Scary Times

[eguinn]

Hello Guys, What is the scariest thing you have done or had happen to you while falling, bucking or running a saw while working in the woods?

 

[country boy]

I went and helped a freind of mine clear some trees for his kids dirt bike track . All had been going well that morning we done dropped 3 0r 4 trees and had em blocked up and plenty of help dragging brush off , his boy was there and a freind was there helping also . We had been working in the same spot of the track all day . The boys were getting bored so they took the bikes on the other side of the track for some air time didnt think much of it. Was taking down final tree told all the help where it was going to land every body got back and out of the way . Started my cuts tree started going down looked over and and there are my buddies waving there arms to go back and yelling ,WTF a lil to late now and here comes my my buddies kid freind blazing down the track everyone gets his attention and he stopped right in the landing zone that tree dropped him and the bike to the ground like a ton of shi# . Luckily just the top of the tree got em couple of bruises and thats it . THAT IS THE LAST TIME CUTTING AROUND A CROWD OF PEOPLE. That was a horrible few seconds i thought i killed the poor kid.

 

[Arich]

I was cutting birch in deep snow last week to get my haul road put in. I got to a birch tree about 15in in diameter started to prep the tree and my spot for felling. I finnished my bore cut and released the strap. I dropped the saw and began to move away, as I was doing so I felt something woosh over my head. I dont know exactly what the hell happened but the but end of the tree was on one side of me and the stump was on the other. I still cannot figure out how with an unobstructed landing area the tree hopped over my head, but it definatley got my attention. It took me almost 20mins to get calmed down again enough to continue working.

 

[slowp]

The Curse of the Hooktenders. They are out to get me! A hooktender with a saw is a dangerous thing! When they are dropping a tree, the lines become magnetic and attract the trees. The hooktenders are all-powerful so do not signal to have the skyline dropped prior to falling a tree that is in the way. Because of that power, they do not need to use wedges either. If I am anywhere near, the trees either hit the lines or fall towards me. Definitely hooktenders... I fear them greatly!

 

[ents]

I first started to clear this property about 5yrs. ago. Very thick underbrush and struggling saplings (1-2" or so). I bought a 931 track loader to facilitate clearing. I'd go busting thru the underbrush clearing a nice swatch. One day while wild westing my way around I backed up without looking behind me. Next thing I know there is a 1" or so sapling sticking out between my rip cage and left arm. By the time I stopped the loader the stick was about 3' in front of me. If it had poked me square in the back I'm sure it would have impaled me (PNW, is this what you call a Jill Poke?).

I've learned a lot since then and I take my time clearing or skidding trees and always look behind me when backing up.

 

[Gologit]

The Curse of the Hooktenders. They are out to get me! A hooktender with a saw is a dangerous thing! When they are dropping a tree, the lines become magnetic and attract the trees. The hooktenders are all-powerful so do not signal to have the skyline dropped prior to falling a tree that is in the way. Because of that power, they do not need to use wedges either. If I am anywhere near, the trees either hit the lines or fall towards me. Definitely hooktenders... I fear them greatly!

I have one that's scarier than that...much, much scarier. A forester with the THP and a Hi-Liter. And a serious expression. And a degree from Humboldt State with the ink still wet. And new boots with no scars on them. And they've been lost three times on the way to the sale but they won't admit it. And when they talk to you they use their "I'm a forester, and you're a logger, and this is very serious business and even if you don't take me seriously you have to pretend that you do, at least until you can get my supervisor on the phone" voice. And then they get lost twice trying to find their way back to the office. But they pretend they're just checking roads.

 

[Gologit]

One day while wild westing my way around I backed up without looking behind me. Next thing I know there is a 1" or so sapling sticking out between my rip cage and left arm. By the time I stopped the loader the stick was about 3' in front of me. If it had poked me square in the back I'm sure it would have impaled me (PNW, is this what you call a Jill Poke?).

I've learned a lot since then and I take my time clearing or skidding trees and always look behind me when backing up.

We lost a skidder operator just that way. The limb wasn't very big but it went through his throat and he bled out before we even knew anything was wrong. Glad to hear you learned from your close call.

