Chainsaw trousers

[John H]

I have just bought a pair of Stretch Air type C on Ebay. Hopefully they will be a bit cooler than the type A. They are not new so I don't have to worry too much about ripping them the first time I wear them.

We travel to Wales this afternoon so I will be able to try them out on Monday. I don't use a chainsaw on a Sunday as I don't want to annoy the locals.

John

[jillybean]

My trousers have protection only at the front. I would imagine it hard to cut yourself on the back of the leg with your own chainsaw unless you were suspended from a tree, and then it would still be hard.

[JamesMio]

Just to clarify - Type A have the chainsaw protective material at the front of the leg only, Type C have the protection all around the leg.

See here for further details:

http://www.clark-engineering.com/arborist-equipment/chainsaw-clothing/chainsaw-protection

It tends to be arborists / tree surgeons that use Type C chainsaw trousers for the very reason that Jillybean mentions above as they often use chainsaws when climbing trees.

The trade off between Type A & Type C is between comfort (Type A has less bulky chainsaw protective material, so are therefore lighter) and safety (Type C offer's better safety due to the protection going all the way around the legs).

[DaveTaz]

According to STIHL:-

"Design A (front only protection) is for normal forest harvesting work by professional loggers who are thoroughly trained and instructed......

.......Design C (front and rear protection) is for persons not normally working with chainsaws or in exceptional circumstances i.e. tree surgeons"

which sounds to me like anyone doing chainsaw work professionally or on a regular basis with plenty of experience only needs to wear design or type A, everyone else (plus aerial tree workers) should wear type C

[Henrietta]

That makes sense DaveTaz, but I would have thought that all chainsaw course instructors would agree on type A or C according to the regulations.

[James M]

Well, I have the all round types, I thought about the front only but something happened yesterday that made me glad I didn't get those. I was bringing down a spruce which had split into two at the base, as it began to go it spun slightly, pinched the saw and then slid off the stump towards me, clipping my leg (I assume it was hung into another tree higher up, which you can't see because the canopy is so dense).

I was watching it and expecting trouble so lept back but as I did so it released the saw, which came back with me, and its momentum almost swung it round behind me and I nearly landed on it backwards.

My safety mechanism is my brain, and I have a focus when I'm felling like nothing you'd believe, so I knew what was happening and threw it out of my way as I went down.

All it would have taken was for any of half a dozen other things to not go in my favour and I would ended up sitting on the thing.

I'm always in more danger of falling on the saw than having it go awry and bang my leg when cutting normally - type A is no good for me even though I dont climb trees, the environment I work in is too tough to guarantee keeping your footing and that's where the danger is.

[steve rollnick]

Hell James, cool it. That's quite a story. I'd be interested to know what the top 2-3 lessons are from that experience?

[James M]

Steve, I'd say there are five:

1. When things go wrong, a running chainsaw can end up anywhere.

2. Things go wrong faster than you can react.

3. You can't predict what will happen.

4. The unpredictable will happen in the next 10 seconds, not the next 10 years.

5. Life's dangerous - live it. Whoa! That was a rush! Beats going to IKEA on a Saturday.

[steve rollnick]

James, cool it, I say again! Surely there are technical, preventative felling lessons to learn?

[John H]

So my Stretch Air trousers are class A, they are definetly the way to go, much cooler and reasonably light. I now need to find a lighter pair of boots than my Haix, which are comfortable but very heavy or the old pair of Stihl's which are lighter but uncomfortable.

With regard to James M's near miss, I would say it was a good argument to have plenty of equipment at ones disposal. If I can't predict with confidence which way the tree will fall then I put a rope on it and winch it over.