OK, I'm posting this just as a reminder to those who might think that they are careful enough with a chainsaw and think that they don't really need chaps to protect their legs. I used to think this way. No longer. I was not going to post these photos and save myself some embarassment, but I figured that if at least one injury might be prevented by my experience, I can deal with a little embarassment. Below you will find images of my injury about 10 minutes after it happened and a week after being sewn up. Thankfully it did not bleed much. I was on my property, about 30 miles from the nearest Emergency Room. I live alone so I drove myself in. I did have a cell phone on hand and was wearing a belt in case I needed to use it as a tourniquet. Praise God that I didn't need it... The large gash was about 1/4" deep and about 1/4" wide... about the width of a saw chain...
Funny, I just now noticed the items in the background... Exotic figured hardwood next to Jack Sobon's book "Timber Framed Construction", curly maple stock to the left of my leg with a strip of thin eastern red cedar laying on top of it. No... I don't have sawdust fever... really, I don't...
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/29738/2012-08-02_15_52_23.jpg)
I ended up with 10 stitches... here it is a week after treatment...
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/29738/2012-08-09_08_30_09.jpg)
I took the stitches out a day after the last picture, taken 4 days ago. Looks even better now and I really don't even know I'm injured, except when something brushes against the area...
I was extremely fortunate. It could have easily been much, much worse!
After taking a chainsaw safety class I bought my chaps & wear them.
Also wear hearing, eyes & head protection.
Be safe, Jim
Yeah, my chaps are due to arrive today. $75. My ER deductable was $100. I have no idea what my copay will be for the treatment. To anybody listening, buy the chaps, even if you need to charge them!
Very happy it was not worse. It's amazing how fast and easy it can happen.
Glad you are OK. I agree with wearing the protective gear.
Can you tell us how it happened. The chaps may have prevented the significant skin laceration, but what would you do differently with regards to saw position, hand-hold, height of the log, etc., etc, to prevent the injury in the first place? There may be a safety lesson there too.
After using a chainsaw for prolly 20 years, I bought chaps when I met with a young chap who cut all the tendons above his knee with a chainsaw. Surgery was long and laborious as the tendons were not just cut, but shortened by the width of the chain. It ended his wood cutting/logging career.
After wearing the chaps for a year, I had the saw turn back (handle caught on a stub) and the chain at full throttle catch me just above the knee. Saw clutch bound up instantly with kevlar and ruined the chaps. But it didn't ruin my 2 wk elk hunting trip that I was leaving for on the following day - fortunately.
Now I won't pick up the chainsaw without the chaps on. Didn't relish the pics, but appreciate you posting them.
Thanks for the reminder Glen. And to think that there is an active "Chap" thread in the Ask The Forester board.
Thanks for sharing. It's good to be reminded now and again. Glad it wasn't any worse on you.
Someone here said a pair of chaps cost at much as a co-pay in an ER. Glad you are OK.
Good to see you heeled nicely. :) Thanks for the pics, I for one need reminding how mishaps can happen and pics of injuries certainly do the trick.
Many many years ago, back in the early eighties, I was cutting firewood for a living. And I had a chain saw that wasn't tuned right and wouldn't idle correctly.
To keep it running once started I'd have to keep pulling the trigger to give it a little gas so it wouldn't stall.
In doing that, of course, the chain would spin.
While walking from on spot to another, with the saw running, and chain spinning from time to time, my left foot got caught on a branch.
I had to lift it up over the branch and when I did I lifted it right into the spinning chain.
I had on long pants and not chaps.
The chain cut the pants but in my pocket was a leather business card case. And it was between me and the saw chain.
I didn't get cut, but it was very close.
I took the saw to the saw shop to get it tuned up right.
When I walked in the saw shop tech saw my pants and said "what the hello is that.....?"
I told him the story above.
He took out a pair of chaps and made me leave with them.
I told him I couldn't afford any chaps, at the time. He told me I couldn't afford the doctor bills either. And that he'd put it on his clothing allowance and I could pay him $5 a week until I paid him off.
I still have those chaps, and I do where them when I'm out in the woods.
I really liked using chaps when felling trees as it was nice to have something soft to kneel on while making the felling cuts.
Jim Rogers
Jim, I too have had the same experience. In my case my wallet saved my leg. I carry it in my front left pocket. I carried it for several years after that incident as a reminder and told the story with visual aids. There is no substitute for good saw chaps. Weldon, Im glad your injury has allowed you to recover in fairly short time.
