Is our job toxic to our lungs?
- Thread starter miko0618
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Yes. Yes.
40 plus years and I feel fine!
Jeff
It was a beautiful day!
Jeff
It was a beautiful day!
3jakes
ArboristSite Lurker
You are going to be ok because you are in PA.
Just don't do anything if you move to California.
Everything gives you cancer there.
michpatriot
ArboristSite Lurker
I read somewhere about rotting wood being cut and the dust from that was fatal..quickly! There was some microbe or mold in the rotten wood and it was extremely dangerous. The article said it was kinda common mold or microbe but airborne from cutting turned into dust and inhaled was the key.
For sure but sitting in a office all day is worse. When I raced MX had to work out several times a week and risk being killed every week but then sitting home eating pizza and drinking beer might shorten my life even more. Thanks
I'd rather die after a rich fulfilling life from 40 years of inhaling sawdust and exhaust than live to 150 and never accomplish anything of worth...
VERY few professions that aren't harmful to your health in some fashion...
I mean, be reasonable about the risks...don't huff the exhaust straight out of the saw, but hell if I'm going to cut all day with a gas mask on.
VERY few professions that aren't harmful to your health in some fashion...
I mean, be reasonable about the risks...don't huff the exhaust straight out of the saw, but hell if I'm going to cut all day with a gas mask on.
Piotr Pakula
ArboristSite Operative
Smoking and drinking is more harmful, who cares? Plus, you could be at risk of having an accident during this class more quickly than smoke and vibrations
None of us are getting out alive, none of us.
Enjoy the ride
Enjoy the ride
Chippy Chopper
ArboristSite Member
It's not that those people who don't smell sawdust actually live longer, it just seems like it. 
I am almost 70 and I have had many near death situations. I started cutting trees part time more than fifty years ago and started selling wood more than fifty years ago. For thirty years divided my time between cutting wood and laying asphalt products. So to relieve stress raced drag bikes and raced MX so can not think of any thing safer. After thirty years of racing and attending ten funerals a year being concerned about what and how I breath does not seem to be a very big priority. Thanks
I just thought of some real hazardous situations that could be a concern. Cutting certain kinds of Cedar will give you a big rash so make a point to use only high powered saws that get the job done quick. Then climb a big old Oak to find Pi$$ ants crawling out of ever crack possible. If that does not get your attention you are not likely from this galaxy. More than once have wanted to unbuckle my gear and jump so what if its fifty feet up. Thanks
Chipping mountains of dead beetle kill spruce on a hot summers day can make a guy want to hold his breath, or at least want a rainy day for a nasty chore like that. You can feel it in your teeth, so probably bad for the old windbags... part of the reason I started climbing. before this virus we had one feller that would start the day with a mask on (we are talking a cloud of bark dust that you cant see a yellow bandit 1590 inside of) but after 45 minutes it was hanging from his ear because you cant get enough air with them things on..
On the other hand, indoor air might not be visibly dirty but that does not mean it is good to breathe. All kinds of weird manmade building materials and once the black mold starts in the air handling system its all downhill from there. The year after I graduated high school the school district had to shut the building down and got their pants sued off from the black mold. There were classrooms in there where teachers were always sick and and even the A students got bad grades and headaches.
On the other hand, indoor air might not be visibly dirty but that does not mean it is good to breathe. All kinds of weird manmade building materials and once the black mold starts in the air handling system its all downhill from there. The year after I graduated high school the school district had to shut the building down and got their pants sued off from the black mold. There were classrooms in there where teachers were always sick and and even the A students got bad grades and headaches.
I cut mostly standing dead stuff.
It IS dangerous because a tree with no middle has no hinge and is halfway barberchaired before you start, and you can't always tell these trees by looking. The dust, however, has not proved suddenly fatal (so far!).
It IS dust when you cut punky stuff though- even a nice sharp chain can't cut chips off a sponge.
mike515
ArboristSite Operative
I'm fine after 30 years but after reading this....I feel like it's a good reason to raise prices just to be safe.
Just kidding.
Just kidding.
Couple years ago I had a new guy (go figure) running the chipper. I showed him how to run the chipper and had him stack a bunch of dead hemlock branches on the tailgate while I was cutting. When he started the chipping he would jump back and flail his arms like a girl over the dust, all high steppin it. Was hilarious. He’s like “is that safe!!?? I can’t believe you guys don’t wear masks or something”. I told him I’d never heard of such a thing, but I thought he’d be fine. I think I ended up getting rid of him the next day or so. Kid fancied himself a big deer Hunter too. Poor deer.
I dont know about any of you guys but limbing blue spruce is hard on my eyes and nasal passages. I dont worry about it and i agree that i am at a higher risk from injury. I did buy a bunch of battery saws last year that i really enjoy. Being a residential company, I dont think i am exposed to too much emissions. Yesterday, for example, we did a large oak. I used my battery saws and had it to a standing pole by 10 am. I drove the bucket back and grabbed my machine. Dropped the base and hauled the logs. That was about 8 cuts. It took me about 6 more cuts to get the stump prepped for grinding. I worked 13 hours and only did saw work intermittently for two of them. I do care about my health though. I guess its all relative.
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I figure the smoke from the fires is cumulatively worse on my body than anything the saw is putting out.
Another thing to think working on old logging lands is what compounds are you breathing in that were sprayed on trees in the same area, think herbicides, diesel fuels, heavy metals, etc... Those chips/fines and smoke are doubly dangerous.
I'd rather be doing this job than most others. Less stressful than farming or working in an office or warehouse.
Another thing to think working on old logging lands is what compounds are you breathing in that were sprayed on trees in the same area, think herbicides, diesel fuels, heavy metals, etc... Those chips/fines and smoke are doubly dangerous.
I'd rather be doing this job than most others. Less stressful than farming or working in an office or warehouse.
Battery saws? Please elaborate.
I've got the tiny battery operated Stihl, and it pretty much sucks for anything more than an occasional cut on a small branch. Really, it just has no stamina. I did use it once in a downtown landscape pruning, with one of the wealthiest men in town picking out each & every cut. He really liked the quiet saw.
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