Walk of shame

[alderman]

It probably wasn’t stuck bad by some standards, but I had to get another saw to get it loose. And when it came out, the saw crashed to the ground and broke.


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[BenK]

This fall got talked into helping a buddies neighbor with a few small trees. Both are relative novices and so I tried to use that opportunity to show them how to notch and cut a tree, and also what to look for and what safety measures to take. So I get long winded after the notch and starting the back cut. Tree didn't really need a wedge but wanted to show them how that process should go. Before I got the wedge in the wind picked up and the tree sat back and pinched my saw. Ended up having to get a rope up in it and pull it with the truck while I used one of their saws to rescue mine.
Nothing makes you feel like more of an idiot than absolutely sharting the bed in front of people who assume you know what you are doing. And admittedly, that's shame on me for thinking I know what I am doing.

 

[rd35]

It's amazing how one's thought process changes as one becomes exhausted from cutting wood all day. So, at the end of a long day of firewood cutting, I decide to start on the next tree (which should have been left alone until NEXT weekend). As I'm making my first cut on the butt end of this tree (see, told you I was tired and not thinking straight) I pinched my saw bar really bad. So, fired up saw #2.....thought about it for a couple of seconds....and decided to just cut the first saw loose by cutting the first full length block of firewood (or in other words, I set over about 22" and started cutting again). Hmmm....two saws stuck now! Well......after agonizing over what I should do next....I swallowed my pride....and with a red face of embarrassment I did the "Walk of Shame" over to the next downed tree....and asked my Dad if I could borrow his saw. Talk about getting raked over the coals! Dad got some mileage out of that one!!! And I deserved everything I received too!!!

 

[Cope1024]

Forty years ago I was cutting down an Elm tree that was next to the rancher's new cattle pen. I was a newbie and didn't notice that the top of the tree leaned back. I was there with a friend, and we both had Poulan 25DA saws. As I was making the felling cut, the tree leaned back on my saw. I didn't have a come along, but I had a tow chain. I attached one end to my trailer ball and the other around the tree. I put my truck in drive and told my friend that if the tree looked like it was going to fall on the truck to holler out. I eased forward and the tree fell so close to the truck that the wind blew my cap off my head. The rancher was impressed that I had spared her new fence. Worst part was the fact that the tree had been hollowed out by worms.

 

[jrs_diesel]

Getting a pole saw pinched is the worst.

The only saw I got stuck was my pole saw while trimming the pine in my front yard. Bent the bar a bit when trying to extract it.

They are for sure not the easiest thing to break free once they are hung up.

 

[Deleted member 117362]

I will do a top cut then under cut to avoid a pinch. Start top cut, just a little more and I will set a wedge, just a little more, oh crap it's pinched. Cut it out, use forks on tractor or try fulcrum thing.

 

[edisto]

I have a 48" bar for milling with my 076. We had a tornado take down a bunch of big trees. I figured I'd use the big bar because I had it.

Turns out, it takes longer to pull out a 48" bar than it does a 28" bar...

 

[TBS]

This morning while cutting an elm I rocked my chain not once, not twice, but Three times. After the last time i looked at the chain and said well that will take a while to straighten out.
https://vlipsy.com/vlip/almost-hero...ts-good-and-decent-no-more-for-today-LmBqrNOF

 

[Colt Marlington]

The only saw I got stuck was my pole saw while trimming the pine in my front yard. Bent the bar a bit when trying to extract it.

They are for sure not the easiest thing to break free once they are hung up.

I ended up climbing the tree to get mine out. A large hackberry.
No damage done.

 

[rwoods]

What this thread needs is some pictures of trees taking revenge.

2104 Fence Posting Gone Wrong.




2016 Face Too Deep on a Tree Supporting Another Tree. Second Saw Put the Tree Down but the Supported Tree Hit the Bar of the Stuck Saw.



2017 Misjudged Lean and Put in Back Cut First. Pinched on Face Cut. Gave Up Trying to Chop It Out so Just Wedged It. Tree Took Saw and Spun. Saw Survived.


Only a few of my mishaps that have photographic evidence - Thank Goodness.

Ron

 

[spyder62]

This fall got talked into helping a buddies neighbor with a few small trees. Both are relative novices and so I tried to use that opportunity to show them how to notch and cut a tree, and also what to look for and what safety measures to take. So I get long winded after the notch and starting the back cut. Tree didn't really need a wedge but wanted to show them how that process should go. Before I got the wedge in the wind picked up and the tree sat back and pinched my saw. Ended up having to get a rope up in it and pull it with the truck while I used one of their saws to rescue mine.
Nothing makes you feel like more of an idiot than absolutely sharting the bed in front of people who assume you know what you are doing. And admittedly, that's shame on me for thinking I know what I am doing.

