Guys, don't get complacent out there!!!

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The air was cool and the sky was gray,
I’ll grab the Husky and go out to play,
Angel of Death, go away,
Don’t make this my last day,

The tree was large and it had a twist,
My holding wood was sorely missed,
Angel of Death, softly kissed,
Put His hand upon my wrist,

I’ll get my wedges to control the fall,
I’ll be damned I’d better save my saw,
Angel of Death hit my jaw,
Can’t suspend Nature’s law,

My friends take a lesson from what I say,
If you become complacent you may pay,
Angel of Death, go away,
Thanks for giving me this day.

~joat

wow joat,
that's pretty cool you wrote something like that !!

i know you guys have had some "go rounds" in the past (the missing 066 fins thing comes to mind) , but since then the mission backback build and such, really seems like you all came together ??
i just think it's really kinda cool in some sorta strange way ........

i hope i aint soundin like a jerk !!!!
 
On page 1, I saw a reply to the first post "it's not possible to misread the lean of the tree that bad" said a member( or it was something like that) Who does that? So inconsiderate and the person who made that rude comment should be praising that the person that this incident happened to is ok and not bashing them pointing out mistakes that he didn't state:)

by the way nailing im glad to see you ok! thanks for telling us im scared to fall trees by myself now!
 
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Well Brad, how are you doing?

Just an idea, all of this started w/ the concern of your saw that you JUST finished a long and extencieve build on, being left at the stump to fend for its self, and I can totally understand this since I have left my 2yr. old store bought 385 at the stump before myself and its not fun.
Every faller around my parts that I've ran into uses a saw that looks like something that my cat hacked up.
Big ugly unported saws that start, cut, and fell trees. That way you don't have to worry about someone walking off w/ it, if you have a tree that goes bad, **** the saw!, get out of there, if it lives keep cutting, if not, well now time for some duct tape and few parts, or you just got a new project saw to build.

Once the tree is safely on the ground, break out the latest Snellerized Hot Rod and do your thing.

This is why I got the 6401, paid a bill for it.
Even if I get to do what I want to it, ported BB, HD air. I'll have about 6-7 into it total. I paid more than that for my 357.

As far as cutting goes, I'm no pro buy any means, I cut trees to keep the lights on for another month and to keep my family warm.
I have lots to learn, and I learn something from every tree that I cut, that and B.rad S.nellering w/ the Ol' timers that managed to live long enough to make a meager living in the woods.
So I would suggest that you find your local F.O.G. and hold a chair down w/ him and have a cup, and listen what he has to say, if your lucky he might just show ya a few tricks to make sure you make it home for dinner.

P.s. F.O.G.'s rule!
 
Seriously?? The majority of people bashing in here are older then me (22), y'all are acting like a bunch of woman. Some of y'alls comments towards the guy would make me slap you. Not punch but slap because y'all are acting all like pms'ing women.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Firstly glad you're OK Brad (sorry for coming in late) and I bet you won't have it happen again. Although I always wear a helmet errors occur and I've cut through the face a number of times, particularly if not concentrating. Instinct is to save your saw without thinking of yourself a lot of the time. How far did the first bar get through the tree Brad? That will indicate just how much weight was backwards (not that it really matters) but I don't think it was leaning back as heavily as suggested below.

Line starts in middle of tree. That's a *lot* of lean. How did you misread that brad?

attachment.php

Without seeing the whole tree that lean means nothing. If there is equal or greater weight left of centre outside of the shot then the tree is still weighted to fall away from Brad. I'm not sure what the real facts are or what the tree weighting was but the above diagram means diddley without the top of the tree being in the picture. You can see when the tree falls that although it has a bow in it the weighting along the centreline looks quite even. However the fact it sat on the saw means it probably was weighted backwards but not by much I'd suggest.
I've copped similar comments from some of my pictures and videos but when you're physically there it's quite often the complete opposite to what people perceive. Sometimes it becomes painfully obvious that you just got it all wrong and did a complete misread instead...
 
