Slow Down out there!

[MJC]

"SLOW DOWN YOU IDIOT!" Says myself to me after my chainsaw rips through the side of my boot and cuts all my laces. "Well . . . there go my new laces. Wait, is that warm wetness blood?! or is it just sweat? Am I OK?" The things that go through your head just when you think everything is going swimmingly and then you quit paying attention.
No harm done today. Tough leather and fibrous thinsulate saw me through by a tooth skin. (This is why I get good boots, but second hand and cheap, though this one went a bit too far.)
BUT, it could have happened, and it has happened to others. So . . . I saw it as a good reminder and worth a post. SLOW DOWN out there! Advice to myself as much as anyone else.
Anyone else got some good "SLOW DOWN IDIOT" pics?

 

[Cycledude]

Yikes !
Keep telling myself I’m going to buy some chaps but so far no chaps.

 

[Marine5068]

Good point.
Always better to go slow when you're tired, fatigued or just not right on the ball that day.
Long days and many thoughts can do that to us and not just while running a chainsaw but when driving and even when having fun like boating and snowmobiling or 4 wheeling and such.
Be careful, give plenty of space for tired mishaps or slow thinking and SLOW DOWN.

 

[Enrique Smith]

A very good thought!

 

[rarefish383]

You said to slow down, so I've been thinking about this for four months. If I went any slower, I'd be going backwards.

 

[Husky Man]

Yikes !
Keep telling myself I’m going to buy some chaps but so far no chaps.

Getting the chaps isn't enough, you need to USE them too

I'm just a firewood cutter, not a Professional, but I have a pair of jeans that have a couple of small holes in them from a case of Bad Footing, couple small holes in the pants, didn't even touch skin, BUT another inch or even less, would have been a Very Bad day in the woods, 50+ MILES from the nearest Hospital

I have a new appreciation for chaps, some other weekend woodcutters may snicker at my chaps, and cutting helmet, but that's Okay, I snicker at their "Wild Thangs" and 4x8 trailers, and see their jealous glances, as I roll the splitter out of the 6x12, as they're swinging mauls.

Doug

 

[WetBehindtheEar]

Your point is very well taken on sloowwwing dowwwwn when you get to the later part of a work day. I was working up a downed red oak that was hung up in two other trees this weekend - and realized after clearing brush/limbs all morning that I was stinkin' tired and was starting to make bad decisions (cutting higher than my waist height, using my foot to stabilize a log...)
I'd actually invest in a good pair of chainsaw boots. I'm also a 'weekend warrior' but I ponied up the $$$ for a high quality pair of steel-toed, kevlar-lined logging boots. They are truly comfortable enough to wear all day, and will save me $Thousand$ if not more if I were to knick my foot/ankle or worse. $400 is cheap insurance compared to a severed foot. And chaps wont keep the saw from taking off your toes/tarsal region.

 

[Philbert]

Philbert

 

[lumberjach]

No way my buddy Harry lost his toe like that riding a dirtbike and hit a stump with his toe infront of the foot peg

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Couple years ago I was showing a new guy how to limb up logs. Normally we do this with a stroke delimber, but it had been hauled off to another job and this was just a couple days work of cutting that got added on to the job after the fact (they got the land surveryed and found out it was a bigger piece, old fence line was off by 50ft or so)

First cut I make, a branch maybe 3" in diameter whacks me hard in the shin.. like about took me off my feet hard. Didn't expect it to be spring loaded that bad.

I did a "and see, right there I was just showing you what not to do"... while holding back the tears.

Ripped a big patch of skin right off my shin, and that was with long johns, pants and chaps on, plus left a hell of a bruise that hurt for weeks!

 

[CLASSIIILVR]

GLAD YOU DIDNT GET TORE UP! MY UNCLE JERRY CUT TIMBER FOR 30 YRS AND ABOUT 15 YRS IN TOOK OFF FOUR OF THE TOES (3 GONE AND 4TH MIGHT AS WELL BE) AND I DONT REMEMBER HOW AS IT WAS YEARS AGO BUT I LOGGED FOR MANY YEARS AFTER HE RETIRED AND HE ALWAYS USED TO TAKE OFF HIS SHOE AT XMAS OR WHERE EVER AND I USED TO JUST SHAKE MY HEAD AND TRY TO KEEP IT IN MIND WHILE RUNNING SAW! I ALWAYS WEAR CHAPS PERIOD!!!!! HAVE HAD ONE CHAINSAW INJURY AND IT WAS IN THE BRUSH UNDER A YARDER AND I DIDNT HAVE CHAPS ON AS I WAS ON THE RIGGIN CREW BUT ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS WEAR CHAPS AND THEY HAVE SAVE ME A FEW TIMES OVER THE YEARS!