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Thread: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

  1. #1
    Senior Member Grassman177's Avatar
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    Default protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    hey all.

    i was curious.

    we try to have guys wear leather gloves, eye protection and what we call samurai gear(chain saw leg and arm chaps).

    no one likes to wear the chaps as they make it hard to work and are hot.

    we have them due to one guy being lazy ended up cutting his leg enough for stitches.


    what do you guys wear or not wear?

    oh, and we dont wear shorts almost ever and is not company uniform issued.

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    MEMBER Fred's mowing's Avatar
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    Default Re: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    90% of our hedging is done with pole hedgers so its pretty much impossible to cut yourself.
    Biggest safety issue 4 us is cutting vines/creepers on fences/trellis where electrical wires have been run & either the owner is unaware or we have'nt been informed.
    We are obviously vigulant regarding this, but sometimes it happens
    Personally I have cut through auto gate opener wires, pool pump wires cyclone fences, nails, clotheslines brackets, possums, birds & a host of other hidden obstacles & live 2 tell the tale

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    MEMBER Fred's mowing's Avatar
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    Default Re: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    Ooops, hit the submit button.
    Re safety gear, we wear steel cap boots & earmuffs.
    Sometimes (not often) when the pole hedger is vertical it might be an idea to whack the glasses on, but with the pole hedger most of the clippings just fall to the ground infront of u.
    Cheers Fred.

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    Member Andy B's Avatar
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    Default Re: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    Eyewear, earwear and shirt and long pants, steel cap boots, socks and jocks.

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    Senior Member Grassman177's Avatar
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    Default Re: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    i can understand about not cutting yourself on pole hedgers. we have a stihl extra long one with movable head. it is quite heavy and would like a short verson of it too for use as i dont like to bend over much with my back getting bad after all these years of labor.

    i noticed none of you mentioned gloves. i think they are underrated.

    do any of your guys over there ever see chap pants? pants with chaps built into the leg fronts. are they used?

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    Member Andy B's Avatar
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    Default Re: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    I didn't mention suncream. :P

    I don't wear gloves while using a hedger, but some of those vibration reducing ones might be good if you've got hours to do and your hedger vibrates like a mo fo.

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    Member Redeye's Avatar
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    Default Re: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    I'm sensing the nanny state again....I "wear" common sense

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    Member Andy B's Avatar
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    Default Re: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    Quote Originally Posted by Redeye View Post
    I'm sensing the nanny state again....I "wear" common sense

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    Senior Member Grassman177's Avatar
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    Default Re: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    nanny state? please explain more.

    anyways, i dont like to wear it, but when you have a few others on your crew, and 8 guys to worry about.///////////common sense is not one of the biggest attributes of some of them fellas!! ahhaha

    anways, for the original question i was curious as it seems that down under hedging is very popular and a highly demanded service. i figured some of you have to wear some type of protections and what they were.

    personally i wear eye protection always, wide brimmed boonie hat, ear plugs, sunscreen most times and glvoes of some sort and pants, steel toe boots etc etc.

    do you guys wear chaps for chainsaw work? or at least does some of the guys there like tree crews etc?

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    Member Andy B's Avatar
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    Default Re: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    Quote Originally Posted by Grassman177 View Post
    nanny state? please explain more.

    anyways, i dont like to wear it, but when you have a few others on your crew, and 8 guys to worry about.///////////common sense is not one of the biggest attributes of some of them fellas!! ahhaha

    anways, for the original question i was curious as it seems that down under hedging is very popular and a highly demanded service. i figured some of you have to wear some type of protections and what they were.

    personally i wear eye protection always, wide brimmed boonie hat, ear plugs, sunscreen most times and glvoes of some sort and pants, steel toe boots etc etc.

    do you guys wear chaps for chainsaw work? or at least does some of the guys there like tree crews etc?

    nanny like elderly drivers, never going over 40km/hr and always doing it by the book etc

    Boonie hat? I knew Ian Chappel had his name on some hats but Boonie too? lol (sorry aussie cricketer joke.)

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    Senior Member Bluey's Avatar
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    Default Re: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    Now cmon blokes...stop pulling the piss outta GM. Ok GM lets put it this way. Aussies hate any form of regulation. You regulate anything and they rebel somehow. You say you cannot do something then it is the first thing they will try.

    We are slowly being regulated out here and those states that do it earn the name Nanny States as per Andy's explanation. We all understand OHS and we probably all should do more to protect ourselves but we are a pretty easy going lot and a little bit of blood here and there just makes us a bit smarter and a little bit tougher.

    Unfortunately we here are normally 10 to 15 years behind you guys over there when it comes to things like this and we will be regulated like you guys eventually but we will go down fighting tooth and nail.

    What Redeye said is pretty much true. We use our brains when doing this stuff and unless your useless or pissed accidents are pretty few and far between. But I understand your original question. To answer that I think most of us don't use a great deal of protective gear when hedging. I might be wrong but I think I am not
    Cheers

    Bluey
    Adelaide Home & Garden Solutions
    http://www.ahgs.com.au


    "Success occurs when no one is looking, failure occurs when everyone is watching."

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    Senior Member GreenHaven's Avatar
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    Default Re: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    saftey sun glasses , ear plugs and ear muffs long pant long sleaved shirts always and common sense

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    Senior Member Grassman177's Avatar
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    Default Re: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    Quote Originally Posted by Andy B View Post
    nanny like elderly drivers, never going over 40km/hr and always doing it by the book etc

    Boonie hat? I knew Ian Chappel had his name on some hats but Boonie too? lol (sorry aussie cricketer joke.)
    ah, ok,

    it is a term for a bush hat, jungle hat etc. basially a hat with a 360 degree brim that is 3-5 inches wide.

    i love them for sun protection. i try to get ones made with uv resistant fabric as they hold up way better.

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    Senior Member Grassman177's Avatar
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    Default Re: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    Quote Originally Posted by GreenHaven View Post
    saftey sun glasses , ear plugs and ear muffs long pant long sleaved shirts always and common sense
    there you go, a good man. hahaha

    i jsut cant see the chaps man, they are hard enough to move in and it has only been once that anyone ever did this. but, it "could" save ones life depending on if the addident involved the femoral artery!

    that is why my dad wants us to and i think will be more enforced in the future.

    safety is huge here, and i think for good reasons.

    i am not a regulator, but i think the laws are there for good reason. we have OSHA here to deal with for work place safety.

    It can mean the difference between winning and losing a law suit from an injury making sure they at least have the gear at their ready!

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    Member Redeye's Avatar
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    Default Re: protective wear for hedging? what do you wear?

    I think most of us have moved on from regular hedgetrimmers to long pole trimmers for the vast majority of work (I know I rarely use the "short" one anymore) so, glasses & earmuffs pretty well covers it

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