Share your close calls!

[Wood Hick]

We had a rainy wash out of a day today and got to talking about "almost" mishaps while using a saw. I thought it would make a neat thread for others to share their stories. I'll share two of my own:
I cut all day several years ago with a big old Mac, ran a crew for most of the day, skidded some, etc. When I got home I was taking off my boots and noticed 3 distinct cut lines going over the toe of my boot. I pulled it off for a closer look and WOW, the cuts went all the way through the steel toe! Naturally I next peeked down at my sock, which had 3 dark lines of oil that matched the cut boot! I never felt ANY of those cuts. A miracle by a few millimeters each time!
I was taking down some large oaks around my own yard 4 years ago when I built my house. One bad leaner was too tall, and for sure would hit the house.
As I thought about climbing it to top it out I did some "Kentucky Windage" measurement from the ground and declared it was far enough away. My wife disagreed. I cut it anyway. As it dropped I became religious in a big hurry, for sure I had messed up. The very tip of the tree came down and put a scratch in the end cap of the gutter! Six more inches would have smashed a hole in my new house. Of course I told the wife I planned it that way, You saw me measure!

 

[spacemule]

How can you cut your boot 3 times and not know it? Sounds like you need to have some safety training!

 

[ddhlakebound]

Two times I've cut my jeans on my right thigh, and luckily never scratched my skin. I've heard that spot is a fairly common chainsaw injury, and I can understand why. I no longer EVER rest my saw on my thigh.

The first time was near the end of a side job, after a full day of line clearance. The second was near the end of a long day of ice storm cleanup. For both I was tired and unfocused, I rested the saw on my thigh as the chain was coming to a stop after a cut.

A couple very simple things could have saved me from potential injury. If you are too tired to hold the saw properly, then set it down. And simply wearning chaps instead of leaving them in the truck.

 

[andrethegiant70]

Hell, I'm worried that if I tell you guys I haven't even had a close call I'll jinx myself. I personally think you have to assume that the saw is going to be looking to bite you. The challenge is keeping your productivity up while you figure out how to stay out of the saw's way.

 

[16:1mix]

15 or so years ago....

Daviddumbass had a 8-10" diameter branch of a Willow tree snap unexpectedly when cutting it and roll into the vee crevice where I was standing. So here I am 12' off the ground with this heavy branch on the top of my boot with the chainsaw still idling. After I shut the saw off and pulled my boot out I climbed down and drove out for an X-ray. No damage but it did hurt like a SOB.:bang:

Ya ever drive a vehicle with a manual transmission with the use of ONE (left) foot?

Lesson learned - I do not climb into trees to prune or trim.....ever!

 

[shawn.m]

Was out cutting some trees down while I had a bulldozer on site last month. In a hurry to get ahead of the bulldozer so I can send him to the next tree. Didnt put my chaps on, just jumped out with the 372 to cut stuff up real quick.

went to cut off the top of a downed tree and had the saw running. Bar pointed to my left, as i stepped forward into the tree top. the saw went down and I lightly touched my left knee cap. giving myself a light cut on my knee and filling my shorts at the same time:censored: :jawdrop:

reminder to self always wear chaps. slow down

 

[sILlogger]

close calls happen just about every day with me, don't have time to post all of them

 

[lumberinspector]

Was cutting some small diameter stuff at the house I had bought...using my new 44 at the time and 28" bar....OVERKILL for sure! While I was cutting, I laid the saw across my knee...through my insulated bibs, jeans and down to the skin...I shut the saw off and stood there in shock not wanting to look. It put a nice gash in my knee but not bad enough for stiches. Boy did I feel dumb...too big of saw for the job and my chaps were in the garage.

Did some clearing for my mom and step dad...again small diameter stuff...had trees laying all over...got one hung up...was over confident and went to cut the hung up one out...came back at me and I didn't have my escape route..tripped over the brush and down I went...took a few branches to the hard hat.

