Avoided felling injury with pure luck - how to avoid in the future?

[Fishin' Rod]

I was felling trees in our old shelter belt today, when I received a sharp whack in the back from a mulberry that toppled out of an area that I had cleared about eight minutes earlier.

[The "forest" in our shelter belt is 80-90 years old, and half the trees I need to fell are already hung up in another tree.]

I had a small, dead cedar (10" x 30' tall) that was just barely hung up in the branches of a mulberry tree. The mulberry tree (18" x 40' tall) was a stem off of the base of a much larger mulberry. The stem was leaning at about 5-10 degrees as they tend to do when growing off a larger central tree. Both the central tree and the stem looked green and healthy with full leaf coverage.

I felled the cedar just as I expected it would go, and it rolled nicely out of the mulberry branches on the way down. I checked my overhead (all clear), then limbed the cedar and moved off. After cutting a few smaller trees to clear space, I went to work on a large cedar about 30' away from the mulberry. (Everything was open air at this time between the previous trees and the current tree where I was working.)

I was just starting the back cut on the large cedar, when I was given a hard lashing across my back by some large branches. (It happened so fast, that I did not lose control of my chainsaw or soil my pants!)

I shut down my saw and looked around to figure out what the hell had happened. At that point I realized the central leader of the 40' tall mulberry "stem" had missed my head by about eight feet. It was pure luck that the spot I was standing avoided the main weight of the falling wood. I don't know if it fell with enough force to crack my helmet and skull, but it was probably close to that level.

I went back to examine the mulberry "stem". It had broken off just below ground level. The root flare was about 80% eaten by carpenter ants. However, the above ground portion of the tree appeared perfectly healthy.

I had previously thought the mulberry tree would be stronger in the air after I felled the small hanging cedar and got that weight off of the branches of the mulberry. In hindsight, I think when the cedar rolled out of the branches of the mulberry tree, it gave a bit of a tug to the mulberry before the weight of the cedar came free. By my estimation - the mulberry then fell eight minutes later (give or take a few minutes).

What advice would the experts give to avoid this near calamity in the future?

I was wearing all of my protective gear. However, if I had been 10 feet closer to the mulberry tree, and the trunk would have hit me squarely on the head, then I don't think my helmet would have made one bit of difference. [Those mulberry trees are so wet and heavy in the spring.]

The farm is in south-central Kansas. We frequently have spring days with 30-35 mph winds (and higher gusts). I picked the calmest day (5-10 mph winds) of the week to clear timber. I hate clearing in windy conditions, where you add one more variable on how the trees will come down. There were no winds of consequence in the low area where I was working today, but I will be even more leery about wind conditions when I am working in the future.

Finally, I was working by myself - but I was just doing the smaller, easier trees on this trip. Two weeks ago, I took my son as a spotter when I did the risky trees. (I had one tree that had six other blow-downs caught in its branches.) I hate working by myself when felling, but the is frequently my only option.

Thanks for any opinions from the experts,
Rod

 

[BigDee]

Thanks for sharing your story.
I'm glad you are OK.
I don't know what to think, except
be grateful for another day.

 

[Westboastfaller]

Lucky guy! One of my falling partners from last June was killed in a similar situation in Feb. Don't know the details as its under inversigation still. It sounded like it was an recent uprouted cedar above him that he may not have noticed. All those heli blocks are walked by superiors with Ipads that make a way point with notes of hazards. In cases they may delete areas or complete blocks if nessasary. New hazards can accrue any time but your have to recognize the worst times in youe area. We measure our rain fall and if we get so much in 12 hour then 24 hours, its a day off.
All we can do is increase out chances
by trending of the past and controlling our environment through education.
Now companies want to see near miss reporting and hazard cards.
Doing site overviews is a great tool.
I have a Wilflife/Danger tree assessors course through WCB/ BC Forest safety council. Wildland fire as well Harvesting & Silviculcure modules.
You can print one of them off.
Think its about 110 pages.
There is some very helpful stuff in there.
Site overview
Timber type? Spruce, Birch Tamerack
Soil type ?< dark, rich, loose
My finding: many white spruce in area have uprooted due to wet soil and there shallow rooting system.

Moisture content? <wet marshy
Rocky?
Previous or fresh slides?
Topo ?
Disease ?< what are the signes?, what species is affected? Heart rot conks present? What's the common deterioration signs? are they breaking who many are on the ground and what species?

