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Another source of peril in the woods is slippery footing. I am simply aghast when I see fellows go dancing out to cut a little firewood wearing sneakers. The only sensible footwear is a pair of steel-toed laceup boots. At $75 they're expensive, but so is a crushed or cut foot. I'll never forget the day I went into the woods wearing a brand new pair of boots, started up my saw, tripped, and slashed the tip of the bar across my right boot. If the boot hadn't had steel toes, today I'd be minus all the toes on one foot. If you live in north country, fit your boots with removable logger's cleats to minimize slipping on snow or frozen ground.
John Hushagen earns $10,000 a year...and creates new forests at the same time!...
A simple program that will help keep your woods in good condition, and provide firewood and some lu...
A small woodlot has the potential to provide a homestead with firewood, lumber, sawdust, compost, p...
Maintaining wooded property, including timber management, making a plan, clear-cut, seed tree, shel...
Protect your hands and cushion them from your saw's vibrations with a pair of leather work gloves. Avoid slick gloves, like suede gets when it's old or has been wet too many times. Your hands will stay warmer and fatigue less quickly if you wear a pair of Lycra therapeutic gloves beneath your work gloves. These gloves support your hands and wrists, but because they're fingerless they don't interfere with movement. They cost about $24 a pair and will last a long time if you wear them under your regular work gloves.
Finish your fashion statement with a hard hat and eye and hearing protection, costing about $28. If you think you don't need eye protection, you'll change your mind when a wood chip flies into an eye. If you feel silly wearing a hard hat, wait until a dead branch falls on your head and knocks some sense into you. And if you believe you can get by without ear protection, speak up, boy, so I can hear you better.
Before you enter the woods, thoroughly familiarize yourself with your chain saw. If you buy a new saw, read the instruction manual carefully before you crank it up—every saw is just a bit different from any other saw. Review the manual at least once a year. In an emergency, you shouldn't have to think about what to do; you should know what to do to avoid becoming a statistic.
For any serious woodcutting, use the best saw you can afford. It doesn't take long to become frustrated trying to start a balky saw. Excessive vibration from a poorly built saw can cause your arms to fatigue quickly. Frustration and fatigue lead to injury.
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