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Splitting wood PPE

Started by Tacotodd, December 05, 2020, 12:59:38 PM

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Tacotodd

I would like to know what everyone wears for PPE when splitting wood with an axe or maul. I've been hit in the head when a friend was splitting and I've hit myself in the shin with wood. I've thought of wearing my saw chaps for myself but I'm only splitting 10" pieces. I guess I've just been lucky so far but I will NOT split wood in a thong and/or flip flops. I just can't resist that dig!🤪
Trying harder everyday.

realzed

Quote from: Tacotodd on December 05, 2020, 12:59:38 PM
but I will NOT split wood in a thong and/or flip flops. I just can't resist that dig!🤪
If you change your mind on this - Please don't bother to include pictures without letting us all know..!  ::)

WV Sawmiller

   I just wear gloves and a baseball cap although safety glasses would be a good idea in the rare cases I use a steel wedge. I just use a splitting maul and not a splitter.

  Many years ago I was splitting wood in SC and a piece bounced over next to my stack and instead of moving it I tried to split it where it lay and I hit the end of an already stacked piece which bounced back and hit me on the gourd splitting the skin and requiring 7 stitches to close it up. I was not wearing a cap and don't think it would have prevented the injury much if I had been wearing one.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

doc henderson

I tend to use composite toed boots doing anything with wood.  even in the shop, as I get used to using my feet to nudge things, and lift things.  eye protection is a good idea, and I am as bad as many not always using it.  My son will tell you after splitting some nearly dry logs on the hydraulic splitter, that some form if a hard groin protection is worthwhile.  after his experience (minor)  if the log starts to creak and split hard, he turns sideways without thinking about it.  He is a learner!  gloves.

@WV Sawmiller maybe you should just stay inside!   :D
@Tacotodd can we please not use the words "thong" and "dig" in the same sentence! ;) ;) ;)   8) 8) 8)   :)
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Tacotodd

Sorry about the thong comment from earlier folks! It's just I SEEM to be remembering it from a different post, but my memory isn't the greatest. Just ask my wife! 
Trying harder everyday.

WV Sawmiller

Doc,

   I resemble that remark! Do you think I am any safer inside with water and electricity and stairs and a big wood heater? :D
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

doc henderson

Quote from: Tacotodd on December 06, 2020, 01:14:52 PM
Sorry about the thong comment from earlier folks! It's just I SEEM to be remembering it from a different post, but my memory isn't the greatest. Just ask my wife!
you are correct, and I thought it was very funny!!  you know what our moms always said about hanging with the wrong crowd. my sense of humor has been sent to the woodshed a time or two!  all in good fun.   :)
edit:  on review I see a period so it is technically in two different sentences.   ;)
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

doc henderson

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on December 06, 2020, 01:28:25 PM
Doc,

  I resemble that remark! Do you think I am any safer inside with water and electricity and stairs and a big wood heater? :D
true.  I hope  can still do half what you do when I am your age.  not too far behind you.  but with only 10% of the "incidents"  ! :D :D ;D ;D 8) 8)
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Tacotodd

BUT you have to admit, it's a topic that keeps us from dwelling on this other "stuff" right now! I better be careful Doc or I'll join you in the woodshed!

BTW, I'm speaking of splitting wood the old method as by doing it with a maul or my new favorite, by axe. The maul was the head but the axe was the leg and all hit by the flying wood.🌪 sometimes is what it feels like!
Trying harder everyday.

doc henderson

a maul is fairly safe, but boots are one issue, and a blood circle the other.  (keep everyone else away),
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

mike_belben

It was me.  Im the guy that the geared out people like to say is an idiot for not being covered in gear.   I will do near anything in just shorts and crocs and generally not get hurt too bad.  Every day of my life since maybe 8 years old has been a great chance to get hurt in some industrial way.  All my jobs have been dangerous.  Most hobbies too.  Im not as fast as i used to be but i think it all through a little longer now.  Safety is a mindset and thought process from experience, not a color or component.. In my opinion.  I put a lot of spindle and belt guards on machines for operators that shouldnt have been in the same room.  Nothing i own has any of that junk.  Mind the spinny parts son.  That lathe dont have a brain so youll need to use your own. 


