How close have you come

[nyone]

I cut my pants once. Was half way though the pocket and stopped. That was years ago. Now i mostly just burn one tank of gas in the saw and thats about it forna few hours.

A simular thing i see with these injuries is over head cutting and/or being tired.

 

[Jstpssng]

I cut my pants once. Was half way though the pocket and stopped. That was years ago. Now i mostly just burn one tank of gas in the saw and thats about it forna few hours.

A simular thing i see with these injuries is over head cutting and/or being tired.

That's the underlying cause, anytime I do something stupid. You would think that I would learn.

 

[Molalla1]

Only happen to me once with a chainsaw, I did not have chaps on but did have the Carhart bibs (double knees) on . . . just skinned me . . . since that episode I always put the chaps on.

 

[yomax4]

Cut through my jeans but no skin. I was holding an 026 20" bar cutting overhead with one hand. The branch came down and pinched the bar just as it cut my pants. I have chaps now.

 

[CobyRupert]

20 years without chaps. Got chaps, within 3 week put a cut on them from holding saw vertical when chain was still spinning after cutting through a branch.

...however, had thick winter pants under chaps on, and I wonder if without extra thickness of chaps would I have even cut the chaps if I didn't have them on (Catch-22)?

 

[tractorshopper]

I usually limit myself to one tank of gas at a time, but have run through up to 3 tanks before. Haven't injured myself yet thank God. This thread is making me use my noggin though and remembering some stupid things I've done like standing on my tractor seat and reaching all the way up with one hand to cut back some higher limbs on our road instead of buying an pruning chain saw once my regular pruning saw broke a couple months ago. Thinking about counting on my strength to stop the saw with that one hand that is holding it after the branch falls with my only pre-thought being if it gets away from me to just kind of throw it and let it go is really stupid and I'm lucky I didn't have an issue last time.

I will go by a battery powered pruning chain saw before doing any of that again. Thanks.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I came about as close as you can come without injury with my chainsaw once. I cut a 4" long gash in my blue jeans but didn't scratch the skin. I had been using it so long cutting off low limbs that my arms just gave out. As I dropped the saw down from overhead, it was still turning a bit and just slashed the jeans. Lucky.


Another time I had the same close call with a pocket knife while working inside a cramped closet trying to clean off a copper pipe of some excess solder so I could re-solder the leaking joint at my sisters house. Not having the right tools for the job, I was trying to trim off a glob of lead solder using my pocket knife. The position required me to pull the knife toward me (I knew it wasn't a good idea to start with BUT) and when it finally cut thru the solder, my leg was in the line of fire.
Once again, it neatly sliced thru a new pair of pants but only scratched the skin without any bleeding. I did manage to finish the repair without hacking my leg off.

 

[orangeandgreen]

Up on a ladder, reaching around the tree to cut a limb and the limb kicked back and caught the ladder. Ladder went left, me and the saw went right. Was able to toss the saw away from me as I hit the ground.
That was the event that helped me decide I needed a pole saw.

 

[1930]

Thanks for the pics. OUCH is well an understatement.
Saved your image. Once house is built will print this and tape it to my tool board where reaching for the chain saw will be a visual reminder for me.
Can't thank you enough for that.
I do feel for your pain an injury because you described exactly how I've felt over the last two summers fatigued from cutting a total of about 80 hackberries. And yes the manly thing, just once more pass it's a small tree...lol...
For me the chain tip hit the stump/dirt but the kness was right there....whew....man....glad you are doing well.

You didnt read my post correctly. I didnt say ouch, I said Oouch. See the extra O

 

[fruitcakesa]

Up on a ladder, reaching around the tree to cut a limb and the limb kicked back and caught the ladder. Ladder went left, me and the saw went right. Was able to toss the saw away from me as I hit the ground.
That was the event that helped me decide I needed a pole saw.

My worst chainsaw run-in [yes, there was more than one over the years] was when I was up on a ladder cutting the log wall out of our home to install a pair of french doors when one leg of the ladder shifted on the uneven ground.
Down I went and was to slow to let go of the saw , which was still winding down, in my right hand and the blade hit the top of my left hand. Meat and blood but amazingly no tendon or bone damage.
Total operator error. Chaps would not have helped in this case.

 

[Jstpssng]

I don't run chainsaws on ladders for the reasons given above. Climbing into the tractor bucket may not be considered safe; but I prefer it over a ladder for that application.

 

[5030]

75 stitches for me first time when I owned my tree company. 2 years ago, 30 when I got stupid and in a hurry and didn't put on my chaps. I keep them real sharp so the 'incisions' are always clean. This last time, the ER doctor remarked how nice the incision was to which I said... That is 404 skip tooth chipper....