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wow joat,
that's pretty cool you wrote something like that !!

i know you guys have had some "go rounds" in the past (the missing 066 fins thing comes to mind) , but since then the mission backback build and such, really seems like you all came together ??
i just think it's really kinda cool in some sorta strange way ........

i hope i aint soundin like a jerk !!!!

Thanks, and you're not soundin' like a jerk.

I believe that 90%+ of the "problems" between Brad and me are really between Brad "followers" and Brad "detractors". Brad is what he is. You may be a fan or not. No skin off my back and I'm sure Brad would say the same. I will own up to my part in fanning the flames, but, at the end of the day, bitterness and hatred have no place here. I'll not venture there again.

We all have worth as humans and we all fall short as humans. Pointing out that another human fails to meet our values, expectations or standards serves no purpose on this or any other internet site.

My advice? If you have a problem with someone, either let it go or have a one-on-one discussion with the goal of being constructive.

Peace and Grace,

joat
 
Aw crap Joat,

You sure are gettin' soft. This place needs a few peeing matches to keep everyone honest.

How many boring what should I buy threads do we need?

I will agree, we all fall way short of perfection, but it sure is fun gunning for those who think they are already there eh?

After all this is a Manly chainsaw site, not quilting or my bunions hurt Dr. Oz!

I say "what doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger" (perhaps not smarter though)
 
No big deal? I'm sure that as a "qualified individual" to do hot work, you have watched a few arc blast videos? Instant death, or at least super-severe burns/disfigurement.

Those films on arc blast are all made by the safety equipment industry.

Never seen it in 25+ years in the trades. (did see a 200 amp 480 volt oil heater blow the door off once)

Ever price some of their garments?

It is a risk, but those films are a little slanted to the "worst case"

C'mon, like anyone is going to arc all three conductors with a 2" copper bar.
 
Those films on arc blast are all made by the safety equipment industry.

Never seen it in 25+ years in the trades. (did see a 200 amp 480 volt oil heater blow the door off once)

Ever price some of their garments?

It is a risk, but those films are a little slanted to the "worst case"

C'mon, like anyone is going to arc all three conductors with a 2" copper bar.

A guy that used to work with me accidentally grounded one leg of a 200A, 480v to the cabinet case. He miraculously was unhurt, but it blowed the main breaker and his Allen wrench to smithereens....
 
Aw crap Joat,

You sure are gettin' soft. This place needs a few peeing matches to keep everyone honest.

How many boring what should I buy threads do we need?

I will agree, we all fall way short of perfection, but it sure is fun gunning for those who think they are already there eh?

After all this is a Manly chainsaw site, not quilting or my bunions hurt Dr. Oz!

I say "what doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger" (perhaps not smarter though)

Soft you say? I'll tell you it's much harder to do the right thing that the easy thing.

You know, we used to have threads where several would pick, scream, gouge and banter well into the night. But, we all remained friends and viewed it as entertainment. The culture that allowed that has left the site. It slowly seeped away when others would jump in to defend someone who didn't really need defending.

Now, please understand this: I am not making a value judgment as to whether the "old" site was better or worse than the "current" site. I'm just attempting to articulate my understanding of what has changed here.

If someone sees the need to fight, I'm sure there's a saloon in your neighborhood that will serve your fancy.

In summary, I'm adjusting to this place and trying to have a positive presence on this site. If anyone views this as less "manly", then it is their problem to deal with and not a burden I will carry.

Hope that clears this matter,

joat
 
Soft you say? I'll tell you it's much harder to do the right thing that the easy thing.

You know, we used to have threads where several would pick, scream, gouge and banter well into the night. But, we all remained friends and viewed it as entertainment. The culture that allowed that has left the site. It slowly seeped away when others would jump in to defend someone who didn't really need defending.

Now, please understand this: I am not making a value judgment as to whether the "old" site was better or worse than the "current" site. I'm just attempting to articulate my understanding of what has changed here.

If someone sees the need to fight, I'm sure there's a saloon in your neighborhood that will serve your fancy.

In summary, I'm adjusting to this place and trying to have a positive presence on this site. If anyone views this as less "manly", then it is their problem to deal with and not a burden I will carry.