  The Lord has let me keep all my fingers and toes so far.   


Sunglasses and a thong.  Youll be ok.  
Praise The Lord

Tacotodd

Mike, I knew it was you but it wasn't in a readily accessible area like this is, so I preferred not to name it. I just thought that it was HILARIOUS!!! 

Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water,     dada.....dada.....dadadanaaaa.....
Trying harder everyday.

Tacotodd

I'm mistaken, imagine that!

Chainsaw post.

Oops!!
Trying harder everyday.

Southside

I know you said ax or maul, but FWIW I have had some elm about explode on a hydraulic splitter.  Pretty decent sized chunks will fly a fair bit so no thong and sunglasses for me.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.... :D
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

mike_belben

Theres a documentary of the boulder dam construction on youtube that everyone should watch to see just how sissyfied weve become since grand dads day.  These normal joes are repelling down a canyon wall with just rope and harness, lugging huge jackhammers in their jeans shirtless.  Thousands of dumptruck loads and the trucks doent even have a roof while the guy sits there in it getting loaded.  Backing into bays with no side mirrors.. Standing up on the seat to see over the dump while it rolls back.. LoL.. Just crazy stuff.  3 guys on one wooden ladder hammering a wall.  What a different world today.  



I get extra safe with abrasive cutoff discs and covering skin from welding light.  Ill gear up to top a tree and wear my helmet for falling. But for just ground work my inner monologue says maintain control of the saw and keep appendages out of the uncontrolled saw path.  That foot cant go there.  If this top rolls that has to be elsewhere.. Etc.   I dont sever tensioned wood until its been whittled and moved enough to reveal its plan.  Those sorts of things.  You cant cut wood effectively in a goalie suit so think it all through. 
Praise The Lord

mike_belben

I had my first barberchain in years a few weeks ago.  Good reminder of 2 things.  One, its life or death.  And two, that the first part is determined more by where you are standing than what you are wearing.  That tree didnt give a dang about my little plastic brain bucket with muffs and screen. 



A log that comes over the fork rack onto your steering wheel isnt concerned about your footwear either.  So everyone in gear should still make choices like theyre standing there naked and vulnerable.  Youre in a cab machine?  Limb will still come right through it like a javelin.  Youre never fully safe.   
Praise The Lord

doc henderson

#1  brain engaged,  #2 cell phone accessible (if you still have hands).  #3 keys in the truck
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Tacotodd

Gents, you all make extremely good points (in your own academic way of looking at things) but considering all that I've heard so far from you guys, I'll probably just keep on doing it the way I've been doing it. It sounds like no matter how I approach it, I'm just not going to be able to! Either I get hurt or look like a pansy 😄!

But seriously, I am just kidding. I DO want to hear more information and input from everyone that has something to say about it. Maybe I'll even get lucky and hear something from @Roxie . I just hope I did that part correctly!
Trying harder everyday.

doc henderson

since I appear to like to correct you, consider using I will either get hurt "and or" look like a pansy!   :D :D :D  @Tacotodd   you could theoretically do both!   :)
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Tacotodd

Touche' and funny 😇 But keep the information coming because no matter how you look at it, it's got to be useful for all involved, including me 🥵
Trying harder everyday.

WV Sawmiller

Mike, according to Google the official death toll on the Boulder dam was 96. These are the ones killed specifically working construction from fall, blasts, falling objects, etc. I think I'd suggest a different example for downplaying the significance of safety equipment and procedures. :D :D
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

mike_belben

Cmon howard, grim statistics led me straight to the USMC.  Danger?  Sign me up. 
Praise The Lord

doc henderson

the ppe is for the intermediate stuff so you can work more days, without blood dripping everywhere.  If you number is up, with a catastrophic fail... too bad so sad.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

dgdrls

Glasses first and always,   safety toe boots,  chaps help with the fly debris,
Gloves,  treat the handle of your axe with sticky stuff.

D

Southside

Well as a guy with his name on the vest save list, to me PPE gives you a fighting chance.  You might not be in one piece, but at least the pieces are big enough to still work.  
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

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