ok how many of you have had a close call

[hori]

The other day being lazy and cutting a bunch of small maple limbs up on top of each other laying on the ground. Went to saw next few and the end of bar touched one that was already cut and sent it flying in the air at me at mach 3 into my knee. Still got the huge bruise on my leg.

 

[Jtheo]

Had a good size oak barber chair and it came so close to my head that it made a lasting impression.

Ripped my pants leg open and then decided chaps would be a good idea after all.

Got hit in the head by a falling oak limb and then decided a helmet would be a good idea.

Seems like I learn my lessons the hard way. My dad used to say, that's a bought lesson.

 

[dk27]

Not saw related,but stuck my middle finger in working end of a small Troybuit chipper/shredder.

 

[056kid]

Some interesting stuff on barber chairs.


All the old boys i used to cut with swore that "if she starts to open up, DONT RUN, chase wood till she falls over"!!

They said that running in fear would get you smashed..

 

[oak and hedge]

me too

On the 4th day of this month i was cutting down a dead read oak tree that was fairly big i dont know how far across the base I didnt get to measure it, because I was carried out of the timber by six men and i was on a spine board. The oak was falling away from me and I turned to walk a safe distance away because the base just looked funny like it would slide off and kill me so while i was walking away I turned back and looked again just about the time the tree hit the ground a twelve inch in diamater limb hit me and broke some bones in my back, I thank god that someone was there to help me.

I've ran a chainsaw for about fifteen years now and been hurt before but not like this, my advise to anyone is when your cutting wood dont be alone.

 

[husky455rancher]

i cut into my chaps on my upper thigh waay too close top mr happy. wear your chaps boys!

 

[volks-man]

had just taken the brain bucket off and was surveying a big maple on the ground. without thinking i started the saw and set out to do what i had planned, sans helmet.
while walking the trunk i cut a 3" limb that was protruding straight up out of the trunk. never meant to cut all the way through, was gonna push it over.
it gave way, dropped vertically sidestepping the trunk. a 90* bend a few feet up slammed down squarely on to the top o' my head.

not enough to kill you but enough to wake you up!

 

[Art Vandelay]

We were cleaning a lot for a new home and my 18 year old cousin was running the 12" chipper. One limb was hung up and rather than putting the chipper in reverse and trimming it, he had the bright idea to trim it while the chipper was still pulling the limb in. As soon as he began cutting on the limb it immediately pinched the saw:censored:. At the last second he was able to pull it out. The chipper almost had an 028 for lunch and nearly gave my cousin a heart attack. It was scary to watch and funny as hell at the same time seeing the look on his face. It was his bosses saw.

 

[nighttrain]

my dad likes to help me cut ,but his health isn't what it used to be but this doesn't stop him from going with me to watch offer advice , well he decides he wants to move the ATV so he can sit closer , just as the maple that i was felling started to drop here he comes on the ATV !! it was the most helpless feeling i have ever felt , luckily he did see the tree coming down he gunned the ATV prom ply slamming it into a tree sending him over the handle bars , the tree missed him by about 20 feet luckily , everything worked out , a big wake up call !!

 

[RRSsawshop]

While trying to wedge the back lean out of ash,I had the hinge snap!!!!The tree road up on the wedges and came over backwards!!! Ran like a little school girl,from that day on I learned you cant wedge them all.

 

[056kid]

Ash can be brittle stuff, probably made quite a POP when she went!!

 

[RRSsawshop]

Ash can be brittle stuff, probably made quite a POP when she went!!

Yup thats what I heard RIGHT before I ran.This is why I'm trying to learn other felling techniques on here,after that happened I believe that a wedge is merely a CRUTCH for the lack of good felling SKILLS..

 

[derwoodii]

Huge storm damaged Cypress. Im on a rope above leaning out at the end of a very heavy broken but still hanging limb.
Ok I just need cut though n away it goes. Yup but it goes at 1st saw touch quick with a bang. All that energy released into the limb hits me across the ribs sends me up and away like a rag doll and bouncing down back to the end of my long loose line.
My right collar bone still sits odd to the other.
Next I standing in the middle of a broken long large poplar limb hung up in the next tree Ok ? Wonder how stuck it is. Jump Jump pop. I dropped about 10 feet swung back to my rope point about 20. Pheew no damage just a good lesson.

