Butt end Kickback Kills faller

Eric Frei

Sounds like either a barber chair or the butt end came back.

The Daily Mail > News > Man dies in tree-cutting accident

__________________

windthrown

Sounds like a butt end kicked back up and over the spump when it dropped and popped off the hinge. That is about as common a thing that there is when cutting large conifer trees here. NEVER stand directly behind the stump in line with the tree fall. That is a death zone for sure. But not that obvious to a novice I guess.

Eric Frei

Yeah, often branches fold up and spring load to push the darn thing back too.

__________________

windthrown

Yah, I have noticed that after trees fall, the shock wave snaps the hinge after the tree hits the ground if it has not already popped off the hinge during the fall, and then the branches recoil and the butt rides up and back in one large heaving motion. I expect that to happen, actually. If the hinge does not break, I cut it gingerly expecting the tree to be spring loaded and pop up and back over the stump, or the tree to roll off the hinge toward or away from me.

In my view, chainsaws are far less dangerous than the falling trees are. Must respect the trees that you are butchering. Must anticipate what is going to happen as well.

Eric Frei

Some trees are just as high off the ground after you fell them (big wide canopied trees), and then they're loaded up real bad when it comes to bucking them up.

__________________

Bruce Hopf

I remember watching a movie one time (can't remember the name of it), but it had Henry Fonda, and I think it was Paul Newman, in it. It was about a family of loggers in the PNW.
They were attempting to cut down a tree and it turned into splinters, at the base, as it fell. (I can't remember the term they used maybe windthrown can help us out with, this one).
Two were killed, one drowned, with a log pinning his legs, as the tied came in, and the character that Henry Fonda played, died in the hospital.
Trees are a very dangerous thing, and must be respected. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. I have the upper front four teeth, to prove what a sprung back branch can do. Only injury, i sustained while cutting fire wood, and hope it stays that way.
When I loose respect for a tree, is when a block of it is burning in the fire box of the Furnace. Bruce.

__________________
McCulloch chain saws
1- Pro Mac 60, 1- Pro Mac 700, 2- Mac 10-10 Automatic's, 2- Mini Mac 30's, 2- Mac 110's,
2- Mini Mac 35's, 1- Mac 140 with Automatic Chain Sharpener,
1- Pro Mac 10-10, 1- Mac Cat, 2- Eager Beaver
2.0's, 1- Mac 1-10
Stihl chain saws
2- 044's, 2- 034's, 2- 024's, 1- 064, 1- 084,
Strunk chain saws
1- Busy Beaver, 1- SpeeDemon Special
Stand Back, I Have A Very Extreme Case of CAD (Chain Saw Addiction Disorder).

Eric Frei

We'll have to nick name you "gummy" then.

__________________

Bruce Hopf

. Bruce.

__________________
McCulloch chain saws
1- Pro Mac 60, 1- Pro Mac 700, 2- Mac 10-10 Automatic's, 2- Mini Mac 30's, 2- Mac 110's,
2- Mini Mac 35's, 1- Mac 140 with Automatic Chain Sharpener,
1- Pro Mac 10-10, 1- Mac Cat, 2- Eager Beaver
2.0's, 1- Mac 1-10
Stihl chain saws
2- 044's, 2- 034's, 2- 024's, 1- 064, 1- 084,
Strunk chain saws
1- Busy Beaver, 1- SpeeDemon Special
Stand Back, I Have A Very Extreme Case of CAD (Chain Saw Addiction Disorder).

windthrown

You are talking about the film, Sometimes a Great Notion. It was a movie based on the novel by the same name by Ken Kesey. Overseas the movie was called, Never give an Inch. My avatar is from that movie (Paul Newman with an old fully wrapped MAC). It was filmed about 40 miles from where my ex's sheep ranch is in central west Oregon (where the book was located as well, but the town was fictitious). In the book the quote was actually, 'never give a inch'. My avatar is a shot taken maybe 20 miles from ex's sheep ranch. It was really a staged shot, with a deck built around a western hemlock wolf tree (a wolf tree is a trash tree with a high taper to it). The tree was about 40 feet tall growing by a skid road. Some pro logger set up the cut, and left the saw in the tree running, and Paul stepped in and finished it. The marvels of Hollywood did the rest in the editing room to make it look real.

The scenes where the father gets pinned is from a bad cut and fall called a 'barber chair'. They were forced to cut by the water becasue they were strike busters (also called gypo loggers), and would not join the local union. So the union burned out their cable yarding equipment so they were forced to cut near the river so they could fall the trees into the river and barge the logs to the mill directly by water. Consequently they had to take chances, and the results were rather disasterous. In the end of the book (and movie), the son (Hank Stamper Jr., played by Paul Newman) takes his father's arm that is severed in the barber chair cut and nails it to the side of the tug, and he sets the fingers so that the father is flipping the union workers off on the side of the river as he pulls the barge of lumber to the mill. Its all rather graphic, but in the 1970s that was the way it was in Oregon. Sawering was a tough way to make a living (and still is). The film was not without problems, and Paul Newman broke his foot motorcycling on the beach in one scene in the film. He died recently, and owned the rights to the film. He did not like it, and for that reason it has not been re-edited or released on DVD. Too bad, it is a good logging film. It is a really hard to read book though.

Best scene in the movie:

windthrown

In Canada, he is just another hockey player (common thing in hockey players is that they wind up with missing front teeth from pucks in the face, and all the fights).

sueann

Kickbacks from chainsaws are dangerous too. My cousin (years ago now) was clearing his block back of Broke when the chainsaw kicked back, I was only a kid at the time so I'm not sure exactly what happened but he ended up with hundreds of stitches and in hospital for months.

