Steel toes
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 247
Likes: 0
From: Concrete WA
mmford. I have used the glue on toe protectors from Red Wing boot dealers and had good luck, need to be put on when new. Also when working in the hydraulics / machine shop I would have a cobbler sew a complete cover on the toe of my boots. Seems like I could always ruin a new pair of boots the first week. What line of work you in?
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,494
Likes: 347
From: SE Iowa
Trending Topics
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 2,107
Likes: 3
From: California Desert
I just let the steel show on through. My co-worker dropped a 90lb jackhammer point first on my toe and shaved a notch of leather off.
FTE Stories
Ford Trucks for Ford Truck Enthusiasts
Top 6 Best Deals Available on New Fords & Lincolns Right Now
Brett Foote
This Hennessey Takes the Expedition Tremor's Off-Roading Capability to the Next Level
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Fords at 2026 Carlisle Ford Nationals
Joe Kucinski
3 Best / 3 Worst Parts of Modern Ford Ownership
Brett Foote
10 Amazing Upgrades That Solve Common Ford Truck Owner Headaches
Pouria Savadkouei
Every 2026 Ford Engine Explained
Brett Foote
10 Ugly Ford Trucks That We Still Kinda Love
Joe Kucinski
10 Things Every Truck Owner NEEDS (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Verdad Gallardo
Thread Starter
|
Senior User
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 125
Likes: 0
From: Albuquerque
Heavy diesel field tech is my line of work. Safety dudes are raising cane about the steel showing ( I guess they ran out of other things to worry about). I have been going trough 3 pairs of boots a year. Got 2 pairs of new "wings" a bit ago and now ready to put them into rotation. Showing steel tends to make ways for water and sand to get in and thats quite annoying.
Just trying to find ways to get a little more time out of some boots. I've tried those little rubber tips you glue on they knock off very easy.
Just trying to find ways to get a little more time out of some boots. I've tried those little rubber tips you glue on they knock off very easy.
Postmaster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,848
Likes: 1
From: Kentucky
My nephew , who is a tool and die person, wears the steel toed work boots...
He noticed a huge corn on foot, but never took the time to take care of it. Ended up with major foot surgery, having to have his foot/big toe bone surgically split and bolted back together to correct the curve in the toebone the corn had caused. Sorry, not good breakfast reading material guys, just a heads up for steel toe wearers , that their toes do get rubbed the wrong way in them sometimes.
He noticed a huge corn on foot, but never took the time to take care of it. Ended up with major foot surgery, having to have his foot/big toe bone surgically split and bolted back together to correct the curve in the toebone the corn had caused. Sorry, not good breakfast reading material guys, just a heads up for steel toe wearers , that their toes do get rubbed the wrong way in them sometimes.
Postmaster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,848
Likes: 1
From: Kentucky
Originally Posted by nmford
Heavy diesel field tech is my line of work. Safety dudes are raising cane about the steel showing ( I guess they ran out of other things to worry about). I have been going trough 3 pairs of boots a year. Got 2 pairs of new "wings" a bit ago and now ready to put them into rotation. Showing steel tends to make ways for water and sand to get in and thats quite annoying.
Just trying to find ways to get a little more time out of some boots. I've tried those little rubber tips you glue on they knock off very easy.
Just trying to find ways to get a little more time out of some boots. I've tried those little rubber tips you glue on they knock off very easy.
Interesting safety note MMford, I never thought of the dangers of the steel toe showing...
I guess if one stood up on a big diesel engine and got their exposed steel toe across a starter cable wire bare connector end or a construction worker toed in to a electrical floor device that was not sealed properly, it could make for the name of a new dance step.
Hotshot
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 11,697
Likes: 3
From: Marengo, Iowa
Find yourself a shoe repair place and see if they have the rubber coating they put on them. I had a local shop coat mine with some kind of rubberized coating, and it saved the boots for quite some time. I was a welder too, and it never was an issue there. My boots are so worn out that the leater is cracked open, the stitches are breaking, and the soles have no tread left. Of course, all the spatter on the floor doesn't do well for soles lasting very long... my soles just look like small craters...
Junior User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 61
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by nmford
You guys ever ruin a good pair of boots by having the leather above the toes wear out? What do you all do to protect them?
Hotshot
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 11,697
Likes: 3
From: Marengo, Iowa
You can't always do that, it depends on the kind and style of welding you are doing, can't always get it up on sawhorses or tip it up such that the weld is up off the floor. 1 hoist, 10 guys, or such, and can't always have that option, or another dept had 20 guys to one hoist. The part time job I had built car crushers, and that setup is way too heavy to be able to lift very high or roll over. Building structures also doesn't allow for being up off the ground.