Insects/fire....<
Mechanical disturbed?
Beavers?
Its about prioritizing. You can't look at them ALL but this tool gets you in the direction of suspect trees. Its a well worth practice.

 

[TreeJoe]

Glad you escaped. danger abounds. assessing is a constant. Being alone is something you need to try and change. You might even get one of those "I have fallen and cant get up cell pendants". You might also try visiting the site and photographing it from different angle and study them before you go out each morning and then more photos before you leave. Its not perfect but you are alone and anything that might help spot trouble could help, might.

 

[Fishin' Rod]

Thanks for all of the good advice that everyone added to the thread!

I have been an outdoorsman all my life, as well as an Eagle scout. I would say my tree assessment skills are well above average for someone of my (relatively low-level) chainsaw skills. That is part of what shook me up so much about the incident - I was working very methodically and carefully assessing all of the trees in my work area. The tree that tried to assault me looked perfectly fine by all external measures.

As regards working alone, my main work area is close to the creek. This is obviously the lowest spot on the farm. I doubt a cell pendant would work - my cell phone sometimes does not get a signal. Being injured while working alone, and being unable to phone for help, seems to be doubly stupid on my part.

Unfortunately, I have hundreds of hours of clearing labor to perform on the farm. I guess I will have to have "safe" clearing days where I work alone using the brushcutter for saplings and only utilizing the chainsaw for small, straight, unencumbered trees. I can then make sure I have a partner for "danger" clearing days.

P.S. Maybe getting a clone of "Lassie" would be my best option. When a tree started creaking behind me, Lassie could run up and grab my pant leg to warn me of the danger just in the nick of time. If I did get injured, then Lassie could run to the neighbor's house and bark until the say, "Oh, Fishin' Rod fell in the woods and he needs help?"

Thanks,
Rod

 

[Westboastfaller]

Lol ..That's the thing with Lassie.
They kind of had to figure him out.
Then they had to prob it out of him


..."Somthings up with Lassie everyone.
What's a matter boy?
Are you OK Boy,?
I think he's trying to tell us somthing!
What is it Boy?.
What is it Boy,?
What are you trying to tell us Boy?
Come on Boy...
You can tell us Boy
Its OK Boy
Tell us Lassie?
tell us what it is?

What!!!
Little Billy got his nuts caught in the reef and the tide is coming up!

Lead the way boy...
show us boy
Lead the way...


*It's just not a perfect system

.

 

[BigDee]

I appreciate your extra distress given your experience and attention to conditions. But Maybe now you have had your 100-year accidental close call and you will be in the clear from here on out. Just keep your guard up.

And despite the hazards, I think there's nothing like the freedom of working alone.

 

[rarefish383]

Westboast pretty much hit it with soil conditions, species, weather conditions, etc. My son is an Eagle Scout, and all of the Scout woodcraft does "help", but it is not knowledge of how these things react to several different conditions at the same time. Plus, a Scout may know what a Black Locust looks like, but does he know they are prone to a root rot and fall over easily in a wind. There are too many things to learn, that a short time on a forum, just can not teach you. We can advise that you pay more attention, but if you are not trained in what to pay attention to, we didn't help much. You might not see a similar tree in that condition for the next ten years, when you do, will you remember and recognize it. Since you mentioned the Scouts, they have about the best advice, "The Buddy System". I'm 61, came from 4 generations of tree care, and I've cut standing dead Oaks for fire wood by myself, on several different farms, for years. This year is the first time I actually took a break and thought, I really shouldn't be here by myself. I just stopped working, packed up and went home. Have not been back in the woods to cut big dead Oaks without a "Buddy" since, Joe.

 

[JMoney]

I can only agree that solo work, especially out of cell service, is something to avoid. Even if I'm just limbing and bucking fallen firewood, I always have someone with me who can at least drive to help. For me it's usually a teenager, but people learn to drive early out here.

 

[ropensaddle]

I can only agree that solo work, especially out of cell service, is something to avoid. Even if I'm just limbing and bucking fallen firewood, I always have someone with me who can at least drive to help. For me it's usually a teenager, but people learn to drive early out here.

Problem with that option teens ,kids, grandkids etc. It would be hard enough on them to hear you were killed in an accident let alone witness it!!! I have thought about it and prefer to spare my family the extra grief should my untimely demise occur.