I shuddered looking at that. :o Am VERY glad it was not a lot worse. Many years ago being left handed I had a bad habit of drop starting a saw with my right hand. While on fast idle the bar and chain swung against my thigh, the only thing that saved my leg from destruction was a bulky key ring in my my pocket.
U got a hairy Leg...! Luckily it's still there for such a comment about it. :D
Glad you suffered such a otherwise 'minor' injury bud. A little deeper and that chain could grabbed the pants more and made for a very bad day.
Here are a couple reminders of where the inadvertent cuts can occur. The first cut was the left leg above the knee cap (right pair). Put an iron-on patch over it and bought a new pair. That new pair ended up with a small cut when the saw chain bounced off the knee cap. Shoe goo'd the cut to hold in the kevlar and bought another new pair. These old pair are for use when someone shows up without any chaps or for splitting firewood where the leg protection helps the wear and tear of the jeans.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10180/OldChaps_ff.jpg)
Very timely reminder, as a lot of guys are heading to the woods to round off next years firewood pile before the weather turns. I sadly am in the need to get chaps category. I am going to get them in my possession before i use a power saw again. I have been "lucky" for all these years of not using chaps, I think it is time I stopped rolling the dice, before my luck runs out. No need to feel embarrassed, IMO, I am glad you still have full function of your leg, could have easily turned out differently. Thank you for posting and reminding us all!!
I'm going to pick up a new oil cap and air filter for my new (to me) Mac 610 next Tuesday. I've never owned a pair of chaps, but because of your pictures, I'm going to pick up a pair of while I'm there. Your misfortune is a real wake up call to me. I've made 38 years without a leg injury while cutting firewood. I'm going to shoot for another 38! I think I'll pick up some eye, head, and ear protection too.
They say a picture paints a thousand words. The first words that come to my mind are "Ouch", and "danG, that smarts"!
Thanks for the posting! My ten year old needs his dad around as much as his dad needs him. For once my method of learning is not going to be "by guess and by gosh". :P Glad you'll be fine.
I shudder at the thoughts of how we used to log when I was growing up. Dad used to wrap his arms around me and help me hold the chainsaw. I'm 55 now, so you can say I have ran a saw most of my life. I feel very lucky I have never been cut with a saw, but My brother and father have both had similar cuts as the one in the pictures. While young, I never thought about safety gear, mostly because we never had any and never used it. I seldom run a saw anymore, except for a little firewood and an occassional blowdown tree on the railroad I work for. Its only been a couple of months ago I had a small, 6in dia tree that was partially blown over across the tracks . Before cutting the tree, I called for one of the members of my crew to come to where I was at. I didnt need his help, I just wanted him there in the case that something did go wrong. He made fun of me when he got to the sight for even asking him to come there. About 2 days later, another worker was sawing a tree, hundreds of miles from where we work, similar situation, but a bigger tree. The tree snapped and pinned the worker. It was several hours before he was found. He lived, but had broken bones and cuts. When this accident was read at our morning safety meeting, I told my worker that had laughed at me, that this incident is exactly why I had called him to come where I was cutting the tree. Not because I needed his help to saw the tree, but because I have seen what a chainsaw can do and know what can happen. I still cut alone at times, cant always have someone around, but if the cut is something I had planned on doing, I pretty much always make sure someone is around just in case I find myself in a position where I need a 911 call.
A great reminder with a live example on the need to wear chaps when operating a chain saw. I don't let any cutters work on my logging jobs without them. I wear two chain saw scares that made me a believer years ago.
Quote from: Buck on August 14, 2012, 07:56:29 AM
Jim, I too have had the same experience. In my case my wallet saved my leg. I carry it in my front left pocket. I carried it for several years after that incident as a reminder and told the story with visual aids.
Sometimes these things really hit you in the wallet. Talk about cutting up your credit cards!
I was checking out my grandfather's old homelite the other day. No chainbreak no av, no throttle interlock. He never wore chaps, eye protection nothing. Never got cut. He was lucky.
Anything that can save your hearing your eyesight or your leg is worth it.
Thanks for sharing, glad you're okay.
My chaps did what they were made to do today... :-[
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/29542/026.jpg)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/29542/023.jpg)
I'm glad to live in an age where this safety equipment exists.
