Careful in the woods!

[JimL]

Been in the hospital for a good stay now. Got my laptop in here finally.

Last wednesday I droped a good sized oak in a nice steep holler. Climbed down and topped it. Walked back up to hook drag the cable down, and saw that the sawmill marked another oak not too far from the one i just dropped. So i proceded to cut it, laying it pretty much parallel to the previous with a good 10 feet between the logs. I walked down and topped the tree. The top from the one i just cut slid down the hill a little, dragging the previous log with it. Smashed me tween the two logs. Broke some ribs and punctured my left lung.

I wasn't expecting the thing to move and didnt think it would... Guess I was wrong... Be careful guys!!




Mr. Rupley, pops is going to send ya an e-mail some time tonight or tomarrow, and ship the handle I never got a chance to.

 

[tony marks]

dang jim ,im just glad u able to post.
i work by myself so thats a scary thought. hope everything mends up good for u. u probably needed a rest anyway. hope u got a pretty nurse.

 

[Weatherby]

Jim,

Were glad your alright buddy, get well soon. Stay safe.

Rob

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Good to see you're able to talk to us about it. Punctured lungs are no fun. Good luck on a fast recovery

 

[John Lambert]

Hi Jim, sorry to hear about your injury and I hope you get well soon. It sounds like a very unusual accident indeed. Generally gravity will not take over when a large tree is felled on even the steepest of slopes, as the body wood and crown are generally hammered into the topsoil, however, I have heard of larger softwood logs getting away when the log is bucked out on a steep slope if the log is balanced on a fulcrum type pivot such as a stump. Steep ground that has lots of deadfall can cause this accident, but have yet to see a top slide downhill crown first, but anything can happen in the woods.
Jim, did you get out of the woods on your own? Did you go into shock? What was the reaction of the first person who saw you after the accident?
John

 

[seesaw]

JimL,
Sorry to read about your getting sandwiched. Ouchy! Thank goodness you have the healing power of youth on your side and a valuable lesson learned the hard way. Learned most of mine that way, as well. Posting accidents is a good way to keep saftey on the front of our brain.
Had a wake up last week. Looked down to make another buck cut and there was about a 3" gash in my chaps. No Kevlar disrupted, just a chain slash on the nylon. Best I can tell. I must have started walking before the chain stopped completely. Stitches for sure if I had been wearing only pants.
Heal quick and stay off the Jerry Springer.
Seesaw

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hi there, the accident that Jim had may or may not have had to do with several factors. It sounds like Jim was cutting on a professional level for a sawmill and may have been payed by volume produced. I also noticed in his profile that he is 20 years old. I know what its like to have limited experience in the woods and working with a crew. Sometimes when we gain a certain level of experience we feel very proficient with the saw and relaxed with our surroundings, and when we have had no close calls yet and everything blends together with a feeling we can do no wrong, then thats when we get into trouble.
Its also important not to push oneself or allow others to push us.
If we are fatigued or mentaly out of sorts it may be just an accident looking for a place to happen.
Im not trying to suggest that inexperience or the other factors that I mentioned were the cause of Jim's injury, it just gives us something to think about and that any one accident may have manifold causes. None of us are impervious to death or injury.
I really believe that 2% of injuries are just plain ripleys, 98% are the result of inexperience and our physical, mental and emotional condition at the time of the accident.
Safety First!
Gypo

 

[dbabcock]

Best wishes on a speedy recovery Jim. It's good that you're going to be OK.

 

[JimL]

Originally posted by John Lambert
Hi Jim, sorry to hear about your injury and I hope you get well soon. It sounds like a very unusual accident indeed. Generally gravity will not take over when a large tree is felled on even the steepest of slopes, as the body wood and crown are generally hammered into the topsoil, however, I have heard of larger softwood logs getting away when the log is bucked out on a steep slope if the log is balanced on a fulcrum type pivot such as a stump. Steep ground that has lots of deadfall can cause this accident, but have yet to see a top slide downhill crown first, but anything can happen in the woods.
Jim, did you get out of the woods on your own? Did you go into shock? What was the reaction of the first person who saw you after the accident?
John

Guy I am working for moved the choker to the other end and pulled the tree off of me. Not too sure why it slid/rolled downhill.. I walked out of the woods, breathing was faint to say the least.


