Tree cutting accident

[deezler]

@RandyT In the summer of 2020, I was cutting some small trees down (<6" dia) for a better river view from our deck. I had full safety gear on (helmet, chaps & boots). I had just cut a small 5"-ish inch tree down and was in the process of standing up when I got hit with a tremendous force and driven to the ground. Turns out that a tree that I wasn't even working on broke off about halfway up, hit me in the back of the head, and went down my back. It was a dead oak that was 12"-14" at the base. The wife watched it happen from the deck but, of course, couldn't do anything about it. Two of my three kids, along with my son-in-law, were there. The EMTs responded very quickly and were there within 10 minutes, but they had a hard time getting me out of the woods because of the steep hill up to our house. They loaded me in the ambulance and drove me a 1/8 of a mile down the road to a clearing where the helicopter was waiting, which then flew me to the nearest trauma center. I had three broken ribs where they attach to one's spine, a collapsed left lung, a broken shoulder blade, a crushed T-12 in my back, and a "mild" traumatic brain injury. When they were hauling me up the hill I could feel something moving around in my chest, which, of course, was my lung. It was a terrible feeling.
I spent a week in the hospital and then three months in a back brace, and 6 weeks in a neck brace. I am still not over my brain injury and probably never will be. I had already had three lower back surgeries before this accident, so this did not help. I also have a congenital issue with my neck where I have absolutely no room for my spinal cord, which limits my head movement. I came within a whisker of being paralyzed. I also have "hidden" injuries that are starting to show, like a knee issue that needs fixing now.

Sorry for the long-winded post, but wanted to share how quickly things can go sideways in the woods. I also want to point out that without my Stihl helmet, I would be dead. It is as blunt as that. Without that piece of safety gear, I would not be here.

Please be safe out there.

Oh my. Thank you for sharing. I hope you can continue to heal, find therapies that soothe you, and still enjoy the dream of living on your slice of god's country. Hopefully you can afford to hire out any dangerous work now?

I feel fortunate to have gotten through my land clearing, home-build and yard expansion phases without any tree-felling accidents. Probably dropped ~50 big trees and many dozens of saplings. I still have a few leaners around the house that concern me, that I should probably consider hiring professionals for.

But for firewood production now I only take the easy stuff and no longer bring down any large or dangerous trees.

Frankly I prefer to take down trees with my backhoe or an excavator now, and saw them up on the ground. Just too much stored energy up in the air to feel safe; crazy things can and do happen.

 

[check]

I have a hanging branch that the dump truck driver broke when spreading gravel on the driveway. It looks like it is hanging on quite tightly, so I think I’m going to have to use a long chain and pull on the with the pick up truck. Otherwise sooner or later it’s gonna drop on somebody.

 

[deezler]

I have a hanging branch that the dump truck driver broke when spreading gravel on the driveway. It looks like it is hanging on quite tightly, so I think I’m going to have to use a long chain and pull on the with the pick up truck. Otherwise sooner or later it’s gonna drop on somebody.

THat looks tiny. Just whack it with your BX25 front loader, it'll fall off.

 

[Lakeport]

I just read the other comments, and that your friend had passed away. I'm sorry to hear that. I should add that the big willows with the widow makers are scheduled to be trimmed this winter when the ground freezes so they can get in with the big bucket trucks to trim the high branches. If the neighbor hasn't sold his house by then, I should invite him to watch from down below. He is stupid enough to do it.

 

[Irishguy]

I accidently hit a dead cherry with my backhoe, using the grapple in the woods. The top half fell straight down. Like a big spear, missed all but the step on my kioti. Tore it right off. Took me a few hours to quit shaking. It was 30 ft long, 14 inches across at the big end. Needless to say I don't use the hoe in the woods anymore.

 

[BruceS_55]

Last year my granddaughter’s third grade teacher’s husband died when taking down a dead tree. He was a former highway patrolman. The small town’s population probably tripled the day of his funeral. Very sad.

 

[check]

THat looks tiny. Just whack it with your BX25 front loader, it'll fall off.

Tried that. It didn’t work. We’ll have to somehow tear it off.

