Nearly got whacked

   / Nearly got whacked #1  

chim

Elite Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2002
Messages
3,642
Location
Lancaster County, PA
Tractor
Kubota L4240, Ford 1210
A couple weeks back, I trimmed all the lower branches along our fencerow so they'd be plenty high for the tractor while mowing along it. Wednesday I mowed, and some trimmed ends of the branches were only about 5' off the ground. One of the "junk trees" had about a half dozen trunks, and one had tilted toward the yard in a recent storm. OK. Took the tractor and pulled it the rest of the way down and got rid of it.

Last night I saw the rest of the tree had fallen into the yard. This morning I went out to clean things up. For starters, I took the loader and used it to break off what I could, and a number of good-sized branches snapped off pretty easily. The farther I went, the bigger the branches were. At one point, there was a branch that was about 4" in diameter at my end sticking out to one side. With the tractor in 4WD low, I pushed the branch expecting it to snap like the others. With quite a bit of pressure on the big limb, it slipped up over the bucket and swung near my gourd at about machIII. It all happened real fast, but as I saw it coming, I had enough time to think "This is gonna hurt". Made up my mind right then it was time to get the saw out and use it.......................chim
 
   / Nearly got whacked #2  
If that won't wake you up quick nothing will!

Just remember that mach III branch in years to come when your pushing slash and knocking trees. I've had many close calls and been lucky cuz I"m still here.

Always keep in mind if the worst does happen what you would do to at least come out without injury. You know ---when it hits the fan which way are you going to duck or jump. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Gordon
 
   / Nearly got whacked #3  
I have bars sticking out on the top of the bucket on each side to catch things like that and stop stuff on the bucket from rolling back onto my lap.

Egon
 
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   / Nearly got whacked #4  
A yard we where putting this spring had large trees and some smooth vines in them.
The owner wanted the vines out so I would hook the roots w/ the 650G dozer and pulled them out.
Worked good for many of them.
Had a group of cherry trees and I decided to drive thru them to pull the vines out.
While pushing the vines out one of the 18"+ cherries kept leaning as I was going then it came down on top of the FOPS.
So I just kept pushing and it took the tree out by the roots, all w/ a half dozen 1" or so vines.
A good steel 4 post canopy is great when working around trees.
 
   / Nearly got whacked #5  
A good four post canopy is just perfect. The normal single bar ROPS just can't compete.

Egon
 
   / Nearly got whacked #6  
Glad to hear there is a happy ending to your story.

Several years ago a friend of mine was using his 1710 to move some trees he had cut clearing a piece of
his land not far from his house. He was pushing aside a tree he had cut down maybe 2/3 of the way up
the tree. The next thing he knew was he had blood all over himself, his head hurt, and he could not see
very well.

One of the branches which hade been under a lot of tension suddenly slid right up the FEL arms like a
catapult and caught him right in the head, he never saw it coming it happened so fast. The blow fractured
his skull. He recovered from the accident with only a few problems but it was a good six months before he
could do anything. That is why there are cages around the operators of forestry equipment.

Becareful out there when using the FEL to push tress or branches.

Randy
 
   / Nearly got whacked #7  
The guy that cleared our lot with his dozer had a helper, whose job was to rescue him from thing like that. It never happened to him, but his father was speared once and was all alone at the time. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
   / Nearly got whacked #8  
Interesting.
Had a wake-up call of my own while bush hogging a few weeks ago. There is a serious mesquite thicket covering about two of our 5 acres. I had thinned some of the lower branches with the chain saw to where I could begin to drive the tractor through it. I had got used to the occassional branch catching on the ROPS and either cracking off (if it were a dead branch) or riding up over top of the ROPS (if it were still live).

Then I took a branch on the left side which was live, but angled so that it rode down the ROPS instead of up and over. As I drove forward the branch came down behind my back and bent me forward. My head went down to the left of the steering wheel, turned facing right. My right foot pressed full forward on the HST rocker (speed control) of the TC-30. The branches and leaves swept over the side of my neck, and I had a sudden thought thorns on the mesquite and ripped open jugular vein.

It all happened very fast. Fortunately there were only some small scratches on my neck. But I promise you those mesquites will know what the Texas Chain Saw Massacre is before I drive through the grove again.
 
 
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