Friday 11 April 2014

How to make chainsaw trousers last longer


Whats the best way to get a normal pair of chainsaw trouser to last longer?

For years I did what most tree guys do, I brought a pair of trousers and wore them until they fell to pieces, maybe sewing up some of the big rips but for the most part I was doing well to get 12 - 18 months out of a pair. 

I then decided to be more proactive in the repair of my trousers, sewing up even the tiniest of rips before they got any bigger. This made a huge difference, but it takes quite a lot of discipline to wash them on a friday and have them sewed up ready to go on a monday. The simplest solution to this problem: 


Buy a second pair! Sounds obvious and it does require you to fork out another £150 on a pair that you don't necessarily need. But now with the second pair as soon as I get a little nick or tare I can wear the other pair until I get around to fixing them. It also allows me to always have a dry pair as with all the wet weather we've had this winter its not always possible to dry them overnight and nobody likes putting damp trousers on!

A 1" cut

All sewn up 
I tend to sew over the cut with a standard overhand stitch at least 3 times with doubled up strong thread, I then add a couple of applications of fabric glue as this strengthens the join and stops the thread from fraying so quickly. Does require a bit more discipline but hopefully will pay out in the long run. 

Especially as the zip has just given way on the older of the two pairs! not such a quick fix...

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the info, just used it to repair my chainsaw trousers. Good tip about fabric glue over the repair as well. Thanks, Lee.

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