I have learned the hard way. I no longer get over confident etc. and make sure I have a plan before the saw lays into the tree.

The ol' saying is true..."If you don't use it...you'll lose it" I took a chainsaw safety class in Hancock,WI with Ken Lallemont a few years ago and learned a great deal but since than haven't cut that much so what I learned simply got replaced with other probably less useful info.

Anyone else attended any training sessions with him?

 

[nilzlofgren]

I dropped this 16 inch pine, and had my backhoe with the forks up against it, to control its fall. Well, the tree spun on the stump, fell onto the forks, causing the butt to lunge into the air. Needless to say, I was weaving and bobbing, and you could have called me "the champ"! Sorry Thall.

 

[Adkpk]

Had a cable stretched across an opening on a hill on my woodlot. Was using some cable wire (that is cable tv wire) to pull up a bear bag. The bag was heavy and it was getting dark so I pulled with all my might. Snap, I went through the air maybe 15' diagonally down the steep hill. I laid there thinking I was in some deep :censored: with a busted something or other but eventually I stood up and was OK.

I was out drinking till the bars threw me one night in the Greenwich Village. Was still looking for trouble at 4 am but found myself at the bus station at 42 St. No more buses to NJ. So I strolled up to Central Park. By this time it was light and the city was a bustling. I felt I needed to get a little rest then head home to go to work. Found a secluded bench and out I went. I awoke to someone shaking me and pointing to my front pocket of my jeens which had been slit. Digging my hands in my pocket to find someone had extracted the $200 I was going to use to pay my rent with. I'm sorry that wasn't a close call was it.:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[trimmmed]

I did a perc test for my neighbor and was done but needed to get my backhoe out of the woods, It has full glass so I was standing on the platform knockin some limbs off a pin oak with my echo 550EVL, so I could clear, I was cuttin above my head as it were, and the saw hit something and kicked back and come straight down (real fast) and hit perpendicular across the top of my left thigh. Went straight thru my double leg carhartts and the chain jammed. I could see my long johns in there too. Said to myself "O ****" then the blood come burbling up through the fabric. I was just a little scared at that moment, hopped back in the hoe and just floored the sob thru the woods to get home, I was planning how I was gonna get to a hospital etc. So when I got home, I ran inside, pulled my pants down to see how bad it was, and it ended up being just a nasty cut, not even stitch worthy. I was very lucky.

 

[Mr_Super-hunky]

Well, I really don't have any *close* calls, as they went beyond that point.

A few years ago, I was holding my grinder close to my chest when I plugged it in and did not realize that it was already in the ON position. I ended up grinding my left nipple partially off!. Amazingly, it grew back!, and thats the second time I semi chopped it off!.

When I was a young kid, I crashed my bike going really fast down the street (no shirt on of course!), and ground my left nipple off then as well.

I am now on my 3rd left nipple [sort of!]

As far as chain saw mishaps are concerned, fortunately, I don't really have any other than I once forgot my little chain saw was in the front loader bucket of my backhoe and then I started to move dirt, thereby burying the saw.

I had no idea I even did this until the next spring when little baby chain saws started popping up out of the ground. !! Okay, thats a lie!

I actually did bury the saw in a load of dirt only to realize it much later. After carefully hand digging through the pile of dirt, my wife actually found it and it was completely fine. Started right up no problems.

I have to admit that Stihls are pretty durable and seem to take anything you toss at them!.

 

[PA Plumber]

We used to have about 35 bushes (from previous owners) that had to be trimmed a couple of times a year. I bought an echo gas hedge trimmer to speed things up a bit. Am very used to resting a saw on my leg and sure enough, WHAM, nailed my left leg. Back yard, in the evening and I yanked my pants down to see how bad the cut was. No cut just a huge purple and blue spot with a bloody line where I got pinched.

About 15 minutes later I was just getting done, and WHAM, did it again! Matching purple/blue spots on my leg with bloody pinch marks. Both marks were less than an inch apart and about 1 1/2 inches long. Man did they smart!!

