Almost got crushed by my flipline

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chad556

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I haven't been doing this kind of work for a long time, just a few months now actually. As a beginner, I have to say that many of the stories and news articles that I have read in this forum have probably kept me alive and have certainly impacted the way I look at safety. That said I feel like I owe it to the community here to give back by telling my story (as embarrassing and stupid as it may be).

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It started with two red oak trees that needed to be climbed. I installed my climbing line in one and spur climbed up the other one (the one on the left in the picture) I made my way to the first branch and walked out about halfway on it. The angle on the photo is bad but I marked where the cut was in red. I swung my flipline around the branch, dug my gaffs in, got comfortable, and started up my saw. I started out with an undercut wedge and then deftly fliped my bar to the other side of the branch and started my back cut. What once was tricky for me was finally starting to come naturally, or so i thought.

The piece I was cutting was big, 500 pounds maybe 25' long by about 8"-10" diameter where i was making my cut. One guy couldn't drag it on his own, lets put it that way. I was tired, it was winding on down to the end of the day and somehow I misjudged where to make the back cut and made it about 4" higher than i needed. Sure enough I heard the thing cracking and starting to move, I prepared myself for the recoil in the branch as all that weight separated and all of the sudden... BAM. I was slammed right into the branch by my lanyard, my whole lower half being squeezed hard and my leg, still gaffed into the tree painfully hyper extended. All my breath was squeezed out of me and it was impossible to inhale.

The branch had split right down the middle, ripping in half and taking my lanyard(and me) with it. My hand rushed in a panic to my flip line but immediately i saw that loosening it under that much tension was hopeless. I then remembered the knife I carry on the back of my harness, it has a guthook, serrated curved blade and a razor sharp blade that would cut through my rope in a few quick strokes. It would be close, but I figured that I would have just enough time before I passed out to reach back, get the knife out and cut myself free. Luckly, at this point I realized that I had my still running 200T in my left hand. I revved up and swung the bar right through that blaze rope. The line snapped and flew apart and I just lied there on that branch gasping for air for at least a good minute. When I could move again I painfully sat back in my harness and descended right into a utility vehicle and got whisked off to the ER.

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My back was killing me and I couldn't sit up or stand without pain and I had to walk with a limp. Everything checked out fine thankfully, no permanent damage (except to that flipline). I got two days off work to think about my stupidity and a bottle of pain pills. The moral of the story is to be precise with your cuts and watch where you have all of your ropes, you really can kill yourself pretty easily if you get sloppy. I will never make this kind of mistake again. I easily could have died and that freaks me out, I'm just 25 years old and thats way too young. I owe that little saw my life for cutting that rope.

Anyways, I have pretty much made a full recovery (the accident took place on Wednesday) just a little pain in my knee from where it was bent backwards over the tree. I am hoping that by posting this it will add to the library of close calls and tragedy that we all can learn from and use to stay safe out there.
 
Hey Chad, glad you're ok. I have a question, were those take downs or pruning jobs? How did you get your line up in the first one? Stay safe , Joe.
 
Yeah both trees were to be taken down, I may be new to climbing but I have studied the theory and worked with pros for years now, you wont see this guy spike trimming (I'm actually going to take my ISA certification test soon). I pulled my rope up into the first one because i was going to move over to it once i took care of that lowest branch of the one on the left (it was blocking the drop zone of the tree I was tied into and I didn't want anything to hang up) Also, once the branch was gone on the one on the left the tree could be safely dropped. It was a big branch and it would have caused a lot of damage to a bunker complex if it came down the way it was.

It was just a dumb mistake, I made a very sloppy backcut on the branch and my lanyard happened to be in the way. If I had only wrapped it around the smaller branch just to the right of that red line and made the cut I would have gotten away unhurt. Seeing the branch rip that way I still would have learned the same lesson though.
 
Glad to hear you're okay. I make stupid mistakes too. Thankfully, I haven't died or been seriously injured from them.
 
Also, what kind of cut were you making?

If the backcut was further out than the facecut just forget all about the kind of cut. It is not a good way even though it says it is in the manual.

Looks like you should have used a narrow notch or a jump.

Also, if you are gonna lay into a piece of wood like that I recomend nothing short of a ms200t.
 
It was just a standard notch, not too wide, about 45 degrees. Looking at it from the ground it was way too small also, only about a quarter of the way in. And the back cut was aimed to be straight into the apex of the notch. Somehow it ended up 4" up the branch, just one of those things I guess, mistakes happen. You can bet I will take the extra second to double check from now on though.

BTW what exactly is a jump?
 
I'd recommend ALWAYS having a handsaw on your saddle. You will pretty much always know where it is, should something like this happen. Also, on a branch that size, you're gonna be lucky to get more than 1/4 way in with a notch, after that point you risk pinching from the weight of the branch, and then you'll need a handsaw or other more PITA tools to get yourself out.

A jump cut, FYI is just 2 cuts, the first coming up from the bottom, and the second coming down from the top, either right on top of, or slightly behind the first.
 
I'd recommend ALWAYS having a handsaw on your saddle. You will pretty much always know where it is, should something like this happen. Also, on a branch that size, you're gonna be lucky to get more than 1/4 way in with a notch, after that point you risk pinching from the weight of the branch, and then you'll need a handsaw or other more PITA tools to get yourself out.

