Another Man Dies in Tractor Accident

[Gordon Gould]

Two men were cuttng down a large white pine on a farm in Monroe, NH.
One, who was 62 years old, was operating a large farm tractor. He was
pushing on the tree with the tractor to help direct its fall. When the tree
went down it became entangled with the tractor, flipping it over.
The operator was pinned underneath and killed.

I do not know any details but I do know that it is awful easy to put
your self in extreme danger. I know this farm and I would guess that
he has done this same thing a hundred times without incident.
Sobering thought.

 

[rekees4300]

It's difficult to predict what a tree will do when it falls. Personally I don't want to be anywhere within range on a tractor. They are just too slow to escape if something goes wrong.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Sad to hear. Trees are serious business and no match for any man or machine.

Chris

 

[arrabil]

Glad we paid someone to take down the five trees near the power lines. I was at one point considering doing just this....

 

[lungdoc]

Tragic story but WAY too dangerous to do it - if the stump doesn't get you the falling limbs easily could. If you need to use equipment to direct the fall it is far safer to use a long rope with snatch block so not pulling towards you and pull on the rope. Still better allround to get a pro to do it as it's not a small skill to expertly lay down trees where you want them.

 

[TripleR]

Tragic story but WAY too dangerous to do it - if the stump doesn't get you the falling limbs easily could. If you need to use equipment to direct the fall it is far safer to use a long rope with snatch block so not pulling towards you and pull on the rope. Still better allround to get a pro to do it as it's not a small skill to expertly lay down trees where you want them.

A snatch block is the way to go. I love working in the woods, but there are times I just bite the bullet and pay to have it done.

 

[patrick_g]

I have never hired a tree cut. I have cut plenty of trees for myself and others. Some because they were either shedding limbs dangerously endangering residents or fences or the like. I try to never put myself or others in the "kill zone."

Put me firmly in the long rope/chains camp (when needed.) NEVER push on a tree with a tractor if the tree is of any real size. Never pull rope or chains attached to a tree with a tractor (or other vehicle or by hand) if the length of the rope/chain puts the tractor within reach of the falling tree.

Nothing wrong with using a snatch block or other arrangement to change the direction of the applied force to pull the tree away from your position B U T trees do some unexpected things when cut and if you are substituting a snatch block for a longer rope/chain and let your confidence in the arrangement place you closer to the danger (places you in the "kill zone") then it has NOT improved your safety.

The man killed in the thread title thought he was safe. Folks using snatch blocks think they are safe and usually are but any arrangement that puts you closer to the tree and its sometimes seemingly random contortions when falling is NOT an unconditional safety improvement.

Be safe out there guys!

Pat

 

[20 20]

Two men were cuttng down a large white pine on a farm in Monroe, NH.
One, who was 62 years old, was operating a large farm tractor. He was
pushing on the tree with the tractor to help direct its fall.

BIG NO NO!!!

When the tree
went down it became entangled with the tractor, flipping it over.
The operator was pinned underneath and killed.

And this is one reason why it is a big NO NO

I do not know any details but I do know that it is awful easy to put
your self in extreme danger. I know this farm and I would guess that
he has done this same thing a hundred times without incident.
Sobering thought.

I have a friend that does the same stupid{can't think of a better word} thing. I have all the equipment to run a nice SAFE long cable with winch but he doesn't want to take the extra 5min to do that. Tree's can and will do what they{or mother nature{wind}} want when it comes time for felling. I can land a tree on a stake and drive it in the ground{dropped many of tree over the yrs}, but I would still rather be safe then sorry.

 

[ChuckinNH]

Yes, I just read about this one in our local paper the other day. Sad, but very easy to visualize. Last year, I saw an older guy pushing on a large maple 3'+ right at my property line with his little Yanmar ........ I thought then, "this isn't going to be pretty if that tree kicks back". It didn't.

 

[Specop_007]

I HATE felling trees. I mean it scares the heebee jeebees out of me. I'll cut all the branches off on the side of the tree I do NOT want it to fall to leaving the branches on the side I do want it to fall to. Then I make sure theres no wind or the wind is blowing in the direction I want it to fall. Then I start cutting from the side I dont want it to fall to working towards the side I do want it to fall to, essentially cutting in the direction of fall.

Gravity and wind almost assure the tree goes where I want but I still hate doing it. Buddy of mine lost his father to a falling tree when he was only 4 years old or so. He doesnt even really remember his dad. I dont want my kids to have to go through that, and well heck I'm not quite ready to go either.