Stupid mistakes you've made doing tree work

[treeman]

Also the biggest risk for me while working is driving. Something often not thought about.

Or being the passenger with you joe, that can be pretty hairy at times

[spudulike]

1 hour ago, Will Heal said:

Ha!
That reminds of the time I asked my groundy to refill the combi can from the fuel can in the corner by the hedge.
He put 2 stroke in and mix it but I wasn’t watching.
After he had refuelled my 372 I had trouble starting it would fire, big cloud of smoke but wouldn’t run. Smelt a bit diesely but I use my cans for Both so may have had a drop in from before but I knew I’d filled it with petrol that morning. He lent me his 461 and I carried on chogging down with that.
It stank of diesel and was smokey but I carried on for a tank full and then came down.
‘Which can did you fill the combi from? I asked.
‘The big one’ he replied
It was a 5 gallon barrel with diesel in it.
No damage done to either saw. The 461 ran rather well on it!

Had a local guy return a rebuilt 066 with similar, smelt like paraffin coming out of the saw, couldn't start it and as a last resort, filled it with fresh fuel and when it fired, man, the smoke, it literally filled the street with a pea souper, what a stink - got it going though!

[Mark J]

I've clipped my strop onto my jumper and half the side d's before.  Only realised when i went to change over after fully loading it.

[tony_t3d]

I was cutting tree covers off trees that no longer needed them using my on knife to snip the cable ties instead of a pair of pliers like any normal person. I slipped with the knife and buried it into my thigh I have nerve damage and no feelings in my right knee.

On the plus side it gives me a great place to rest a hot cup of tea.

Another knife incident of mine not Arb related yet still stupid. The missus and I had just bought our first house together we got the keys on 1st Dec and I promised we would be in before Xmas. It needed everything kitchen, bathroom top to bottom decorating so I was burning the candle at both ends to get it ready whilst she and our kids stayed at her mother's. It got to midnight and I decided to cut one last piece of pvc before bed and made the stupid mistake of cutting towards myself with a Stanley knife. I buried that into my hand through muscle and tendons.

To make it worse my wife had the car and the kids so couldn't take me to hospital I was home alone so ended up calling myself an ambulance. The landing and 2 of the bedrooms still have claret stains when the carpets are up.

My wife being the sympathetic soul that she is gave me a bollocking and then told me to make sure when I went home in the morning there was no blood on the new wallpaper.

[TGB]

Ah the Stanley knife. When someone invented that and later tweaked it, (the retractable blade). Did they really imagine the device would save many from injury? Or was it just a ploy by some sadistic mind, that was thinking, "This will fool the idiots"?

 

On the idiot theme. A few days ago, I got in to be told a favoured kitchen utensil had had its day. It was to be recycled. With emphasis on 'recycle'. Not see if you can shave a bit off the end, so it can be used for something else. So naturally I attempted the latter. It's at these times, one really gets to know the strength of thumb based keratin. It helps prevent the blade removing the entire top portion.

 

Why is it always the way, when you know you've got sterie-strips and super glue? But crucially can't find either. And... you have to own up to ignoring good advice.

 

 

 

[Joe Newton]

Or being the passenger with you joe, that can be pretty hairy at times

Getting shit thrown at me can't help.

[Mark Bolam]

Literally?

[Bloom]

Pruned a beech which had a telephone cable through. Returned a couple of years later for other work to realise the telephone cable was actually an electric cable. So a delayed 'holy f*ck' moment.

 

Started to climb a tree that was to be removed, clipping off the lower branches as I went up. 'Customer' came out to see what was going on. Turned out I was in the wrong garden! Never arrange a job via text. Thankfully I hadn't done any major cutting before the mistake was discovered. The two houses had the same tree, in the same location beside a lamp post. One house was No1 the other was No2.

[Steve Bullman]

10 hours ago, sloth said:

I was once in a big rush (pushed on job, getting late etc - I see a theme in this thread!) and clean forgot I had the chipper in tow. Reversed round a corner rather sharpish and jack knifed the bloody thing, in full view of about ten other blokes who rented a yard on that farm. Took a while to live that down!

I did that with an old scheisling chipper years ago, bent the draw bar 

[peatff]

3 hours ago, Mark Bolam said:

Literally?