Stupid Human Tricks

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MasterBlaster

TreeHouse Elder
Joined
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Igetbisy's near mishap the other day, along with Erik's comment, made me think. Stupid mistakes we've all made doing treework, what are some storys? I've had my share, hmmmmmm...

I've twice set-up my bucket truck without using any outriggers. The 2nd time I went almost full-up before I noticed it.

After putting a climber in the tree with a bucket, I proceeded to pick up the outriggers, and drive out of the kill zone. At maybe 15 feet of movement I noticed in the passenger side mirror the climber's line had been sucked up into the outrigger. I stopped real quick.

I once barber-chaired a med-size pine tree. It split up 10 feet and hung there. That wouldn't have been so bad except for the fact that this was a co-dominant two-leader pine. I wuz standing in the crotch.:(

I KNOW somebody's had THIS happen; I was roping a limb with the same type rope I was climbing with. I asked the groundie if he had it, he said yes. I didn't really look at him. GUESS what happened???

Alright, thats it. Everything else I've done is pure perfection.:laugh:

Not really, but this is all I can think off at the moment.

Anybody else? :)
 
A while ago i was rigging off a small cherry top over a nice little ruby lace maple that the client had specifically asked me to be careful of. I cut it off on the wrong side of the knot....curses.
 
i was sectioning down a fairly large silver birch with a lowering rope and a topping down strop..anyway i on one lump never put the rope through the thimbel but still tied the rope to the section oblivious..any way shouted down take the strain next thing bang the sections on the new patio along with smashed paving slabs and a crater


best one was on a monday morning and i was reducing a lawson conifer hedge.. still up the hedge/tree i called the customer over and said is this an ok height yes he said and with that the peice i cut slipped from my hand and whent straight through his green house glass everywhere he was not amused :D
 
I ONCE put a chain on backwards.



aaf_lol.gif
 
Many years ago doing railroad clearance work , ground to sky cutback 20 feet from track I sub'ed for a company climbing. Got to the top of good size silver maple, tied in, and pulled my line through so it would be clear on descent. When I dropped it through my line landed on tracks. Saw it land there and never thought about it. I started cutting on the way down until I heard air horn from flagman that train was approaching. Stopped cutting and took break. As I saw train coming I looked down and saw my climbing line on tracks. :eek: I never rolled up 120' of rope so fast in my life:)

I did put a chain on backwards once when I was a kid for my dad. Never did that again after all the yelling;)

Did a backyard removal and left the shaft up tied to truck with come along to help pull it over. After clearing all brush and wood out of the way told the guys I was with to drop shaft and cut it up while I went to pick up lunch. Problem was I tried to take the truck that was tied to the tree:D Did not get far.
 
i went up full reach in a 40'versalift to bomb one limb off,there was a bee hive below and i knew it was near impossible to miss as i was cutting over my head with a hydraulic saw ,sure enough it hit and the bees came out the guy with me lifted the riggers and drove off fairly quikly with me still up there it was a bumpy field i felt every little bit no harness ha ha. :D :D
 
one moment that i always get a laugh at was to guys i know one a v good arborist the other a hack both were working together and hating every minute together, the hack tied off a pine limb cut it off but forgot to get above the limb it came down and broke his leg.he refused to leave work saying he was ok till it got to much. the other guy drove him to hospital and made sure he hit every pot hole speed hump he could,its so funny they both have diffrent sides off the story
 
We used to break and spin our own chains. buy in bulk and make to length. I once (and only once) put one together inside out. Forget just putting it on backwards!

Ive also done my share of bucket truck w/o outriggers. ONce was straight up and close to power.

I think the scariest moment Ive ever had, was felling a 28" cottonwood against the lean. Had a bull rope in it but not having a straight pull, I tied a block to a neighbors 4x4 fence post to run the rope through to a truck. Put the notch in it, signaled the trucker to tighten and "SNAP" went the post. It may not have been so bad, but did i mention the lean was over a HOUSE??? Fortunately the rope was tight and after much debate and prayer sessions, I went ahead and made the back cut. It DID fall right, but thats the closest Ive ever come to puking out of fear. I just about took up smoking too.
 
Originally posted by Gord
A while ago i was rigging off a small cherry top over a nice little ruby lace maple that the client had specifically asked me to be careful of. I cut it off on the wrong side of the knot....curses.

Been there... done that!

Fortunately, all of my boo-boos have been inconsequential.

