When it goes wrong, ALL WRONG!

[Whitespider]

Never had this happen before… and it was a bit on the sobering side.
Yesterday I decided to take down another big standing-dead elm that crotched into two main branches about 40-feet up. There just wasn’t anywhere for it to fall without getting hung-up, big trees and lots of canopy all around it. So the plan was to just let it fall to its natural lean, let it hang-up, and pull it down from there with the truck. I had three trees planed for the day, the first was uneventful, this was the second and largest of the trio.

My three-year-old was out with me, and as always I have him stand well back during felling (he was a good thirty-foot back). So I make my face cut, start the back cut, place a wedge and finish the back cut. When the tree starts to go I take a few steps back to watch where it’s gonna’ hang-up. It falls where the branches of two big spreading trees come together… and then it sort’a twists and one of the two main branches pushes through the canopy. The other main branch starts sliding off the branches it’s hung-up on… and I start thinking, “well, what do ya’ know, I ain’t gonna’ haf’ta’ pull it down after all.”

THEN… that main beam snaps off at the crotch… and those branches it’s hung-up in act like a huge spring. All-of-a-sudden I have a 10-inch diameter, 15-food long log launched through the air like it was sent from a catapult… flipping end-for-end and heading in a big aerial arch straight for me. I spin around and take off running… see my little boy standing there… HOLY CRAP, he’s moved closer to get a better view! I dropped the saw and scooped him up on my way by. That branch came crashing down right where he, and I, were standing… missing my running person by just a foot or two.

Nobody injured, no equipment damage, and I didn’t need to pull the tree down… but still. I don’t have any idea how long I stood there looking at that log, shaking, sweat pouring off me, clinging to my little boy… Damn scary experience… Damn scary.

 

[Suz]

I'm sure everyone will agree with me when I say that I'm happy that you and your little helper didn't get hurt. You will probably think of this every time you take a tree down from this day forward.
I had a similar thing happen to me years ago. The tree (an elm.) was on the ground, the "crash" was gone, and the dust was settled when a large limb came crashing down right next to me with some small limbs hitting the bill on my cap! (Yes, I threw my shorts away later!)
This "widow maker" must have been hung up in the other branches and finally decided to try to get me for cutting it's neighbor down.
I guess the lesson behind my experience is always check out the other trees to make sure everything is down that is going to fall down.

 

[cnice_37]

gulp.... glad everything worked out in the end. Another good reason to carry an extra pair of pants & drawers.

 

[JRepairsK70e]

one of the hardest things to do.... ,plan for all the "what ifs" i have dropped k s of trees ,but the close calls are the ones i remember , glad everybody is ok .standing dead is the worst for predictability cheers jk

 

[rmount]

Glad that we can read your report on what happened rather than a sad article in the newspaper. Don't think anyone can ever say 100% what will happen you drop a tree. Stay safe everyone.

 

[Tesen]

Dude I am glad you and your child are okay, I have a three-year old myself and I shuddered reading that. You do not need this lesson since you just learnt it (hopefully) but to anyone else listening: Firewood harvesting can be a dangerous business, never, ever, EVER have a child whether with an adult or not in any kind of proximity when you are dropping trees. Kids add an unknown/random element to an already dangerous and can be extremely unpredictable situation.

The only activities my three-year old participates in is helping carrying already cut and split wood to the pile or on to the trailer and even then it is small pieces I have set aside for him to help with. It is great people want their children involved (this is a great family building activity) but children are that, treat them as that, they require us to guide them and help build their life experience so they are able to identify dangerous situations.

Tes

 

[MARAZONAGT]

wow, this story had me cringing as I read it. Thgank the wood gods that all was well in the end.Glad you werent hung over or something where your reaction time would have been retarded. Worthy of AS Rep for sure.
Rept.

 

[Guido Salvage]

I may get chastised for this comment, but a three year old has no business being unattended in a falling zone. As a faller you need to devote your full attention to the job at hand and as a parent you need to be constantly vigilant about your child's well being. As you found out these can not be done in tandem, fortunately you averted a disaster.