He was never quite right after that, had a bit of brain damage and was very scary looking from half his face being stitched up.

Bruce Hopf

I was talking with a guy one time, and he used to work construction in barns.
He was telling me, that the owner of the farm, wanted a beam cut.
The crew was on lunch, so the owner of the farm, grabbed a wheel barrow, and a chain saw.
He placed one foot, on either side of the wheel barrow, on top of the rim. He started to cut, the chain saw kicked back, he went flying, as the wheel barrow tipped, the chain saw flew around, and sliced right through, both sides of his face, through his mouth.
The crew didn't know what to do, ans they all thought that he was dead. The owner of the farm, got himself up, ran out the door of the barn, up to the house, and got his wife to drive him to the hospital.
I can't remember, how many stitches he received, but it probably was a lot.
Bruce.

__________________
McCulloch chain saws
1- Pro Mac 60, 1- Pro Mac 700, 2- Mac 10-10 Automatic's, 2- Mini Mac 30's, 2- Mac 110's,
2- Mini Mac 35's, 1- Mac 140 with Automatic Chain Sharpener,
1- Pro Mac 10-10, 1- Mac Cat, 2- Eager Beaver
2.0's, 1- Mac 1-10
Stihl chain saws
2- 044's, 2- 034's, 2- 024's, 1- 064, 1- 084,
Strunk chain saws
1- Busy Beaver, 1- SpeeDemon Special
Stand Back, I Have A Very Extreme Case of CAD (Chain Saw Addiction Disorder).

Bruce Hopf

Thanks so much windthrown, for adding to what I was describing, about this movie. I really enjoyed watching it. I agree, that was the best scene of the movie, where he fired up the old Mac, and cut the deck in two.
What they called the term I was looking for, was the tree had slabbed.
I have a Soft Maple in my bush, that has to come down. It is around 4' across, if not closer to 5'. It has a split down the trunk of it, and I'm a bit Leary of it. I'm planning on throwing a few chains with binders, around the trunk, and maybe a few heavy duty ratchet straps, around this tree as well, to prevent it form doing what that tree did in the movie (your opinions, and advice, will be greatly appreciated with this one). Got me spooked a bit.
Thanks again, for all of the history, about the book (I'll have to go and see if I can find it, and the movie), and the movie. It was intresting to read about everything, that you shared. Bruce.

__________________
McCulloch chain saws
1- Pro Mac 60, 1- Pro Mac 700, 2- Mac 10-10 Automatic's, 2- Mini Mac 30's, 2- Mac 110's,
2- Mini Mac 35's, 1- Mac 140 with Automatic Chain Sharpener,
1- Pro Mac 10-10, 1- Mac Cat, 2- Eager Beaver
2.0's, 1- Mac 1-10
Stihl chain saws
2- 044's, 2- 034's, 2- 024's, 1- 064, 1- 084,
Strunk chain saws
1- Busy Beaver, 1- SpeeDemon Special
Stand Back, I Have A Very Extreme Case of CAD (Chain Saw Addiction Disorder).

Bruce Hopf

. I wish I was playing hockey at the time. I would have taken one for the team. Was pretty harry for a bit.
What had happened, I fell a Maple tree. The next tree that I fell, was an Ash. I was clearing an old lane way, that ran the length of the farm, so the new owners could rip out the fence, and put crops in, where the lane way was.
I fell this Ash tree, it got hung up on the stump, and it wouldn't fell over. I had it just about cut right through (maybe a half an inch left, at the hinge). I had felling wedges, along with a couple splitting wedges.
I gave my chain saw to the guy that I was working for, cutting fire wood, his son, and told him to stand clear, and If I had to run, to yell at me, which way I had to go, if the tree was coming at me, as it fell.
I had fence, on both sides of the lane way, with not that much room, to get out of the way of the tree, if it fell in my direction, of retreat.
I took the sledge hammer, and started to drive in the splitting wedges. All of a sudden, that tree took a 1/4 turn on that stump, and fell over, a 1/4 turn, where I had planned to fell the tree.
It landed on top of the Maple tree, that I had fell previously. Nothing wrong with that. I changed bars on my chain saw, from a 20", back to a 16", for doing the limb work, and stuff up to and over 16", then I used my other chainsaw, for the rest.
I started doing the limb work, cut a few limbs, and not realizing, that there was a limb, from the Maple tree, pushed back. As I cut through the limb of the Ash tree, the limb from the Maple tree, sprang loose, up over the top of the bar, and chain (would, or could have been disastrous, if not fatal to me, if it didn't go over the top of the bar, and chain) and hit me square in the mouth, snapping off four of my top front teeth.
Knocked me back a couple steps, and I threw the chain saw down, and away from me, as I was going back wards. I went to the truck, checked the damage, in the mirror, rinsed out my mouth, got the bleeding stopped, and continued to finish cutting the trees up. Bruce.

__________________
McCulloch chain saws
1- Pro Mac 60, 1- Pro Mac 700, 2- Mac 10-10 Automatic's, 2- Mini Mac 30's, 2- Mac 110's,
2- Mini Mac 35's, 1- Mac 140 with Automatic Chain Sharpener,
1- Pro Mac 10-10, 1- Mac Cat, 2- Eager Beaver
2.0's, 1- Mac 1-10
Stihl chain saws
2- 044's, 2- 034's, 2- 024's, 1- 064, 1- 084,
Strunk chain saws
1- Busy Beaver, 1- SpeeDemon Special
Stand Back, I Have A Very Extreme Case of CAD (Chain Saw Addiction Disorder).