Chainsaw work and PPE

[chas0218]

20 hours ago, stoneam2006 said:

Glasses steel toes and ear plugs is it...please for love of God take gloves and long sleeves off loose clothing and rotating equipment is not good at all...id probably wear chaps if I had them

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I would rather wear gloves when clearing brush or bucking logs. I have saw a GOOD pair of leather gloves save peoples hands and fingers. My long sleeves are usually tighter, not as tight as Moog's but tighter.

[chas0218]

1 hour ago, Belo said:

I make my living in EHS. So you can beat me up all you want but it pays the bills. I too haven't always been great with chainsaw safety.

bare minimum

hearing protection

glasses

long sleeves and pants

if tree trimming/falling add a hard hat and good boots, don't really need steel toes

To be real safe and smart? chaps. But I think a lot of chainsaw safety comes with how you're cutting and just planning the job out. Trees and limbs aren't 100% predictable but you can make some intelligent plans prior to just "hoping for the best".

You couldn't be more right! Chaps I don't think are a necessity when running a saw keep yourself out of the way so if something does happen your body isn't the next thing the saw cuts into. I would rather put my chain into a rock or dirt than my foot or leg. If you use your head when running a saw you will be fine, it is when you are trying to rush or not paying close attention (too comfortable) is when you get hurt. Experience plays a big role.

Edited April 21, 2017 by chas0218

[Five Seasons]

22 hours ago, growalot said:

We have the whole deal I can't wear gloves and to be honest,when doing big stuff will not wear hearing protection...I need to hear what that tree or limb is about to do. Eye protection is a must be it safety glasses or the wire mesh face shield. Even my eye glasses are safety glass.

keep chainsawing long enough without hearing protection and you wont hear it anyhow.

hearing protection is the most abused form of ppe because the consequences aren't immediate like with gloves or glasses. But 5, 10, 20 years from now you'll regret it.

[Curmudgeon]

I saw this thread and had to add my 2 cents. I almost always use chaps and other safety stuff - earplugs, etc. I may skip the chaps if I have make a quick cut. My brother was not in the habit of using them. He had gone decades without an incident. I got ticked off and bought him a pair of chaps. A couple of months after I gave them to him, while clearing brush to rehab an old pasture and over-tired, he laid the chain on his leg. It got through the kevlar but did not even scratch his jeans.

Because he is cheap, I immediately bought him another pair. He was going to keep using the old pair with the big slash in them.

[chas0218]

12 minutes ago, Curmudgeon said:

I saw this thread and had to add my 2 cents. I almost always use chaps and other safety stuff - earplugs, etc. I may skip the chaps if I have make a quick cut. My brother was not in the habit of using them. He had gone decades without an incident. I got ticked off and bought him a pair of chaps. A couple of months after I gave them to him, while clearing brush to rehab an old pasture and over-tired, he laid the chain on his leg. It got through the kevlar but did not even scratch his jeans.

Because he is cheap, I immediately bought him another pair. He was going to keep using the old pair with the big slash in them.

I have saw guys get comfortable using chaps then decided one day to not wear them because it was just a a quick job and now they have a big scar where the saw got them. My cousin has a nice scar from where the saw kicked up and caught him across the face wearing the safety helmet, glasses and everything didn't save him but turning his head allowed him to keep his nose and eyes. He got very lucky.

[left field]

I wear a full rig - helmet, ear, face shield plus glasses, chaps that cover the top of my boots. I don't use gloves while cutting as they offer no cutting protection, but I do when the saw is off.

An hour spent on youtube watching what can go wrong with a chainsaw was enough for me.

 

The best money I spent was the level one course of Game of Logging. Chainsaw safety and felling techniques from foresters and loggers. Second best money was on a Cant Hook with a timberjack. 

 

[philoshop]

Accidents with chainsaws are over in half the blink of an eye. You can be bleeding to death on the ground for several minutes before you even realize that something went wrong. Get the appropriate training and PPE, and always pay attention.

I haven't personally had any direct saw incidents/cuts, but I have been severely pinned or pinched by branches and trunks under tension that wasn't foreseen while they were laying on the ground. I've gotten a lot smarter over the years about reading those situations, and part of my PPE now is having a friend nearby with a cellphone.

[left field]

^ Agree. A lot of people don't understand the tension and compression in a tree on the ground. Much less predictable and quicker to react to a cut than a standing tree.

Edited April 23, 2017 by left field

[growalot]

Most accidetts are from land owners cutting downed tree tops from logging... our loggers actually went through and limbed our tops as part of the job. That was above and beyond and appreclated.

[Buckmaster7600]

Most accidetts are from land owners cutting downed tree tops from logging... our loggers actually went through and limbed our tops as part of the job. That was above and beyond and appreclated.

Where did you see that statistic?


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[growalot]

 

Actually over the years a few loggers AND local ER personnel.. a couple of surgeons as well.

[dbHunterNY]

i don't have any stats or anything but discussions with others and experience.  i'd say more people get in trouble doing little stuff, brush, limbing, tree tops, piles of smaller logs, and similar work.  bucking up a simple log for fire wood is pretty straight forward and easier for even the less experienced.  there's truth to what Growalot said with a sharp chain but more so I think the wrong combo to match the experience level is more a worry.  if someone pretty green used a smaller cc saw with a low kick back big box store chain on a smaller 14" bar, cutting a softer wood, I wouldn't be nearly as worried.  there'd be more reason for worry if that same person was using an 18+" bar with a full chisel chain, rakes filed down for softer wood, cutting a harder wood, and with a faster saw spinning over 13k rpms.  add tight spaces and little stuff like I said and they're probably worse off yet.

