Be Careful Out There

[SliverPicker]

Knock on wood (as I pound myself on the forehead with my right fist) but other than a 1/2" diameter widow-maker-in-training that about impaled its self in my left shoulder I've never come close to cashing in the chips while felling timber. I once, due to a failed computer, almost went over a 50' cliff in an 8 wheeled Prentice forwarder. I managed to turn the starter which set the emergency brake. I launched myself into the seat and went on instinct. That's the only reason I lived since I was climbing out of the cab at the time. That one still makes me feel faint when I think about it. I was 20 feet from oblivion and gaining speed rapidly. If I could be hypnotized and made to forget that experience I would gladly pay big bucks for that privilege.

 

[Frank Savage]

Will add to your ouch stories my own.
Five years back I was set to prep some management in several acre mixed stand, first real forestry care from since WW2. Snags, too dense parts, wildly overgrown trees (given the stand), thick underbrush decimating otherways healty, emerging undergrowth. Underbrush had to be removed before any falling took place, because there is no point having to pull anything and everything from 15ft high, where the elderberries were finaly less than 1ft thick... Helluva mess in some places, a 120x70 ft plot yielded 5 tons of chips in removed underbrush-and still was some left.
Well, I was supposed to walk around there with spray and be on comand of a crew with brushcutters, when a pretty mean hailstorm roared over there. Almost no leaves on the trees, lots of damage, no matter if to mature stand, ondergrowth or to underbrush. At places, knee high layer of leaves and anything up to about an inch. So since leaving the undergrowth in the best possible shape was an imperative there, it was me personaly who was running around with saw blade on a brushcuter, identifying by bark and remaining buds what to leave and what to cut. I was pretty aware about widowmakers, but sometimes a half broken limb still holds its shape. And in one of the thicker parts, I just managed to lean into the brush as far as I could by all the force I had, to avoid a dead center hit. By luck, the crak was loud enought and my ears are good enought to catch it through earmuffs and over the brushcutter noise. The helmet was OK, earmuffs also, but I must had my head all in right armpit upon impact. I managed to continue for about 4 hours, but then called it a day and went home since I needed to drink, lay down legs up and rest for five minutes three times a hour.
Aftermath? Dislocated neck, top 8 vertebrates dislocated some 1/4" every direction, turned left and right by up to 20° (spinous salients were all over the place in the back of my neck and upper chest), pinched nerves for whole right hand and right side of chest-swollen as much as it was visible on CT screen set to show "bones only". There were places on my hand where I could cut to bone and feel exactly nothing. 10 days in hospital where I lost all mimics for several days, 4 months with collar 24/7, another 3/4 year until somehow complete recovery. Still my right hand has way much worse blood supply and having some troubles with it at times.
But 7 months after, still with the collar, I was falling my firewood and learning my right hand the skill all over again-I couldn´t join the facecuts at first.

SliverPicker-that is a nasty one. Killed in the woods by failed Windows...

 

[SliverPicker]

Actually it was a MAC...

 

[SliverPicker]

A guy came to the job site today to buy a wholesale load of firewood. Upon leaving he crashed his log truck. Short STEEP hill in the down direction. 34º F (as slippery as it gets). 2 inches of fresh snow on top of packed snow. His truck ended up in a crick and his trailer ended up mostly underneath his tractor. Lots of broken steel laying around. Logs everywhere. The driver walked with just a sprained wrist. He wadded it up good.

 

[bitzer]

Wow. I bet he was a little shook. Lucky guy.

 

[bnmc98]

That doesn't make for a good payload. Glad he is ok.

 

[1270d]

Ouch.

 

[SliverPicker]

I found out late this morning that the driver that hauled nearly every one of my loads last season rolled his trailer yesterday also. All he broke was one marker light!

Yesterday was not a good day in this neck of the woods to be a log hauler.

 

[SliverPicker]

Here's a photo of the truck crash. It was taken with my flip phone so the quality may be a bit lacking.

The photo was taken from the direction the truck came from. Another 45 degrees and he would have been facing back the way he came.

