Close calls and why

Treemonkee

What's a close call u had and got away with.but more important what created it,and how can we avoid it.

I was cutting lombardy and fleflo( excuse spelling).had a 100 odd down for the day,was on the last couple all of a sudden I found my self 2 metres thrown back and my 66 three metres back.this felt like it happened in 1/10th of a second.I stood up and checked my self for cuts but only found chain cuts on my clothes from my shins up thru my crouch across and over my shirt.even my undies were cut.yet not one bit of skin touched.I can't explain how it's possible..it happened because I became lazy in the afternoon relaxed on my grip of the saw and took for granted how spring loaded this wood can become.

Treemonkee

Here's another,while cutting Radiata pine in n.z bush.I had 6 trees dutchcut up on a side of the hill.they were all Dutch cut to provide a swing so they would hit the top of the ridge for the loader to shuffle.no wedges needed with this cut.I was putting the back cut in the driver tree while looking up of course and noticed the front pine caught by the wind and come back onto the other 5,I started to run with my 66 only to find a 30foot cliff edge.I held on to the side of cliff with an exposed root,66 aswell.the last tree stoped rolling 5 metres before I.allways keep ya head up,wind can be unexpected and there's a reason why they outlawed the dutch cut.can't help my self tho love the dutchy.no wedges needed.

Treemonkee

Another occasion had 65 trees set up for a drive in n.z called up to the hauler driver that can see all,to make sure none if those pesky OSH inspectors with all the book Knowledge,and not enough field experience werent hanging around.droped the driver tree 64 came down.had to crawl thru the fallen trees to get the one left standing.ya fell like an ant in a game of pick up sticks while ya fell another no where to run.but must be done.if ya gana drive trees put ya back cut in first and make sure ya scarf leaves hindge wood to hold but also to fall.this again is illegal,one on one tree is rules,but hey ???? wedging all day.

Treemonkee

Come on brothers what ya got be proud of what we get away with the ones that don't get away with it have injury story's because they didn't assess the situation.mother nature will put you in these situations.when ya push ya self.it's fun isn't it.that's why I do it.

Treemonkee

While climbing for a few island crews had guys on ropes that couldn't speak English fluent.let it run aye?hold then run then hold aye?pull down on lowering device and take tension aye?to get my 800 a day I just made it happen.???? these ????s for bein in our industry and known shit but thanks for the cash.jumping out of the way of 3 tons of wood shocking loading half a dozen times a day ain't fun!!put big bucks on amateur crews that want you to climb and don't use your 2nd point of attachment (flip line).even tho it's against the rules.???? the rules when ya need to jump away from tons of wood.

derwoodii

30 plus years cuttin climbin hogging nay a saw nick apart from sharpnin nor a injury that needed more than spit n band-aid but sure many close calls

I had a saw kick back while scaffn up a tree in about 85, it came out of the cut at ma head n hit me over the eye. I thought shit thats done it, but twas a Husky with I suspect the 1st auto inertia chain brake so the chain was stopped. phew.

I got a collar bone thats NQR as a real heavy pine limb twas cuttin unloaded sprung back, it came up smashed me into the air and left dangling on ma rope winded and bruised.

Had a whole top section of Cypress blow apart when I loaded it for roping down it collapsed snagging up stopping just above me.

derwoodii

Had ma flip line try n let me down twice.

1st the gate jammed open I lent forward to move and it just fell off ma hard point,,,?? WFT. The early ones was single action & could be squashed bent or fouled with saw dust and jam open.

2nd loose shirt in the gate action not hard steel, a tearing sound and falling back wards twas only stopped by the a small twig snag hooking the line.
Check and then re check try to avoid swapping live end of your flip if can do.

Treemonkee

Check and recheck I agree,ive allways wondered about my Gibbs flip line failing.WTF allright they should be 110% safe and have a back up if they do fail.I think just goin to replace mine more often.how do you think you could of avoided the spring loaded branches,were they hooked up wrong? Cut wrong? Etc?impressive to 30 years no major injury that shows skills to me.
Cheers derwoodii
These moments help us learn.

MoDirt

I few years back I was working on a large cedar hedge. I was Shearing away and finding the zone when an old lady stuck her head out from behind the hedge. I was seriously coming with a full down stroke and stopped dead. I say like a foot but I figure its more like 2 or 3.

That would have screwed me for life having to see that. I barked at her and then apologized and told her to be more carefull.
I started roping off walkways and blocking off large sections of my work areas for fear of beheading someone.

I had always taped off my areas but after that it began to look more like a crime scene than a job site.

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Brent Ferris

I have had a lot of close calls over the past 30+ years.
One memorable one was in a camp area. These people had a WHite Pine - now dead and wanted it felled. THe main trunk was about 25 feet high, and a sprout (now dead) had shot up another 30. So I climbed up to the base of the sprout, and climbed up a bit to be sure if could push it the right way. If it fell to the left, it would damage the golf club fence; to the right, it would hit the high tension line, behind me -- besides squashing me, it would damage the cottage, so it had to go ahead, and it looked dubious for a bit -- wind and all, but finally went the right way. As I climbed down the back of the main trunk (about 36" diameter) i found a large cavity about half way down (hidden by the bushes) that left maybe 1 to 2" of wood holding up the trunk. I had tied a pull line at the top before coming down, and instructed my groundman (girl) to pull on the rope to be sure the trunk went the right way. THe saw flew thru the trunk -- no solid wood left. But she couldn't pull it over. She said, if you come here, we can both pull it over., So we both stood on this knoll, and pulled, and over the tree came, right towards us. I pushed her out of way, and figured i could jump to the side and roll out of the path --and did so, only to come up short against a log. The tree is still falling, with no time, and no where to go, I covered my head with my hands and hoped for the best. The top hit the ground less than a foot away and splattered me with sawdust, and chips and bits of wood. But it missed, and I was really thankful for that. I expect my guardian angel breathed a sigh of relief as well.

I was reminded of this incident when someone related a story, and commented that it is almost like time stands still -- there is all the time in the world to appraise the situation, and figure out what you have done wrong, or what you need to do, but no time to actually do anything about it.

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derwoodii

Another thread brought back my memory of the day I almost died.
Thinking about it now it all came back so clear allowing me to see many things I did not realise at the time.
Twas summer 1981 Pete Owen was logging off sections of a big drought affected Oak tree in a new Toorak home court yard. You knew it was kool hippie Pete up the ladder as he would wear cut off short jeans and no jocks, so his nuts and tackle hung above ya head as you steadied the ladder for him.
The big Oak trees upper limbs had died off n we were trying to pollard it down to get back some life. I see now it was the impact of new home construction with the affects of the drought of 79 - 81 onto 82 83. I even recall the bitch owner made us the crappiest cup of tea and gave us tude n tone from the get go.
Twas few days into my job as a groundie and I was collecting big Oak logs dropping into the small grass with Italian tiles court yard,, Buzz thump walk in pick up log Buzz thump walk in pick log Buzz,,,, & I walked in & thump past ma head into the turf went a big hunk of Oak. Pete looked down I looked up we both realised I was so lucky... Then he spewed spat and yelled at me for being dumb ass lacky and he was right but a live dumb ass lacky I was, one that leaned a life lesson that day.