 

[majorjim3]

There are 30,000 saw ER registered accidents per year in the USA associated with saw's. A falling window maker might need more help than a sawyer wearing hard hat. 50 percent of the ER visits are from chain cuts above the belt, so chaps are not a "cure-all" either.

Not all "saws" are chainsaws. Many ER visits are due to table saws and other woodworking saws.

 

[WinterDeere]

Sawyer safety rule #4. Have someone with you.

I do a lot of tree harvesting, as we're heating a very large and very old inefficient house with firewood, as well as supplying wood to a few others on occasion. I'm often in a situation of having to cut out in the woods myself, so my wife and I have established a check-in policy. She calls me a few times during the day, at least once every 2 hours, if she hasn't heard from me sooner. Additionally, I call her before I fell each tree or grouping of trees, and tell her, "if you don't hear back from me in 10 minutes, send the ambulance." It's a workable system, for anyone who must cut alone.

 

[ArlyA]

Not all "saws" are chainsaws. Many ER visits are due to table saws and other woodworking saws.

It was chain saw accidents I was referring to.

 

[charlessenf]

falls or a few concussions

Reminds me of that Old RR quote "I've only had a few concussions and I'm here to help"

 

[Todd727]

Dead trees scare me. If anyone knows a great (safe) way to get them down I would like to know about it. I won’t stand under one and cut it. I have envisioned a saw with a long handle supported on a turn pole. Allowing one to stand far off and get the widow maker down.

 

[Thereisagod]

Ive got TWO broken limbs hanging 50 feet up 100 foot tall maples. The aftermath of this past late winter storm. The broken branches are about the size of my calf. Hundreds of pounds just held by a split or two. Every time the wind blows I look up with hope that one or the other might have come down. Not yet though. I am getting to feel it's going to take another heavy wet/icey snow storm to bring them down.
In the meanwhile, I look up and hurry past whenever I need to be out in that part of the yard.

I've quit mowing there. It's so shady, grass doesn't really grow, weeds and moss mostly, not worth the risk.

Sending good vibes to the injured fellow!

Widowmakers.... Labels don't get applied for no good reason.

Unusual for Maple branches to "hang in there" like that. Oaks - yes - but in my experience Maples crack and fall.

 

[Thereisagod]

View attachment 826087

Dyn-o-mite?

 

[Ghost River Retrievers]

Ugh! This thread reminds me of the dozens, maybe hundreds, of hanging or hung-up limbs I have around my property as a result of a major ice storm early this year. Many of my pines are nearly stripped of limbs on their north side. I've removed the easy-to-get-to limbs, but some of those which are higher up are still in precarious positions. There are a couple which I've been studying on to figure out a safe way to get them down; there are others which I'm concerned that there's not a safe way to get them down

 

[yooperterry]

Hard hat, face shield, ear muffs and approved chaps. I wear LeBlonde competition chaps, not cheap but excellent protection. Any chain can easily aputate an arm of leg in a second and just a glancing cut can be many. many stitches and rehab if you sever a muscle or tendon. Been there, done that and the last 'mistake' cost me 108 stitches and a helluva lot of hurt afterwards.

Not cheap? But it last for years so it's a very good investment. Once you have it, you'll always have it.

 

[ArlyA]

Here one for you guys. I'm not cutting it...

 

[Ken45101]

Hard hat, face shield, ear muffs and approved chaps. I wear LeBlonde competition chaps, not cheap but excellent protection. Any chain can easily aputate an arm of leg in a second and just a glancing cut can be many. many stitches and rehab if you sever a muscle or tendon. Been there, done that and the last 'mistake' cost me 108 stitches and a helluva lot of hurt afterwards.

I was a volunteer firefighter/emt. We had one guy where the saw kicked back and it got him in the face. Not very nice. One of our other lieutenants had the saw cut him in the thigh. He was lucky, no serious damage.

I have a multistemmed ash tree dead and falling along one of my trails. I am not getting in there, even with heavy equipment. Any vibration could break off another branch. I'm hoping this winter will take care of what's left of the tree.

Ken