treevet
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kickback?
whadja do today?
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Kickback?
That was my guess, a chain saw hit.
treevet
Addicted to ArboristSite
copy cat
Haha. I didn’t even see your post actually.
mike515
ArboristSite Operative
Yep. Kickback.
He wasn't really hurt but it scared him pretty good. I guess he was cutting a log and watching the log but not the tip of the bar. Our best guess is that he hit a chain link fence. The saw kicked completely out of his hands. Somehow the bar/chain hit the hardhat and he said something (probably the engine) slammed into his left arm hard enough to make it pretty sore. The hard hat ended up about 10-15 feet away. The saw flew past him after it hit him. Another one of the guys saw it from across the yard. He said the saw kind of flipped in the air but it happened so fast he couldn't say for sure how many times it flipped or how high in the air it got. I've seen a lot of kick backs but never one that grew wings and flew away. I think he was running a 461.
I don't know how he didn't get hurt any worse than he did! I also can't believe that we are one of the only companies in our area who are super strict about protective gear. We don't even really have to be "strict" I guess. The guys take it upon themselves to wear their stuff and make sure everyone else is also. Good culture.
He wasn't really hurt but it scared him pretty good. I guess he was cutting a log and watching the log but not the tip of the bar. Our best guess is that he hit a chain link fence. The saw kicked completely out of his hands. Somehow the bar/chain hit the hardhat and he said something (probably the engine) slammed into his left arm hard enough to make it pretty sore. The hard hat ended up about 10-15 feet away. The saw flew past him after it hit him. Another one of the guys saw it from across the yard. He said the saw kind of flipped in the air but it happened so fast he couldn't say for sure how many times it flipped or how high in the air it got. I've seen a lot of kick backs but never one that grew wings and flew away. I think he was running a 461.
I don't know how he didn't get hurt any worse than he did! I also can't believe that we are one of the only companies in our area who are super strict about protective gear. We don't even really have to be "strict" I guess. The guys take it upon themselves to wear their stuff and make sure everyone else is also. Good culture.
treevet
Addicted to ArboristSite
It is all about work positioning. The plane of the bar should always be in alignment away from the head and furthermore the head should always (sort of the same thing) be away or to one side or the other of where the bar blade is pointed. Show him where the "kickback quadrant" is on the saw bar and take a saw and show them that a saw bar in kickback goes straight back and do it showing them the saw blade going on either side of the head. This guy was massively and enormously lucky.
I had a guy later to be found to be on acid on the job back in the early 70's working for me had a saw kick back in his face (just like happened to this guy) but it cut him from the jaw up his face and up his forehead. It cut his eye lid in half and he could see out of his eye with his lid closed...didn't hit his eyeball. Dumb luck.
I had a guy later to be found to be on acid on the job back in the early 70's working for me had a saw kick back in his face (just like happened to this guy) but it cut him from the jaw up his face and up his forehead. It cut his eye lid in half and he could see out of his eye with his lid closed...didn't hit his eyeball. Dumb luck.
mike515
ArboristSite Operative
He knows all that stuff. He just maybe got a little complacent and he admits that he should have been paying better attention to how close he was to that fence. He also knows that he got damn lucky.
mike515
ArboristSite Operative
And this guy is almost obsessive about safety. He is like an encyclopedia on safety regulations in numerous industries and he's a fire fighter and EMT. Just made a mistake. It's just a reminder to all of us that we need to keep our eyes open.
Some of you guys might remember me telling this story.....last summer, a couple of guys were using my personal climb line one day for whatever reason. I stopped out at the job site and one of them handed me my snap and tail from my rope. I was like "You guys cut my rope?" He said something like "It was a little too worn. You might thank us later". That was this guy. I was actually a little annoyed by that. I don't need anyone to tell me about the condition of my own gear. I'm intimately familiar with it.
