Trains

Hi Chaps, Bit of an update, boots slowly wearing in, hit them with some neats foot oil, the pure stuff, not the one with additives. Its been too hot and dry, well mainly dry to cut safely, so have been wearing them about, but not cutting. Have had a few bush fires around the area, but thankfully not near our property. Finally got some much needed rain, but its only dampened the ground, need lots more. Hey Trigger Andy, what aussie cars did you get, and how did you go about getting them back to the UK ? hope they survived the trip without any hanger rash. Ive not had the opportunity to travel up the west coast, we did have a trip planned for the CSR and head back down the west coast, but family members turned ill, and we had to cancel the trip. I asked what tree type and found its sugar gum, burns just as good, if not better than redgum, piece for piece, they are heavier than redgum. Now its finally cooled down its keeping the rayburn fed and the house warm. hope to get out and get cutting for next years burning season soon, so can give a more detailed report on how they fare then. Happy with how they are breaking in, and feeling on the foot, from these impressions I think they will become quite comfortable, and now its cooler, I do notice they are much warmer than my other boots too. Cheers chaps Trains

Hi Trigger_andy, Yeah, I think follow up is important on forums, and for others with wider feet, its good to know what is available out there, and how people go on with it. I found the staff at Cofra very helpful and in todays day and age of the internet, and having contacted several places, their can do attitude was both refreshing and helpful. Seems some companies are allergic to money. Our firewood choice is eucalypt / gum tree that our friends farm has, its a stringy hard as iron, heavy as steel wood, so its a sod to cut, terrible to split and handle, but gives out wonderful heat and good burn time, and burns to fine ash, not sure on the exact species, but it tears your leather gloves to bits in a days worth of splitting. Yellow box maybe ? Firewood merchants mainly stock redgum, or a mix of red and white gum, or mallee wood. Prices last year were around the $380+ per tonne, talk is this season will be over 400. Pretty much all the species of gum trees burn well, you just have to season them well, as they are a hard dense wood, and take several years after being cut and split to reach low moisture. If its a green tree your cutting up, think 3+ years to dry out. Even dead wood laying on the ground for years will have moisture up around 30% as it wicks up the soil moisture, crazy when there has not been any rain for 8 months. I guess the white ants dont help much either, but if you can get to the wood before they do, your chains last a bit longer. I was cutting thru a 22" dia wind fallen tree when all of a sudden, there was lots of wet stuff flying off the chain, turns out the tree was hollow, and full of water, rekon there was over 200lts of water in it, kept the local bees happy for the remainder of the day, I left it and started on another piece of tree, took ages to drain out. I find the rayburn is quite sensitive to wet wood, and if we get a rouge bit of wet wood in there, you have to let it burn out and spend a few hrs cleaning out the back of the boiler flue way, the surrounding water jacket takes out a lot of the heat from the flue gasses, and no matter how well seasoned, or how bright the fire, you get a build up of creosote that needs cleaning every month or so depending on the wood, wind direction etc. Cheers chaps T 036 running 18" bar and stihl RM semi chisel chain. Its a good combo for that timber.

Hi Chaps, Well I ended up contacting Cofra and they replied, and answered my questions regarding size of their size 11 Power Boots. During this time, I was able to confirm that their size 11 was the same as the size 11 boots I use in Australia, and that the boots are a wide fit in their size 11 and 12, being a Mondopoint width 12. Also whilst in contact with Cofra, I was able to clear up and confirm that the Power boots are a Steel toe cap boot, and not a composite as some online boot sellers had incorrectly stated, and they are not a Mondopoint width 11 as also incorrectly advertised. It seems that there is some confusion between the APT foot plate and the steel toe cap of this boot in the advertising as well. As I now had the confidence that I was able to choose the correct size, I placed an order and they have finally arrived. The box once unpacked from its shipping packaging looked like it had seen gorillas dancing on it, but the boots look unharmed. First impressions are good, the stitching is good and even, overall the boot looks quite well made and assembled well. But did they fit? And fit well? For a new boot, they are yet to wear in to my foot shape, but I found that there was sufficient width, and my little toe was not squashed up against the leather, and although I could feel the boot shape against my foot, there is room there for it to wear and conform to the shape of my foot much better with use, but it was not tight nor uncomfortable. The steel cap is generous and I could not feel it with my toes. On some boots I have tried, the steel toe cap is not wide enough and pinches my toes. I am still sceptical personally about the quick laces setup, but that is a personal view, and these quick lace eyelets appear solid and correctly orientated on the boot. The inside tongue is fixed at the base of the tongue and has velcro on each side, to allow for it to be moved forward and help in getting in and out of the boot. Once the foot is inside, it can then be re positioned and the laces tightened. The boot is quite stiff in the sole compared to other boots I use, but for first putting them on and walking around, they are quite wearable right out of the box. I will Dubbin them and wear them in for a bit before spending a day out cutting in them, as I would with any boot. When kneeling or squatting down the boots do crease between the steel cap and the base of the laces, but it does not pinch my foot; I would assume Dubbin would help soften that area some. For the last 30 years I have only worn Rossi boots. My daily boot is the Rossi Mulga and I also wear their Steel cap boots. I am currently on my second resole of this pair of Mulgas. I have tried other steel cap boots briefly, but returned to the Rossi boot for comfort, quality and fit. Unfortunately they do not offer a chainsaw boot, but their motorbike boots are fantastic. Thought someone might find this of help, and since I asked here, I thought it important to also offer a follow up. cheers chaps. T

Hi chaps, First post, bit of a lurker, have been doing lots of google searches for chainsaw boots, and the most hits I get are this site. Question is this. I have 290mm long, 115wide, 11 1/2" by 4 1/2" feet, and wish to order some chainsaw boots, have been looking at Cofra Power boots. I wear AU 11 1/2 size boots for my wide feet, and from what I can gather AU and UK sizing is the same, and want to know from those with Cofra boots, did you have to order a size larger than normal ? Looking at the size 11, in mondopoint width 12, which I assume is wide enough. Or should I look at the size 12 ? Chainsaw boots are not that common over here, Stihl boots are not available either, and I have contacted Cofra, but have not received a reply from them regarding boot size for my foot measurements. I have also sent my foot measurements to some AU sellers of other chainsaw boots, but they could not give me an answer on what size would suite, even tho their site said to sent them measurements, but I digress. Would appreciate some advice from those with Cofra boots as to how their sizing went, as I can not find anything online regarding a size fitting chart on these boots, and I know from experience here, that fit is different from boot maker to boot maker, and I dont want to order and ship only to find they are too small etc. thanks again. Trains Firewood hack to feed the Rayburn 355