Back around 1980 I was cutting firewood alone on my parents property. I was dropping a 12" chestnut oak and looked up as the tree began to fall to see one of my dogs in its path. Nothing I could do, by some miracle there was a crook in the trunk that prevented the dog from being crushed. Turns out that my father had come up to check on my progress and brought the dogs and I never knew they were there.

 

[blacklocst]

Sooo many variables

Glad you and your boy are O.K. I had an incident some what similar to yours. I cut a standing dead when I first stated out feeling trees. I make the back cut and stand there watching it come down. Like an idiot I don't move to a safety zone I just stand there, right at the stump, and as I'm watching it come down the tree snaps at the crotch and starts coming at me( you know like in the movies when they see a train coming at them and don't move because their frozen in fear, well thats me.) I wind up taking a debris shower with some large chunks falling left and right of me. till this day that episode replays in my head every time I cut standing dead.

 

[Guido Salvage]

Like an idiot I don't move to a safety zone I just stand there, right at the stump, and as I'm watching it come down the tree snaps at the crotch and starts coming at me( you know like in the movies when they see a train coming at them and don't move because their frozen in fear, well thats me.) I wind up taking a debris shower with some large chunks falling left and right of me.

This is an example of what you are describing and rotted centers make them more dangerous. Lots of problems here, angled back cut, shallow face cut and cutting below the notch.

 

[CrappieKeith]

I'm not going to beat you up for having your kid with you...God knows you've done enough of that already...I'm just glad to hear you and your son came away unscathed and I'm sure you'll be a proponent of safety in the future.

God was looking down on you and your boy.....thank Him if you have not yet.

 

[zogger]

chidrenz

When I am out I don't drop any substantial trees at all with the dogs nearby. Most of them I chain up, a couple of the older dogs who will sit in the tractor box and stay there and not climb out I let come with me, then they go into the box and the tractor is parked way way out of any potential drop zone.

Glad you are and your boy are OK man, stuff sure do happen with wood.

 

[alleyyooper]

My brother in law lost a perfectly good saw to a dead tree he fell that kicked back as it hit other smaller trees. The trunk jumped off the stump gathered up the saw and sliding like a freight train crushed it into a near by tree. Moral is take the saw when you walk the safe distance to watch.
A friend died when he was sawing up a top that was hung up in other trees. He cut the one branch that had prevented it from rolling. When it was cut the top rolled and another limb hit him knocking him down and pinning his face deep in the mud. Moral is not goodto cut hanging tops a lone.

Glad all is well with you and son.

Al

 

[Henry and Wanda]

I'm glad that you and your boy are ok !!!!! I never trust a tree to do what I think it is going to do.........they seem to have minds of their own !!!!!! Even the best laid plans while cutting seem to go wacky sometimes !!!!!!!






Henry and Wanda

 

[thepheniox]

I'm an arborist, cut trees everyday. Usually climbing or using a bucket. A few times a year I go out to my friends farm and we do a big wood harvest removing all the dead trees. I fell all the trees and keep three tractors busy dragging logs. All three guys know to stay way back. I'll go ahead cut a patch of trees then move on while they pull them out. By far felling these dead trees in the forest is a lot more dangerous then climbing or using the bucket. One thing I don't really understand is when people run from a falling tree. What are they running from? Once the tree starts to fall I take a couple steps back and look up to see where all the debris is falling. Then move if I need to. Also clearing all the brush away is important so you can move which ever way is required.

 

[dingeryote]

That Tree needed Killing.

Good to hear you and the boy dodged it's final shot!!

There is no way to be sure of what will happen, when you turn loose the kind of energy stored in a big old tree.
We can make a good guess, but anything more than that is pure ego talking.

I hope nobody complains about having the boy with ya. It was good he was there.
He learned more about life in a couple seconds, than any Professor could manage to stuff into three semesters.
He wont forget, and it's doubtfull you will either.

Just glad you two didn't get hurt. Throw backs, kill as fast as bullets and bombs.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Hank Chinaski]

Glad ya'll are both ok. Everything else has already been said.

 

[s219]

Glad you're both OK. I have a saying similar to your title -- "when it sucks, it really sucks". But I bet you learned a heap out of the experience.

