removing limb

[rabbit box]

Bucket boy arrives to remove a limb over the road at the stables. He is over sixty yrs. old. He has one year of experience and knowledge and forty years of repetition. This is a large pine limb(pines grow fast down south and do not have the strength of slow growing pines). He starts removing three ft. sections back to the trunk. About four feet he starts cutting on the compression side and manages to get the bar stuck. He does the yank and pull and bends the bar. He then gives up on the compression side and starts to cut on the tension side. The limb gives away and comes towards him (he did not position his bucket safely). He was not hurt and suffered a bent bar only. The blow by was very, very close. I with 20/20 hindsight would have did it differently. I as well as other are here to learn. How would you have removed the limb?

 

[KarlD]

Bucket boy arrives to remove a limb over the road at the stables. He is over sixty yrs. old. He has one year of experience and knowledge and forty years of repetition. This is a large pine limb(pines grow fast down south and do not have the strength of slow growing pines). He starts removing three ft. sections back to the trunk. About four feet he starts cutting on the compression side and manages to get the bar stuck. He does the yank and pull and bends the bar. He then gives up on the compression side and starts to cut on the tension side. The limb gives away and comes towards him (he did not position his bucket safely). He was not hurt and suffered a bent bar only. The blow by was very, very close. I with 20/20 hindsight would have did it differently. I as well as other are here to learn. How would you have removed the limb?

Climbed above the limb, roped and lowered it down

 

[lone wolf]

Bucket boy arrives to remove a limb over the road at the stables. He is over sixty yrs. old. He has one year of experience and knowledge and forty years of repetition. This is a large pine limb(pines grow fast down south and do not have the strength of slow growing pines). He starts removing three ft. sections back to the trunk. About four feet he starts cutting on the compression side and manages to get the bar stuck. He does the yank and pull and bends the bar. He then gives up on the compression side and starts to cut on the tension side. The limb gives away and comes towards him (he did not position his bucket safely). He was not hurt and suffered a bent bar only. The blow by was very, very close. I with 20/20 hindsight would have did it differently. I as well as other are here to learn. How would you have removed the limb?

By just instinct and muscle memory alone. Nothing hard about 3 foot sections of a branch.

 

[cookies]

cut the whole f#$%^%n tree down then deal with the problem branch on the ground

 

[arathol]

Bucket boy arrives to remove a limb over the road at the stables. He is over sixty yrs. old. He has one year of experience and knowledge and forty years of repetition. This is a large pine limb(pines grow fast down south and do not have the strength of slow growing pines). He starts removing three ft. sections back to the trunk. About four feet he starts cutting on the compression side and manages to get the bar stuck. He does the yank and pull and bends the bar. He then gives up on the compression side and starts to cut on the tension side. The limb gives away and comes towards him (he did not position his bucket safely). He was not hurt and suffered a bent bar only. The blow by was very, very close. I with 20/20 hindsight would have did it differently. I as well as other are here to learn. How would you have removed the limb?

There are a couple ways, but its pretty straight forward. Start at the end and work your way in...... If there are breakables underneath, lower the pieces with a rope if they are too large to handle.
Making an initial cut from the bottom is not unusual. If you cut about 1/4 of the way up then finish the cut from the top the limb should fall more or less flat, and not hinge down and smash into the trunk or peel the bark past the collar. However if you misjudge the undercut you'll pinch the bar, which is evidently what happened. Not sure why the limb would have come towards him at all unless he was under it, which is never a good idea.....

 

[rabbit box]

There are a couple ways, but its pretty straight forward. Start at the end and work your way in...... If there are breakables underneath, lower the pieces with a rope if they are too large to handle.
Making an initial cut from the bottom is not unusual. If you cut about 1/4 of the way up then finish the cut from the top the limb should fall more or less flat, and not hinge down and smash into the trunk or peel the bark past the collar. However if you misjudge the undercut you'll pinch the bar, which is evidently what happened. Not sure why the limb would have come towards him at all unless he was under it, which is never a good idea.....

This event was relayed to me by the homeowner. This was all he told me. This was a basic limb removal. This man could have been hurt or dead. Had he always done it this way? I do not know. Was he under the influence? I do not know. Did he not know about compression and tension? I do not know. Instinct, muscle memory, or repetition did not work for this man. The only thing I might add is if the bar in stuck, then remove the head of the saw from the chain and bar. A rope can be thrown over a higher limb, attached to the tip of the limb to be removed and the ground crew can give a controlled pull and lift to free the bar and chain. No need to damage your saw or the company saw. Stay safe.

 

[arathol]

The only thing I might add is if the bar in stuck, then remove the head of the saw from the chain and bar. A rope can be thrown over a higher limb, attached to the tip of the limb to be removed and the ground crew can give a controlled pull and lift to free the bar and chain. No need to damage your saw or the company saw. Stay safe.

No need for all that...just grab another saw from the truck and make another cut to free it....

 

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

Not sure how you get the bar stuck on a 3 foot section of a limb unless it was an absolutely massive limb...should be able to lift that up and unstick the bar by yourself. Also no real need to cut compression side at all if you're just whacking 3 foot sections off and removing the entire limb...if it does peel, who cares.

Something isn't adding up in the OP for me.