You’re honest with good intentions. **** happens

 

[pavel408]

Similar story like BenK... Recently I was felling a dry birch (about 15" diameter) for friend. He had no experience with chainsaw, so I explained him all steps and wanted to show him the safe technique. Looked at the tree, it seemed to stand straight, so we decided where we want it to fall. Then I did conventional face cut, up to 1/4 of the tree, started back cut, inserted a wedge when possible. When the hinge was about 1,5" I wanted to take the saw out of the cut and start wedging, but the tree suddenly started to fall - in the opposite direction than intended (the hinge worked well ), over the saw and wedge! Thanks God nothing happened...

Any ideas to what I did wrongly? No strong wind was blowing, the tree was dry but healthy (maybe the inner 2" rotten but not more). My only idea is that I must have misjudged the lean.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

I did that on a cedar once. Looked like it would go one way but went the exact opposite. After it pinched the saw firmly in place, I ended up chopping the hinge out with an axe and let it go the way it wanted to. Fortunately, it wasn't a huge tree and no harm was done.

 

[user 122190]

Really tall trees that look straight can be deceptive. An ever so slight lean, hardly to be seen, can become the bad fall. Tis the reason to have multiple escape routes.

 

[Sepia]

Similar story like BenK... Recently I was felling a dry birch (about 15" diameter) for friend. He had no experience with chainsaw, so I explained him all steps and wanted to show him the safe technique. Looked at the tree, it seemed to stand straight, so we decided where we want it to fall. Then I did conventional face cut, up to 1/4 of the tree, started back cut, inserted a wedge when possible. When the hinge was about 1,5" I wanted to take the saw out of the cut and start wedging, but the tree suddenly started to fall - in the opposite direction than intended (the hinge worked well ), over the saw and wedge! Thanks God nothing happened...

Any ideas to what I did wrongly? No strong wind was blowing, the tree was dry but healthy (maybe the inner 2" rotten but not more). My only idea is that I must have misjudged the lean.

I am no expert but if I am taking down a tree with a questionable lean, I will cut a normal notch, then do a plunge cut to produce the hinge, then cut towards the back of the tree to within an inch of cutting all the way through. Then I pound a wedge into each side of the plunge cut, then finish the back cut just above the wedges. This is how I was taught and usually it works like a charm.

edit: also pay attention to your chips when doing the plunge cut. They will tell you the condition of the interior of the tree.

 

[Westboastfaller]

I always though it was below the seam but I'm no profesinal *looks left ..looks right* "plunge"? Im pretty sure that is when Canadians wash their nuts. @ Chris Brown. hello Mr B
Did the guy teach you for free?
just asking cuz i dont have much money. lol my buddy

 

[Sepia]

Great to see you Wbf. Above... below... maybe I have been doing it all wrong, but the tree still fell over every time - go figure

My loooooong time mentor of the great outdoors taught me most of what I "know" about using a saw. He's been a great friend for 40 years and I have great respect for him. Quite possible he has lead me astray without my being aware - that's what can happen when you place your faith in someone, but all in all he has been a positive force in my life.

And... I thought all you fellers out there in the rockies made boat loads of money whilst raping the landscape!! At least that's what my mentor told me... or maybe he truly has been filling my head "fake" lumberjack stories

Just kidding about the "raping" bit. Don't be a stranger - I truly enjoy trying to de-code your missives.

 

[holeycow]

And decode we will..

 

[holeycow]

I dropped a poplar snag this past summer. It was a very dead tree. I’d been watching it die for years, this tree. I finally decided to take it. I had to drop a barb wire fence and a power line to avoid damages to those.

I notched it and had my back cut nearly done when the bugger sat back on my bar. I heard a crack! So then I hurriedly abandoned ship as that damn tree went the exact opposite way to where I figured it wanted to go. It just popped the hinge and went backwards.

Apparently there was no need to drop the fence or the power line. Ha!

That’s the first time I have seen a hinge fail so miserably. It was all wood, but punky and weak.

There are mostly small trees around here, so pinches are generally not too dramatic. That particular snag was about 2 feet at the butt, which is a pretty big tree in these parts.

I can imagine the troubles in big wood while bucking a tricky one.

So that’s it then; I’ve only been stuck once. Ha!

 

[holeycow]

This one was a grim reminder to work one step at a time and to pay close attention to aim;

Cutting another snag (about a 10” tree): I felled this tree in my intended direction, but wasn’t really careful with aim. This one fell over a large branch of a standing tree in such a way that the falling tree had enough weight up top to lever the entire tree way up off the ground. It was now suspended horizontally about 25 feet off the ground.I stood still and was thinking about the other trees I would have to kill to fix this mess. Suddenly after about 3 or 4 seconds the whole tree came crashing down horizontally. The butt landed right beside me!

I hadn’t even left the stump and I was making plan B and C when I obviously wasn’t even finished with plan A yet. A sobering lesson.