Time for a new pair. That stuff I heard makes a mess on clutches and fly wheels if you don't get it all out. Better to make a mess of that than your leg.
The two times I had to pick kevlar out of the clutch, it came out no problem.
Ruffneck
Glad you are posting that pic, and not one of the other kind with the halloween look to it.
So tell us what happened?
What caused the bar to touch the chaps?
We all could learn from this.
Jim Rogers
I'm glad to hear that all it cost you was a pair of chaps Ruffneck!
Quote from: Jim_Rogers on October 29, 2012, 10:10:56 AM
So tell us what happened?
What caused the bar to touch the chaps?
We all could learn from this.
Jim Rogers
I was 4 hours into my second day of thinning, just about ready to take a break. I was making a cut on a 2 inch pine when the tip of the bar touched another small tree and kicked back horizontally striking my left upper thigh. It happened in the blink of an eye...
The chaps worked and yes it did a number on the clutch. I think the number one contributing factor to this near miss was my fatigue.
I am very fortunate having been exposed to many chainsaw accidents in my line of work. It has proven to me how important ALL the safety equipment being worn ALL the time is. The average number of stitches required for a chainsaw accident is 110...
The word needs to be spread, $75 is worth it... No matter how hot or uncomfortable they may be, chaps are cheap insurance.
A great testimonial for wearing chaps.
Thanks for the reply.
My chain saw repairman once told us that the saws he works on cut at the rate of 72 stitches per second.
So don't slip for a 10th of a second......
Jim Rogers
After reading your post, I bought some chaps. I just need to wear them ::).
Yup, sharing our mistakes are surely to benefit others. Thanks.
Bogue,it only stays a minute to put chaps on. it only stays a second to get cut with a chainsaw. I have to tell myself the same thing when it takes me longer to put them on and take them off than it does to cut what I want with the chainsaw. There is no way possible to count the times that I have tried to save 20 seconds and it cost me 15 minutes of aggravation,because it came out wrong and caused more trouble than it was worth to try to save 20 seconds.
Glad you had the chaps and were using them. Frightening to think what your leg might have looked like. From the sounds of it, it could've been real bad.
I caught my chaps once and it did stop the saw. I took the kevlar out of the clutch but could not get it out of the tip sprocket. The sprocket would not move.. I took a torch to the sprocket end, heated up the bar and melted the kevlar out. Saved the bar , it got me thru a few months but I did replace the bar that year.
First of all, thanks for posting this thread grweldon. We all need to post any close calls, near misses and direct hits so others may learn to be safer in these very dangerous undertakings we take on in the woods...
Upon further inspections of my chaps, I could tell the chain had penetrated the first layer and stopped...
The most common body part hit in a chainsaw accident is the left thigh.
I am thinking I'll upgrade to a wrap around handle. If I had one, I think I could have avoided it all together...
Stay Safe!!!
Thank you for the reminder how quick things can go bad, I'll be buying chaps soon
I bought my first pair of chaps today from the Stihl dealer down the road because of this thread. I've been running chainsaws for 25 years and haven't been bit. Hopefully I never do. Thanks for the reminder.
Well done!
I didn't think that I needed them until I did. Fortunately, only my leather apron, pants leg, and pocket was cut. That was "buying chainsaw chaps" close.
I just bought my first set of chaps in Oct and havent started the saw without them since! The more I wear them the faster I get at putting them on plus they keep the pants cleaner.
Yep, they definitely keep the pants cleaner. They're a little warm to wear hear in the South but vs. the alternative I was happy to wear them. I just took down 14 large trees in my yard over the weekend and wore my new chaps the whole time. My legs don't have one nick on them in spite of all the work I did this weekend. :)
Most guys around these parts wear logger king or similar chainsaw pants. They come in winter and summer weights. When held up with braces, they are just as comfortable as jeans or carharts to work in. Once you put 'em on in the morning their on, so there is no temptation to pick up your saw and make "just one cut" with out putting your chaps on!
Quote from: thecfarm on October 28, 2012, 11:33:45 PM
Time for a new pair. That stuff I heard makes a mess on clutches and fly wheels if you don't get it all out. Better to make a mess of that than your leg.
Don't know if it's just coincidental, but my MS 290 is not working. It doesn't turn over all the way. It gets hung up at top dead center. Wonder if the sudden stop killed it. I used it for eight hours after cleaning it up and replacing clutch springs. I got a almost new 290 from a buddy for $250...
