Chain saw safety

[JDgreen227]

My favorite book of all time, "House" authored by Tracy Kidder, has this statement: "Protection has it's limits, anyway. Some accidents seem unavoidable. Cut enough wood with power tools and sooner or later you're bound to make a mistake. You climb up enough roofs, you have to run afoul of gravity sometime".....I disagree....have been using power tools and climbing up on roofs and doing all sorts of dangerous things for over 40 years but have never had an injury from being careless.

 

[cqaigy2]

My favorite book of all time, "House" authored by Tracy Kidder, has this statement: "Protection has it's limits, anyway. Some accidents seem unavoidable. Cut enough wood with power tools and sooner or later you're bound to make a mistake. You climb up enough roofs, you have to run afoul of gravity sometime".....I disagree....have been using power tools and climbing up on roofs and doing all sorts of dangerous things for over 40 years but have never had an injury from being careless.

but have never had an injury from being careless. That's a telling statement. I've been injured from being careless and from others being careless. Fortunately, not seriously.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

My Stihl Brushsaw is far more scary than my Stihl chainsaw. The Brushsaw cuts through 3" material instantly.

Ten years ago I did cut my leg with a chainsaw. It was minor but reminds me to use extra care when making plunge cuts with a long bar.

 

[dave1949]

My Stihl Brushsaw is far more scary than my Stihl chainsaw. The Brushsaw cuts through 3" material instantly.

Ten years ago I did cut my leg with a chainsaw. It was minor but reminds me to use extra care when making plunge cuts with a long bar.

Those brush saw blades do suck themselves into the wood.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I have a Stihl brush saw and actually consider it a lot safer for the operator than a chainsaw. As long as I am wearing the shoulder strap, there is no way for the brush saw blade to reach any part of my body, whereas the chainsaw can all too easily. Having said that, I would not want to operate the brush saw with anybody else nearby.
Bob

 

[Threepoint]

My favorite book of all time, "House" authored by Tracy Kidder, has this statement: "Protection has it's limits, anyway. Some accidents seem unavoidable. Cut enough wood with power tools and sooner or later you're bound to make a mistake. You climb up enough roofs, you have to run afoul of gravity sometime".....I disagree....have been using power tools and climbing up on roofs and doing all sorts of dangerous things for over 40 years but have never had an injury from being careless.

My experience has been much the same, as far as serious injury goes. But I also believe in the law of averages, and as I get older, the chances increase. I find myself concentrating even harder, and using safety equipment much more.

 

[Loadstar]

I have a Stihl brush saw and actually consider it a lot safer for the operator than a chainsaw. As long as I am wearing the shoulder strap, there is no way for the brush saw blade to reach any part of my body, whereas the chainsaw can all too easily. Having said that, I would not want to operate the brush saw with anybody else nearby.
Bob

I tend to agree. You do not have to get in close and personal to a mess of brush you are working with. Often vines and such are spring loaded or suspending dead material. I use it to clear a safe path for the chainsaw.

 

[JDgreen227]

My experience has been much the same, as far as serious injury goes. But I also believe in the law of averages, and as I get older, the chances increase. I find myself concentrating even harder, and using safety equipment much more.

Well...two of my former BIL's both have partial missing digits and one of them has that on both hands. I truthfully don't know what the (bleep) is the matter with people like them...unlucky, or just careless?

Back when I was working, there was this huge safety poster hanging up, it showed a guy in a field with a red bandanna in a rear pocket bending over to pick something up, and in the background was a huge, nasty looking bull giving him the evil eye. The slogan on the banner read: "Accidents don't just happen, they are CAUSED"

 

[downsizingnow48]

I agree with JD and Threepoint. Serious accidents are almost always preventable. Near-accidents are a lot more common. I've seen guys have a near-accident and say, well that turned out OK, and do it the same way next time. There are others who say, geez that was stupid, and do it more careful next time. Never occurred to me to buy chainsaw chaps, for instance. But after reading this thread will get some before I start thinning out about 30 8" redwoods and pines.

 

[dave1949]

I think safety equipment is not a replacement for being careful and attentive. Protective gear and attention are not equivalent items. I view safety equipment as a sort of backup to being careful; it won't save a person from every possibility.

I believe the issue is no one can guarantee that they will always be 100% careful and attentive. Also some equipment malfunction or failure, or tree condition is wholly unpredictable--as are the results. As they say in the investing world, past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

When all is said and done, a pair of shredded chaps is cheaper than a bunch of stitches or permanent damage, hurts less too. If you shred a leg muscle, then contract flesh-eating bacteria or some other nasty bug in the hospital, then lose your leg to amputation, you would feel pretty stupid for not wearing chaps I think. The cost-benefit analysis is very heavily weighted toward gearing up.