Many years ago I was cutting firewood with my dad (I was probably 10-12 at the time). He was really over-thinking this one tree, and the concern was that it could not be felled without hanging up. When I asked him what was wrong with that, his reply stuck with me -- "anything could go wrong". I remembered that, and think about it to this day, especially now that I am older and an engineer.

Felling trees is all about analysis, prediction, control, and risk. You can try to narrow down all the possible outcomes, such that the ability to control what happens is within your acceptable risk. In the best case, you have a healthy straight tree with a clear fall zone, and a proper face cut and back cut put it where you want it -- very low risk. On the other extreme, a tree that has a high probability of hanging up or hitting another tree carries too much uncertainty and too much risk. There are many possible outcomes that you cannot predict or control (you can sure analyze them, but the rest is a guess or gamble). So I would say you either have to clear a path to make a clear fall zone, or just not take the tree down with conventional techniques. The unknowns could really bite you in the A.

I had a similar discussion with my wife's cousin a few weeks ago when we were getting a tree off my mother-in-law's house. He kept thinking of ways that the tree could fall if we made certain cuts. But I kept pointing out to him that those scenarios were probably 1 in 20. That means there were maybe 19 other possible outcomes that could happen, which were either dangerous or would damage the house worse. Being optimistic, or hoping for the best, doesn't cut it, since the tree (or trees) doesn't think like us.

Growing up, I remember hearing about 2-3 men who were killed felling trees for firewood, and that stuck with me. It's too easy to die when things go wrong. Be careful. Think it through. Don't take big risks.

 

[CWME]

Glad you guys are ok. When I need to know where the kid is I put her in the truck. I tell my little girl that she needs to drive the truck to help Daddy She LOVES to drive the truck. Glad your getting the kids involved!

Stacking wood can be dangerous too. Had a piece of wood roll off the top of a stack and nearly cleaned her clock. Can't eliminate all the risks of life for then we wouldn't live life for the fear.

 

[logbutcher]

-- "anything could go wrong". .

Felling trees is all about analysis, prediction, control, and risk. You can try to narrow down all the possible outcomes, such that the ability to control what happens is within your acceptable risk. In the best case, you have a healthy straight tree with a clear fall zone, and a proper face cut and back cut put it where you want it -- very low risk. On the other extreme, a tree that has a high probability of hanging up or hitting another tree carries too much uncertainty and too much risk. There are many possible outcomes that you cannot predict or control (you can sure analyze them, but the rest is a guess or gamble). So I would say you either have to clear a path to make a clear fall zone, or just not take the tree down with conventional techniques. The unknowns could really bite you in the A.

I had a similar discussion with my wife's cousin a few weeks ago when we were getting a tree off my mother-in-law's house. He kept thinking of ways that the tree could fall if we made certain cuts. But I kept pointing out to him that those scenarios were probably 1 in 20. That means there were maybe 19 other possible outcomes that could happen, which were either dangerous or would damage the house worse. Being optimistic, or hoping for the best, doesn't cut it, since the tree (or trees) doesn't think like us.

Growing up, I remember hearing about 2-3 men who were killed felling trees for firewood, and that stuck with me. It's too easy to die when things go wrong. Be careful. Think it through. Don't take big risks.

So true. Knowledge comes from experience, working with real pros, AND training. Training. Practice.

Too many here on AS brag about their "pro-ness". Make fun of any kind of learning. Know THE answers to every problem. See the usual suspects on the sandbox forum. Have the cojones without portfolio :eek2: to demean and make fun of those who go out and learn something new or different from what they know.

This is the 3rd account Spider of your close calls. While all are glad that you and yours came out it safely, it's time to go to meeting: learn how to cut safely and efficiently. Most states have some kind of programs for loggers, arborists and those dreaded "homeowners" as the tin-hats out in Left Coast like to say. Look for classes run by state or fed forestry groups, Game of Logging ( yes Virginia, GOL ), or the insurance run Certified Logging Professional programs. What do you learn? Re-read above. It's planning, knowing deadfalls, using tools efficiently, safe falls, accurate falls, escape routes, and more important for you, knowing when to back off ( e.g. diseased or dead trees, power line cuts ). And no Virginia, it's not all about boring.

Planning. Training.

Sound like a scold ? No way to buy the farm Spider. You wear a harness climbing ?

JMNSHO