Tractor /Tree Accident

[Industrial Toys]

Years ago, I was cutting the biggest Elm I had cut to date. Brand spanking new Stihl 034 or 036 saw.

Saw got pinched as it started to fall, (not sure how I managed that) saw fell out and the tree landed on it smashing it to freaking pieces!

 

[dieselscout80]

Comedy of errors

1) The tractor is backing up (instead of going forward)

I don't think he was backing up.

I think the tree shoved the tractor back.

 

[Tractorable]

A few months ago I got a brand new Stihl pole saw and proceeded to start trimming a lot of branches on our oak trees. I cut one big branch and when it hit the ground it sprung back up and over my brand new pole saw, knocked it out of my hands, took it to the ground, and bent the shaft all to he11.

 

[Deere Dude]

A few months ago I got a brand new Stihl pole saw and proceeded to start trimming a lot of branches on our oak trees. I cut one big branch and when it hit the ground it sprung back up and over my brand new pole saw, knocked it out of my hands, took it to the ground, and bent the shaft all to he11.

View attachment 575954

lol. I got a brand new Stihl pole saw and the very first branch I tackled was half hour I got home with it. Bent it like yours. Not a good day because they are very expensive.

 

[CobyRupert]

A few months ago I got a brand new Stihl pole saw and proceeded to start trimming a lot of branches on our oak trees. I cut one big branch and when it hit the ground it sprung back up and over my brand new pole saw, knocked it out of my hands, took it to the ground, and bent the shaft all to he11.

View attachment 575954

That's just their new pole saw model with the OffsetPro(TM) feature.

....sorry...

Did you just bend it back?

Yep, but feel lucky you learned with a pole saw what a lot of people learn in an even harder way when cutting with a chain saw from a ladder.

 

[Thomas]

:confused2::shocked::thumbsup:

 

[SheepdogRD]

We had a dead 40-foot pine on our property. It had died a couple years ago, and it was already leaning slightly. I wanted it down, and wondered if I couldn't help it fall over. I eased up to it on our Kubota 5140, raised the bucket and pushed. It gave a little, so I eased back, lowered the bucket a little, and pushed again. Way up above, the top of the tree broke off backwards and brought down branches with it. I heard it break, but couldn't see through the canopy, and I had no exit, anyway. I hung on. Little branches rained down, and then the top hit. One end landed on the canopy, cracking the fiberglass, bending the front canopy bar, and bending the whole canopy down. The other end put a major crunch in the hood.

I shut the tractor off and sat there for a bit, pondering the stupidity of my actions, and appreciating that I was unhurt.

That was well up the list of the dumbest moves I've made in my life. It could have gone far worse, especially if we hadn't had the canopy.

I'm a lot wiser as I use the tractor, now, and I suspect I'm somewhat easier on it, as well. Ain't skeered, but I'm a whole lot more attentive to possible consequences. I guess I hadn't realized that (1) even a dead tree can kill me, and (2) it's my job to be smarter than the dead tree.

 

[John_Mc]

Sheepgog RD - that's one of the reasons I added FOPS (Falling Object Protection System) to my tractor. I use it in the woods a lot. I don't push trees with it, and keep it a good distance away when I'm felling trees. One day, I was driving down a trail: not bumping in to anything, and it was not windy. A 3" diameter branch picked that time to drop from a nearby tree. It bounced off my roll-bar, and then my shoulder on it's way down. Fortunately, much of the force was dissipated by the roll bar, and what remained was just a glancing blow to my shoulder. Had it not hit the roll bar, there is a good chance I'd be dead or at least had some sever shoulder damage. I decided the forest was talking to me, and I should listen. I made an appointment with a local fabricator who is a genius with "woods hardening" tractors to have him add the FOPS. I also had him add limb risers and a belly pan while he was at it.