iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

New protection device for hand fallers

Started by Old Greenhorn, May 14, 2023, 08:06:03 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Old Greenhorn

OK, I stumbled across this today and had never seen anything like it. Just thought I'd share it and see what discussion follows. Basically it is armor for ones back and head when falling. Check it out:  https://bast-ing.de/en/product-info-vinzent/
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

teakwood

Interesting for sure! thanks for sharing

I would probably hate it here in the heat, that's for sure. i don't even wear a helmet
National Stihl Timbersports Champion Costa Rica 2018

WhitePineJunky

I mean I wouldn't hold it against anyone that wanted to wear it, but when I scrolled and seen the picture I immediately laughed as it looks kind of ridiculous. And would probably cook in it during summer 

petefrom bearswamp

Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

Southside

Having been struck once pretty hard I can see the benefit of the system, just not sure on the practical use of it. 
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

B.C.C. Lapp

Same here. Ive been hit with falling limbs and once the top of another tree that was pulled over from grape vines from behind me. Ran for my life but didn't make it.   Took some lumps and lost some time from work.   It happens.   So I to see the merit of this gear but I know I'd never wear it.  Helmet,  chaps, tool belt with axe, wedges, logging tape, saw tool and files is plenty of weight already.   I don't need more.
Listen, or your tongue will make you deaf.

Old Greenhorn

My first thought was the EU fallers are looking more and more like storm troopers each year. :D ;D

 But I did watch the video on that link and they show a guy getting whacked by a decent branch. (I can just imagine the behind the scenes work setting up that shot and getting the guy to be barely distracted by it.)
 I could see this being setup with a spot to put some of the tools in, files, scrench, paint, etc. to take some weight off one's belt and it does look like the suspension and airflow were thought out well. But yeah, when it comes down to it, if somebody handed me one I don't think I would wear it unless I was working in a very dangerous blowdown tangle and even at that, I don't know how I could crawl around in there.
 At close to 800 bucks, I just dunno. BUT one has to keep in mind that insurance companies have a big lobby group to push stuff like this through "to keep us safer". (I note they never lower their rates though.)
 I have been whacked too a couple of years ago and it flipped my hard hat about 15 feet so I understand that these things happen when you least expect them even if you are looking up, and they happen REALLY fast!
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Old Greenhorn

Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

sawguy21

I can't imagine walking through the woods with that snagging every passing branch then trying to move quickly when the tree starts to drop. Some safety officer has too much time on his hands.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

Zewnten

Don't show this to OSHA or it'll be mandatory in 7 years.

barbender

It's so big already, might as well equip it with heat and AC and then you'd have something👍😁
Too many irons in the fire

B.C.C. Lapp

Quote from: Zewnten on May 14, 2023, 03:09:13 PM
Don't show this to OSHA or it'll be mandatory in 7 years.
OSHA??   Ive been working in the woods all my life and the only time I've ever seen any body from OSHA is when somebody got killed.      Half the loggers I know still wont wear their dang saw chaps, even more won't wear them when its hot weather and I know some that still wont wear a helmet. 
I myself am a firm believer in PPE but you gotta draw the line somewheres and I'm at mine with what I'm wearing now.
Listen, or your tongue will make you deaf.

Log-it-up

They do equip them with heat/ac they call them bunches, like other said the thought is there but practical use is in the toilet some of the stuff I've cut it would take hours out of the day just to get to the trees and I'm a little in the clumsy side and often falling down not sure I could get back up with it catching on brush
On the good side I think winter cutting it would keep the snow out of your shirt

Skeans1

Quote from: B.C.C. Lapp on May 14, 2023, 04:32:33 PM
Quote from: Zewnten on May 14, 2023, 03:09:13 PM
Don't show this to OSHA or it'll be mandatory in 7 years.
OSHA??   Ive been working in the woods all my life and the only time I've ever seen any body from OSHA is when somebody got killed.      Half the loggers I know still wont wear their dang saw chaps, even more won't wear them when its hot weather and I know some that still wont wear a helmet.  
I myself am a firm believer in PPE but you gotta draw the line somewheres and I'm at mine with what I'm wearing now.
How many are wearing internal chaps? It could also be said external chaps could be a hazard as well as a helmet vs a hard hat.

barbender

I wear a helmet, I try to wear chaps but man I HATE them. Especially if it is warm out. In the winter, if they were just like a pair of bibs they would be much better to wear. I need to try saw pants.
Too many irons in the fire

so il logger

Ear plugs, tin hat, eye protection is all I use. Still lots of guys that I know that won't use any of it. The work they do is no less professional than someone decked out in gear, occasional guy don't apply there. I'm talking full time occupation. Lower strap on some chaps getting tangled in brush came scary close to getting me squished and I refuse to wear them since. This contraption looks like it would also work somewhat as a board to carry the guy out on which is exactly what would be needed eventually. Sometimes good ideas are dumb

Riwaka

The size of rotten branches that fall off our trees sometimes, using the orange device above would likely leave you with a very sore back at best, if not partially buried in the ground.