A jump cut, FYI is just 2 cuts, the first coming up from the bottom, and the second coming down from the top, either right on top of, or slightly behind the first.

Pretty darn sure that's not a jump cut that you are describing. It would be a breakaway cut that you are describing. And FYI don't make the cut's on top of each other unless you like to drop saws out of trees.
 
Were you using the top rope as well? Does everyone here always double tie in when cutting? I personally don't. In that instance he was less safe than being just tied in on his top rope. In the past I had a boss that always wanted you to be double tied in when running the saw, I never really agreed that it's always the safest way.
 
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I was tired, it was winding on down to the end of the day and somehow I misjudged where to make the back cut and made it about 4" higher than i needed. Sure enough I heard the thing cracking and starting to move, I prepared myself for the recoil in the branch as all that weight separated and all of the sudden... BAM.

How far were you into your backcut when the thing snapped? I always check my cuts as I am cutting, especially when I am getting tired and my cuts are sloppier. I'll recut if the cut is turning out bad. I'll even move up the branch and cut a new notch if I cut one that is angled incorrectly and I don't feel it's fixable.

Also how deep was your notch? It seems like if your notch was deep enough it still would have snapped there even if your backcut was to high.

The "jump cut" that Dan is referring to is a great cut to use when you are dropping something straight and don't need to put any swing on it. Just make an undercut about as far as you can up the branch before the bar pinches, usually around 2/3 up on smaller branches, branches of that size you just have to judge it. Then start a top cut either right on top of the other cut or slightly higher, as you cut the branch simply snaps off. It works great and is a quicker cut to make than a notch cut.

The notch cut you were using is best if you want to swing the limb. You should be tied in from above when you make this cut. This doesn't work well on dead wood and each tree is slightly different. You put an open face notch at about a forty five degree angle towards the ground in the direction you want the limb to swing and make a back cut. The more holding wood you leave at the top the more it will swing. If you get really good at this you can judge exactly where the limb will drop by changing the angles of your notch. Try this out on some safe limbs before you go trying to dodge garages and fences with it.

Hope this helps and be safe.

-Keith

ps I've always referred to Dan's "jump cut" as a snap cut. I am sure there are a million names for it. I call the other one a hinge cut.
 
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Good advice Keith, thanks for the input. To answer your question I was actually finished with the back cut. I had just pulled my saw away, the limb started creaking and moving, and I was getting ready to deal with the jolt of the branch separating. Thank god I didnt turn the saw off yet like I sometimes do. I really don't think I could have gotten it started again to cut myself free. I did have a little 8" folding handsaw but it was hooked onto the back of my harness with a little keychain carabiner, I probably could have gotten it open in time and cut the rope with it but like I said as far as speed and convienence go there is nothing better than a running 200T in your hands to get you out of a tough spot like that.

I will have to try out that "jump cut" (snap cut, breakaway cut, etc). I have know about it and used it as a means for taking out small limbs and especally when working on evergreens (to drop branches straight down so they dont swing into me) Never thought of trying it on large hardwoods. I will have to test it out (safely of course)

I always use two points of connection when the saw is on, but I have to agree with you, it isnt always the safest thing to do. In this case however I did have another branch i could have tied into(you can see it just above the red line in my pic). In the future though, you can bet I'm keeping my cuts cleaner and my lanyard out of harms way.
 
I will have to try out that "jump cut" (snap cut, breakaway cut, etc). I have know about it and used it as a means for taking out small limbs and especally when working on evergreens (to drop branches straight down so they dont swing into me) Never thought of trying it on large hardwoods. I will have to test it out (safely of course)

To make that cut your cuts must line up perfectly. In order to drop big wood you must make your under cut deep enough close to one half nip the sides i.e. cut the sap wood off and come down from the top as fast as your saw will cut. The reason it is usually called a jump cut is that the limb will pop or jump off the stub. You may want to get The Working Climber DVD series by Gerald F. Beranek it may help you out. I would highly recommend working with an experienced climber for a bit to learn from. You can teach yourself this kind of work but as you know mistakes can kill you!
 
To make that cut your cuts must line up perfectly. In order to drop big wood you must make your under cut deep enough close to one half nip the sides i.e. cut the sap wood off and come down from the top as fast as your saw will cut. The reason it is usually called a jump cut is that the limb will pop or jump off the stub. You may want to get The Working Climber DVD series by Gerald F. Beranek it may help you out. I would highly recommend working with an experienced climber for a bit to learn from. You can teach yourself this kind of work but as you know mistakes can kill you!

I agree, The notch should be deep enough and very narrow, no 45's unless you are roping it and want it to swing a little. 45's work better on limbs that are facing upright like top leaders. I awlays cut as fast as I can on those horizontal limbs and keep cutting untill the limb breaks off, no waiting for the limb to start cracking. Waiting for the limb to go itself can cause tearouts on the edges of the notch that can peel and cause the climber to be pulled into the tree if he's lanyard in right underneath the cut, especially on those fiberous trees like oak. Sometime I like to leave a stub on the top farther back from the cut im making to lanyard into so if it does tear im good to go. Good lesson for ya chad, glad you posted it. Lots of great and knowledgable opinions on here.
 

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