Outriggers not down when they should be (did that just yesterday).

Oil in the gas & vice versa on my Echo.

Cut on the wrong side of a tie-off...
 
no outriggers
been there, done that
Kept wondering why it felt like I was stanging on a mattress!
 
Too close for comfort

Just yesterday while removing a monster dead limb over a slate-roof house, I had gotten the brushy end off and I was into 12" diameter wood. I was taking it off a firewood length at a time at this point. I had my climbing line set directly above me, and the lowering line was set somewhat above me, and 25 feet away from the house, toward the street.

The first ten or 12 hunks went beautifully. I would choker the hunk with a cow hitch, cut, the hunk would fly on its arc downward. At it's low point I would let the line peel out and then set the hunk down on the sidewalk, approx. 50 feet away from the house. It was a thing of beauty.

THEN, when I was into 18" diameter wood, I rigged the hunk, cut it, sent it into its downward arc. At it's bottom apex I began release on the line. A few feet released, but I was sitting on it. The hunk continued it's pendulum up to the point where time stands still for a fraction of a moment, and then back downward on an arc, accelerating right back toward the house. I could see the flash...., a crane with a wrecking ball about to pound a building.

The hunk swung back, missed the copper gutters by mere inches. By now I was off my rope and was able to let it swing back down and ended up landing it just short of the sidewalk, but DANG that was close. Groundguy asked if I did that intentionally for his entertainment.
 
A couple of years ago within a few days of one another I: A. Jumped in the truck and backed over the Power Pruner:rolleyes: and B. Towed the chipper home on the pickup that never pulls it. Forgot it was there, wheeled into the drive and threw it in reverse to back up and turn around and jackknifed it into the side of the bed.:rolleyes: Not a good month.

I've had a few clovehitches spin out when lowering chunks (improperly tied of course.)
 
I went to a job to remove a large dead branch, by myself. I climbed the tree, hung a pulley, and tied off the branch. Then I went down to the ground and tied the end of the bull rope to a nearby tree. Next, I went back up the tree and cut off the 750-pound dead limb, then back to the ground.
Now here's where I messed up, I untied the rope and I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go. Now, this branch weighs 750 and I weigh 190, so up the tree I go. As I pass the branch, which is now coming down, we collide, breaking my collar bone and receiving several bruises and cuts to the top of my head and face. I continue my ride up, until the dead branch hits the ground, breaking into hundreds of pieces, leaving only about 75 pounds tied to the rope. So down I come, but not without, again, colliding into the limb on the way down. This time I get hit in the balls and the branch flips around and brakes two of my ribs, then I continue on to the ground, where I impact and break both ankles.
There I am laying on the ground in a bloody, broken, busted up mess, and I lost my presence of mind again, I let go of the rope...
 
Re: Oww

Originally posted by Tree Machine
Mike, I'm really sorry bout the limb hitting you in the balls. Are they OK?

Just like the limb, they busted into a million pieces and they had to be removed :(.
 
Last week I took down 4 large elms and a good sized cottonwood that was along the fence and hanging over the house we got every thing down except the last 15 ft spar on the cotton wood, I left a rope in the top of it and rappelled down to drop it. I make my cuts pretty much the way Murphy preaches, maybe not so much of the angle but pretty close to 60 degrees. When the snag pulled over it hit the ground and flipped 4 feet to the north and through the fence. If I would have been standing on the other side it would have sent me flying through the fence as well and I doupt I would be typing this now. My groundie after that came up with a good idea to put a loop runner below my face cut and one above and connect them with a biner, We tried it friday on an elm that was next to a concrete retaining wall and it worked pretty good, Here are the pics of the cotton wood that took out the fence. Fortunately we were able to just re nail them back on and no one was the wiser.

Kenn
 
Originally posted by Stumper
A.

I've had a few clovehitches spin out when lowering chunks (improperly tied of course.)

___________________________________________________

That sounds all toooo familiar.

In the early days I used a clove hitch, before I learned how to lock it off or use a bowline.

I used a clove hitch on a large dead popular limb over a roof, darn thing came unraveled, limb went right into the roof. Made me look real good on that one. HA HA


Another bonehead thing I did years ago while taking down a large Red oak, was trying to pull a large crooked, twisty piece of a large limb with a come along, no notch just a thru cut, darn thing went off the wrong way took a back door overhanging dormer right off the side of the house and went through an exterior wall. My ins. co. wasn't to happy with us on that one.

Larry
 
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