Special Note: I have never done that again.

 

[Peacock]

Special Note: I have never done that again.

Sure you haven't.

 

[Sprig]

Welp, I've had my share of close calls with everything from chainsaws to drunken cougars but there are a couple that have always stood out in my mind, this is one.
I ran a 'sidewinder' on graveyard shift for a number of years (on and off for around 8 of 'em), feeding a very high production sawmill with logs. I loved the job, one of the best (adrenaline-wise) I've ever had.
A sidewinder is a small steel boat with 360 degree steering used to move logs around, sorting them, rafting them, feeding mills etc.etc..
The ones we were using were 14' with Cats (or GMs, I forget) 454's, four cylinders, 54ci each, around 230-250+hp) with hydraulic steering and 20" props (this did vary depending on the boat, the dozer boats had some larger ones).
The trick of feeding this mill was; we'd get booms of bundles (logging truck size I guess) that were either choker-cabled or strapped, and we'd open up the end of the boom and then push the bundles toward the side-lift, the ladder that fed the mill. The sidelift has 'buckets' and the logs are fed in side-ways, they go up to a chain deck then one-by-one go into the mill to be processed.
Our job as 'feeders' was to keep the decks full, the ladder full, and the line of floating logs steady to feed the ladder. To break a bundle when the mill was running full bore requires pushing it sideways with the sidewinder in the right direction, climb out of a perfectly good boat, cut (and save in most cases) the cables or break the chokers and then do the death-run/walk back to the boat before everything spreads out and you are swimming in the chuck. You would hang the cables off the front of the boat (which was of course in gear and moving forward, pushing), hop into the driver's seat and proceed to arrange the raft for feeding the mill.
Got the idea mates? (tough to explain btw unless ya seen it)
So, now that I sort of explained the basics, the object of the thread and my close call story.
As I said, I was on graveyard, the boom was set up, I broke it open and it looked to be a PITA raft of pecker-poles (10-15" logs about 40-50ft long) with cable straps. So I picked a bundle and got it moving in the right direction then jumped off the boat with the cable cutter (we used Stihls btw for those that care), and cut the cables, grabbed them and was doing the log rollin' dance when not more than four feet from me a log about 20 inches in diameter shot straight up out of the (now falling apart) bundle and towered a good 20 feet above me. It was near pitch black, cold and miserable, and as this unexpected monster reared its ugly head all I could think of was "Run like the wind". It crashed down away from the direction I was running and I made it back to the boat in one piece, hung the cables, got in the driver's seat and took them to shore (the dock) then run'er back to untangle everything and get the line straight. My heart attack didn't start till coffee break and I sat down and thought 'Man that was a close one!' and shook a bit.
I did this work regularly, one of those 'Don't know iffin I'm coming home today.' type ones, but I loved it and really was pizzed off when I trained a bud that bumped me off. Probably one of the best jobs I have ever had, paid well, excitement and drama every day, and I got to see some fine sights as the estuary where the mill is (Cowichan Bay) has one of the biggest salmon runs and eagle populations on the southern West Coast and the things I have seen nature-wise have made a huge impression in my life. I do have some prints from the mill and when I get my scanner drivers re-installed I'd be happy to post some pics of where my story originated.

Ya had ta be there,



Serge (babbling along as per usual when da dwarflette be gone )

 

[RaisedByWolves]

I lost part of my left nipple to a cigarette but in a fight. Got into a skuffle(shirtless) and somewhere along the line the lit but attached its self to my Nerp. This was in the breaking up of the ruckus stage and I initially thought I got stabbed due to the burning sensation, but everyone was laughing at me and pointing......


Took 6mo to regrow the nip and 6yrs to live down.




But thats not what Im here to tell.



Im a novice to the finer ways of the chainsaw, used them for my whole life cutting wood for our cabin, but never did anything "Technical" so to speak.


