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I strongly suggest that people using chainsaws wear some protective gear. Minimum - steel capped boots, safety glasses and mask and proper gloves. Best idea - p

by sgt101 7y ago

I strongly suggest that people using chainsaws wear some protective gear. Minimum - steel capped boots, safety glasses and mask and proper gloves. Best idea - proper chainsaw trousers. What you need to realize are four things. 1) Working with a chainsaw is tiring, it is really easy to get careless not because you aren't smart or savvy, but because you are knackered. This is the moment when you do something like put the saw on your toe or leg. 2) Things fly around around chainsaws, splinters stones, bits of chainsaw even. If they fly into your eye or into your hand you may well flinch or jump and slice yourself, even if you have the self control of a ninja. 3) Chainsaw injuries are really nasty, they are hard to fix and go septic even when fixed well, a small looking cut could mean you get to have your leg sawn off. 4) You need to have a plan and training - don't just pick up a chainsaw and start carving things up - make sure that you know how to use it. Also it's good to know that they thing is safe and in order - which means that the safety cut out should work (the reason my last one got scrapped) - and the thing is oiling the chain properly and the chain is good.

gonzo41 7y ago
5) If you're cutting into tree that's an active system there's compression and tension in the wood your cutting which can either bind up the blade or make the saw kick, or both. Have a plan for the thing you cut. Where will the fall, where will you be etc.
- imglorp 7y ago
  6) Trees store an amazing amount of potential energy, both from gravity and bent spring members. Logs seemingly safe on the ground can roll and crush you, falling trees can leap backwards at you from the cut or not hinge how you plan. Search "barber chair" and "widowmaker" accidents. All this with uncertain footing in brush and an angry saw in your tired hand. Be careful out there.
Endlessly 7y ago
(5) Pay trained professionals to do chainsaw work. If you don’t have the time to learn how to use a chainsaw professionally, don’t use it.
goldenkey 7y ago
You just convinced me not to use a chainsaw. Thank you for making me aware of the wound thing. I have heard that the sharper the blade, the cleaner the cut. I would imagine the reason for chainsaw sepsis would be due to being all greasy and blunt, compensated by motor power?
- foxhop 7y ago
  The chainsaw will cut and pulverized a 1 cm thick band out of the leg, compounded by a variable depth means it's not a normal cut, you have two ends that have a gap that doesn't easily mend back together and goes septic often requiring a separate surgery to remove the limb completely in a surgical setting.
JackFr 7y ago
> I strongly suggest that people using chainsaws wear some protective gear. Minimum - steel capped boots, safety glasses and mask and proper gloves. Best idea - proper chainsaw trousers. Ear protection too. Working with chainsaws (and similar equipment) all day long is not great for hearing in the long term (though admittedly less dramatic then slicing a toe off.)
- throwaway_pdp09 7y ago
  Well, TIL as the saying goes. I assumed chainsaw trousers were a kind of metal mail armour, but no. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chainsaw_safety_clothing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chainsaw_safety_clothing "The outermost layer [of chainsaw protective fabric] can be made both tough and slippery, to protect against minor damage which could compromise the filler material. Beneath this, long, loose fibres of polyester, Avertic, ballistic nylon or Kevlar are laid in layers. When a saw contacts the trousers, the outer layer is immediately cut through but the inner is drawn out and wraps around the saw's drive sprocket, locking it solid and halting the chain, limiting damage to the operator's leg"
  - jccooper 7y ago
    A video for the curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZWsv3Jp8Cs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZWsv3Jp8Cs
    - wool_gather 7y ago
      That's a pretty clever mechanism. Is it possible to clear all that stuff out, or is the saw completely sacrificed in the process of saving your leg?
      - throwaway_pdp09 7y ago
        Nah, follow wiki link, it tells you more "After stopping a saw, the damaged trousers must be scrapped, having done their job. The saw must be field-stripped to remove the fibres, and to allow it to run again."
cmrdporcupine 7y ago
+1, they are no joke. I was hoping to use my mandatory staycation time to get some chainsaw work done around my property (6 acres); unfortunately both need maintenenace work (bad carb, loose chain that won't tighten). I started doing repairs myself and then remembered: Should an injury happen I'd be a burden on the already taxed healthcare system. And so back into the garage the saws went, I'll do the work in the fall when I can get them into a repair shop ... That said, I can see/hear from my window that my next door neighbour (whose landscaping business is shut down because of COVID...) has a buddy over, cutting up old logs with a chainsaw, using their backhoe to move the logs around, not maintaining social distance... Hurray...
- hedora 7y ago
  We bought a high-end gas model and an eGo 14” for “light” work. Dozens of trees (and zero maintenance) later, the eGo has gone through everything we’ve thrown at it, and the gas model has never been fired up. The battery is usually going strong after we’re exhausted, and we have spares due to owning other eGo tools. Also, is is extremely quiet, and there’s no air pollution (other than aerosolized bar oil). I can’t recommend it highly enough.
  - cmrdporcupine 7y ago
    Yes at this point I'd love to sell my smaller Echo and replace with electric for lighter duty work. The larger is the one that needs carberator work. But none of this will happen until after the staycation is over
- noir_lord 7y ago
  > Should an injury happen I'd be a burden on the already taxed healthcare system. Same reason I'm using my motorcycle as sparingly as possible and for essential tasks only (running medication/food to my mum and friend who are both totally isolated). If I had a car I'd be using that, I don't go out with the expectation of an accident but shit does happen.
wodenokoto 7y ago
On reddits r/winstupidprizes, they often feature videos of chainsaw kick-backs. It is when the saw, instead of cutting, uses all the force in the chain to push back - it is very unnerving seeing this happen to people without gear, even if they are lucky and don't get hit. Kick-back is something that makes sense when you read about it, but you probably wouldn't think about if you just picked up a chainsaw.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- AuryGlenz 7y ago
  As far as I’m aware there isn’t really any equipment that’ll help with kickback, other than a built in kickback bar. A full face shield might help, I suppose. My dad had a coworker that had a kickback accident on the job. It apparently cut all the way to his carotid or jugular - as in, one more millimeter and he would have been a goner.
eitland 7y ago
Second this: I actually had forestry in school (went to farming school for 18 months). A mandatory part of the education was a video with reconstructions of some of the ways farmers get killed or injured, things like getting crushed by the tractor because the brakes didn't work or getting jammed in the winch while pulling logs. Close to where I grew up someone about the age of my dad nearly cut his left leg of, bit saved his life by getting into the tractor and IIRC using his right leg to handle the clutch so he could get the tractor running to get home to call for help (yep, no cell phones back then).

