Chainsaw wellies: new old stock, out of date - safe to use?

[Rac man]

Goretex chainsaw boots best boots iv owned warm and dry sorted

[struie]

15 hours ago, carbs for arbs said:

Hi

 

Bit of an unfair question I guess, but I thought I'd see what you guys with experience think nonetheless....  

 

I'm hoping to have my first proper go with a chainsaw soon and so I've been buying in the PPE I need.  I bought a pair of chainsaw wellingtons which I did not realise until after buying are around 10 years old (i.e. 10 years since they were manufactured).  Apparently they should be discarded after 5 years from the date of manufacture.  

 

They are definitely new / unused and I imagine have been sat in the original box in a warehouse all this time.  Would you still follow the manufacturers' guidance and not use them, or do you think they'd be ok? 

 

Many thanks

take them back to the shop carbs,explain to the guy they are out of date,do your feet and yourself a big humungous favour,put the money to a good pair of chainsaw boots,good luck with gettn your hard earned back.

[Wonky]

The wellies are great and help hold on to those skinny legs if your into  some after work sports😂😂😂😂

 

 

 

 

[Stubby]

1 minute ago, Wonky said:

The wellies are great and help hold on to those skinny legs if your into  some after work sports😂😂😂😂

 

 

 

 

The voice of experience ☺️

[Haironyourchest]

I will bet top dollar the polyester/Kevlar safety chain-clogging element in the wellies does not deteriorate over time, at least not on the shelf. YouTube guys have done cut tests on really old, hard used safety chaps, and they worked just as intended. The thing that kills the safety padding is oil saturation, and obviously this will not be a problem in wellies, especially ones that have been sitting in storage... The rubber on the other hand, might crack and leak, but I doubt it. Hard hats are disposable on account of UV degredation of the plastic, which makes it brittle. 

[Stubby]

3 minutes ago, Haironyourchest said:

Hard hats are disposable on account of UV degredation of the plastic, which makes it brittle. 

Also they don't respond well to being run over by the forwarder . Trust me .

[Khriss]

12 hours ago, Stubby said:

Also they don't respond well to being run over by the forwarder . Trust me .

🤔   was that slowly or fast Mr Stubby and was yr head in it at the time 😳  K

[Stubby]

2 hours ago, Khriss said:

🤔   was that slowly or fast Mr Stubby and was yr head in it at the time 😳  K

No head in it at the time but it resembled an orange pancake 😄 Took it in to DM Chaisaws and they had it on the front counter for some time with some comical message stuck to it .

[Vedhoggar]

On 21/02/2021 at 01:05, carbs for arbs said:

Hi

 

Bit of an unfair question I guess, but I thought I'd see what you guys with experience think nonetheless....  

 

I'm hoping to have my first proper go with a chainsaw soon and so I've been buying in the PPE I need.  I bought a pair of chainsaw wellingtons which I did not realise until after buying are around 10 years old (i.e. 10 years since they were manufactured).  Apparently they should be discarded after 5 years from the date of manufacture.  

 

They are definitely new / unused and I imagine have been sat in the original box in a warehouse all this time.  Would you still follow the manufacturers' guidance and not use them, or do you think they'd be ok? 

 

Many thanks

They’ll be fine, got a pair Stihl chainsaw rubber boots years ago which were manufactured in Malaysia in 2008 and look like they’ve got a few years left in them yet! Just used occasionally if working in very wet areas or deepish snow, when not in use they are stored in a dry dark place. Prefer to wear chainsaw leather boots but they have their  uses, bit on the heavy side at >3kg a pair!

Edited February 22, 2021 by Vedhoggar

[carbs for arbs]

Hi 

 

Thanks for all the replies...  More than I expected!    

 

Do I **need** wellies?  I guess not totally, but we do have a stream that runs the length of the garden and I do find myself in it from time to time sawing fallen branches.  

  

On 21/02/2021 at 11:19, Paul in the woods said:

I didn't know there was a life on boots, does it explicitly state so on your instructions? 

 

 

The instructions state:  "The footwear should be visually assessed for suitability after 5 years of storage".  When I quizzed the makers they said that the issue would (could?) be the rubber deteriorating.  I replied that I can visually inspect the rubber to tell if it's ok, but they insisted that they could not guarantee the safety of them after 5 years storage.  It felt like arse covering to me tbh, which is why I thought I'd asked for more practical thoughts here.  

 

@Wonky  - I'm not quite sure what to say about that animated picture!  

 

The reason I bought them, apart from the stream (and generally/usually wet garden) was:

 

- Price.  They were £25 in the end.

- I'm a vegan.  I'd buy leather boots if I absolutely had to and there weren't alternatives, but there were, so....  Leather style boots tend to be leather, or at least when I looked I wasn't finding synthetic ones

- Frequency of use...  I've got a load of felled ash trees I need to process.  Once that's done, I'll only be using the chainsaw on rare occasions.  It's all just personal use.  I'm loving my new bowsaw and I'm even thinking of getting a crosscut saw, which would mean even less chainsaw use.  If I was planning to use it more, or work in the trade, then I'd have definitely looked to spend more on something better and more comfortable.   

 

Thanks again for all the contributions