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Is to use your foot to steady the log you're cutting as it rolls a bit, in the dreaded back of the bar zone. A moment of total negligence and complacency saw me in minor injuries yesterday and a heavy feeling of "shoit, I'm a lucky lucky fella", 7 stitches to a shallow cut right beside my achilles. My boot is shredded from the sole to the top.
Didn't feel a thing when it happened, just a tap, but I knew that a tap with a whizzing chain isn't going to be without something to worry about!
chainsaw kiss!
Very pleased to hear you have avoided anything serious. Thanks for posting - always good to share H&S instances...
All ways gotta remember chainsaws don't take prisoners.
Glad it wasn't anymore serious.
I hate the things, though there's a certain satisfaction when things go well and it falls where you planned.
And there was me considering getting myself a chainsaw for Christmas. To be honest they intimidate me -and this tread has convinced me not to bother. 🙂
And I'm a qualified professional user!
I try at all costs to avoid using it at ground level, glad you're okay mate.
Was once in the specialist hand unit at Derby hospital when a guy came in with his hand in a huge bandage.
He'd been transferred from Lincoln overnight. He was up a ladder cutting a hedge when the ladder slipped and he tried to save himself by grabbing the chainsaw. Lost one finger and cut tendons in two more.
He was as happy as Larry though, no idea what drugs were in his system!
I knew a farmer who was adept at chainsaw useage who managed to cut his left hand almost clean off. He was left handed but was using the saw with his right hand. Not good when your'e a farmer. (or at all for that matter)
Treat them like an angry Honey badger & mind your plums.
Sobering stuff OP, glad to hear you are ok.
I'm sure I saw a thread on Arbtalk about the safety or otherwise of chainsaw boots. I knicked my shin with my saw which wasn't running. It was a hot day and I was clearing my tools away. I'd changed out of my chainsaw trousers when I tripped carrying the saw. It took out a sizeable chunk of flesh. A&E patched me up.
Stay safe.
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This wasn't a chainsaw boot sadly. PS How's the tirfor in it's new home Peter?
Holyshit dude! It's good you are ok but take more care next time!
PS How's the tirfor in it's new home Peter?
I've used it a couple of times for hauling out stumps, it's never been beaten yet 😀
Looking at your boot, you should buy a lottery ticket tonight. 😯
I remember the reason I wear my chainsaw boots after looking at your picture!
A good thing not to do is be lazy on the last pruning cut of the job and moving your lanyard with one hand whilst using the saw to nip off the branch the lanyard is caught on, rubbing your fingertip on the running down sawchain whilst you're still a good way up the tree. Mild panic, cut finger tip and no nail, carabiners and Prussik knot not easy to negotiate to get down safely! At least I got my finger and not the rope though!
And you were worried about changing a light fitting!
Chainsaws and these planers always make me nervous
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There must be loads of tales to tell. What gets me is how tiny a knock it was. The blade bounced back just a few inches and gently tapped me. I think the chain climbed up the boot a bit into my leg, a nice metal surfaces boot would be much safer!
But yes, I feel like a right idiot!
Until now I've been wearing chainsaw wellies, they aren't particularly comfortable. Having seen what happened to Dan, I've ordered a pair of these. Reviews seem good on Arbtalk. I use my saw too much not to have a decent pair.
Easy to be complacent as when they're working well they're so bloody efficient
...trouble is that when it goes wrong, they're still bloody efficient
Caught and stopped myself once just as I was getting ready to make a lateral cut, at head height into a tree trunk while standing on a stool
W
T
A
F
????? 😯
I haven't read most of the above, the things scare me, instead I bought one of these...
http://www.flinn-garlick-saws.co.uk/acatalog/One_Man_Crosscut_Saw.html#SID=492
... which also has big sharp scary teeth.
Rarely cut things on the ground, and was taught to go right down on one knee when doing so, so the blade is pointing up a bit rather than down. Probably slower than wafting it around in the direction of your toes, but hopefully a bit safer too! Scary to see how easily things can go wrong.
A remarkably efficient tool, but there are so very many ways things can go very, [i]very[/i] wrong indeed, with possibly appalling consequences for the user. That was an incredibly close call, a bit too close for comfort! Glad it wasn't any worse.
And I'm a qualified professional user!
That's the thing, innit: familiarity breeds contempt, or, at the very least, complacency. Glad you got away so lightly, fella.
