chainsaw injury

[Fergie]

Wow you're a lucky guy. I bought chaps when I bought my saw I get all sorts of comments especially from my neighbour who cuts in shorts and sports shoes whilst wearing a dust mask . I bought bright orange as opposed to camo my reason being that if I do cut my leg off I'd like to be able see where it is without too much searching It amazes me how casual some people are with saws there's even an ad on tv where Breft Favre is shown balancing on a log pile in sports shoes tank top and shorts cutting a log above shoulder level.

 

[escavader]

I was thinking of this thread today as i went into my woodlot to start cutting my wood again.Its funny how you read about something like this ,and it sticks in your head.I had my chaps on,and earplugs ,and gloves.The funny part is april is when i usually go in and cut my firewood,and sometimes there is alittle bit of snow left on the ground, knee toankle deep by now and fading fast.Today as a result of the winter we had,i had to wear snowshoes .When I got there i tryed going in with just rubber boots on and the snow was waist deep every where and wet and heavy .It was a little awkward ,and tiring chopping trees in snow shoes,but i surely could escape the path of a wrongly felled tree with them then without.I will go back in a few weeks and cut the stumps off,i was trying to guess where the groung was and left a couple sticks of firewood still hooked. I wouldnt want to be a logger and have to wallo in that deep snow every day.
ALAN

 

[JRobyn]

Escavader,

A few posts back you mentioned looking for a good hat/muff/shield combo. I can highly recommend the Peltor one from Baileys (link posted several times in this thread). The main reason for the relatively high price, is that this one is both totally functional and is also actually comfortable for hours of continuous use. It has a 6-point suspension, padded forehead/sweat band, and simple knob-adjust sizing. The muffs swing out of the way when not in use, and are comfortable when in use. The mesh shield flips up and cannot fog! My wife liked mine so much that she asked me to get her her own. She wore it for about 8 hrs last weekend while chipping. Great for keeping the little switches from whipping one's face while the branches do their "disappear into the chipper" dance.

 

[JRobyn]

Oh yeah, my father-in-law probably also thought I was a sissy in my "chainsaw hat" and chaps, but he can't laugh too much when his little girl is right beside me in the same get-up!

 

[ruglad03835]

Trust me you can never be too careful when using a chain saw. 25 years ago I was using an old Remington Chain Saw that had seen better days. The clutch never disengaged and the chain was always turning. Needless to say I was working in a pile of tree length logs when I hit a vertical log with the tip of the bar. The saw went straight up, my finger was near the throttle which caused the saw to rev up and whammo I stopped the saw with my face!!!!!! It took 48 stitches to close the gash. Thankfully there was a crackerjack surgeon working at the hospital that day and he sewed me back up. I saw him 6 months afterward and he removed the scar and reclosed the gash a second time to make it as small as possible. I just missed the optic nerve on my right side or I would now be blind in my right eye. You can never be too careful.

 

[Diesel-ME]

I agree with JRobyn - the relatively inexpensive Peltor helmet system is pretty decent. Plus it's a "standard" helmet with the accessory slots in the same place as several other brands.

I may have missed it in this thread, but don't forget to look into boots with the Kevlar fiber. You can get both rubber or leather. Steel toe work boots are great, but you have lots more surface area on top of your feet/ankle to protect.

~paul

 

[dmccarty]

You can also get the chaps and helmets at the dealers. I have even see them at Lowes and Home Depot. Both should not cost more than $100. Its gonna cost more than $100 to walk into an ER. If you can still walk....

The point about the boots is excellent. I have had the saw kick back on me but its never been uncontrollable. Kick DOWN towards my feet has happened cutting up tree tops. That is NOT been controllable for me. The previous boots had steel toes and protection on the top of the foot. Unfortunately the new boots I had to buy dont have this protection. The old store closed and the one I went too did not have the boots I wanted in stock. And I had to have new boots...

I don't give a rat's a...ss how I look wearing safety equipment. Its my a...ss that is at risk not someone elses.

My helmet has the metal face shield. This is handy to wear if you are burning a wood pile as well as when sawing. That shield does take some of the heat off of you. My biggest problem with the face shield is that I forget that its there....

And then I spit....

YUCK!

Later,
Dan

 

[montanaman]

I'm a Stihl dealer and I have a statistical poster on the wall that shows a years worth of saw injuries. The sad thing is that it doesn't help chap sales one bit. A guy will spend the cost of a pair of chaps to gain a tenth of a HP when buying a saw but they never need the safety gear??? Like has been mentioned before, I don't think you could pay for a single stitch for the price of a pair of chaps.

I also have safety DVDs for $5 and I try to get new owners to buy those and they never seem interested. I figure that most folks won't read a manual but waste a lot of their life in front of the TV so a DVD might work. The DVDs cover a lot of safety issues as well as offering cutting tips and techniques and saw sharpening basics.

The gear that I have is nice quality and priced fair but I can't make people buy it or wear it, it's up to them to do so.

The sad thing is that the guys that don't wear it will likely have a lawyer contact them after hearing about the accident and drive the saw prices up some more!

Ken

 

[mwark]

The gear that I have is nice quality and priced fair but I can't make people buy it or wear it, it's up to them to do so.