It's good to hear about you all getting the chaps. They need to be looked at as mandatory equipment. A chainsaw to the femoral artery and a person will be dead before they'd be able to apply a tourniquet. Please, get chaps and use them! Thank you to everyone that is ;D ;D ;D
Stay Safe!
I started running saw in 1960, 12 yrs old, i never saw anybody using any safety gear, not even a hard hat. My dad had 4 gypo's strip cutting, they were older guys that had done piece work all there life. I went to school 3 days a week, the other 3 days i was strip cutting. When i turned 16 i quit school, started logging full time. I was on 6 other logging jobs, never seen anybody using safety gear. I started wearing a hardhat part time in 1980, never wore chaps or ear plugs. Luckily my hearing is excellent and i never cut myself. We logged full time, there were no supplement jobs to run the household, like farming, ect.
The worst saw there is, is a dull saw, or somebody has cut the rakers to low.
The best thing is to make sure you have your chaps on, always safety first.
The anti-kickback brakes are also a worthwhile innovation. Homelite XL12's didn't have it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0568.JPG)
This is my upper right arm after the bar tip grabbed some unseen fence wire. It flipped the saw around and caused me to completely loose my grip. Eighteen stitches. :-\
Quote from: Magicman on December 20, 2012, 08:48:13 PM
The anti-kickback brakes are also a worthwhile innovation. Homelite XL12's didn't have it.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0568.JPG)
This is my upper right arm after the bar tip grabbed some unseen fence wire. It flipped the saw around and caused me to completely loose my grip. Eighteen stitches. :-\
XL 12!!! Brings back memories! Dad bought me one in the early 70s! :laugh:
Quote from: Magicman on December 20, 2012, 08:48:13 PM
The anti-kickback brakes are also a worthwhile innovation. Homelite XL12's didn't have it.
This is my upper right arm after the bar tip grabbed some unseen fence wire. It flipped the saw around and caused me to completely loose my grip. Eighteen stitches. :-\
Ouch! Bet that caused you some grief! BTW... Happy New Year!
I got myself once too. Not quite as bad as you did, but i'm sure if I went to the doctor he would have said "get some stitches". The legs are a terrible place for a chainsaw to be near. If your going to get hit, it's probably going to be there. I wear chaps and a helmet now. smiley_hardhat2
A helmet or hard hat is a great idea as well. Falling branches can be widow makers.
I'd better get some chaps next time I head into town, if I'm going to get legless, I'd rather do it with rum not with a chainsaw.
Just got my Labonville full wrap chaps and Redwing boots to break in. My old chaps will be there for anyone wanting to run a chainsaw that doesn't have a pair. They will be required on my place.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/29542/014.JPG)
Stay Safe!
I might look at another pair when I go the the expo in Bangor Maine. I don't like the snap that is just about on my side or hip. i have a real hard time time trying to snap it. When I put them on I jsut put the snap just about in front,than I turn them to put the snaps on for the legs. The hard part is when I have to go. I really have to take them off and put them back on. Same way with my carpenters leather apron. I like it,but a bother to put on,. Something about stretching off to the side,gives me a wicked pain in my side. I have seen the ones that go through a belt. No snaps off to the side.
I have all the safety gear and wear it all the time. If I feel myself starting to get in a hurry, I stop, sit down a few minutes, and think about how I do not need to hurry and what could go wrong if I do. Do not take this the wrong way guys, but I perfer to learn from other people's mistakes, rather than making them on my own. It is much less painfull and less expensive.
Quote from: Sonofman on May 07, 2013, 07:48:50 PM
I have all the safety gear and wear it all the time. If I feel myself starting to get in a hurry, I stop, sit down a few minutes, and think about how I do not need to hurry and what could go wrong if I do. Do not take this the wrong way guys, but I perfer to learn from other people's mistakes, rather than making them on my own. It is much less painfull and less expensive.
Very wise. I started this thread after tearing up the knee area of my left leg. I am reminded every time I take a shower of my stupidity and the fraction of a second it takes for things to go wrong. About a year later, the scars are still red. If anybody would care to see how the cuts healed, I can post a picture...
Thank you so much for posting this. I hadn't heard of these kevlar type chaps before but I will definitely be purchasing some and I sent this thread to my dad. His reply was: "I think I should get a pair. Thanks!"
He doesn't use saws that much right now but as you all have said, it only takes a second to make a huge mistake.