 

[hammerlogging]

grapevines- I was clearcutting about 60 acres on the side of the mountain, I had avoided this tree for a day and a half but it was "in" so I finally said, better do it. I cut 7 grapevines out of it (some places will just get grown up with them like crazy) thinking I'd gotten them all. It was probably 90 degrees and about 2:30 in the afternoon -know the feeling? Cut my backstrap and was taking the ol' escape route and vines on each side of my legs started ripping through the ground, came up on each side of my legs, tightened down knocked me to my feet and was dragging me toward the stump as the tree was falling. Everything ended up ok. wake up call I guess. Grapevines can be a real problem- pull a tree behind you over onto you, just a big extra thing to keep an eye on. So unexpected, I guess thats what it was.

 

[slowp]

I have one that's scarier than that...much, much scarier. A forester with the THP and a Hi-Liter. And a serious expression. And a degree from Humboldt State with the ink still wet. And new boots with no scars on them. And they've been lost three times on the way to the sale but they won't admit it. And when they talk to you they use their "I'm a forester, and you're a logger, and this is very serious business and even if you don't take me seriously you have to pretend that you do, at least until you can get my supervisor on the phone" voice. And then they get lost twice trying to find their way back to the office. But they pretend they're just checking roads.

What is a THP? Sounds like I need to get one to keep up with my coworkers to the south. I'm merely a forestry technician though.

 

[Gologit]

What is a THP? Sounds like I need to get one to keep up with my coworkers to the south. I'm merely a forestry technician though.

See? None of that critisism applied to you at all. Now, if I'd mentioned falling down a lot...well, that might have been different.
THP stands for Timber Harvest Plan, a large collection of paperwork that gives you every little tiny detail and all the do's and don'ts about logging a particular piece of ground. They're site specific and must be prepared and approved for every sale. They're usually about the size of the Yakima phone book and contain about the same ratio of good and bad information.
THPs are good in that they've helped address and remedy a lot of the abuses from the old days. THPs are bad in that there are a hundred little details to trip over and get busted for while trying to balance out environmentally friendly logging and trying to get the wood down the hill at a profit.
They're usually printed on soft paper, though, and come in handy for starting warming fires, filling holes in sox, and a couple of other uses that don't need to be mentioned here.

 

[2dogs]

Sounds like your THP should come on a a roll.

 

[corndogg]

I got "invited to help" my brother in-law remove six large cottonwoods from his small residential front yard. Very tall but I can set a rope in them and pull 'em in. Street totally blocked with cones and vehicles, rope is high in tree hooked to my pick-up. Neighbors are all watching from down the street, people everywhere but far enough away. I've cut a nice notch and am half way through my back cut. As I notice the tree starting to move I look up to see a young guy on a bike with headphones on blazing throught the work zone jammin away! Everybody else is looking up at the tree as it begins falling as expected. I start yelling and waving my arms. Biker notices what about to happen and he starts peddaling like crazy. He's goin' for it! He barely makes it as the tree falls just behind him! He must have accelerated with the wind and dust pushing him along. He never stopped, just kept rockin'!

Cones, flags and signs don't seem to get peoples attention anymore. I've thought about stringing ropes around the work area like police tape to keep people away.

 

[GASoline71]

I haven't had any scary stuff (knock on wood) worth writin' about happen to me yet... key word is "yet".

However... I watched a faller damn near bleed to death on the landing after his saw hit a railroad spike in a big Doug. Friggin' hippy tree huggin' freaks were protestin' the day prior to it happenin'.

One of the bastids went on record that they did not feel remorse for the logger that was injured... because "the saws stopped murdering trees for a half a day."

No woories that a man almost lost his life due to your ignorance...:censored: :censored:

Man I really, really hate people that are hypocritical protesters...

