A neighbor is having three oaks taken down, nothing wrong with them, just says she's afraid one will fall on house. These are willow oak, they're about 30" DBH. Tree service showed yesterday and I am getting worthy limbs and some chunks he doesn't want. Unusually (around here), he is taking the trunks to take to a crosstie mill. Good for him on that. Anyway, watched this guy work, he and his dad. He's in the bucket / in the tree. Dad is on ground. Neither has any safety equipment. Tall bucket/chipper truck, chipper, bobcat with grapple, trailer. A pro. This amazed me... no safety glasses, no hardhat/helmet, no hearing protection, no chaps, no serious boots, no chainsaw gloves. Up in that bucket, cutting all the limbs out, one limb goes the wrong way and strikes another unexpected limb and whammo to the head, he could be dead. Not to mention... do you care about eyesight, young man? (About 45 years old.) Limbs can poke your eye out not to mention every single time they push a limb into the chipper, big chips fly everywhere. Not all in the truck! Says he's been doing this his whole life. Dad didn't teach him very well. Dad is 70, is pretty slow but still working. And has both eyes and no hearing aids, lol. Very nice people but sheesh, very surprised!
I've seen plenty of tree guys not wearing proper safety gear. Years ago at my old house, well before I got into hoarding firewood and burning we had a big oak taken down in our yard. I'll never forget the guy climbing the tree with his big spikes and watching him drop limbs. At one point and this visual of him is etched into my memory, he was standing with his spikes dug in, laying into a big ole limb, chainsaw cutting away in one hand while the other hand held a cigarette. He'd just stand there taking puffs like not a care in the world, relaxed as can be, almost resting while chips were flying all over........he made it look like it was so easy.
His hearing is gone. That’s why he didn’t have hearing aids in. He takes out hearing aids like we put on hearing protection.
you would think the dad with hearing aids would say. "hey protect your hearing" or "don't make the same mistake" I've heard that many times from ppl with hearing aids.
About 20 years ago one of the pros in my town was cutting in a bucket. No harness. Branch hit the bucket and shot him out like an arrow. 40 feet straight down. Word is he broke every bone in his body. He lived, recovered and eventually got back in the business. Killed himself about a month ago. No one really knows why. Wife isn’t saying anyway. My guess would be the daily pain or he got cancer from the injuries. One thing I never knew was traumatic injuries to the body can easily cause cancer further down the road. Lost a good friend that way.
Just think. Before OSHA, very, very few people had protection. Probably not many on this forum remember when (GASP) chain saws did not have brakes on them!!!! OMG! How did we survive? But wait! This gets worse! Whatever did folks do before chaps were invented?! Do any old loggers still have legs? I'm not trying to be sarcastic but just let folks know all these things were not always available and most folks got along just fine. Yes, I'm one of those old folks. Why, we even used buzz saws without any guards on the saw! But what I'm really getting at is that I do not understand why folk make a thread about safety or someone not using the same safety things you are. If they choose to do so they are comfortable with it but may not be stupid like so many make them out to be. In fact, some of the best I know don't wear chaps and don't wear special gear like saw gloves and boots, etc. Leave them be. Do things your way but don't run down others who do those things a little differently. Sorry if I offended anyone as that is not my intention at all.
Oh hell, one of my 550’s doesn’t have a brake. Never figured out how to put it back on. Overrated. My buzzsaw is old enough it never had safety guards. Nice canvas belt spinning right in front of your face. It works, just don’t fall asleep while using it. I did wear chaps for the first time today. Birthday present,,,otherwise. What I really want is one of those antique black powder log splitters. Now that would make a fun day. Let me add tho. If I was going up in a bucket I would want a lanyard. I’ve spent countless hours in OSHA safety meetings. Most of it’s common sense. Don’t fall off a ladder 100 times on the blackboard.
Yes, but know that not using hearing protection while running a saw WILL (not might) cause hearing loss. It is a choice, please be smart and make the right one. Glasses are important as well, the risk is too high to go without them. Please, for your loved ones, if not for yourself.
I’ve been there, running the old, unshielded equipment. However, I think the more appropriate comparison is not the ones who came through unscathed, but those who didn’t.
Growing up, we were all wanting to be Superman, and we thought we were. We're invincible, bulletproof and have lightning fast reflexes. When products are developed for our use that can help you take a chain to the leg, then post a quick "whew", on the internet, we refuse to use them. Same with eye pro, ear pro and hardhats. When I run a saw, it's eyes, ears and chaps...everytime. If I am in the woods, the helmet goes on too. I rarely shoot at a public range where I don't know other people that I invite. After an experience a few years ago, if I need to go to the Conservation Club range (usually due to the ground being way to wet at my place), and other people show up, I throw on a vest. When I ran a suface grinder in the toolroom back in my machining days, I put a face shield on over my Z87 eye pro. Why? Because shortly after graduating high school I was Superman and didn't think this little sticker applied to me: Decades later and I'm still dealing with the consequences. Pic's below are from the past year. The pics above are the good leg. Here is the knee of the hip disarticulated prosthetic on the right. Let me assure you, just because they use the term "Bionic", you don't get performance that is better than the "Genuine G.M. parts". A $2.00 pair of Z87 eye pro, 1.00 pair of ear plugs and a 150.00 pair of chaps, along with the associated discomfort while wearing them, is a small price to pay ,if and when, things go south.
I've always said that complacency is our worst enemy, when it comes to operating any type of powered equipment. I always send a "safety first" message to anyone I've worked with, who was new to running tools that "could" hurt them (or worse). That doesn't mean I haven't ever run saws without protective gear... I have... and I bet most experienced wood cutters would admit the same. And, that's where complacency comes into the picture, along with luck. Both good and bad. In the end, it's personal choice. Add a little protective gear to the mix, or not. In my world, chit happens, so I need all the help I can get...
My neighbor had a tree service cut down a bunch of trees 2 years ago. The head guy that did the climbing had all the usual safety gear. The rest of the crew, who used a bucket truck, plus fell and bucked a few trees along my driveway, had zero safety gear. I asked one of them about hearing protection and he said it makes it too hard for them to communicate. I also put on my gear and used my saw and wedges to buck a large alder in my driveway after one of the pros repeatedly got his bar pinched and stuck.
