Chainsaw safety

I use chainsaws in my job as a forester/tree surgeon.Please any of you out there that wish to use a saw on the allotment use protective clothing and footwear,i saw the results of an amateur user without either today,horrendous injuries to foot and legs, even better do not use them unless you really have to.

Any recommendations on what to look for Teabag ? I use a lekky one regularly, and could probably do with upping my protection.

It's ok, I'll have to go look see. But I was just looking at flea-bay for some trousers and they all quoting class whatever and a chain speed.

A very timely reminder, Teabag. At this time of year, and perhaps with more people using saws to provide some extra heat in their homes due to the cost of electricity/gas, it's very important to make sure we use the correct personal protective equipment (PPE)
when taking my chainsaw certificates, part of the course was to look at photos of some of the injuries after the 1987 hurricane.
Yuk....... :shock:
and for that reason alone, I always use the correct PPE when sawing wood at home...... :shock:

just a quick one of me,I have worked on 1000000s of building sites and chemical plants ,factorys etc so you can imagine the amount of safety inductions that i have sat through,but one always sticks in my head,it was on a shell site,and the safety rep produced some rather graphic pics of this poor chap with half his face missing.he was using a 9" grinder on some metal pipe,wearing all his PPE as he should,but the nylon toggles from his hood on his coat were dangling down and came into contact with the grinder,i think you can imgine what happened,so a lot of sites now insist that the nylon toggle pull cords from clothing are removed.

I use chainsaws in my job as a forester/tree surgeon.Please any of you out there that wish to use a saw on the allotment use protective clothing and footwear,i saw the results of an amateur user without either today,horrendous injuries to foot and legs, even better do not use them unless you really have to.

AGREED from this end .I`m a professional  tree surgeon with the local council . whilst a 5 day basic chainsaw course (may give you the basics) .twenty yrs later ,difficult surgery work still makes me sit back and think 4 a while.I have seen some terrible chainsaw injuries from loosing a foot ,an arm below the elbow and a death with a massive facial trauma , all trained people with the reccommend hse PPE.

I was on the verge of buying an extension for my ryobi hedge trimmer / expandit - the one with the 10 inch chainsaw blade on the end of the pole, so it is a fair distance from you.
It was in Dobbies, and I'd seen something on telly saying, its a safe distance from you so there's added safety yah-de-yah-da-yada.
Store was about to close, this man and his wife walk past and he picks up a nearby chainsaw and starts check it out.
Turns to me to chat, looking at what I was sizing up and talked me through (in a thick Fife/Scots accent) all the safety aspects of a chainsaw, -chain snapping, proper chainmail glove, boots, the dangers of working with the blade and the chainsaw held up high, chances of hitting a knot and the saw jumping, unbalancing you, hitting your face, leg etc...

said the problem with somewhere like Dobbies is that they mightn't check that you can use it, talk through its features.  You could just walk up to the check out, pay for it and away you go, none-the-wiser of any of the risks.

He then brought me over to the bow-saws just to show me them and talk me through them, its shaped, if it does actually jump that the bar will hit your face before the blade does, how easy it is to sharpen them....

and then said, "Twelve quid for that... dinnae buy it here, go 'way to yer iron mongers an' person one there at half the price.   There good exercise too by the way..."


I got a bow-saw.

I thought that I needed a chainsaw (I was clearing a large overgrown plot with rampant elder and neglected trees in it etc).   I didn't.  Bow-saw did the trick with a bit of elbow grease.
I'd like to meet the guy again and thank him.

When I worked for H. M. Forestry Commission it was before chainsaws were commonly available and we used Bow saws for felling up to 12" diameter tree trunks. over that they used used Cross Cut saws or the latter part of the time, the new Chainsaws. As I was a nursery worker I didn't get to use a Chainsaw.

If you are cutting logs and want make sure the logs don't slip, use this :- http://erowell.co.uk/Gardening/Firewood.html