Ken

You are 100% correct.

This thread reminds me of discussions that are often had on a motorcycle forum that I am a member of.
Many seemingly intelligent people refuse to wear the proper protective gear.

My guess is that the same guy that will ride his Harley with blue jeans, sneakers, t-shirt, and cap isn’t interested in any of your quality safety equipment.

Mike

 

[Fergie]

I remember the chaps first comming out I saw a science programme in England where they used a side of pork to demonstrate it won me over. Montanaman you seem to have explained the look of surprise I saw on my Stihl dealers face when I asked for a pair As has been said I couldn't care less if I look like a Kubota blimp I'm not doing it dressed as Larry the Cable Guy Git r Done yerself if you want that.

 

[rback33]

I am not going to sit here and tell you I am perfect, but people look at me funny when I go to saw... Jeans and boots, usually long sleeved short, safety glasses and hearing protection. I habitually set the chain brake IMMEDIATELY if I am not going to the next cut. It's an easy safety habit to get into I have found. I have a Stihl MS290 with a 20" bar. It's a lot of saw for a little ole 165# man like me. I almost met the same fate one day last winter. Fatigue causes issues. I had been cutting like crazy for several hours when I went to rest the saw on my thigh between cuts... I did NOT set the brake and the chain had not not spun down yet.... sliced a nice hole in my jeans and the chain stopped....no skin contact at all. Got very lucky and it scared the crap outta me. I handed the saw off to my buddy to let him run it at that point as it was obvious that I was no longer able to do it safely at that point. One other time I tried harder for a Darwin award without damaging myself or anything else, but we won't get into that.

 

[KeithInSpace]

Just did some heavy clearing with my Stihl and touched my leg TWICE. Once a light graze that was stupid...second was heavy contact at high speed (though decelerating) to my inner thigh just south of my equipment...I was going for the jugular on that one. Don't even remember it happending, really. Must have tripped on something. Scared the mess out of me. Been using saws for many years with no incident.

Fortunately, I WAS wearing my chaps and they performed PERFECTLY. In both cases, they white fluff jammed up the chain immediately.

Told my wife about it some 3 weeks later, then bought a new set of chaps. Threw the others away...don't even want guests to use them.

Safety is cheap when the alternative is ripping flesh from the body.

Always wear my helmet and face shield combination, also. Personal injury is something my wife won't tolerate.

 

[Soundguy]

I'm sure I look like a storm trooper with my wide brim saftey hard hat, with face shield, kevlar arm protectors, kevlar chainsaw long gauntlet safety gloves, and bright orange safety chaps and milspec combat boots ( kevlar bottom leather upper.. )... but if it saves a trip to the hospital and stitches.. or limb reatachment.. I'm all for looking stupid. besides.. i don't have to wear safety gear to look stupid I've been told.. (grin)

Soundguy

I remember the chaps first comming out I saw a science programme in England where they used a side of pork to demonstrate it won me over. Montanaman you seem to have explained the look of surprise I saw on my Stihl dealers face when I asked for a pair As has been said I couldn't care less if I look like a Kubota blimp I'm not doing it dressed as Larry the Cable Guy Git r Done yerself if you want that.

 

[rback33]

i don't have to wear safety gear to look stupid I've been told.. (grin)

Soundguy

I think I resemble that comment too...

 

[Fergie]

On a sad note I heard from the local doctor this morning of a guy in our 'City' who lost his leg yesterday when his saw kicked back. Makes $50 for a pair of chaps seem cheap

 

[DrainPondDesign]

My wife & I took a FREE USDA sponsored chainsaw safety class this week, learned some new tricks in felling trees & how to reduce the possibility of injury. We too will be buying chaps.

Check with your cooperative extension or farm bureau if classes are offered in your area. (the free coffee & doughnuts were good too)

 

[HEC]

I know a logger in the next town from mine who had a saw kick back and get him in the face,not a pretty sight for sure,he was lucky he didn't lose an eye also.

 

[John White]

Back in the 50's I was working with a man up in Northern New Mex. Up in the high country, logging. A man cut the calf of his leg with a chain saw , severing a artry. It was miles to the nearest doctor, over a rough logging road. The only thing they could to stop the bleeding was heat a horse shoe red hot, hold him down and stick it into the cut. It seared the cut, but stopped the bleeding till he could be taken to a doctor.

 

[stayalert]

Back in the 50's I was working with a man up in Northern New Mex. Up in the high country, logging. A man cut the calf of his leg with a chain saw , severing a artry. It was miles to the nearest doctor, over a rough logging road. The only thing they could to stop the bleeding was heat a horse shoe red hot, hold him down and stick it into the cut. It seared the cut, but stopped the bleeding till he could be taken to a doctor.

UNCLE! I'm bying some additional leg protection!!

 

[escavader]

I broke down and bought a huskVARNA hardhat,with screen shield and hearing protection.I used it saturday cutting in my wood lot. SNOW SHOES,3 ft of snow on the ground,40 degrees and i was reduced to a t shirt.BOY THEM THINGS MAKE YOU SWEAT!!!!!! I read in the instructions you can punch out some holes in the top for air,guess ill do that.
ALAN