by sgt101 7y ago

gonzo41 7y ago

5) If you're cutting into tree that's an active system there's compression and tension in the wood your cutting which can either bind up the blade or make the saw kick, or both. Have a plan for the thing you cut. Where will the fall, where will you be etc.

imglorp 7y ago
6) Trees store an amazing amount of potential energy, both from gravity and bent spring members. Logs seemingly safe on the ground can roll and crush you, falling trees can leap backwards at you from the cut or not hinge how you plan. Search "barber chair" and "widowmaker" accidents. All this with uncertain footing in brush and an angry saw in your tired hand. Be careful out there.

Endlessly 7y ago

(5) Pay trained professionals to do chainsaw work. If you don’t have the time to learn how to use a chainsaw professionally, don’t use it.

goldenkey 7y ago

You just convinced me not to use a chainsaw. Thank you for making me aware of the wound thing. I have heard that the sharper the blade, the cleaner the cut. I would imagine the reason for chainsaw sepsis would be due to being all greasy and blunt, compensated by motor power?

foxhop 7y ago
The chainsaw will cut and pulverized a 1 cm thick band out of the leg, compounded by a variable depth means it's not a normal cut, you have two ends that have a gap that doesn't easily mend back together and goes septic often requiring a separate surgery to remove the limb completely in a surgical setting.