Alternative strategies. Use an excavator and hit the tree with a grapple and the loose branches can rain down. Remove the branches up the tree stem  with an excavator bucket or fixed grapple saw, which can give the chainsaw faller a bit of an escape route.
For branches beyond the reach of the excavator, the excavator/ log loader etc stick up the tree can act to break the fall of branches, sometimes not so helpful. (Use a excavator etc with anti-drop valves.)

With a chainsaw faller pair, use the Protos helmets with the sena bluetooth comms so a spotter can have an extra set of eyeballs on what is happening.

Maybe blast trees where appropriate.


cutterboy

My first reaction.. :D :D :D :D  And I think I'll leave it at that.
To underestimate old men and old machines is the folly of youth. Frank C.

teakwood

Quote from: B.C.C. Lapp on May 14, 2023, 04:32:33 PM
Quote from: Zewnten on May 14, 2023, 03:09:13 PM
Don't show this to OSHA or it'll be mandatory in 7 years.
OSHA??   Ive been working in the woods all my life and the only time I've ever seen any body from OSHA is when somebody got killed.      Half the loggers I know still wont wear their dang saw chaps, even more won't wear them when its hot weather and I know some that still wont wear a helmet.  
I myself am a firm believer in PPE but you gotta draw the line somewheres and I'm at mine with what I'm wearing now.
That is totally different in central Europe, at least in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, at least the Scandinavian countrys also. you have rules about PPE and every body uses them in the woods. wouldn't be surprised if this device is mandatory in Switzerland for the pro's in 4-5 years. insurances are all over the companies, if a accident happens you get big fines and a the insurance won't pay so the rules are applied automatically by your employer, or you just don't work there anymore.
when i was starting as a apprentice in 97 as a 16 year old boy, construction apprentice.  beer deliveries directly from the brew company where normal and some older workers where used to drink 10-15 half liter beers a day. even in the cold winter they started with the first beer at 6am. that is all gone now on construction sites, no alcohol at all, hard head mandatory, safety woorking boots, fall down protections everywhere, .....   
National Stihl Timbersports Champion Costa Rica 2018

petefrom bearswamp

Showed this to my wife.
Her reaction "is this a joke?"
Been smacked 3 times, cut once, all when wearing hard hat, chaps were a figment of someones imagination in those long ago days. All incidents were 30 or more years ago.
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

Walnut Beast

I have and I'm a guy that doesn't like to wear all kinds of safety stuff but with all the guys that have had close calls it makes sense to just get in the habit to wear it. This helmet I have that others have recommended is unbelievable!! I wouldn't wear anything else. Chaps.  Before I spent some big money and wouldn't know how they fit I picked up a set of foresters at Menards and I was amazed at how comfortable they were and getting on and off your knees no problem. Do you sweat a little more wearing the gear. Yes you do. Chaps already have a slight outside fabric tear that could have been  

 

  

barbender

so il logger, your chap experience is similar to mine. Part of the problem with chaps is just the fact that they are all pretty poorly designed, IMO. They are so hot to wear in warm weather (to me that's 50° or above) that I get my energy sapped faster, which causes me to get clumsy and that's where the straps and buckles start to really become an issue. I'm at a place now that I feel if chaps save me from getting cut, it will be in an accident that they contributed to in the first place.
Too many irons in the fire

Andries

My take on the aluminum back-pack is similar to everyone else, a Forestry version of Robocop? 
My best days seem to be when I've got at least a half baked plan after the morning coffee and a weather check.
- Milling? yep, got my kit for that in the Knaack box next to the mill.
- Lumberjacking? yep, got a duffel bag in the truck for that. Like @Walnut Beast I'm loving my red and white version of the Protos helmet. Pfanner Ventilator pants (same temp and fit as a pair of double-front Carhartts) and csaw proof Vibram sole boots all in one bag. It fits well, works well and you get what you pay for.
.
Don't need anymore thinking about it, just pull that stuff on when you get to the jobsite. The boys might be catcalling me as I change, they're just jealous of my incredible decrepit seventy year old bod.
.
We're all the end-product of our everyday habits, make this one of yours. There a lotta little dependants out there that love you and want to see you come home at the end of a long shift. Nuff said.
LT40G25
Ford 545D loader
Stihl chainsaws

Zewnten

Quote from: B.C.C. Lapp on May 14, 2023, 04:32:33 PM
Quote from: Zewnten on May 14, 2023, 03:09:13 PM
Don't show this to OSHA or it'll be mandatory in 7 years.
OSHA??   Ive been working in the woods all my life and the only time I've ever seen any body from OSHA is when somebody got killed.      Half the loggers I know still wont wear their dang saw chaps, even more won't wear them when its hot weather and I know some that still wont wear a helmet.  
I myself am a firm believer in PPE but you gotta draw the line somewheres and I'm at mine with what I'm wearing now.
Haha that was my point. Some job sites are now require arborist style hard hats with a chin strap even in equipment cabs because of the chance they could hit their head. Never mind it's im-practical it makes the insurance lawyers and safety lawyers happy

moodnacreek

Might as well go all the way and cut the tree with a robot or something.

Thank You Sponsors!