What safety equipment do you have when running chainsaw?

[Jstpssng]

Those are nice and I like the suspenders however at that price I'd be more concerned at wrecking them than injuring myself by not wearing them. A couple hundred dollar max price point is seemingly more out of reach after my brief googler searches. When I get the time hopefully sooner than later I'll probably visit a few power equipment stores to see in person what's actually out there.

Chaps aren't bad to put on and off. The advantage on a hot day is that you can unbuckle at the waist to get cooled down, or take them completely off. I have two pair. One is Stihl, and they wrap completely around my calves. I believe they have 9 buckles.
The other just protects the front of my legs. They have 5 buckles. Neither takes that long to put on.

If you do buy pants, get the type with the pads sewn in. I had a set once with removable inserts but they moved around so much that I was never certain they would be there if I needed them.

When I was running saw for more than a few hours I started using ear plugs AND muffs. If I didn't, I'd listen to the saw all that night.

 

[kozal01]

I used to just wing it but I've gotten smarter as I've gotten older so PPE has become mandatory for me. I wear a hardhat with face shield when needed, always have chaps and leather steel toe boots plus ear pro and gloves. First aid kit is always in my truck and my combat live saver experience is always handy when dealing with injuries.

 

[ArlyA]

Chaps gained calve protection when they found sawyers were getting cut in them when they tripped over. We carry a special first-aid kit made for sawyer.

 

[jjeff]

Chaps gained calve protection when they found sawyers were getting cut in them when they tripped over. We carry a special first-aid kit made for sawyer.

I still remember my late grandfather occasionally showing the deep scar on his calf. It was a chainsaw injury and I don't recall the details. He wasn't one to wear PPE besides a steel full brimmed hard hat. Probably cuz most PPE wasn't developed or required when he worked in the woods. I also remember getting one of his ancient saws it was a manual oiling poulon, somehow got that thing running again and instantly knew why he was so hard of hearing, lol.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^
To say nothing about the vibration. A lot of old time woodcutters had carpal tunnel or some other ailment from years of running saws without any type of dampening system.

I also remember showing up to do a job inspection just before Christmas 1983 and everybody was wearing new hard hats with eye and hearing protection. They said that after spring breakup they would be mandatory, but if they started wearing the equipment now, the company would pay for it.

 

[Jrasband]

After an incident a few years back, I now wear a helmet with an attached face shield. Was under cutting a log and the saw tip wasn't far enough back into the cut, caught the outside of the log, and threw the bar upwards. Was lucky it didn't end up worse than it could have and only caught the top edge of my glasses and scraped the lens.

Did the brake not get bumped when it kicked back?

 

[Jrasband]

It surprises me that people don't wear hearing protection, boots, and pants at the least.

 

[jjeff]

^^^^^
To say nothing about the vibration. A lot of old time woodcutters had carpal tunnel or some other ailment from years of running saws without any type of dampening system.

What's that? lol somewhere on this forum I described the first saw I used and learned on. That 16" early 80s Echo is still sitting in my dad's garage.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Well, we are buying a trauma and bleed kit for the chainsaw trailer for our ministry. What we had was really inadequate. We always wear chaps, helmets, ear protection and visors. Yeah, when it's 90F it's a real treat... But it is what it is

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

What kind of ministry has a chainsaw trailer?

 

[Gem99ultra]

Lots of suggestions here, and to be heeded. One very good measure, when possible, is using a pole saw. Of course, the pole saw is no match for very large trees. But many accidents occurr when 'just gonna knock out this little guy'. Those are the kind that jump around a lot, and give the saw freedom to mangle.

 

[ArlyA]

Lots of suggestions here, and to be heeded. One very good measure, when possible, is using a pole saw. Of course, the pole saw is no match for very large trees. But many accidents occurr when 'just gonna knock out this little guy'. Those are the kind that jump around a lot, and give the saw freedom to mangle.

What we mostly do here is keeping trails cleared. I own three pole-saws and use them for 95% of our sawing. Although I do have a couple of mini battery saws now. My Big regular saw comes out about once per year.

 

[kozal01]

Lots of suggestions here, and to be heeded. One very good measure, when possible, is using a pole saw. Of course, the pole saw is no match for very large trees. But many accidents occurr when 'just gonna knock out this little guy'. Those are the kind that jump around a lot, and give the saw freedom to mangle.

Great point. I have a Stihl Kombi unit with the pole saw attachment and besides its intended use its awesome for limbing and trimming at ground level, especially when I need to reach into bushy trees or brush. Saves on my back too.

 

[Jstpssng]

I have a brush saw for small trees. I also have a Kombi pole saw but only use it for limbs.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

What kind of ministry has a chainsaw trailer?

Southern Baptist disaster relief. We also have shower and laundry units as well as feeding units.

 

[paulsharvey]

So, something not really touched on much; but the number 1 cause of work place accidents is Slip and Fall; followed by ladders, lifting, and driving accidents. Point being; in all honesty, some of the most dangerous stuff you do with a chain saw is backing away from a tree, with a running saw, while looking up. You might want to really scope the 'backup path' out well, before you start cutting, and maybe spend the minute to remove vines/brush/branches in the way.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^

You raise a good point, which some of us do automatically so we assume everyone does. Another thing I do is set the brake before taking a step. Again, it's so automatic that it's become part of my routine.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Tourniquet and blood clotting powder.

 

[ArlyA]

^^^^^

You raise a good point, which some of us do automatically so we assume everyone does. Another thing I do is set the brake before taking a step. Again, it's so automatic that it's become part of my routine.

You are suppose to set the brake, at the end of each cut.

 

[ArlyA]

Tourniquet and blood clotting powder.

Sawyer kits have lots of extra gauze and tape.