JackFr 7y ago

> I strongly suggest that people using chainsaws wear some protective gear. Minimum - steel capped boots, safety glasses and mask and proper gloves. Best idea - proper chainsaw trousers. Ear protection too. Working with chainsaws (and similar equipment) all day long is not great for hearing in the long term (though admittedly less dramatic then slicing a toe off.)

throwaway_pdp09 7y ago
Well, TIL as the saying goes. I assumed chainsaw trousers were a kind of metal mail armour, but no. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chainsaw_safety_clothing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chainsaw_safety_clothing "The outermost layer [of chainsaw protective fabric] can be made both tough and slippery, to protect against minor damage which could compromise the filler material. Beneath this, long, loose fibres of polyester, Avertic, ballistic nylon or Kevlar are laid in layers. When a saw contacts the trousers, the outer layer is immediately cut through but the inner is drawn out and wraps around the saw's drive sprocket, locking it solid and halting the chain, limiting damage to the operator's leg"
- jccooper 7y ago
  A video for the curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZWsv3Jp8Cs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZWsv3Jp8Cs
  - wool_gather 7y ago
    That's a pretty clever mechanism. Is it possible to clear all that stuff out, or is the saw completely sacrificed in the process of saving your leg?
    - throwaway_pdp09 7y ago
      Nah, follow wiki link, it tells you more "After stopping a saw, the damaged trousers must be scrapped, having done their job. The saw must be field-stripped to remove the fibres, and to allow it to run again."

cmrdporcupine 7y ago

+1, they are no joke. I was hoping to use my mandatory staycation time to get some chainsaw work done around my property (6 acres); unfortunately both need maintenenace work (bad carb, loose chain that won't tighten). I started doing repairs myself and then remembered: Should an injury happen I'd be a burden on the already taxed healthcare system. And so back into the garage the saws went, I'll do the work in the fall when I can get them into a repair shop ... That said, I can see/hear from my window that my next door neighbour (whose landscaping business is shut down because of COVID...) has a buddy over, cutting up old logs with a chainsaw, using their backhoe to move the logs around, not maintaining social distance... Hurray...

hedora 7y ago
We bought a high-end gas model and an eGo 14” for “light” work. Dozens of trees (and zero maintenance) later, the eGo has gone through everything we’ve thrown at it, and the gas model has never been fired up. The battery is usually going strong after we’re exhausted, and we have spares due to owning other eGo tools. Also, is is extremely quiet, and there’s no air pollution (other than aerosolized bar oil). I can’t recommend it highly enough.
- cmrdporcupine 7y ago
  Yes at this point I'd love to sell my smaller Echo and replace with electric for lighter duty work. The larger is the one that needs carberator work. But none of this will happen until after the staycation is over
noir_lord 7y ago
> Should an injury happen I'd be a burden on the already taxed healthcare system. Same reason I'm using my motorcycle as sparingly as possible and for essential tasks only (running medication/food to my mum and friend who are both totally isolated). If I had a car I'd be using that, I don't go out with the expectation of an accident but shit does happen.

wodenokoto 7y ago

On reddits r/winstupidprizes, they often feature videos of chainsaw kick-backs. It is when the saw, instead of cutting, uses all the force in the chain to push back - it is very unnerving seeing this happen to people without gear, even if they are lucky and don't get hit. Kick-back is something that makes sense when you read about it, but you probably wouldn't think about if you just picked up a chainsaw.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
AuryGlenz 7y ago
As far as I’m aware there isn’t really any equipment that’ll help with kickback, other than a built in kickback bar. A full face shield might help, I suppose. My dad had a coworker that had a kickback accident on the job. It apparently cut all the way to his carotid or jugular - as in, one more millimeter and he would have been a goner.

eitland 7y ago

Second this: I actually had forestry in school (went to farming school for 18 months). A mandatory part of the education was a video with reconstructions of some of the ways farmers get killed or injured, things like getting crushed by the tractor because the brakes didn't work or getting jammed in the winch while pulling logs. Close to where I grew up someone about the age of my dad nearly cut his left leg of, bit saved his life by getting into the tractor and IIRC using his right leg to handle the clutch so he could get the tractor running to get home to call for help (yep, no cell phones back then).