75 was a Stihl 075 with a 4 foot bar (back then no chain brake). They tend to spin down slowly. Never rest one against your leg.:thumbdown: **** near cut mine off.

 

[oosik]

Every spring I thin my stands of small pines. Usually 900 - 1200 small pines. Then drag to pile, then chip. I have two chainsaws - Stihl 180 & Stihl 280. I got the smaller one because it's lighter and much less likely to cut a gash in my work boots when my arms get tired.

I did gash my previous set of boots with the bigger chainsaw. Should have quit when I started to get tired. But we all know how it goes - just a few more and I will be done. The smaller saw just can't quite reach the toe of my boots. Fortunately - the only damage was the boot.

 

[Alan W.]

Limbing a poplar with my Jonsered 2035. Not paying attention, sound familiar, and failed to notice a limb held in tension by the one I was cutting. It broke loose and smacked my leg hard almost knocking me down. Said to myself that was stupid and went on cutting. Realized my foot was squishing when I took a step. The limb had knocked the saw into my leg also and with every heartbeat a stream shot out. Thats the problem with having nerve damage, I dont have a lot of feeling in my legs. I got chaps now.

 

[Molalla1]

Limbing a poplar with my Jonsered 2035. Not paying attention, sound familiar, and failed to notice a limb held in tension by the one I was cutting. It broke loose and smacked my leg hard almost knocking me down. Said to myself that was stupid and went on cutting. Realized my foot was squishing when I took a step. The limb had knocked the saw into my leg also and with every heartbeat a stream shot out. Thats the problem with having nerve damage, I dont have a lot of feeling in my legs. I got chaps now.

:thumbsup: . . . .

 

[inode]

Getting farm ready for sister-in-law's wedding years ago. Cutting a fallen pine tree (which I was sawing above my head). Fatigue set in and when I came down with saw, I didn't stop soon enough. Rotating chain caught the groin area of my double-layered pants. It cut through the first layer but not the second. The pants were cut right in the area of your femoral artery.

That was a wake up call to me. I told my in-law's that if I ever cut wood for them again, I'd be wearing chaps. I believe in chaps. I also believe in wearing full headgear now to reduce risk of injury to the head from kickback.

 

[Molalla1]

Getting farm ready for sister-in-law's wedding years ago. Cutting a fallen pine tree (which I was sawing above my head). Fatigue set in and when I came down with saw, I didn't stop soon enough. Rotating chain caught the groin area of my double-layered pants. It cut through the first layer but not the second. The pants were cut right in the area of your femoral artery.

That was a wake up call to me. I told my in-law's that if I ever cut wood for them again, I'd be wearing chaps. I believe in chaps. I also believe in wearing full headgear now to reduce risk of injury to the head from kickback.

And another :thumbsup: inode . . .

 

[wheelbuilder]

I run a saw for my firewood, 4-5 cords a year. I use chaps and headgear, they cost less than my ER co-pay. I probably used a saw for 15 years before I bought safety equipment other than gloves. I believe I've been lucky.
I have cut myself with a bowsaw more times than I'd like to admit. Maybe I tend to use that in places I won't run a chainsaw ? (Like standing on a ladder)

 

[10backacres]

Here's a good safety video link feller died. Tree Barberchairs, Then Strikes Worker - YouTube

I learned the hard way pushing an alder with loader bucket.... top snapped, sent me to hospital with broken eye socket bone...not a scratch on the old mf 135. I do things slower now and think about safety what if's
Be safe sometimes you don't get to make a second mistake

 

[joeyd]

I've been meaning to buy a set of chaps after reading some of these posts a couple of months back. Never got around to it. Well I got dinged this past weekend after 20+ years using my saws. I was just about done cutting, and I was getting a bit tired. But I figured I'd finish brushing out a tree on the ground and during that process I allowed the saw drop further than normal, without noticing. As the chain was slowing down it ticked my kneecap, and just above the knee. And luckily it was slow enough that I could patch it up myself. I'm sure the chain bit the loose jeans and pulled the saw to the knee and cut me. By the time I set the saw down, it was out of fuel. I was literally seconds seconds from the saw running out of fuel!! I'm going to hang those pants in the pole barn as my reminder to ALWAYS wear chaps from this point forward. I feel very lucky to have gotten off so easily. View attachment 627521

That's about what my leg looked like but it was below my knee and on the outside of my leg. It was just a snag on my work pants so I didn't think anything about it other than I was lucky. A few minutes later I wondered why my sock felt "squishy". Bought chaps the next day after 6 stitches and use them even if I'm just making a single cut.