Gary

 

[raycarr]

My chainsawing expirience is limited, I'm just a kid. My 036 needed serious repairs, my uncle lent me an old Mac, he said it was a run of the mill 250, I shouldn't have any problems. I had run some of his old Macs before, they certainly did the job, but this one was different from the start. It ripped the starter handle from my fingers several times, was very hard to pull through, once started it was louder than the ones I had previously ran. In the wood, it was ferocious, it literally tore things up. I ran it for an hour before giving up, it was just to much to handle, I had a picture in my mind of it jumping out of the cut and maiming me. When I took it back, I had a few words with him, he took a quick look at it, gave me the "oh my gosh" thing, admited to giving me the wrong saw. It was a heavily worked over 100cc monster left over from his sawing days. Darned old saws all look the same to me. I forked over the $150 to the dealer and got my saw fixed. I learned to never use a saw without looking at it first, asking questions.

Ray

 

[GASoline71]

The Mac 250 was one of the top fallin' saws in the big timber of the West Coast back in the day... I'll take that ol' Mac of your Uncle's hands anyday...

Gary

 

[slowp]

To me? Last weeks stupid thing of cutting a blowdown off midway instead of back at the stump. Major spronging and seesawing. Having a long bar on the saw, and having cleared a patch to step away into plus a standing tree saved me. Then I sat and had a safety meeting with myself. The scariest thing was seeing a guyline tree, not a stump, (against safety rules) pull and hit the yarder. The chaser was on the yarder talking with the engineer, and saw it, stepped in the cab and hugged the engineer. The tree hit, then rolled off and landed where somebody usually would be standing. I was getting my paintgun out of the super secure box or I would have been there finding out what needed to be done. Needless to say, after that, they cut the guyline trees.

Gologit, formerly known as Boboak, it is my opinion that new foresters ought to have handles attached to their backs. I have had to actually grab one by his collar and yank him back as he wandered into the danger zone while a log truck was getting loaded by a green shovel operator. This was after he was telling me I needed to get on the fallers' case because they were falling too many alders. I knew it was a safety thing for the fallers but he could not be convinced. It was tempting not to pull him out of harm's way. He was quickly promoted outta here.

 

[Gologit]

Gologit, formerly known as Boboak, it is my opinion that new foresters ought to have handles attached to their backs. I have had to actually grab one by his collar and yank him back as he wandered into the danger zone while a log truck was getting loaded by a green shovel operator. This was after he was telling me I needed to get on the fallers' case because they were falling too many alders. I knew it was a safety thing for the fallers but he could not be convinced. It was tempting not to pull him out of harm's way. He was quickly promoted outta here.

LOL...I don't know if handles would do any good but it's not a bad idea. Maybe we assume they know more than they do just because they work so hard to give us that impression.
You've been in the woods and you know...things can come at you fast from a lot of different directions. The greenies just don't know. Yet.
I guess it's up to us to try to keep them in one piece long enough for them to learn something. Hey...it's better to piss them off than to pack them out.

 

[slowp]

I'd add a bungee to that handle, duct taping it all together of course. It could be entertaining.

 

[raycarr]

The Mac 250 was one of the top fallin' saws in the big timber of the West Coast back in the day... I'll take that ol' Mac of your Uncle's hands anyday...

Gary

Gary, it's good to see that there are some folks who appreciate the older chainsaws. Most of the time they line up to bash them, comparing them with brand new saws. This is one of the few places where the older equipment is treated like that. Most 4X4 and pick-up groups brand bash pretty bad, but it is only the new vehicles getting bashed. When somebody comes up with something old, people go out of their way to help with finding parts or giving advice on repairs. Old trucks are venerated as pieces of history and often lovingly restored.
I'm geussing that, in part, it cames down to the history of the '50s and '60s chainsaws and the men who used them. They cleared out the bulk of the old growth timber. I'm thinking that there is more than abit of jealousy as there isn't much left and only a very few get to fall it. Who among us wouldn't give anything to fall an old growth tree, with a big chainsaw, of any make or age?

Ray

 

[gavin]

nothing to insane so far but the scariest to date was last summer when i was falling a fuel free strip around a fire. i was falling a spruce a little over 3 foot diameter and wedging it against the lean. it was up near a ridge with gusty winds. had wedges driven in pretty good and the wind really kicked up and blew it off sideways right in my direction (yes there was still full strip of holding wood!). i didn't have to dive for my life but i definately had to run quick! paid off that i kept my head up and had good clear escape routes. had a chew and got back to falling.