I'm going to help remove a tree that is growing out of the shoreline right beside a dock my son shares with his FIL. I have a couple of safety related questions: Is it okay to immerse a set of chaps (Labonville)? What should I do with them afterwards? Any safety recommendations for working at the waterline? I will probably be standing in hip deep water at times.
Not sure about the chaps - good question. You won't be able to move very fast in hip deep water, and it's easy to trip or slip on rocks you can't see. Toss the saw towards shore if you do! Not exactly safety related, but I've heard guys will use veg oil instead of bar oil when working over/in water.
Wood floats, so perhaps you could float your tree to a safer place once you've felled it? Alternatively, could you try to get the tree to fall on dry land?
I would not be concerned about the chaps in water nor would I be concerned about the saw....but would do my level best to keep the saw out of the water. No worry about the bar and chain. Usually when folks talk about using something other than bar oil when working in water or ice, it is because they don't want the oil in the water or ice. It won't hurt the bar or chain. As Shawn stated, be careful you don't slip or trip while in that water. Will you be wearing a bathing suit under the chaps?
I just read this so I'm late with info. 1.I always know how I'm going to cut the tree (downed for me) before I go in the brook. 2.Make sure you know where the rocks are if you're cutting a downed tree in the water. 3. Make sure of your footing before each cut. 4. I always use Canola Oil for my bar oil 5. I have a second set of chaps for working in the brook. 6. After cutting in the water, your saw feels like it lost compression, take it to the bank so it can dry out, grab saw number 2. 7. Always have another person with you and also have your cell phone ready. 8.We use cables and winches to get the wood out of the brook.
A dry pair of boots and socks might be good also. Read the care label on your chaps to see if you can mess them up. Wearing them in the water isn't much different than washing them. Although you probably aren't going to ride out the spin cycle.
Gotta give you credit. Not sure I would have tackled that kind of tree cutting job. Hoping you took some pictures.
We've pulled our share of trees out of the brook in chest high water, waist deep water and ankle deep water. The brook is real rocky so getting your footing set before cutting is my number one priority.
Thanks for all the good advice. It turned out that I was able to use the bow saw for all the work. the two semi-submerged logs were about 12" and 16" in diameter, but were a little soft from waterlog. We didn't cut the main tree but I did do some major pruning. The most danger there was the climb but all is well. Sorry Woodchuck, didn't think of it at the time.
Here you go Steve , you can get some practice on this! The water in that area is about 4-5 feet, maybe less, so the limbing up of the tree should be easy but getting the big azz logs out would be tough.
