Watch out for the groundie.

Aj ginger

My groundie had a near miss that frightend both of us. It was bad judgement on my part and I feel an obligation to let people know so they don't make the same mistake.

I have a rule: If there is a ch/saw going in the tree then there isn't to be a ch/saw going on the ground and the same goes for the otherway around exept if the ground ch/saw is nowwhere near the tree and even then be careful.

The other day I broke that rule!

We were Half way through a total removal of a good sized Afican Mahogany with every thing going well.

We had lowered a branch and the groundie was cutting it up while I was getting into position for the next one.

There was a peice 3.5 foot long and 5 inch diametre (30 kgs or so) that I thought I would bomb as the groundie was back behind and out to my left about 20 feet away still cutting the branch.

I needed the wood to swing down a bit to avoid a fire hose reel so I planned to cut it off as it swung. I misscut the thing and a little sapwood held it too long, The damd thing rotated and toof off to the left toward my groundie like it was on a mission to kill him.

Imagine my horror as from my angle I could see this thing spiraling toward the middle of his back as he was bending over cutting, I yelled but it was no use, he couldn't hear me over his saw.

The wood hit the ground on its end right beside him slamming into his shoulder/back sending him stagering away in pain.

He was pretty sore with some bruising but Ok otherwise and could keep working despite me wanting to take him to hospital for a checkup.

It gave both of us a heck of a frieght.

Hope none of you make this mistake, It could have killed him. (he is my brother-in-law and good mate)

Brent Ferris

I worked with a fellow several years ago that was a good worker, and fast. He was headed out to the truck, so I thought I would drop a piece of wood at the base of the tree. It took 2 1/2 to 3 seconds to fall, and in that time he had raced back to the tree, just as it fell in front of him. He was pissed and wanted to know what I was thinking. I explained, and we agree to yell out what we were doing so the other one could avoid possible problems.

Moral. It only takes a second or two to make a serious mistake, the same second or two it takes to warm the other person. Choose the right action, at the right time,

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Eric Frei

"Struck by" accidents are the most common in this workplace.

All heads accounted for, then cut. Everyone needs to know their primary role.

Really the LZ should be under the command of one person, all groundies acknowledge with him what to do (enter, get wood etc). The climber communicates to 1 groundie, the one in charge.

People running around willie nillie can get out of control, the climber calling the shots isn't a real lot of chop either.

I really believe that team building and training is req'd, it's not about hierarchy and rank but about smooth running, when people learn that the guy running the show is simply the hub that all the spokes join to rather than the guy at the top of the ladder then they'll understand and realise the importance of cohesion, communication etc.

How many scenarios do you see on amateur jobsites that go like this:- Branch has been lowered and is stuck on fence palings, need some slack given on the lowering rope so butt can be laid down, need another to cut the branch into pieces and get it away, climber starts yelling for the rope to come back, panic and pressure starts ......

..... often the climber cannot really see what the problem is, often the groundies cannot see what the climber does, it's a two way street. I often see people busting their ass doing some superman shit because they cannot wait 2 minutes for a piece of kit to come out solving the problem, if indeed strength was king then elephants would rule but they do not as intelligence is the winner.

Glad yours turned out OK in this case.

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derwoodii

Well said wise and great post by the OP, all can learn from this.
My 3 rd day on the job was 1 inch from being my last on earth as a 40+ kg of log past my head slamming into the ground.

Garry Brockley

Yepi took the very tip of my finger off stopping a piece from landing on a groundie years ago, i was blocking down and he walked under me as i was pushing the piece, i managed to stop it but trapped my finger doing it, now i always look and shout before throwing.

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Tony Knight

Eye contact and acknowledgment before commencing, a rule I use for everything as, like others I have gotten lucky in the past as both perpetrator and victim.

Cheers

Tony

Sammow

Was working with a small crew next to a pool cutting down some shi77y cocus palms and other palms. We were on the lowering rope but the pool had wooden edging that was slippery as a used car salesman.
Down comes the crown of the palm and luckily the other bloke was a six or seven foot tall fella as I'm just skidding along the ground lol. Thing is I didn't let go of the rope and was heading towards the drop zone. :-/ we stopped it but I probably should have let the rope go eh.

Jeff Darby

lol's so you all went skiing lol..does happen some times..

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046

glad it turned out OK... seems this is a common occurrence

there's another thread on AS with almost identical scenario

derwoodii

Some intresting numbers here shows just how fast gravity is.

7 Cars That Are Faster Than Gravity - Ultrafast Supercars - Popular Mechanics

7 Cars That Could Win a Drag Race Against Gravity
Thanks to gravity, an object in free fall accelerates at a rate of 32.2 feet per second squared. So an item dropped from the top of the Empire State Building will accelerate to about 22 mph in one second and continue gaining speed until it reaches terminal velocity—when the resistance from aerodynamic drag counteracts the gravitational effect. Recently, however, we’ve driven cars that feel so quick, we began to wonder if they could accelerate on flat ground quicker than if they’d been dropped from an airplane. Let’s take a look at which cars can beat gravity, and a few that come pretty darn close (and perhaps could win on their best day). Unless we note otherwise, the times are tested figures from established outlets, and the figures are accurate at the time of posting


Just how fast is gravity in a drag race? Let's assume an object is dropped from a static position and our target speed is 60 mph. That 60 mph translates to 88 feet per second, and when we divide 88 fps by the acceleration of gravity (32 fps/sec), we find that a generic object falling toward Earth will reach 60 mph in a time of 2.73 seconds. To beat gravity, our cars must be faster than 2.73 seconds in a 0–60 mph sprint. (No, cars don't accelerate at a constant rate, but for this exercise we used 0–60 times because the data are readily available.