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  1. #31
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    Yeah mate I hear ya but the thing I advise people to do is be aware of the risks of dehydration and hyperthermia, and if you get too hot - stop and sit in the shade a bit, take the chaps off, cool down, take a drink and another drink and another drink. Then put the chaps back on and do a bit more. You might only work 15 minutes in the hour but.... its a whole lot safer that way, and less likely to result in an accident. Hyperthermia is one of those real dangerous things because its not just about thirsty.... its about dizzy and concentration issues and co-ordination problems..... and that can be a real bad mix to have when you're swinging a chainsaw.

    The other thing that no-one ever much mentions with chaps is that they do provide a high level of protection from snakebite. It's rare to see a snake when production felling.... the ongoing noise/vibration must chase them away. But this is 'straya... and walking through the bush is a high risk activity all of it's own when its mating season for taipans and king browns.

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  3. #32
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    I like to joke with the US chainsaw millers so here's a few pics.
    i've posted some here before but they got wiped so here they again.

    Snake problems CS milling in Oz - I got heaps of comments about this one and they got really shirty when I finally told them it was staged.
    JoBlake.jpg

    Aussie design short chaps.
    chaps.jpg

    These were for the Yanks who love to show off their bars (so do some Aussies)
    72barx.jpg

    limp.jpg

  4. #33
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    Sep 2014
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    Australia
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    I often bang on about safety, and how us (ex) tradies get complacent using power tools. But to be honest, I have never even heard of chaps and I have been regularly swinging a chainsaw for many years. Just goes to show, you never stop learning. Looks like I have another bit of safety gear to add to the kit. After reading this thread, seems I need to brush up on chainsaw safety as well.

  5. #34
    Mobyturns's Avatar
    Mobyturns is offline In An Instant Your Life Can Change Forever
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    Quote Originally Posted by John.G View Post
    I'm like that with chaps. Yeah I got a pair and yeah sometimes I wear them.... when I'm working by myself in isolated locations. But I am well aware that the biggest cause of death/ serious injury with professional timber cutters in central and northern QLD is falling object strikes EXCEPT when they wear chaps in which case it becomes dehydration/ heat stress.
    Your risk assessment is how WH&S is supposed to work. Identify the hazards, assess the risk, choose & implement controls, review the effectiveness of the controls and to ensure that they do not introduce new hazards or increase the risk from other existing hazards!

    Wearing chaps in hot humid weather definitely increases the risk of suffering dehydration, heat stress or heat stroke.

    I have made similar assessments re wearing high viz vests with reflective tape in remote areas in summer. Unfortunately my employer had H&S plans in place that were inflexible and I could be dismissed for not wearing the supplied vests at all times when in the field. However nothing said that I could not wear them inside out - that avoided the heat build up in the reflective tape..

    Far to many people underestimate the risk of
    dehydration, heat stress or heat stroke & very tragically two have died in the top end of WA in the past week.
    Mobyturns

    In An Instant Your Life CanChange Forever

  6. #35
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    I used to work with a bloke who "went commando" in chaps during extreme hot weather. The boss asked him why he wanted to draw attention to himself. The reply was, "It's to keep the flies off my face."

  7. #36
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    Reminds me when I was felling a sheoak in a patch of dense waist high prickly scrub. Chaps are great for this so I confidently waded into the scrub and started the saw. After about 15 seconds I felt something but I though it was just scrub prickles poking through the back my pants behind my knees, but 3 seconds later I was dancing around like a demented drunken gypsy. I raced out of the scrub and tore my chaps and duds off - I had trodden on a bull ants nest and they were all over my lower half.

  8. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    Reminds me when I was felling a sheoak in a patch of dense waist high prickly scrub. Chaps are great for this so I confidently waded into the scrub and started the saw. After about 15 seconds I felt something but I though it was just scrub prickles poking through the back my pants behind my knees, but 3 seconds later I was dancing around like a demented drunken gypsy. I raced out of the scrub and tore my chaps and duds off - I had trodden on a bull ants nest and they were all over my lower half.