Hope that clears this matter,

joat


I don't frequent saloons.

All for turning the other cheek and all,


OK, me shut-up.
 
Without seeing the whole tree that lean means nothing. If there is equal or greater weight left of centre outside of the shot then the tree is still weighted to fall away from Brad. I'm not sure what the real facts are or what the tree weighting was but the above diagram means diddley without the top of the tree being in the picture. You can see when the tree falls that although it has a bow in it the weighting along the centreline looks quite even. However the fact it sat on the saw means it probably was weighted backwards but not by much I'd suggest.
I've copped similar comments from some of my pictures and videos but when you're physically there it's quite often the complete opposite to what people perceive. Sometimes it becomes painfully obvious that you just got it all wrong and did a complete misread instead...

That's a good point. From one perspective, it looked like the direction was obvious, but I don't think anyone here would plan a fall from a single photograph. It's a hindsight issue...it's easy to tell which way the lean is once the tree is falling.

Now that things have settled, I'm going to have another go at what I was trying to do in the first place. If it causes a stink, I hope someone will be able to pick something useful out of the ensuing mess.

I have nothing new to offer, but if there is something here that someone has not heard before, it is worth posting. This is just the way I do things, and I hope someone with more experience will offer some alternatives. There may be a few people on this site that have nothing to learn about falling, but I'm not one of them.

A big problem here was cutting through the holding wood. One way to avoid this is to dog-in where you want the back cut to end (or farther ahead for larger trees, with a "reset" once the first part of the backcut is parallel to the face).

For the sake of discussion, let's assume the lean was known, and this was a fall 90 degrees from that lean. from the description, the diameter of the tree made it necessary to do the backcut in 2 parts. Also from my interpretation (because the holding wood was severed), it seems the first part of the backcut was made on the side away from the lean. The lean was misread, so it wasn't a conscious decision, but the end result brings up a useful point when the lean is recognized.

In my view, the first part of the backcut should be on the side of the lean, so you have maximum holding against the lean. This should go a long way towards avoiding getting the bar pinched. I would start the second part of the backcut at a dogged in position maybe 45 degrees from being parallel to the face. The idea is to taper the holding wood so that it is thickest opposite the lean to swing the tree towards the face. If the tree doesn't start to go, then continue deepening the back cut so that the holding wood remains tapered.

In some cases, I have experimented with putting a Dutchman on the lean side, which closes as the tree shifts stopping the leanward movement of the tree if there is sufficient holding wood opposite the lean. This is supposed to shift the weight towards the face. My question is, would having a Dutchman in place make it more likely or less likely for the bar to get pinched while making the backcut?

I realize that all of the above is painfully obvious, but I'll gladly risk being obvious on the off chance that someone is not familiar with it.
 
=A big problem here was cutting through the holding wood. One way to avoid this is to dog-in where you want the back cut to end (or farther ahead for larger trees, with a "reset" once the first part of the backcut is parallel to the face).

Gunning sights. Enough said.
 
I just finished watching the vid for the first time.


Holy geez Brad. Not giving you any flack but good grief this felling tree stuff can become reality a lot sooner than some of us think. Good wake up call for sure - it's unfortunate that it happened and unfortunate your message to everyone was delivered because of a potentially fatal incident but it's always good to have a reminder. This stuff is fun but extremely unforgiving as well.


Just glad you're alright.....
 
I just finished watching the vid for the first time.


Holy geez Brad. Not giving you any flack but good grief this felling tree stuff can become reality a lot sooner than some of us think. Good wake up call for sure - it's unfortunate that it happened and unfortunate your message to everyone was delivered because of a potentially fatal incident but it's always good to have a reminder. This stuff is fun but extremely unforgiving as well.


Just glad you're alright.....

I'm an idiot because I just did the same damn thing Brad did yesterday. It was just a small tree that released a widow maker when I dropped it. I didn't look up before I started cutting. Nothing hit me but it was a reminder of what can happen and how fast. Good thing I had my skull cap on just in case. I made the mistake of assuming it's just a small tree what could happen.:bang::bang::bang:
 

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