😀
Interesting tip about going down on one knee, I did my 'small trees' course (I don't know what the technical name for that is anymore, and that wasn't something which came up. Thinking about it, I probably try and have anything I'm cutting at an easier height to work at than ground level/toe height, but that's not always possible of course.
I've had chains break on 2 chainsaws. Most likely my technique. I will gladly pay someone to do chainswerering for me, they scare the sheet out of me.
I always wear chainsaw wellies, which (I think) only have protection along the front. But I also wear chainsaw trousers which are long and would have protected where you got cut.
But the main thing is don't cut loose logs. There have been a few threads on here about how to hold logs while cutting.
The £500 I'm paying for a tree surgeon to cut back a few trees on Monday now seems like money we'll spent
Did anyone see Ben Fogle using a chain saw in his new lives in the wild program the other day? I was wincing. His only protection was a pair of safety specs and he was wearing shorts. Cutting a tree near face height and the saw was jamming in the cut and he looked quite uncomfortable. Thankfully the other guy took over.
My brothers big pillar drill scares the crap out of me.
Glad you're okay OP. Years ago my dad was helping a friend with some site work. His friend had s chainsaw bounce back and cut in to his leg. He, like you, was incredibly lucky. Cut in to the muscle of his thigh and ended up with a nasty scar and a slight limp. It could have been so much worse.
Professional trained user holding the log with your boot, a boot which isn't suitable?
I think you need to rephrase from "professional" to "someone who uses a chainsaw in their line of work and was forced to go on a course where they slept".
My Mrs does chainsaw carving, big stuff, outside furniture that kinda thing.
I can't watch her do it, and to be frank it freaks me out.
Stay safe.
Mucking Fuppet!
PPPPPP
bikebuoy: I always tell myself that it's not the saws which are the real danger but the humans using them, it helps keep my mind in the right place.
Carving saws are generally quite light and manageable to use...
There's never a shortage of idiots doing things they should be doing and more idiots explaining how it should be done. It's one of the few things that keeps me coming back here. Very entertaining. Thanks.
Pffft, chainsaw injuries, try using a Silky every day then you will realise a chainsaw injury is nowt campared to a Silky contacting the flesh! 😆
Having seen what happened to Dan, I've ordered a pair of these. Reviews seem good on Arbtalk. I use my saw too much not to have a decent pair.
Are they actually chainsaw proof? The Ebay description just sounds like a pair of walking boots...
Having seen what happened to Dan, I've ordered a pair of these. Reviews seem good on Arbtalk. I use my saw too much not to have a decent pair.
Are they actually chainsaw proof? The Ebay description just sounds like a pair of walking boots...
They are rated as Class 1 protective with a steel toe cap, The reviews I read on Arbtalk rated them. That's good enough for me as an occasional user.
Over the years, I've spent hundreds of hours on the end of a chainsaw - chopping firewood, felling trees, pruning large hedges while balancing in the hedge, tree 'surgery' using ropes and cherry picker.
The vast majority of it done in shorts/ trackie bottoms and normal work boots or trainers. 😯
Those days are in the past and I consider myself fortunate never to have had any incidents. Used to love the saw, now I rarely use mine and have a healthy respect for it.
I'd quite happily never use it again, although I do enjoy felling as long as some other mug clears up the branches.
Many years ago my cousin fell off a hedge onto a chainsaw, 90+ stiches around the crotch area. 😡
I think you need to rephrase from "professional" to "someone who uses a chainsaw in their line of work and was forced to go on a course where they slept".
Very welcome to shadow me for a day. And research the word professional. And I think the troll party is next door, best not miss it. First close call in 7 years in business!
Don't worry about the detractors, Dan. Threads like this are useful in a learning from other people's mistakes might prevent you making similar mistakes way.
I was cutting logs and had my left foot on the log, deciding to trim off some twigs, which caused the saw to jump across to the side of my Timberland boots and slice right through them. Was fortunate not to get cut and having seen the OP's boot, will be more careful in future! 😮
I have electric chainsaw. It scares the crap out of me. Big circular saws are the same. Im so careful when I do use them.
I think the OP knows where he went wrong and that PPE is only the last defence.
Whilst proper boots are ideal, they still wouldn't have protected that part of the foot as the protection runs down the tongue. Type A trousers possibly would and Type C would, providing they hadn't ridden up.