 

[Taxmantoo]

My little Husky 36 has a 16" and is a bit nose heavy.
I was clearing out some saplings around a friend's garage, didn't have enough respect for the job or the saw and almost lost a knee (small trees, small saw, no big deal, right?).
I was just zipping through these 1-3" saplings, no notch and backcut, just cutting them down like grass. Then I get to a tree that's grown up next to some window panes that are leaning against the building. I should have shut down the saw and moved the window, but instead I just cut real slow and careful so I didn't hit the glass.

The saw pinched, so I let go with my left hand to push the tree back and free the saw. When the saw came free, it swung down towards my leg. I squeezed hard with my right hand to get the saw back under control, so now the saw that's heading for my leg is now revving full throttle, because I squeezed with all my fingers, including the one on the trigger. I one-handed the saw to a stop, maybe 2-3 inches from my kneecap. Shut the saw down, went home, and didn't touch a saw again until my chaps arrived from Labonville a week later.

 

[Buckethead]

I ripped the left thigh of my jeans with my Husky 55 (prior to chaps). Had a big branch catch on my loader frame while skidding a log. When it released I thought someone smashed me in the face with a bat! I lucked out and only required 8 stiches in my lip....6" higher or lower and I would have been sucking pond water.

 

[clearance]

On the 4th day of this month i was cutting down a dead read oak tree that was fairly big i dont know how far across the base I didnt get to measure it, because I was carried out of the timber by six men and i was on a spine board. The oak was falling away from me and I turned to walk a safe distance away because the base just looked funny like it would slide off and kill me so while i was walking away I turned back and looked again just about the time the tree hit the ground a twelve inch in diamater limb hit me and broke some bones in my back, I thank god that someone was there to help me.

I've ran a chainsaw for about fifteen years now and been hurt before but not like this, my advise to anyone is when your cutting wood dont be alone.

Welcome to the site Oak.

Close calls? Yes. That was the question.

 

[MCW]

Yup thats what I heard RIGHT before I ran.This is why I'm trying to learn other felling techniques on here,after that happened I believe that a wedge is merely a CRUTCH for the lack of good felling SKILLS..

Not really. A wedge is necessary in directional felling when you need to hit a spot with a tree that naturally does not want to go that way.
Of course you can't wedge every tree but appropriate use of wedges are part of good felling skills and are certainly not a crutch.
If you are in an area where you can drop a tree in any direction then wedges generally aren't necessary, but thats not always the case. I wedged about 180 trees today into a slight headwind as that's where they had to go. No wedges would have made that a tad difficult and I would have started the day with a pinched bar, then another one, then another one, then another... you get the picture

 

[RandyMac]

I think it was Gologit that said something like "You aren't a logger until you hear one of your bones snap" Hmmmm....in the course of duty I have broke my right collarbone twice, in the same place, cracked three ribs, had maybe three fingers broken. That is just the bones that broke, my knees are shot, my shoulder bones on the right wander around some, add in a few dozen other moderate to minor injuries. I have never been cut by a moving chain, but I have had stitches from most of the pointy things on chainsaws.
When I turned 50, a whole lot of those chickens came to roost, time for a rebuild.
While some things happen faster than you can move, some of those can be avoided, some can't. The harder you push it, the sooner you will be hurt, it's a given. Such is (was) life in high production logging, it's a rare day that you don't shed blood.

 

[Gologit]

I think it was Gologit that said something like "You aren't a logger until you hear one of your bones snap" Hmmmm....in the course of duty I have broke my right collarbone twice, in the same place, cracked three ribs, had maybe three fingers broken. That is just the bones that broke, my knees are shot, my shoulder bones on the right wander around some, add in a few dozen other moderate to minor injuries. I have never been cut by a moving chain, but I have had stitches from most of the pointy things on chainsaws.
When I turned 50, a whole lot of those chickens came to roost, time for a rebuild.
While some things happen faster than you can move, some of those can be avoided, some can't. The harder you push it, the sooner you will be hurt, it's a given. Such is (was) life in high production logging, it's a rare day that you don't shed blood.

And that wasn't even the worst danger. Surviving payday Saturday night in Blue Lake, Hoopa, Willow Creek, Covelo, Garberville or anywhere on 2nd Steet in Eureka was the really dangerous stuff.

 

[ZeroJunk]

I sawed a hole in my leg up in the top of a tree back when I was 18, about 40 years ago. I didn't have the right equipment, had zero training, but I wasn't scared of nothin.

I'm still stupid, but I was worse back then.

It's amazing how much blood a chain can dig up.