Some of you guys might remember me telling this story.....last summer, a couple of guys were using my personal climb line one day for whatever reason. I stopped out at the job site and one of them handed me my snap and tail from my rope. I was like "You guys cut my rope?" He said something like "It was a little too worn. You might thank us later". That was this guy. I was actually a little annoyed by that. I don't need anyone to tell me about the condition of my own gear. I'm intimately familiar with it.
gorman
Addicted to ArboristSite
That’s what you get for hiring a hippy
gorman
Addicted to ArboristSite
I’m racking my brain why someone would drop acid while working for a tree service. “Dragging this brush up that hill and feeding it into this crazy loud chipper is going to be my spiritual journey”. Namaste.
treevet
Addicted to ArboristSite
Had boxes put on yesterday and polesaw poles holder and locking gas cap cover (yet to put lock on). It officially clocked into work today. One box for climbing/rigging gear and other side gas crate and polesaw head pole clip head and rigging hardware etc.
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treevet
Addicted to ArboristSite
There are entire tree services around here from owner to all employees running on heroin. I been sober for 31 years this year and my groundy is sober so we are for real. Namaste
mike515
ArboristSite Operative
How much did the side boxes set you back? We just removed some old ones from a similar truck but we haven't had the time to replace them yet. I was thinking it might run us $1000-$1250 for both sides if we have our welder do it?
mike515
ArboristSite Operative
No kiddin! I can't even imagine how someone would think that's a good idea. I'm not a fan of telling anyone what to do on their own time but I'm very clear about what I expect during work hours. If I think you are on drugs at work, I will fire you. Our guys know that and I'm not even really looking for that so if I notice.....you deserve to be fired. I don't even know what most drugs look like.
Last summer, we had a guy who was evidently high on some kind of pills. I was only on the job site for a few minutes. I thought he was acting a little weird but I wasn't there for long. One of my sons was out there all day running that crew. He called me later and said he sent him home and referred him for a drug test. The guy refused the drug test and had a bunch of excuses. My son had seen enough and said we should just fire him. So I fired him and I don't care what the repercussions are (there weren't any). I'm sure there was a little more to that but that's how i remember it today.
I vaguely remember hitting a chain link fence here or there over the years. One of those things I chalked up to memory to try and never do again. It’s not pleasant, I remember that much. It’ll rip the saw right out of your arms if not paying attention like Mike described (maybe even if paying attention). It’s because the chain is basically made to hook around the wire in the links and isn’t gonna just let go like hitting something else. Not a good feeling. Now that I think about it I always would tell guys to watch out for that if we were working around a chain link fence where the risk was likely.
treevet
Addicted to ArboristSite
Boxes were $280 ea at Tractor Supply for 36"x18"x18". My welder guy friend charged me $458. incl. tax. for all the work shown. It always amazes me what nice touches he puts on his work and what ridiculous low prices he charges. Not gonna tell him the second one
treevet
Addicted to ArboristSite
That is so true. A Bartlett salesman I worked with many years ago, I wasn't working with him at the time, hit a fence and it cut his ear completely off. I still think work positioning would have eliminated that and the guy with the hard hat hit works for Mike.
treevet
Addicted to ArboristSite
I could tell stories for hours although the last couple of years I got a great guy. Little over 2 years ago a guy came in that was the son of another Cinci tree service. Big strong good looking nice personality. He and another guy are working at a Temple I service. I come back at noon and the guy is goofy. He has to go to the bathroom. I said I'd be right back and take him. I come back and he is coming out of the woods and is a zombie. I tell him to get in the truck. I fire him on way back to the lot and he is nodding out. I leave him off at his car and tell him to sober up before leaving esp. as I don't want him following me out and rear ending me. He leaves anyway. I am thinking someone is gonna get hit by him if I don't. I find out he dies a couple of weeks later on an overdose. Before narcan. So fkn sad. You can't get off that ****.
My welder friend that I use occasionally (basically when in a pinch and lucky enough to get him) is pretty amazing too. A real pro with all the machines to do the work as well. He just recently helped me fix this step situation on the new truck (whatever) and move the grab bar to where everything feels like perfect sense. Always cool to watch a real pro work.
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