Call me a Moron!!!

[alanarbor]

I always thought that the States was light years ahead of Australia in this industry,

Not in safety standards. Or I should say in enforcement of those standards.

 

[gitrdun_climbr]

Exactly alanarbor, both standards and enforcement in the US are maybe less strict, so many tree serviceman start to lose the ppe when it gets really hot out and such. Most companies I've seen won't tolorate it, a few seem fine with it in low-profile locales. OSHA will definitely fine for it but I don't think they're going to strip a company of their license for that. I'm not 100% sure because I always where my chaps when climbing/cutting or bucking but I think only groundies are required to wear chaps here and climbers aren't. Virtually everyone has slipped a little here or there on the ppe (Aussie, American or otherwise) but I agree the gear should be used to reduce our exposure to bodily damage, a no-brainer. Seattle area tree services seem pretty good about it but there will always be your landscaper 30' up on a ladder with cigarette pursed between his lips as he holds the running saw in one hand and the branch he's cutting/supporting himself with in the other

Since we're on the subject, anyone got any good tips for keeping the glasses from fogging up?

 

[MS TreeMonkey]

Calm Down!!!

Hey, let's remember when i started this thread, my point was that this was the first tree i had ever sectioned down. I was running off of pure nerves and adrenaline and trying to work too fast - not a good combination for a rookie. I've learned that it's much better to sit there for a few minutes to re-energize and think about your next cut than to just start hacking in a hurry. As for the chainsaw chaps - i still don't wear them. When it's 97 degrees and 92% humidity - it's all i can do to stay hydrated. I don't need a pair of chainsaw chaps getting hung on every branch and twig on the way up a tree. All that does is piss me off. I know i'm gonna catch a lot of flack for that statement - but it's true. I would rather spend an extra 15 minutes in a tree being extremely careful than putting on a pair of hot, sticky, tree tanglin' chaps and hackin' away. Go ahead, tear me apart, say i'm stupid, i'll let it roll off my back along with the other 2lbs of sweat i lose everyday! I'm not trying to be a jackass, i just don't see where it would end if you insist on climbers wearing chaps. What about cutproof gloves... and forearm guards... and a neck protector in case the saw kicks back in a funny way! How about a $50 fine if you take your safety glasses off - even if it's just to wipe the sweat away!

My gear consists of a pair of good leather gloves (usually a new pair every 3 or 4 jobs), a pair of thick, Dickies carpenter jeans, my Red Dawg climbin' boots, usually a short sleeve buttonup shirt, safety sunglasses and a yellow lineman helmet.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

BTW, TreeMonkey, okay....


You're a moron!


There. Happy now?






Well, you DID ask for that, didn't you?

 

[diltree]

Monkey....what good climber wears chaps while climbing???? I will be honest with you ; I wear shorts when its anything over 70 degrees and I love It!!!



www.dillontree.com

 

[clearance]

Monkey....what good climber wears chaps while climbing???? I will be honest with you ; I wear shorts when its anything over 70 degrees and I love It!!!



www.dillontree.com

Unfortunately I have to wear saw pants at my job, I always climbed in jeans before, never shorts. Its not that bad, getting used to it, no need to wear saw pants climbing, if you get cut it will be somewhere on your upper body. I always wear saw pants or chaps on the ground, thats where they should be worn.

 

[gitrdun_climbr]

Chapless in MS

MS treemonkey climbing and cutting is serious business...you posted an ad about cutting your knee open with a chainsaw, of course chaps are going to be mentioned. A self-proclaimed rookie should use this resource of information productively and not get so flustered by it. That doesn't mean follow everything everyone else says but do pay attention and compare notes and learn from some of these arborists who have been around a while.

Personally I choose to wear chaps in the tree because it's cooler here in Seattle (usually) and the heat/sweat factor is the only drawback I find in chaps. IMO they don't feel 'sticky' or 'tree-tanglin' in fact I forget they're there for the most part. I could count on one hand the number of times they've tangled in a tree branch. One thing I like about them is the added layer of protection from the elements protecting my legs (sharp branches, insects, my boney shins and knees vs. hard wood, etc.. I know it's hot down there though. I was recently in Biloxi/Gulfport area removing trees from structures for Hands on USA (www.handsonusa.org). The humidity you work in down there is crazy.

I think you were right on when you said 'hackin' in a hurry' was one problem. Probably the main problem. Hope your knee is good!

 

[MS TreeMonkey]

Thanks!!!

First of all gitrdun, thank you for coming down and helping the folks on the coast! Many people across the country - i don't think - realized just how bad it got down there.

The tanglin' part i was referring to primarily relates to the sweet gums and hackberries that are so popular to take out down here. They've got zillions of branches that snag my chaps and it drives me crazy! I understand what you're saying, though --- and i'll quit :deadhorse:

Diltree, i'll have to stick with clearance - no shorts for me!!! Well, we'll have to wait until August and September gets here - those are our hottest months!

 

[MrRecurve]

Unfortunately I have to wear saw pants at my job, I always climbed in jeans before, never shorts. Its not that bad, getting used to it, no need to wear saw pants climbing, if you get cut it will be somewhere on your upper body. I always wear saw pants or chaps on the ground, thats where they should be worn.

Well this example certainly doesnt agree with your opinion. Chainsaw pants should be worn whenever and wherever the saw is being operated.

