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Gologit said:
I don't know why the thread was stickied but I think it's a good read for anybody who falls trees.

It's not often that we get to see the entire chain of mistakes that leads to a near fatal accident. In this thread we get to see not only the events themselves but the damage they caused to the person who made the mistakes. We also get to see what he learned from his mistakes.

It's a great learning opportunity and an excellent reminder of what not to do.


I think it took a lot of guts for Brad to share his mishap. He's constantly thinking of things that are good for the AS community. This is one of them.
Click to expand...



Yep.......he's the man.
 
"The wise man learns from the mistakes of others"

Thanks for sharing. Hopefully someone will read it and it will save their life someday.
 
Wow I missed this one a few months ago, glad to see you're alright. A few times I've thought "holy crap why did i do this?" but no major accidents yet. I've ripped my thumb backwards(sounded like a zip-tie), de-skinned my shins, and rode a tree I cut a few times. My Dad had a close call about 2 years ago I'll share.

He was pulling a 40' dead maple on the ground with an old D4(no ROPS, or cage). He put a 25' chain about 5-6 feet up from the roots and attached the other end to the blade. Pulling a downed tree on flat ground sounds safe right???? Well as he was backing toward a cliff on the mesa he was looking behind to see where he was going, avoid cliffs dogs etc. When he turned back around the tree was dead vertical and coming his way fast. The roots had caught on something and the tree came over back on my dad in about 3 seconds. He ended up with a tree on top of the dozer. He was hit in the head, arm and leg. A 6" limb drove it self down between the firewall and the clutch and had one of his arms pinned down and he couldn't get free. So he can't take the dozer out of gear, can't disengage the clutch and he's heading toward a cliff. He ended up finding a small broken limb that he used to pry the big limb off his leg and other arm then he was able to move it just enough to disengage the clutch. He ended up with major bruises and a huge hematoma. Now we always have a second person on the ground when using the heavy iron, even when pulling a downed tree on flat ground.

Thanks for sharing Brad, it takes a lot to share mistakes/accidents but if it helps one person it's worth it.
 
Redoakranch said:
Wow I missed this one a few months ago, glad to see you're alright. A few times I've thought "holy crap why did i do this?" but no major accidents yet. I've ripped my thumb backwards(sounded like a zip-tie), de-skinned my shins, and rode a tree I cut a few times. My Dad had a close call about 2 years ago I'll share.

He was pulling a 40' dead maple on the ground with an old D4(no ROPS, or cage). He put a 25' chain about 5-6 feet up from the roots and attached the other end to the blade. Pulling a downed tree on flat ground sounds safe right???? Well as he was backing toward a cliff on the mesa he was looking behind to see where he was going, avoid cliffs dogs etc. When he turned back around the tree was dead vertical and coming his way fast. The roots had caught on something and the tree came over back on my dad in about 3 seconds. He ended up with a tree on top of the dozer. He was hit in the head, arm and leg. A 6" limb drove it self down between the firewall and the clutch and had one of his arms pinned down and he couldn't get free. So he can't take the dozer out of gear, can't disengage the clutch and he's heading toward a cliff. He ended up finding a small broken limb that he used to pry the big limb off his leg and other arm then he was able to move it just enough to disengage the clutch. He ended up with major bruises and a huge hematoma. Now we always have a second person on the ground when using the heavy iron, even when pulling a downed tree on flat ground.

Thanks for sharing Brad, it takes a lot to share mistakes/accidents but if it helps one person it's worth it.
Click to expand...


Glad he's ok!

Sounds similar to situations in which we use a 'sacrificial' chain to stop the forward motion of the tree. When pulled hard, they can fly a long ways toward the force. So a chain to stop it is used.
 
Gologit said:
Safety equipment is fine but it's no guarantee you won't get hurt by making a mistake like Brad made. Read the 2dogs quote in RandyMac's signature.
Click to expand...

A quote from 2dogs
"I firmly believe in the philosophy that safety is the number one priority in the woods. Having said that I feel that safety starts with the proper mindset and is followed closely, very closely, by the proper skillset. I think there is a tendency to offset poor skills by buying more safety gear."
Click to expand...

Granted, but. . . .

Part of the 'proper mindset' should be to use basic, proven safety gear, and to be open to improvements.

I know that even hard hats / helmets were not warmly embraced by either working trades or hockey players.

Philbert
 

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