    I did not know bull ants before moving to Australia.
    We have some enjoying the compost pile.
    I got bitten. Nasty, really nasty. But fortunately it does not last.
    And they do look like bulls for such a tiny insect.

  9. #38
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    Don't ask me how I know But I use chaps when doing anything horizontal... if cutting a log vertically when it's on the ground I think you're fairly safe...

  10. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by david.elliott View Post
    Don't ask me how I know But I use chaps when doing anything horizontal... if cutting a log vertically when it's on the ground I think you're fairly safe...
    "Fairly" is the catch word. I was docking mill logs out of cedar trunk when the chain caught on a hidden, embedded piece of steel. The saw was on full revs at the time so the chain promptly broke and one end came back and took the front out of one leg of my chaps!

  11. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by david.elliott View Post
    Don't ask me how I know But I use chaps when doing anything horizontal... if cutting a log vertically when it's on the ground I think you're fairly safe...
    A common CS injury happens when an operator simply pulls a saw out of the cut, hangs onto the saw by the wrap handle and let's go of the saw trigger handle before the chain stops spinning. The slowing chain causes the saw to precess /rotate back around towards the operator. Even if the saw rotates away from the operator it may have enough rotational momentum to rotate >180º and make contact with the back of the lower leg. The problem is exacerbated with bigger saws/bars and/or if the operator is tired and inattentive .

    Here is a near miss version


  12. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by david.elliott View Post
    if cutting a log vertically when it's on the ground I think you're fairly safe...
    not sure if i agree with the statement 'fairly safe',as it alludes to there being an acceptable margin of error...and 'kickback' is possible within the scenario you have described...always 'err on the side of caution' when using a chainsaw, for be guaranteed the time one is complacent will be the time they are injured,and most likely seriously...MM
    Mapleman

  13. #42
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    eastgippsland vic
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobL View Post
    I like to joke with the US chainsaw millers so here's a few pics.
    i've posted some here before but they got wiped so here they again.

    Snake problems CS milling in Oz - I got heaps of comments about this one and they got really shirty when I finally told them it was staged.
    JoBlake.jpg

    Aussie design short chaps.
    chaps.jpg

    These were for the Yanks who love to show off their bars (so do some Aussies)
    72barx.jpg

    limp.jpg
    haha mr snell wont like the last pic .

  14. #43
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    Yes you want chaps as they offer some protection in the event that the chain brakes or for some reason the saw makes contact with your leg. Stihl sell chaps that would suit what you want to do and would be available at most saw shops. https://www.stihl.com.au/STIHL-Produ...rotection.aspx
    Thanks Wood Collector....I contacted the local Mower Shop and that have ordered a set in for that price. I pick them up early next week.

  15. #44
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    [BobL Quote
    Talking about todgers, one of the few times I was not wearing chaps and got hit was when I cut down a small tea tree for my mum. I was actually wearing chaps when I cut the tree down. The tree was some 12ft high but the main trunk was only about 6" in diameter and I cut it down leaving a 2ft high stump. I sawed the branches into pieces that would fit in mums green bin. Mum also trawls the street looking for bin space and managed to get rid of the tree in a week. Then I stopped and had a cup of tea with mum and when I came out to go mum wanted the stump cut shorter. One cut - no worries - no chaps. Unbeknownst to me the chain was already loose and jumped the bar. The chain catcher caught it but it whipped around and got me fair in the goolies. No cuts just a big purple bruise on the nut sack. It's likely that the chaps wouldn't have prevented this but it goes to show you can never be too careful[/QUOTE]

    I was going to click on the 'Picture Please' button, but chose not to, Ha HA
    Willy
    Jarrahland

  16. #45
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    Picked up my chaps & full face helmet & ear protection yesterday.

    Chaps have a bit of weight in them considering that they are only the front part of a pair of pants ..I guess that's where the protection comes in.

    Now to download a copy of YMCA & In the Navy by The Village People.....Chaps at the ready

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