Stupid tree work mistakes you've made

[TTownsend]

Snatching out the last bit of timber on a Maple takedown. Was about 3:30pm with an hour and a half journey back to the yard and England was playing in the Semi final of World Cup that evening so all wanted to get a move on.

You hear it all the time cutting corners and I only had my landyard around the the stem. Wasn’t until my ground mentioned to choke my main line around and not cut corners.

So putting in the Gob cut with the 44 unknowingly going through and tough union and got major kick back sending the saw out the cut and straight through my lanyard so I drop about 6ft until my main line engages and I hang upside down.

Could of been nasty, was only 15ft-20ft high but I would of landing on a stack of timber. Thankful for my colleague reminding me to contact up my main line as otherwise would of been a different story. I will always tie in twice now and soon as I start doing spar work I switch to a steal core lanyard.

[TIMON]

Re-re-reducing a ridiculously wide and overgrown conifer ‘hedge’ .lots of targets and very few decent anchor or rigging points available, so I stupidly decided on slinging a large lateral branch with a tape sling round my wrist, then cutting through it. One slightly dislocated shoulder later, still gives me lots of gyp two years on .

 

[MattyF]

Tried to pick up a large ash log on top of a bank the other week, crane would not quite do it so trying to stand it up and take pins out to drag it on the bunk, got it on the bunk ...it rolled back out and about 400 m down a hill gathering momentum and destroying everything in its path , could see a large flock of sheep in the Feild below , luckily they had clocked it and where running for there lives. Some how it had only broke one fence post but we had a mile drive down to the valley to pick it up where decided it would be best to half it.