Ultimately, driving to work is more dangerous, believe a contractor put this to FISA when they were making a fuss over the safety record of forestry.
Must admit that familiarity leads to complacency. Fully aware that smashing up the brash piles at the end of a job is the sketchiest thing we do, swinging the saw everywhere quickly, often once the chain has got to it's slackest, but just 5 min to finish, you see the chain sparking the bar and have that brief 'that was close' moment as you smash everything up.
esselgruntfuttock - Member
I knew a farmer who was adept at chainsaw useage who managed to cut his left hand almost clean off. He was left handed but was using the saw with his right hand
If you mean he had his right hand on the trigger that is the correct hand to use. The left goes on the front bar and if the saw should ever kick hopefully the inertia chain brake should kick in but if not the back of the left hand should hit the chain brake and if standing correctly the saw will miss your head.
I need some chainsaw boots, any recommendations? I Want to avoid the wellies at all cost but not break the bank? Was looking at the STIHL DYNAMIC S3 .
driving to work is more dangerous
Sounds very unlikely to me. What is the basis for that claim?
Smaller saws can be used one handed, Kuco, it's only electrics that require both hands on to start.
tod456 - Husqvarna Technical 24 boots are what we have mostly been using recently, really impressed with them, we're both on 2nd or 3rd sets now, admittedly my last ones could have been resoled, but we live in them for about 9 months of the year and get a couple of years out them. Lace quite high which feels unusual at first, but loads of support.
Not had very good experiences with a variety of Arbortec boots, 3-6 months before catastrophic failure.
A top handle saw is not designed to be used on the ground and other than a tree surgeon using it in a tree anyone else using a chainsaw one handed on the ground is a complete **** and deserve what they get.
I use Arbourtec waterproof boots and can't fault them.
Husqvarna Technical 24
These are on sale at the moment at FR Jones...
thecaptain - driving at the start/end of the day when roads are busier and drivers are tired, often rural roads for where the industry works, lots of other people drive too which can affect your day.
Or as a section of the population how many on here have posted about a RTI and how many have posted chainsaw incidents?
http://www.hse.gov.uk/treework/treework-incidents.htm
admittedly different time scales, but forestry averages around 110 incidents reported a year and arb' around 150 reported a year, each having the occasional death, whilst higher than construction, it's a long way off driving
Can we have some good stories please 😕
It freaks me out all this "I almost lost/sliced/chopped off" talk..
I've had the Husky's. Was considering the new Arbortec Fellhunter as one of the only class 3 out there and bloody good priced at FR Jones too.
I read a report from hse that stated 3.4 deaths per year in arb industry, 50% of which was falls, and I assume around 25% or less was chainsaw related. 40,000 people working in the industry. So perhaps 0.8 deaths per 40,000 official employees per year in the uk. No idea how that relates to driving but it still sounds on the high and slightly scary side.
While still a relative novice, I've not had a close call yet when cutting down and de-limbing small trees. 🙂 (trees cut down-able with a 13 inch saw blade).
My most upsetting thing has been somebody else's Stihl 261 saw developing a funny noise and then going kaput while I was using it, it needed a new cylinder and clutch bearings and things. I understand there may be a certain weak point in 261 saws which caused it, but I'm sketchy on the details. A friend's 261 got sorted out free of charge by Stihl when out of warranty which makes him think they realise there's something they could have done differently with the 261...
Vague friend of mine also sliced his arm open with a chainsaw (think he hit a nail in a tree), middle of nowhere in Canada, had to drive himself some way to hospital one-handed.
Timber, depends whether you are making the comparison on a public health perspective (far more road deaths/injuries in the UK in total I'm sure) or a personal risk basis (is a chainsaw user more likely to cut themselves vs crash). Using your argument, would you say playing russian roulette is safer than both driving and using a chainsaw (not together!)?
I think I read somewhere that there are more chainsaw-related than gun-related hospital visits in the USA, though it does sound hard to believe. Having said that, I know precisely one of each personally (including the aforementioned Canadian).
I was a tree surgeon for 12 years and still wake up worrying about what a chainsaw could do ( did stick one halfway through my left foot once - but that was doing forestry work!) - glad to be out of it !
Thanks chaps I'll take a look
Captain, you'd have to ask that on a Russian Roulette site, I don't think HSE have stats for that.