Then I found AS and got the saw bug, thats where the fun started.



Biggest mistake I ever made was in trying to make my first plunge cut........Into the end grain of a log! This was a good sized ash log that we got from a neighbor and figuring that it was around 2000lb with a funky end on it, it would be a good thing to practice on.


The funky piece was wedge shaped and stuck off at an angle, I figured I could plunge into it and cut up, down, and free the bottom of the log up to be cut a lil cleaner.


So I Revved the saw up (Homie 550) and went to make a nice gingerly plunge and the friggin saw kicked and shot up over my head! Damn near punched my self with the top hand.....


WTF? Thats not how they say its supposed to go.....


So me being more curious than intelligent I try it again with similar results.:bang: Well, the first time scared the carp outta me, pins and needles in my feet and everything. The second time I was a lil wiser (not much) but more prepared and I decided to sit a bit and think on this one.



Thinking about all of the plunge things I lernt I figured I was going at the wood from the wrong direction relative to the grain and had just one more try at it.

So I shook it off and tried again. This attempt was met with great success! I think I bucked about half of that log by plunging in and practicing different approaches and such.



I wont soon forget that one.....


.

 

[ropensaddle]

well they once recommended using hand saws to remove overhang
and I was in that process on a gum limb cutting the underside and breaking back away from three phaze when the holding meat broke and I was left holding the branch that was now neatly laying over the three phazes!I have felt indirect contact a time or two in the last two decades but that one took the breath out of me. I never used a hand saw since for that type of work set rope much much safer.

 

[Nikko]

I dropped a hanger onto a rock beach and it never tumbled, instead it stayed leaning against the cliff. It was a small tree and could really only go in one direction. So I figured out where the saw would go if things went sideways and proceeded to cut it. The cut went fine, the tree did what it was supposed and then I lost my balance.

Stupid me decided to save the saw and next thing I felt was a pretty solid thud on the shin. The jeans were cut, the blood was flowing. When I looked, it was just a skin - shins bleed a lot.

That night I ordered chaps and haven't made a cut since without them. I also wear those same jeans most times when I'm cutting - nothing like a little reminder.

Nikko.

 

[SmokinDodge]

I am simply amazed by the amount of nipple stories.


Sprig please do post some pics from your old job, it sounds very exciting!


My close call was about five years ago with my old 028 WB (I called it the Warner Brothers saw) it had just had a fresh carb kit and all was good. Get a gig cutting cedar and I take the ol Warner Brother out for the action. Get on site and the dang saw won't idle, stills runs fine but won't idle to save my life. Finally get it to idle by maxing out the idle screw (not carb jetting) and can get some work done.

I guess there was some gunk in the carb because all of a sudden it started speeding up on it's own. Ok fiddle with it some more and get it were it's idling under 5000 rpm all is good. Few more cuts same deal so I swing the saw up to place it on the freshly fallen tree. Half way through the swing the bar tip hits a small branch and promptly kicks it towards my left knee. All I saw was a blurr and in my mind flashed an image of the future me with a stump for a leg and a child on my good knee "Grandpa how did you loose your leg?" I felt the warm sticky flow of blood and was scared to even look.

The guy I was working for thought I lost my mind because I dropped my drawers right then and there. God/Allah or somebody was with me that day as the saw was idling down as it was going towards my knee and it only removed a small knick of skin. Just about one cutters worth actually.

Nothing a little TP couldn't take care of. Worked the rest of the day and was very cautious and jumpy for some reason.

 

[mattinky]

15 or so years ago....
Ya ever drive a vehicle with a manual transmission with the use of ONE (left) foot?
QUOTE]

Back in '86 a big crash while racing motocross left me with a broken left arm, with a cast that went above my elbow and my arm bent in an "L". I drove my 4-speed Z-28 with just one useable arm for 6 weeks. I'd say driving a stick with just one foot would be a little more difficult than one handed though !

Matt