gonna be very expensive tool, right? Or for many to this, you can definitely start collecting them. Oh, yeah, yes. Yeah, I mean, I've been to a lot of different saw dealers. And I think I've been fortunate enough because of my background to have fairly good relationships and some great relationship with sod dealers, I just keep going out of business. And that's been difficult. Three of my best solid mechanics are not in business anymore. And that's been a struggle having to find new new places to go. Yeah,
Rebecca Dube 25:38
it must be hard to shop for a saw, if you can't like physically hold it, and have it against your body and see how you can handle it. That's not something you would easily just order online.
Wendy Weisiger 25:50
Right? And, and it isn't, and but a dealership usually has, most of the saws, they're right or ordered they are, they'd be willing to get one in for you. If you go to a plate like a, you know, a steel or Husqvarna dealer that has a whole wall of chainsaws, they're going to have everything there from a homeowner level to professional level chainsaw. There are some other dealers like you know, if you if you go there's some places that I go to that really only deal in professional grade stuff, so they don't have homeowner level or smaller size. They're really just dealing with like logging equipment, things like that. But if you go to to most dealerships, they're going to have everything there. And they should give you the opportunity to hold them and talk about the ergonomics of them with you. That's something that we go over in class as well, you know, ergonomics and how Assad will will fit with you and fit with what you want to use it for. I think that's, that's the hardest thing. How do you know what to where to even start? I think a lot of people don't know where to start. So we try to give people that starting starting point. And then advice on you know, even even where to get PPE, right? Like it's, there's there's so much out there on the internet. How do you know what's good and what's not good? And what's right and what's wrong.
Kendall Kunelius 27:05
I think you bring up the point of ergonomics that and I think that's really important. So there's an interesting phenomenon in agriculture, and I talked about this in our tractor safety class, finding a seat that works well for you. Because most tractor and implement seats are not designed for women, they are designed for men and I say that meaning, obviously, we have anatomical differences and pelvis dimension is one of them. So how would you best describe like the points of a chainsaw that should feel comfortable? Or like ergonomically speaking? How would you approach purchasing a saw,
Wendy Weisiger 27:42
it's funny to say that I was getting on my best friend's tractor the other day, and he's six foot five. And it took me like five minutes to figure out how to move the seat forward. So what? Yeah. Yeah, I don't ergonomics is a lot about weight and, and weight ratio. And in terms of when you're moving the saw around, they don't there are different size size, but they don't make like a sauce specifically for a smaller person. And they don't necessarily make size specifically for you know, different size hands, they just, they do make smaller size, those are also going to be less powerful size. And I'm again, I'm not particularly large person, but I run a medium sized saw that can do generally everything and I don't, I don't have much of an issue with holding on to it, where where things change is your bar length, and things that get heavier once once you have a bar that's longer and you have more weight out there. So I'm not I guess I'm I don't know that I have a perfect answer for that. I think in terms of figuring out ergonomics of like what to look for, you just want to try different, different size and hold them. But mostly you want to learn how to how to operate a saw ergonomically and the cow to hold it properly, how to run it properly, and then the actual, you can handle a lot more than you think you can if you're running it properly and efficiently. So I think it's really more about knowing how to handle it than it is like each specific saw I don't think there's a huge amount of differences you probably know more Kendall in terms of competition size and things like that. But like in terms of like homeowner size, you know, there's, there's a certain amount of them and there they are what they are you don't you don't you can't change options, you know, you're not gonna change out handles and things like that. So find something that's comfortable weight wise that you think you can hold it like, certainly larger size get heavier, you're not going to run them as long, but that might be the right saw for you. You just don't run it for eight hours,
Kendall Kunelius 29:48
which is kind of where I was hoping this conversation would go in terms of like the most dangerous time to be operating a saw is when you have the last log to cut up and you're you're fatigued like you've been working for that amount of time and you Like, it's just one more, I just got to do it. And that's when accidents happen. So I love what you're saying about that whole learning how to ergonomically operate a saw versus like the you can't change the SOP very much I totally agree and in like a working situation, but you can pick the right tool for the job. And you can learn how to position your body in a stance that works better for you how to take frequent breaks, I think the other thing that we don't often talk about with Chainsaw operation is the vibration exposure. So like, it's not just like hearing, you know, hear protection, but also like when I get done running us off for like even an hour or like a weed whacker or something like might the vibration in my hands really sticks. And so I have to stop and take a break, and let that kind of dissipate before I can move forward. So ergonomics, yes is about body position, yes, is about appropriate tool for the fit. It's also just about injury prevention, as well. And being being able to say when enough is enough, and knowing that I'd rather cut up that last log tomorrow when I'm not fatigued. And you know, when I have better control over over the song over my body.
