One mistake that could have been my last

[tugboat-2]

TREES,....pushed,..pulled, cut,..roped,..chained,..dead, alive, rotted, healthy, frozen, or even left alone standing there minding their own business,...when a "tractor" gets involved,.. remember, .. for every Action,....there is ..USUALLY,.. a RE-Action !!!

Sometimes it's good,..sometimes it's not so good,...sometimes you even think, ..Hmmm,.. no reaction. Wait for it,..Watch for it,..Listen for it,..Prepare for it, just be very careful of your "NEXT" move, . . "that's" what could trigger it !! (as some have already testified) (why even chained together at a slight angle,...an innocent downed tree just sitting there,..with just a little encouragement, can "lurch" ahead pulling your tractor over on its side!)

CAUTION ! ....Tractors and Trees,..can be very dangerous when "mixed" !! Just ask any logger, tree trimmer, bush worker,etc,..OR ~Tractor Owner~ who've learned from close calls.

Of course this "danger" includes axes, chain saws,....and matches,..but this discussion concerns ~"Trees and Tractors"~ so lets try to stay (close) to the topic as there are "plenty" of scary "lessons" to engage us awhile. Just "ONE" more TRACTOR related topic for Extreme Caution !!

CHEERS!
. . tug

[dmccarty]

Originally Posted by tallyho8

When I was just about through the trunk something told me to get off the tree and finish cutting it from the ground. I got down and touched the chainsaw to the trunk, heard a huge CRACK, and the top broke off and the base of the tree sprung upright from the root tension like a slingshot. If I had been standing on the trunk it would have thrown me over the house.

Can
Not
Stop
Myself....

If you had flown like Super Man over the the house...

Would you have screamed T A L L E Y H O !



Sorry I could not resist!

I had a tree fall up once. Yep UP!

The tree had been knocked down and the ball was out of the ground. I started limbing the tree. As I cleared off the top I could feel the trunk moving slightly. I finally made cut the limbs off and cut a section of trunk. This changed the balance and that tree righted itself. Went straight up.

Got a few near misses with using a chainsaw... Spring poles, barber chairs, ...

Later,
Dan

[rox]

Originally Posted by tallyho8

After Katrina I had a 50' cedar tree laying across my driveway. I started cutting off the top 30' to clear my drive. This section was about 5' off the ground so I found I could cut it easiest if I stood on the trunk of the tree while cutting.

When I was just about through the trunk something told me to get off the tree and finish cutting it from the ground. I got down and touched the chainsaw to the trunk, heard a huge CRACK, and the top broke off and the base of the tree sprung upright from the root tension like a slingshot. If I had been standing on the trunk it would have thrown me over the house.

WOW! Scary story, good thing you had that intuition and followed it. I could jsut visualize the situation by the way you described it.

[rox]

Originally Posted by dmccarty

Can
Not
Stop
Myself....

If you had flown like Super Man over the the house...

Would you have screamed T A L L E Y H O !



Sorry I could not resist!

I had a tree fall up once. Yep UP!

The tree had been knocked down and the ball was out of the ground. I started limbing the tree. As I cleared off the top I could feel the trunk moving slightly. I finally made cut the limbs off and cut a section of trunk. This changed the balance and that tree righted itself. Went straight up.

Got a few near misses with using a chainsaw... Spring poles, barber chairs, ...

Later,
Dan

This is so funny I'm laugin out loud giggling. The part about superman I could just visualize... soooo funny.

[tallyho8]

It would have been like getting shot out of a cannon and if I was conscious I'm sure I would have screamed, but it wouldn't have been tallyho!

If the takeoff didn't kill me. I'm sure the landing would have.

The only funny part of it was having people try to guess how I cut off the top of that 20' stump in the yard.

[Defective]

Originally Posted by tallyho8

The only funny part of it was having people try to guess how I cut off the top of that 20' stump in the yard.

I'd have just told them it was a long winter...

[PILOON]

Couple of summers ago, a good storm blew over about 20 feet of mature cedars that lined our shoreline and left an ugly mess of exposed rocks.
Having had prior experience with springing catapult trees, I used this to my advantage.
Standing safely to the side I topped each cedar gradually 'till they sprung to the upright
position.
The cedars grew new heads and today you'd never know that the had blown over except for the fact that they had been pruned at the top.

[firemanpat2910]

I dont feel so bad now. Durring a long night of Fire dept calls during a hurricane, we must have cut over 100 tress off houses, across roads, and yes even on downed power lines. about 3 am we had a BIG pine blocking a highway, power lines were clearly broken tree was held up by phone and cable lines. I cut top about 4 feet from wires, then went to cut low side as close as I could reach. head high about 4 maybe 5 feet from wires this left a 8 or 9 foot section of log that I thought would be left on the wires that we could drag off with the big red truck. WRONG as I cut through that log the 8or9 ft peice SHOT into the air like a twig. It might still be in orbit! I was unsure wich way to run so I just stood there with a dumb look on my face.

[JoelD]

I've posted this picture before, very appropriate for this topic.

Long story short, luck is the only reason I did not get hurt, thought nothing of it, lack of experience.

I've been lucky on a couple dead limbs dropping on ROPS as well.

Joel

[bstrom]

Originally Posted by tallyho8

After Katrina I had a 50' cedar tree laying across my driveway. I started cutting off the top 30' to clear my drive. This section was about 5' off the ground so I found I could cut it easiest if I stood on the trunk of the tree while cutting.

When I was just about through the trunk something told me to get off the tree and finish cutting it from the ground. I got down and touched the chainsaw to the trunk, heard a huge CRACK, and the top broke off and the base of the tree sprung upright from the root tension like a slingshot. If I had been standing on the trunk it would have thrown me over the house.

Yeah, this is a fairly common accident when someone cuts the top of a pinned tree with the trunk under tension. A friend of mine did the same thing once while standing on the ground. He had alot of experience in the woods too and it still happened to him because he was moving to fast and not thinking. As he was completing the cut the tension released and the chainsaw was ripped from his hands and propelled through the air like a missile. Luckily he was not hurt and no one was nearby. He even said he knew it was under tension but was shocked at the force it had in tearing the saw from his hands.