[growalot]

Quote

the consequences aren't immediate like with gloves or glasses. But 5, 10, 20 years from now you'll regret it.

For one thing I never said I never wear hearing protection... I specified when I don't. That aside 5,10, 20, years from now...Well at my age I'll if still kicking around,  I'll be living with ,by all accounts of his Dad, a grumpy old man. I won't want to hear anything for my own peace of mind...I'll get a hearing aid and claim the batteries dead when I turn it off...

 I also never down played the importance of hearing protection...though most here will have problems and the main "equipment" they'll have to blame are those ear buds and car stereos...I can hear cars coming up our hill from a half mile away from the back computer room with the peoples car windows rolled up...and that's a fact...

[chas0218]

12 hours ago, dbHunterNY said:

full chisel chain, rakes filed down for softer wood

Shhh you're giving away secrets for faster cutting.

[Five Seasons]

53 minutes ago, growalot said:

For one thing I never said I never wear hearing protection... I specified when I don't. That aside 5,10, 20, years from now...Well at my age I'll if still kicking around,  I'll be living with ,by all accounts of his Dad, a grumpy old man. I won't want to hear anything for my own peace of mind...I'll get a hearing aid and claim the batteries dead when I turn it off...

 I also never down played the importance of hearing protection...though most here will have problems and the main "equipment" they'll have to blame are those ear buds and car stereos...I can hear cars coming up our hill from a half mile away from the back computer room with the peoples car windows rolled up...and that's a fact...

Sorry if my comment came off as directed to you. It was meant more for the audience. Us "outdoorsman/woman" tend to think not wearing PPE makes us tough, when in fact it's just stupid and in my line of work I can tell you the most abused form of PPE is hearing protection. Just want us all to be safe.

[Jeremy K]

I used to watch this show, it's called renovation reality ,if you've never seen it ,watch an episode ,they take people who basically never picked up a hammer in their lives and watch them try to remodel their house . In this episode ,a gentleman found out that chainsaws are not a toy.

[growalot]

Can't watch that...from his position you can see something very bad is about to happen...I'm in for water having just felled several trees, need to get a rope for one decided to marry it's self to the outer most branches of another..long rope and the 100ft winch on the gator should take care of that problem... Oh so much easier then when I had to hook up the come along on a few over the year..Well water breaks over ...clean those up and spray trees and a few plots...hot out there today...

[dbHunterNY]

1 hour ago, chas0218 said:

Shhh you're giving away secrets for faster cutting.

the hitch is that if you over do it and that chain stops just for a fraction of a second your actually cutting slower.  i've seen people with a doctored up chain right from a saw shop fight like heck to get it through the wood.  you hear the rpm's drop, only to look over and see them pulling like a powerlifter on the rear handle with the bumper spikes planted right into the wood.  work it gently if you must but just let the saw eat and do its thing.

[The_Real_TCIII]

One filthy pine down, three to go. I have until Saturday to get these to the curb


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[46rkl]

I run a chain saw maybe 25 days a year. Clearing brush 2-3 times a year and the rest cutting up purchased logs for firewood. So I'm certainly not a professional but I've been doing this for 25 years and I have always tried to minimize the risk to myself with a quality helmet/ face screen/ear mufflers, chaps and steel toed boots. I also wear gloves but not loose ones. I avoid loose clothing but it's almost always Carhart pants and flannel shirts. 

The few near misse that I've had have always been a result of careless moves by me, and coupled with being overtired. I have to keep reminding myself,"there's always tomorrow.". And then I go have a beer....

[Jeremy K]

2 hours ago, growalot said:

Can't watch that...from his position you can see something very bad is about to happen...I'm in for water having just felled several trees, need to get a rope for one decided to marry it's self to the outer most branches of another..long rope and the 100ft winch on the gator should take care of that problem... Oh so much easier then when I had to hook up the come along on a few over the year..Well water breaks over ...clean those up and spray trees and a few plots...hot out there today...

It's not bloody ,he barely hits the skin . It really shows how fast a saw can do the exact opposite of what you want it to do.

[growalot]

I saw the ER pics from a woman I knows brothers accident...I still don't know how he managed it but it was God awful...took him from his underarm and chewed him up to his wrist...WTH She said the only thing that saved his was he's fat...as deep as those picture looked...I believe her!

Edited April 24, 2017 by growalot

[The_Real_TCIII]

One tree gone and I still have all of my appendages The big one is limbed and tied, waiting for a couple neighbors to get home


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[The_Real_TCIII]

1 hour ago, Jeremy K said:

It's not bloody ,he barely hits the skin . It really shows how fast a saw can do the exact opposite of what you want it to do.

Thats why I wont operate a big saw, I use my Stihl limb saw I think its 16". Anything that requires a bigger saw I ask for help or hire

[turkeyfeathers]

I have a smallish tree that's leaning on our fence that needs to come down. I tried a bow saw and that ain't happening. I'll admit I'm deathly afraid of chainsaws as I've never used one. Never needed to. Borrowed my dads electric chainsaw. Better off with the saw blade on my Swiss Army knife .