Wendy Weisiger 31:04
Yeah. And I, I had to really learn that particularly at, at my job, you know, we're out doing a project somewhere. And it's the beginning of the season or when I was just starting I, I was working with people who were stronger and had been running saws longer than me, and they could, they could work all day. And I just wasn't there yet and didn't have the ergonomics down and wasn't as efficient at the way I moved. And so I really had to learn to say like, Okay, I'm, I'm done for today. I'm just gonna like schlep brush, because I'm tired. And I always knew I was tired because I was start tripping. And to me, that was like, the biggest thing like, once I started slipping, I'm like, oh, it's because I'm tired. I try to tell people when you're just starting out, you know, don't go through more than one tank of gas. That's that's a lot of songs. You set it down at the beginning of the season, when you're just starting with your firewood. You just start there and then work your way up. And yeah, it's always it's always like, Oh, I've got to do one more thing. And no, no, you don't really you just need to get home that night. Yes.
Kendall Kunelius 32:12
With all your fingers and toes, and legs, and arms, knowing
Wendy Weisiger 32:15
your limitations is a big deal and working with something that's is as powerful and dangerous as it as a saw. Any kind of so
Kendall Kunelius 32:23
here's a little misnomer, like kind of a sidebar that I hear people are like, Well, can I get a left handed chainsaw? I'm left handed.
Wendy Weisiger 32:30
I'm ambidextrous and I ran the same chainsaw left handed forever. Yeah, the answer's no, there's no there's no left. There's no left, there's one way a chainsaw works. And that's always with your right hand in the back. And there's there's no other options. So sorry, lefties. It's not like scissors where you might be. And that's it's funny, we asked at the beginning of every class, like Who here is left handed. And there's always a couple. And there's always a couple people that naturally pick the saw up backwards, you know, and so you work through that.
Kendall Kunelius 33:11
Yeah, so I think the the last question I want to approach here, because we've we've talked about a lot of different things. But you know, most importantly, like I really enjoy teaching women different skills, right, because it like we talked about this in the beginning, but it's opening up a whole new world of I don't want to say independence. But I do want to say it gives them a whole nother opportunity to change their business model, change their structure, given new enterprise, so on and so forth. I think it also just gives a lot of confidence. And it kind of helps them use that in other areas of their life that they would be nervous to approach or to learn a new skill. So my question for you would really be, what is your favorite part about teaching women as I want to say, as a demographic, but teaching these types of classes for you personally? What is so meaningful?
