Pennsylvania man killed skidding log out of the woods

[F1520]

Pennsylvania man killed skidding log out of the woods.

Police: Local man killed in tractor accident

My sympathies to his family.

P.S. Does a Facebook "Like" icon really belong at the end of this article?

 

[brin]

Same thing almost happened to me...My father in law had asked me to drag a tree out ot the woods for him and bring it back to his barn so he could cut and split it for firewood..I got on my JD 3020 and hooked the chain to the downed tree and started pulling it back..when I got back to his barn ...he was white as a ghost and asked if I had heard that tree fall ...I asked ..what tree ? and he said he was watching me and as I was dragging the tree it bumped another tree ( probably a dead one ) and it fell and just missed coming down on me...I never heard or saw a thing. I am sure this man never knew what hit him.

The take away lesson should be, when skidding a log...go slow...real slow and look up in front of you and behind as well to be sure the log you are dragging is not going to hit a dead tree as you make your turns..Very sad and even more sad...preventable..I learned my lesson...I hope..

 

[Thomas]

Thoughts and prayers for family.

 

[pat32rf]

I spend a lot of time in our hilly bush that has quite a few dead trees (birch are the worst). I also have a steel cage that runs from my 12" behind my ROP, forward, with the front supported by the loader brackets. Then the whole thing is covered with 3/4" plywood to keep out the rain and smaller branches.
My BIL just got his first CUT (been using a 60hp Massey for 20 yrs) and when he saw me mentally laying out a "hardhat" for it he announced that he "wasn't going to mess up" his new(to him) tractor with a bunch of junk, (like a roof and concrete ballast box). When he removes the hoe for the winter he will put on chains and that is all he needs.....I hope he learns before he smucks it up too badly.

 

[mcd176]

My prayers to the family.

These stories really make you think, especially since I spent the last three days skidding logs out of the woods.

 

[doall]

It's sad but happens a lot. I've bumped trees all my life and seen tops fall out around me, never knocked a whole tree over but pieces that would do serious injury I'm sure. Makes me think, I might build me a head ache rack and top. Prayers go out.

 

[Johno Geo]

Make no mistake. We need to pay attention to everything around us, when we operate a machine. In the woods, there are always more trees dead or dying than live and growing. We need to be super careful of everything around us and what the objects we tow ,touch.
i am truly sorry for the unfortunate guy...

Johno Geo

 

[dmccarty]

A couple of years ago I was "bull dozing" some small timber slash on a trail. As I pushed a small downed tree which was touching another tree which was touching a large limb that had broken off a trunk and was hanging on the ground. Foot bone connected to the ankle bone.
Angle bone connect to the leg bone kinda thing.

The limb hanging on the tree was to my side and not in front of me. Moving the slash on the ground moved the branch/limb and down it came. At me and the tractor. I had on some very thick gloves and instinctively raised my hand as the limb came down.

The end of the limb that hit my hand was rotten and with the padded thick glove no harm was done to me but the limb hit the hand rail over the fender on the rear wheel on the tractor. Kinda moved it a bit.

This could have hurt me bad or killed me. But I got lucky. I saw the limb fall so I could react and the limb was not long enough to hit me in the head. But if the limb had been a foot or two longer or the tractor had been a bit closer to the tree it could have hit me in the head.

The limb was so far from the trail that I did not even notice it. I DO look up for widow makers but I now look for thinks like leaning limbs.

Later,
Dan

 

[beppington]

My close-call story: Was bush hogging a trail for the power coop to come trench my power line in on ... Pretty tight quarters, trying to manuever the tractor making sure the hog didn't swing too much & hit anything, & just barely caught the front right tire on a little ~8" pine tree, prob ~50' tall. (was turning sharp right, so the FEL just missed the tree) No big deal slowly bumping a tree, or so I thought. Something caught my eye & when I looked up I saw this was a DEAD & brittle pine tree that was ready to fall over back towards me (I didn't immediately notice it was dead because at the bottom all the pine bark was mostly still on it). Just so happened some small, whispy branches from another tree were kinda holding it "almost" straight upright, & my bump wasn't quite enough to knock it loose ... but had I hit it any harder ... the only place for it to go, & the direciton it was leaning, was back on me :shocked:

Anyway, my lesson: I used to have the mindset that bumping a tree here & there in tight quarters wasn't a huge deal, especially with just the tires, just don't hit them so hard I gouge or damage the tree & risk killing it ... Hadn't dawned on me a dead one might only take a slight bump to come crashing down on me. Fortunately I now know, without the "hard lesson".

Now thru the woods I gotta dart my eyes all around 360 degrees ... and UP.

 

[F1520]

Hmm... uh... I was doing something like this recently myself... skidding a large Ash log out of a tight spot where I had to very carefully and very slowly maneuver the tractor in between some small trees where the rear tractor tires just fit... they were both rubbing, slightly, on the small trees on either side.

I have to go out there tomorrow morning and look UP.

I can't remember if I did or did not look up at the time. That's something I'll never forget to do again.