 

[trevmcrev]

Yes chaps get tangled, but the latest summerweight chainsaw trousers are pretty comfy. Here in Australia it gets real hot too but Melbourne isnt real humid. Here its just a given that if you use a saw you wear the pants, even for climbers. Clearance, you may not feel too at risk of cutting you leg doing your sort of work, bombing out big tops etc, but doing lots of fine cutting in all sorts of odd positions doing crown cleaning/reduction type work you do often make cuts near your legs and its worth being protected there IMO.

I also like the extra padding on the front of my legs for leaning a knee on a branch etc.

Try it, you do get used to them. If you start off in them in the winter youll be used to it by summer and wont go back.

I almost feel nude without them!!!

Trev

 

[gitrdun_climbr]

Clearance what makes you think your legs aren't at risk of getting cut when running a saw in a tree? That was interesting seeing that this thread is about a guy who almost cut his kneecap off...while in a tree!

I don't know how many times I've had that 200T full throttle only inches from my legs. My good friend cut himself up the back of one of his legs when his saw kicked (many years ago)...27 stitches.

You may have people in this forum who are on the fence with the issue and here you are telling them their legs aren't at risk when in a tree so don't bother with the ppe (hey, that rhymed). Last time I remembered gravity pulls down but correct me if I'm wrong.

Whether they should be mandatory or not I don't know. Probably with the heat and such they shouldn't but that's a government thing. I wear em cause I care about my body. Life would suck with no kneecap!

 

[clearance]

It would take a lot of effort to cut your kneecap off with an 020, think about it. I would like to hear the stats on where people get cut climbing, if that stat came out there would be pressure to climb with saw protection on your arms and hands, cause thats where it happens, almost all the time. Feel like wearing some heavy, hot shirt and gloves, or would you rather climb in a t-shirt and be carefull? Risks have to be quantified, is it likely or not, and are the benefits worth it, not mindless fear. Trev, I climb with fallers pants all the time now cause I sub for a logging outfit, thier guys wear them, but they run 066 saws on the ground, where saw pants really belong.

 

[gitrdun_climbr]

opcorn:
The kneecap thing wasn't meant to be taken literally but severing an artery or slashing through tendon isn't so beond the realm of possibility. I totally agree that risk needs to be quantified and that less ppe and more care is one way to stay safe in the tree. Somehow that reminds me of growing up never wearing safety glasses running a weedwhipper until finally just last year, at 32 I got hit so hard in the eye with a seed I wished I had lost it! I've only been climbing a few years now and started out wearing all that ppe in the tree cause I knew I needed all the protection I could get short of a teflon chest protector and groin cup...I was inexperienced and I knew it. The saw pants thing just always stayed with me cause I got used to them, that's all. In my quantification I factor in that only a few days out of the year does it get hot enough here to worry about the layers; they're light and protective and help keep pitch, rain, etc. off my legs; that 046 mag gets heavy when bombing large chunks so I like that orange landing pad in my lap should things get ugly:O I'll shut up about chaps now, I don't want to be known as some chaps-spokesman or something!

 

[clearance]

Git, I understand, don't get me wrong, I wear a hard hat with a screen and muffs, boots, always have a whistle and pressure bandage on me. The only time I don't like to wear leg protection is in a tree.

 

[a_lopa]

i strongly disagree with you on this issue clearance,whos going to put the bandage on when your 80' up?no-one your another stat in the tree climbers dead book.ive held a bandage to a saw cut(not mine) to a leg cut it just missed the main arterie.trust me youl be dead before you could apply it if you did hit that arterie.as ive said theres main arteries in your legs have a think about it,i guess you wont thou.

 

[Ekka]

but doing lots of fine cutting in all sorts of odd positions doing crown cleaning/reduction type work you do often make cuts near your legs and its worth being protected there IMO.

I also like the extra padding on the front of my legs for leaning a knee on a branch etc.

Trev

Can you please explain what sort of pruning you do down thatta ways, what sort of trees etc.

Just interested.

Oh, who'd wear shorts in this job?

 

[Ekka]

I just wear long dacks but I do have some nice stihl chainsaw dacks, they're around $200 a throw here and for that I can get 6 pair of these other dacks.

I haven't really cut myself on the leg but know plenty who have.

There's no argument that having the pants on is safer but I dont, I suppose one day the regs will force us to.

 

[gitrdun_climbr]

I sure hope not. I've come to agree it should be a personal choice as well. Given the various conditions arborists have to work in there has to be wiggle room for those working in extremely hot and humid weather and such.

For those in good conditions who still don't, good luck with that.

 

[clearance]

i strongly disagree with you on this issue clearance,whos going to put the bandage on when your 80' up?no-one your another stat in the tree climbers dead book.ive held a bandage to a saw cut(not mine) to a leg cut it just missed the main arterie.trust me youl be dead before you could apply it if you did hit that arterie.as ive said theres main arteries in your legs have a think about it,i guess you wont thou.

Who? me thats who, I have a pressure bandage on me at all times. The main artery in your leg, the femoral, is pretty hard to hit climbing.

 

[Jim1NZ]

Hey clearance, you think you will be able to apply a pressure bandage, keep pressure on it at all times and get down out of a tree before you bleed to death if you hit a main artery in your leg with a chain saw?

This all being who knows where in the bush or what ever, while your in shock.

Wow mate you must be good.

I reckon you got to were trousers anyway so why not wear ones with protection in them.