Near miss... lessons learned

[SturgeonGeneral48]

I thought I would post this here too since we had a close call that could have been a disaster. The whole post is over on the 101 message board, I apologize if you are seeing this twice.

First the good news. We got it done with no injuries.

I'll address a couple questions. The ice was not slippery, we had about 4 inches of old snow on the ice so there was plenty of traction. The canal is only 2' deep, but a very muddy bottom. You cannot wade in the canal and trying anything by boat was eliminated immediately before I even started the saw.

Now the bad news. I got my bar stuck 3 times and my saw is now out of commission. I must have damaged something since the chain came off twice even though it was adjusted properly on the bar.

Now the worse news. I got the first 2 limbs off pretty easily and cleared up the area for the final cut. I saved the biggest one, that was straight in line with the limb, for last, thinking it would be good to have that one stabilze the whole thing as I cut the first 2. That seemed to work, but the last limb now had a massive amount of weight/tension on it. I figured the tension was on the top of the limb, so I started there and cut ~15% into the limb. Then I went underneath to finish the cut. I had my gettaway route planned and a rope on the limb to keep it from kicking towards where I was standing. As I made the final cut, the limb pinched back down on my saw. So the limb was 'free' but in the same position with my saw blade in the closed gap. So, I get another saw and the SAME thing happened. It just slammed closed so fast I couldn't react fast enough. So now, there are 2 saws stuck with a 24" 'free' log in between them and the whole enchilada still in the same position, with a crap ton of weight holding it in place.

We STUPIDLY gathered around wondering what to do, pound wedges in the cuts? Get the THIRD saw in the mix? All of a sudden the entire she-bang goes! I wrongly assumed the top hinge would hold. It didn't. It broke off 15' in the air and slammed down on the ice. Then it pivoted, throwing the chainsaws to the wind, and slammed to the left about 4 feet. If one of the kids had been standing there (and they had at some points in the morning), I don't even want to consider what would have happened. Certainly lives would be forever changed, let's just say that.

Lessons learned: You can never be too careful. Slow down. When you are going too slow, slow down more and study the situation. Like my Dad taught me playing pool, aim twice, shoot once. Never underestimate how bad things can go. The worse case scenario for that log happened and I made a bad assumption the hinge would hold. A tree can fall without you doing anything other than standing there wondering what the hell to do next. 40" diameter willow logs are really really really heavy. Hire a professional next time. This only cost me 4 extra large pizzas and 12 pitchers of beer, I should have spend 10X that and had an expert do it.

Anyone want to buy a Husqvarna 450?

 

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

Better to get the large part of the tree still connected to the stump on the ground before messing with the limbs. Either pull it down with a rope if it's broken enough to do so OR fall the stem 90º to the way the upper part of the tree fell.

Usually we get a rope around it and attempt to tug on it with a tractor/truck or even by hand. If that doesn't work, I make felling cuts in the bottom of the trunk, always watching for movement. Once you have the felling cuts done you again pull with the same rope you had tied to it before.

Glad nobody got hurt.

 

[SturgeonGeneral48]

Better to get the large part of the tree still connected to the stump on the ground before messing with the limbs. Either pull it down with a rope if it's broken enough to do so OR fall the stem 90º to the way the upper part of the tree fell.

Usually we get a rope around it and attempt to tug on it with a tractor/truck or even by hand. If that doesn't work, I make felling cuts in the bottom of the trunk, always watching for movement. Once you have the felling cuts done you again pull with the same rope you had tied to it before.

Glad nobody got hurt.

In hindsight, you are probably correct. I just assumed the wood above would hold. I didn't even think I could have bought it down with a tractor, but I was 100% wrong.

 

[kenmbz]

Glad you are safe. Tension like that is never fun and I guess you figured out how the tension worked too late.
Further you are from the problem the better. Ropes work well for that.

 

[cuttinupferalivin]

This is what’s wrong with the tree service today. Too many Amur turrds starting businesses ruining what use to be a very lucrative way to make a living. Nowadays it’s being driven in the ground. Firewood sales will be better before long. Hope your not young and making big plans

 

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

This is what’s wrong with the tree service today. Too many Amur turrds starting businesses ruining what use to be a very lucrative way to make a living. Nowadays it’s being driven in the ground. Firewood sales will be better before long. Hope your not young and making big plans

Where in this rambling, incoherent, spewing of unrelated thoughts is there anything helpful for the OP?

 

[Dudders]

I was going to suggest "just call a tree surgeon to do it" when I first read about the job, but thought that would sound too defeatist! I had a couple of dodgy trees to bring down last month, climbing involved, and got it done by the qualified guys. Know your limits - if in doubt, don't.

 

[Dave1960_Gorge]

Its one thing if you have a wonky or dodgy tree that is a puzzle to get down, and another if it is also highly hazardous. Of course, you have to realize that it is a high hazard situation. That comes with experience. And sometimes experienced people screw up too; what keeps them alive is they mentally go through alternate scenarios from the one they want or expect to happen.

If you had done that last mental exercise, you would have at least gotten everyone back, and maybe tried a shallow face and back cut on the main trunk below the limb and then tried pulling the whole mess over with a come-along or winch. There is a lot of data (a lot of it not pleasant, I am sure) behind the ANSI standard saying one should try winching over a broken (or cut) hung up tree, and not just cut pieces off the bottom and jump out of the way after each cut as the tree slides down (yes -- many people here have done that to "save time", including myself). The willow was even more dangerous than that because of its unpredictability: not only was that low limb under tension, compression, and embedded in ice, it was attached to a tree (or just wedged against it?) with more trunk above a big tear out that was a weak point for the upper trunk; also, the lean and sweep in both the main trunk and broken limb made movement of either piece difficult to predict after cutting somewhere . Plus it was a willow, a species known for weak wood and decay.

I have a client that had to remove a 5 ft. diameter weeping willow; I pruned it 3 years ago to remove dead limbs and reduce end-weight on big green limbs to make it more resilient to wind and snow and ice load. A third of the tree failed a few weeks back under snow and ice load, took out power lines, and crushed some county vehicles. No one hurt. I did not see that coming or would have suggested cabling. You have to respect cottonwoods and willows as trees that do not behave the same as other trees when it comes to failure.