Still pissed cause they cut the straps on my chaps. They tried cutting the kevlar part it looks like. didnt work i guess.

 

[JimL]

Originally posted by Gypo Logger
Hi there, the accident that Jim had may or may not have had to do with several factors. It sounds like Jim was cutting on a professional level for a sawmill and may have been payed by volume produced. I also noticed in his profile that he is 20 years old. I know what its like to have limited experience in the woods and working with a crew. Sometimes when we gain a certain level of experience we feel very proficient with the saw and relaxed with our surroundings, and when we have had no close calls yet and everything blends together with a feeling we can do no wrong, then thats when we get into trouble.
Its also important not to push oneself or allow others to push us.
If we are fatigued or mentaly out of sorts it may be just an accident looking for a place to happen.
Im not trying to suggest that inexperience or the other factors that I mentioned were the cause of Jim's injury, it just gives us something to think about and that any one accident may have manifold causes. None of us are impervious to death or injury.
I really believe that 2% of injuries are just plain ripleys, 98% are the result of inexperience and our physical, mental and emotional condition at the time of the accident.
Safety First!
Gypo

Whered you learn to add? lol. I am 18 years OLD. Yeah this is really the 1st time I have had a major accident of sorts. Had an ash limb fall and wack me good once but other than that thats all.

I dont thing i was tired, it was still earily in the day still.

Good thing it didnt smash my saw too.

B safe

 

[StIhL MaGnUm]

Jim get well soon,hospitals are no fun a few years ago I was felling some decent size pine and my friend was skidding it we were working on a pretty steep side of a hill and the skidder needed fuel so he went to the fuel truck which was parked facing downhill and parked the skidder in front of the truck and put the blade down and needless to say the truck started to roll down and before I could yell to him the truck pinched him in between the front bumper and the tire on the skidder needless to say he sufferd 2 broken legs a broke wrist 3 broke ribs and a few others he ended up in the hospital for almost a month and could'nt return to work for close to a year....

Later Rob

 

[dbabcock]

Whered you learn to add? lol. I am 18 years OLD.

He was brought up and home schooled by a wolf pack up in the Yukon. It's not his fault.

 

[Gypo Logger]

Hey Jim, sorry about undercutting you. I did the math quick and thought it better to make you older than younger, however, Im sure you aged a couple years after last Wednesday.
Yes Doug, I was raised by a wolfpack, my name was Nanook.
Anywho, watch out where the Huskies go, and dont you eat the yellow snow.
Nanook of the North

 

[don]

Get well soon

Wish you a speedy recovery and glad your saw is okay.

 

[Tree Amigo]

Gypo,

Was that from a Frank Zappa Song??

Are you friends with him too??

 

[Ryan Willock]

God was watching you on that one!!!get well soon!!! thank you for posting what happened so that we may all learn from that mistake instead of repeating it!!!:angel:

 

[JimL]

Sounds like you guys work where its flat lol.

Nothing but hills round here. I was the first to cut trees in deadmans hollar, a good 60 degree plus grade on both sides. Probably 7 or 8 miles long. Spent a couple month cutting trees out of there. Lots of fun getting those logs out, drag up what we could, rest was drug out at the bottom.

 

[StIhL MaGnUm]

I'm with you Jim I work on almost nothing but hills around here it makes the day a little more challenging

later Rob,..

 

[Toneman]

Wishing you a speedy recovery. Get well soon!!

 

[logcutter429]

Been there a many times Jim manached to side step em or they stoped before they got to me, get well soon, an get back out there.