Is it impressive when you almost turn a full long log truck around in a 12 foot wide road?

http://www.arboristsite.com/community/gallery/albums/truck-crash.1643/

 

[northmanlogging]

So this happened today, once again pushing brush trying to open up clients atv trails after I made my messes...
Snuck in low and peeled my foot off the clutch, drug it across the flood board then shot up and popped the missus out of reverse and into high gear, luckily the brake foot was unaffected, so I burned a little clutch until I could get her shut down.

No permanent damage, as of yet... some hydro hoses got sucked out of the dash area and messed with the pto lever (drives the winch) so for now it pops out every now and again, (yes I'll fix it first thing... only had one more turn to move anyway) Gots some nice gouges across the floor board... May have bent the shifter lever a little more, nad got a nice dent in the tin.

I'm thinking if I was wearing rubber soled boots instead of calks we I might not be posting right now, and there would be a skidder and backhoe for sale... Doc's told me if I break that foot again its getting cut off...

 

[SliverPicker]

We almost had a Northman Shish Kee Bob there. Dang, that coulda been ugly!

 

[SliverPicker]

Where's all your snow?

 

[northmanlogging]

Supposed to snow tomorrow evening? Snow don't last long at low elevations round here, and skidders is useless above a thousand feet here. Not because of the air or nuthing but the grade gets a little scetchy once you pass 700 feet or so.

 

[Gologit]

So this happened today, once again pushing brush trying to open up clients atv trails after I made my messes...
Snuck in low and peeled my foot off the clutch, drug it across the flood board then shot up and popped the missus out of reverse and into high gear, luckily the brake foot was unaffected, so I burned a little clutch until I could get her shut down.

No permanent damage, as of yet... some hydro hoses got sucked out of the dash area and messed with the pto lever (drives the winch) so for now it pops out every now and again, (yes I'll fix it first thing... only had one more turn to move anyway) Gots some nice gouges across the floor board... May have bent the shifter lever a little more, nad got a nice dent in the tin.View attachment 463384 View attachment 463385

I'm thinking if I was wearing rubber soled boots instead of calks we I might not be posting right now, and there would be a skidder and backhoe for sale... Doc's told me if I break that foot again its getting cut off...

A few years back we lost a skidder operator that way. He was brushing in lopped off thinning and a sharp piece kicked up and took him through the gut. He bled out before we could get him unstuck.
Buy a Lotto ticket.

 

[bitzer]

I've had em nearly get me in the throat. Like clutch in, foot on brake and the stick was pushin on my neck. Had one sneak up from the belly thru the floor and push my foot off the clutch. I push heavy brush slow now.
Matt yer sposed to be keepin em off them trails anyhow!

 

[TRTermite]

I Had a B I G oak tree in my back yard. Every once in a while I would look out and see people (students) walking around it. Then I would see a University of Lincoln van parked on the highway. 6 or 7? years ago I was talking on my cell phone in my backyard. Heard a bit of noise felt a breeze on a windless day , turned around 3/4 of the tree was on the ground 15 feet from me. I cut firewood that lasted a whole season after it cured. Tree broke off 10 ft above ground. this Oak was the result of 5 or 6 saplings clustered together then growing as one large tree. 5 or 6 ft in diameter at knee high. I am not good with a camera but may try to get a pic posted. what a weird sensation that was.

 

[bitzer]

Random

 

[treeslayer2003]

A few years back we lost a skidder operator that way. He was brushing in lopped off thinning and a sharp piece kicked up and took him through the gut. He bled out before we could get him unstuck.
Buy a Lotto ticket.

that has always been a fear of mine.......more so than buying it from a falling stick or a chair. funny the thing we are comfortable with and what we are not.

oh yeah, don't put an operator on a open skidder that used to a full cab, they won't watch whats coming for um.

 

[northmanlogging]

Seems like pushing brush is what usually gets me, always go slow, mostly cause controlling the blade, steering and watching for obstacles is less then easy. but there be lots of things to look for, and you can't see everything.

 

[bitzer]

Seems like pushing brush is what usually gets me, always go slow, mostly cause controlling the blade, steering and watching for obstacles is less then easy. but there be lots of things to look for, and you can't see everything.

Yep.