Wendy Weisiger 34:04
Yeah, I think it's, it's that particularly these women's classes, you know, women are coming to these classes, because they don't have another opportunity to learn this. They haven't hadn't grown up in a world where they're handed a chainsaw on the farm and said, Go do something, you know. And so they're coming here because they haven't had another opportunity to learn and they want to know how to do it properly. And they're comfortable talking with another woman who's been doing this for a while. And for me, it's just the ability to share that with them and share, share my knowledge and a comfortable space and let them know that they absolutely can do this. So many women have come to this class. And they're like, I'm just going to watch. I don't think I'm going to try. And every time I've been able to say no, you really can do this. And as they watch everybody else To start us off for the first time, they start to think, well, maybe I'll try it, and then you know, you just are able to work with them. And I've always they, every single time, they've been able to start the saw everyone who's thought, Well, I'm just gonna watch. And every time it's they've been successful, and it's just been the, the happiness and the feeling of like accomplishment that you can see on their face is really rewarding. And it's like you're providing them something that they can they can do for themselves in terms of a skill, but you're also giving them that confidence to know that they've done something that they never thought they would before, right. So that's a really, that's just a really good feeling. And also, you know, it's, there's a lot of women who want to do this, I I'm so surprised every time and how many people out there want to do it and just haven't had the opportunity. And so I feel like well, we're able to provide that opportunity. And there's there's plenty of room and room for people to learn. Yeah,
Kendall Kunelius 36:13
and safe spaces. I think one of the things I noted those classes, mostly most specifically is that if someone couldn't get one chainsaw started, there was another chainsaw to try to start. You know, like, it's not, it wasn't just like a dead end of saying like, I can't get the sauce started. And so I'm not going to even continue to try. There's other options. And so that safe space mentality of saying like, it's safe to try and fail and make a mistake here, and then really enjoy that learning process that allows women to struggle without the tool being taken away from them. And started just because they're not doing it fast enough, it's a really great opportunity for somebody to take their time and learn the process. And, and relish in that action of learning. Instead of just feeling like you have to, you either have to know exactly everything before you get to the task, or you know nothing. And so you're kind of like not even going to start to try to learn it. It's I think there's a little bit of magic in that ability to feel safe to make a mistake and know that you've got instructors there to help keep you safe. But we really want you to try to struggle and figure it out yourself in that environment of of that spirit of learning, is how it's
Wendy Weisiger 37:24
Yeah, it is it is different than other classes in that, you know, I think so often, we pick up a tool like a chainsaw, and we can't get started. And so we just hand it to the person who's capable next to us and have been doing it. And that's like, there's our first initial reaction and, and it's class that doesn't happen like you, you will get it, you will figure it out, we'll help you and then you'll know what it feels like. And you'll be able to do it again. And so they all are successful in starting a song for the first time. And then they continue to for the whole two day class. And it's really a an empowering feeling for a lot of people.
Rebecca Dube 37:59
Terrific. Yeah.
Kendall Kunelius 38:01
Any other thoughts? I know what we want to wrap up here. But anything else that we didn't talk about that you'd want to talk about or anything else you want to say or comment on? I love talking
Wendy Weisiger 38:10
about chainsaws. And me too.
Kendall Kunelius 38:15
I could talk for hours.
Wendy Weisiger 38:18
I think it's I think there's a lot more opportunities than there used to be out there. And I think that if people you know, have questions, just reach out, reach out to University of New Hampshire extension, the for society, and Hampshire timberland honors Association, you know, we will get you going in the right direction if you if this is something you want to pursue. I think that's the hardest part for people is finding out how do they where do they go to learn this?
Kendall Kunelius 38:42
I definitely agree. And I'll take a second here. It's a plug, we have a women and ag newsletter, which we could definitely share some resources in that to like kind of spread the word a little bit the next time these classes come out or they're scheduled. So we've got that opportunity.
Wendy Weisiger 38:57
Yeah, and just just like your woman and ag we have women in the women and woodlands in New Hampshire. And that's our program to work with women, landowners and a forestry setting. So certainly get on our, on our listserv as well. If you want to learn more about the programs that we're putting on, we'll be putting on a summit in the end of March in New Hampshire. So hopefully people will come to that.
Kendall Kunelius 39:18
I hope so too. What a great opportunity. We'll
Rebecca Dube 39:21
put some links to your site and some of those things in the show notes. Awesome. All right. Well, thank you very much, Wendy, for joining us today at some great talk about chainsaw safety and just women working with tools. Always a great topic. And we'll be talking to you all again in our next episode of shared soil.
Kendall Kunelius 39:48
Shared soil is a production of University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, and Equal Opportunity educator and employer. views expressed on this podcast are not necessarily those Have the university, its trustees or its volunteers. inclusion or exclusion of commercial products in this podcast does not imply endorsement. The University of New Hampshire, US Department of Agriculture and New Hampshire counties cooperate to provide extension programming in the Granite State. Learn more ad extension.unh.edu
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