Chainsaw users---tell the truth.....

Joe_W · Feb 21, 2002

It all boils down to what price do you put on your body parts. I enjoy all the parts I have and plan on keeping them as long as possible. I wear chaps, helmet (w/mesh face shield and ear muffs), safety glasses (prescription), gloves, and steel toed boots. If you add them all up, I will guarantee that the loss of any body part, or even damaging a body part will far exceed the cost of safety equipment.

You pays your money or you takes your chances.

Joe W.

beenthere · Feb 21, 2002

I can only speak from experience with my ol 1975 Farm Boss Stihl. It has idled perfectly (knock on wood) for 27+ years (meaning when I want it to idle!)/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. I do recall being interested in buying a smaller Stihl for limbing, and was told by my dealer that I would not get the rock solid, no fuss results from a smaller saw, and would have to be adjusting it more often. Maybe that is what is happening here, as the Husky saw should be a pretty solid saw. The puzzling thing is that the dealer 'doesn't know' how to fix it.

Solo · Feb 21, 2002

Hardhat-yes
Face shield-yes
Safety glasses-yes
Steel toed boots-all the time
Hearing protection-no can't hear very well any way
Chaps-no, need to get some.
Leather gloves-yes
One thing I always have to is my cell phone too. I work by myself, which is not a good thing to do either.
Darube, I don't think being a newbie will make you a statistic, my granddad was a logger for many years, during the depression and WWII, he was killed in the woods by a falling limb, broke his neck. Both granddads were loggers and both could drop a tree better with an axe than I can with a chainsaw.
Solo

Bigfinn · Feb 21, 2002

Chaps are a must. The kind I use are extremely hot in summer as they are 9 layers of polyester (quickly snarls and stops chain) but worth the protection. I'll never forget what my dad told me when he was teaching me about using a chainsaw--"you can cut a leg off so quick you won't notice it until you are on the ground trying to figure out why you fell down".

frank_f15 · Feb 21, 2002

ONLY USE MY CHAIN SAW 1 OR 2 TIMES A YEAR. just to clear stuff that has fallen. but always use , eye protection, steel toe boots,and ear protection.i should use all types of safety gear but when i just fire it up to make one or two cuts i don't/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gifany body using a chain saw for only a few min. SHOULD load up with safety gear, but anybody using one for an extened time MUST make sure that they do.

Anonymous Poster · Feb 21, 2002

I will be honest, I use to wear none of these. Now the one thing I make sure I have is eye protection and often gloves. The biggest caution I have learned is to be alert, hold on to the saw like a rattlesnake and always know where your feet are and where they are going. The comment made about not sawing when tired or 100% goes a long way with me./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

glennmac · Feb 21, 2002

beenthere, I don't know if there is a connection, but I bought the saw from the local John Deere dealer. Maybe I should stop wearing my Kubota hat into his store...... He doesnt know much about the tractors he tries to sell either. He's probably too busy attending his state-wide price fixing meetings to learn about his products.......Egon, you are right! I probably don't have the right screwdriver. Then there is that weird little special chain saw tool which disappears immediately. The genius dealer first told me that the chain spun at idle because the chain was too tight or too loose, I forget which. He pointed to a little unmarked screw hole to adjust the chain. Well, I dont know what that screw hole does, but it doesnt do much to the chain. I found out you have to untighten the bolts on the thing just to loosen the chain (which seems to stretch or change lengths, magically and randomly, all the time). Then you need the weird tool to untighten the bolts. But the tool has been lost, of course. Back to the genius dealer who charges me $7.50 for another weird tool. Later, I see the same tool in the Baileys catalog for about $3.50. I also see the chainsaw, the hardhat and chaps much cheaper than what I paid the Deere dealer........ My conclusion is don't buy nontractor items from a Deere dealer. Everything is wildly overpriced........

Tom_Trees · Feb 21, 2002

OK, despite the name I use here, I don't slice & dice that much. If it's over 6" in diameter, I'll let someone else knock it down. I've got a little Sears (Poulan?) 14-inch I use on downed limbs and trees.

Having said that -- Goggles always; I wear eyeglasses, but the goggles keep the crap from coming in on the top and sides. Gloves (leather) not for saw protection, but for general hand protection from the rest of the environment. Ear protection -- always. And if it's only one or two cuts -- just the gloves and the goggles and the bowsaw. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

I've started wearing steel-toed boots (Wolverines) (the dress code at the office has loosened up quite a bit -- they're now my primary shoe). And I'm about to order the chaps and full-face screen with hardhat from Baileys after reading some of the other threads here.

You've only got one body, and current transplant technology leaves a LOT to be desired!

Tom

genelp · Feb 21, 2002

I always wear safety glasses when using the chainsaw and when using my woodworking equipment. I'll be honest and admit that I've had my saw for years and have never worn chaps even though I nicked my leg once. After reading everyone's posts I decided that chaps are on my shopping list. As for hearing protection I wear hearing aids and want to keep what little hearing I have left, so I wear hearing protection when using any kind of power equipment and wear double protection (plugs and muffs) when shooting. I cringe when I see someone use power equipment without hearing protection.

Gene