 

[JMoney]

That is a good point ropeandsaddle. Where I live people tend to grow up hard and fast, but I guess it would suck to contribute to that. I will think three times (instead of my usual twice) before felling or doing any other high danger operations with a younger buddy. I still think it's okay for limbing and bucking downed trees for firewood. I know that fatalities are still possible with any operation of a chainsaw, but to me these are lower risk than felling.

 

[ropensaddle]

Yes but its always the easy stuff that seems to get ya!

 

[ConservationNation]

I had something similar happen to me yesterday.
There was a pretty hard leaning mulberry hanging over a fence, but it had several big branches to counterweight the lean. I figured they would make enough difference that I could pull it over with a come along, so I rigged it up and cut my notch low.
I got all my wedges started and finished my back cut without incident, but when I started pounding on the wedges, both of the counterweight branches fell right off, revealing a completely rotted out center on the outwardly healthy tree.
Without the counterweight branches, I knew my winch wasn't going to pull this tree over, but I had no choice but to try at this point. I made sure my escape route was clear, and kept pounding the wedges. Eventually the tree just broke it's remaining hinge wood and fell on the fence.
I feel like a real idiot. I don't know how I could have known the tree was rotten looking at it from the outside, it looked great! Maybe it's just a virtue of mulbery, weak branches and internal rot.

 

[pdqdl]

It sounds to me like that leaning mulberry had obvious splits that were only weakly joined at the base. Next time put a chain-hoist around the multiple stems and bind them tightly together with a couple wraps of chain. Higher is better. Load binders can be installed to spare the winch any injury when it falls.

Get a throw ball and enough string and rope to recover from your mistakes. (You don't need pro equipment, either. A big steel nut and some contractor string line works quite well) I'll bet you could have recovered from your bad situation if you had set a rope high and then pulled the tree over with a machine or just a rope winch. They don't cost that much, and they can save the day. I keep this kind of equipment around all the time, because it also comes in handy for a lot of purposes other than disasters.

Regarding health evaluations? Learn to study trees for more than "obviously dead and rotten". The crown of almost any tree with rotten roots will look much thinner than adjacent trees and may be sporting some fungal growths on the trunk or ground around it. These are all bad signs, and suggest greater caution. A sharp steel probe will often reveal spongy soft roots when you think a tree needs a closer look.

I don't think I have ever seen a blown over tree with rotten roots that didn't have some discernible problems in the fallen trunk & canopy. Even trees that are taken out by a high wind that reveals their rotten roots generally show a few problems above ground.

 

[ConservationNation]

It sounds to me like that leaning mulberry had obvious splits that were only weakly joined at the base. Next time put a chain-hoist around the multiple stems and bind them tightly together with a couple wraps of chain. Higher is better. Loadbinders can be installed to spare the winch any injury when it falls.

Regarding health evaluations? Learn to study trees for more than "obviously dead and rotten". The crown of almost any tree with rotten roots will look much thinner than adjacent trees and may be sporting some fungal growths on the trunk or ground around it. These are all bad signs, and suggest greater caution. A sharp steel probe will often reveal spongy soft roots when you think a tree needs a closer look.

I don't think I have ever seen a blown over tree with rotten roots that didn't have some discernible problems in the fallen trunk & canopy. Even trees that are taken out by a high wind that reveals their rotten roots generally show a few problems above ground.

Good advice, thank you! It had splits higher on the tree, I should have taken that as a sign that they extended down further. Definitely a learning experience.

 

[pdqdl]

Lol ..That's the thing with Lassie.
They kind of had to figure him out.
Then they had to prob it out of him


..."Somthings up with Lassie everyone.
What's a matter boy?
Are you OK Boy,?
I think he's trying to tell us somthing!
What is it Boy?.
What is it Boy,?
What are you trying to tell us Boy?
Come on Boy...
You can tell us Boy
Its OK Boy
Tell us Lassie?
tell us what it is?

Lead the way boy...
show us boy
Lead the way...


*It's just not a perfect system

.

I agree on all points except that "Lassie" was a girl-dog, and was referred to that way. Curiously enough, the female dog was always portrayed by male collies. Apparently, the change of fur coat associated with a female coming into heat was considered unacceptable. I think there were other reasons; they could have spayed a female and eliminated the "seasonal" issue.

All about foxfire, saprophytic fungi that glow in the dark, as well as the usual rescue by Lassie.

"I don't kiss any girl...except Lassie"​