North Melbourne veteran Brent Harvey narrowly escaped serious injury while at home on Saturday after he cut his leg with a chainsaw when cutting down a tree.

The resilient 37-year-old posted a photo on his official Facebook page that showed the nick to his knee caused when he slipped with the chainsaw at full throttle.

Harvey enters his 21st season with the Kangaroos needing to play just 18 games to break former Hawthorn skipper Michael Tuck's games record of 426 games.

He joined Tuck, Richmond's Kevin Bartlett and Essendon's Dustin Fletcher in the 400 club in 2015 and has played at least 20 games in all but four seasons, having played just one game in his first season in1996.

He also finished fourth in the Kangaroos' best and fairest.

Harvey will hold a media conference later on Monday to discuss his near miss.