Tree cutting accident

[ArlyA]

Emerald Ash Borer. Brought into the Great Lakes region from China, been spreading out from there the last 15 years.


That's exaggerating the point a bit, but yeah... EAB-killed trees do get brittle and unpredictable with time. I've been felling them quite regularly, the last ten years. Many in the 40" - 48" DBH range, on the property where I happen to do most of my cutting.

All our ash trees are dead and dying here. Never head it being referred to as EAB.

 

[ArlyA]

Around 50% of sawyers visiting ER and clinic's is for injury's above the persons belt line, like the ash tree breaking off and killing this poor chap. So chaps are good for 50% at best.

 

[WinterDeere]

All our ash trees are dead and dying here. Never head it being referred to as EAB.

You’ve been hanging around the wrong crowd, then.

 

[kenmbz]

Look for the holes in the bark shaped like a D
That's Emerald Ash borer, it girdles the tree as the larva grow and eat, then they mature, go through the bark and into the next tree.

I tried to use the poison that gets in through the tree roots, but even that tree died.
Usually by the time the tree shows any signs, it's too late :-(

Some people have kept a few alive, and a few seem to not have EAB. But it's inevitable that the mature ones will be gone.
I am keeping a few stumps clear to have suckers come out, but not many of those survive either.

Every time it's windy here, you can here the tree parts crashing in the woods.

 

[two_bit_score]

A couple weeks ago a dead tree fell in the night. About 100 feet from the house. Woke the dog - his barking scared the snot out of me and woke me. Luckily, it fell parallel to the house and not across it.

Sounds too close for comfort! Glad you escaped any damage.

 

[two_bit_score]

A chainsaw should never be used on a ladder, period. Your options are:

1. Pole saw
2. Learn to climb
3. Get a lift or bucket truck

Never used a bucket to cut limbs yet but will be doing it at some point. I saw a FB advertisment the other day from a 'landscape service' that showed a guy in a manlift bucket cutting a limb with a saw (not a polesaw) and it appeared that the limb was hanging over the edge of the manlift/bucket. I'm sure it just the angle of the picture but it is a reminder that even in a bucket or manlift you have to be careful.

 

[two_bit_score]

Just got word from his wife this morning that he past away last night about 10:30

Very sorry to read this bad news. Let it be a reminder.

 

[336Steven]

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.

 

[Woodfarmer]

Very often smaller branches come out of our maple trees during a breeze. It always amazes me how the but ends can penetrate the ground to a depth that makes pulling them out a major chore.

A hard hat would be found somewhere around the lungs if one of those hit top down.

Unless it’s a straight down vertical hit, a hard hat should cause a glancing blow

 

[ArlyA]

Unless it’s a straight down vertical hit, a hard hat should cause a glancing blow

Safety gear is cheap, while injury's are expensive and no fun. I like fun better.

 

[1956guillotineguy]

I lost my best friend a year ago. He was working on a tree that fell down a very steep hill. He was very safety conscious. The tree shifted and pinned him against a sapling. I found him the next morning.

 

[ArlyA]

I lost my best friend a year ago. He was working on a tree that fell down a very steep hill. He was very safety conscious. The tree shifted and pinned him against a sapling. I found him the next morning.

Sawyer safety rule #4. Have someone with you.

 

[jwinner]

After being trained by my employer on chainsaws for use at work, and having gone through the fireline saw training, I can’t help but wear chaps and some sort of eye, ear, and head protection. I now find it somewhat embarrassing to use a saw without putting that stuff on first. Habit yes, but we also point and comment about the homeowners in jeans waving a running saw around like it’s a toy. My dad cut without that stuff for many years, even after I told him not to, until he finally cut his leg and needed stitches.

 

[EdwardL]

I cut fire wood. when there is a dangerous tree I usually notch it, back cut a bit, and then use an 8000 lb winch hooked to another tree to pull it down. So I'm not under or near it.

 

[NibbanaFarm]

I cut fire wood. when there is a dangerous tree I usually notch it, back cut a bit, and then use an 8000 lb winch hooked to another tree to pull it down. So I'm not under or near it.

More often than not, and always if I'm near a building, I climb up as high as I can on a 24' extension ladder. Tie off with 2 90' ropes and tie them to 2 come alongs. Then take up the slack. Then I cut the notch and a heavy hinge. Then pull it over.

Cut down 25 90' spruces that were very close to the house this way without incident. Took me a week to burn up all the branches.

 

[Hermio]

I have never worn a safety device in my life outside of safety glasses maybe 50% of the time.
Been at it for 40+ years without a significant injury.

Added: I in no way condone this. My injuries have been mostly falls or a few concussions.

Can you still hear well, or have you had hearing loss?

 

[SPYDERLK]

IF I ever take up motorcycle riding again, I'll definitely take a class. I have friends that still ride and from what I've been told, the classes are well worth it.

I recall one year when I put the bike away for the winter, got it out in the spring, took off on a curvy road I liked to push it on, and found that my skills had diminished greatly in just the 4-5 months, and ended up hopping a curb into the grass before I could stop. Fortunately, there was a driveway cut in the curb that I managed to go through, or I'd have lost it.

A good lesson in keeping your skills up. Use it or lose it. Etc.

It would be interesting to figure out what proportion/combination of factors put you over this edge;

• Stale unrefreshed consciousness and skill,
• Unscrubbed 5 mo oxidation on the tires,
• Cool stiff rubber,
• Cool road surface.

Doesnt take much of a wheel "skate" to set off the sphincter and freeze you.

 

[JurassicJet]

@RandyT Sorry to hear about your friend.

Preface to the following story... I grew up on a large farm and we used wood to heat both the house and shop. My current shop also has wood heat, although I did plumb it for in-floor heat. I'm tempted to buy a boiler for it this fall so I don't have to cut firewood.
The wife and I built our dream home on 22 acres of wooded land overlooking a medium-sized river. 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.

 

[MossRoad]

It would be interesting to figure out what proportion/combination of factors put you over this edge;

• Stale unrefreshed consciousness and skill,
• Unscrubbed 5 mo oxidation on the tires,
• Cool stiff rubber,
• Cool road surface.

Doesnt take much of a wheel "skate" to set off the sphincter and freeze you.

100% it was loss of skill from months of non-riding on my part. I'd taken the curve many times, bike was in perfect condition.

Similar thing happens to overconfident swimmers in the spring. They hop in the lake thinking they're in just as good of shape and conditioning as they were last year when they did it no issues. Get half way across the lake and poop out. Hopefully they don't panic and just float their way to safety.

 

[ArlyA]

After being trained by my employer on chainsaws for use at work, and having gone through the fireline saw training, I can’t help but wear chaps and some sort of eye, ear, and head protection. I now find it somewhat embarrassing to use a saw without putting that stuff on first. Habit yes, but we also point and comment about the homeowners in jeans waving a running saw around like it’s a toy. My dad cut without that stuff for many years, even after I told him not to, until he finally cut his leg and needed stitches.

What was the training program you took?