Close calls

[Dean Lofthouse]

Alright-- alright you two turkeys.. Listen, I'm not painting a picture of a perfect world where all of us have our heads on straight and our fullest attention 100% of the time while we're managing a safe worksite. I'm telling it as it is, no BS.

 

I'm also not saying that my crew was anything less than careful. We never had one injury other than the common ones that occur when working the body to death doing this most back-breaking work.

 

Sometimes things just take a turn for the worst. And it will happen to us all at one point or another.

 

I'm a cyclist and during season, I put 300 miles a week on my bike. It's said that they're two kinds of cyclists; "Those who have wrecked - and those who will wreck." It's out of our ability to be 100% perfect. How can it be otherwise? Afterall,, we're human right?

Prone to make mistakes and full of faults..

 

Now,, let's have fun on this thread, post your mistakes as they've happened and quite posting like we're Gods of all we do --and everything is perfect under our watch..

 

Take a chill pill dude and look at my avtar, I know accidents happen.

[Drella]

Take a chill pill dude and look at my avtar, I know accidents happen.

 

Sorry about sounding like a turd my brutha,,, text is somewhat ambiguous at times, you know... And I didn't mean to call anyone a turkey, what I meant was -Turkey-Oak...

[Dean Lofthouse]

Sorry about sounding like a turd my brutha,,, text is somewhat ambiguous at times, you know... And I didn't mean to call anyone a turkey, what I meant was -Turkey-Oak...

 

 

[Ian150482]

can i ask does anyone use radios to comunicate between ground and climber

there are plenty of low cost radios that with addition of a throat mic/ear piece would work over the noise from saws etc

 

 

Yer use't to, just end up shouting anyway. Only time i will defo use them is when there's traffic control.

[Drella]

Back in 1994 we did loads of work for a local golf course that would hold PGA tornaments yearly. We would go in, find any hazzardous limbs or trees and remove them. Sometimes spending weeks at a time getting everything prepped for show time..

 

There was a massive White Oak at just over 200 years. The base of the tree was well over 10' in diameter. All we had to do was get it on the ground, cut it up a bit and they would skid it to a giant burn pile.

 

So I went up and started dropping complete limbs that were bigger than most trees. It was the first time I had to use an Echo 750 with the 4' bar up in a tree. Just trying to muscle that sled dog was a real nightmare.

 

I've just dropped a limb about 4' diameter and was about to finish off the stub; "I had originally made the first felling cut about 6' out from the tree to manage the cut a little easier."

 

I'm now rotating the saw tip first as far as I could sink it-- before following around with the rear, leaving just the fibers in the center to hold the stub in place before I finalize the cut.

 

At this point,, I'm tied in above and safetied in just under the stub, standing with spurs and reaching to the right because due to the awkward lean of the tree..

 

So as I'm now lowering the saw straight down to finish the center cut, I decided I wanted to take a look from above the cut to see how much further I had to go.

 

Just as I put more weight on my right side from leaning that way to see my progress, I must have just pinched the saw enough to make it kick back. The bar jumped out of the cut just missing the bridge of my nose and across my eyes -even before I managed to say -Oh ****! It was all over and the saw was back within the cut- idling.

 

That was the first time in my entire career that I had a saw kick back at me. From that moment on, I learned two very valuable lessons.

 

1) Never, ever get comfortable with a chainsaw.

 

2) Always make my cuts at waist level, never cut above the region of the abdomen.

 

That concludes my third close call....

[Jamie]

Closest call i had was. cut a chunk of beech, larger than normal, shouted, everyone looked, 3 guys on the ground and boss in next tree. i pushed the chunk and a groundie walked towards the tree. who had looked. i screamed and he stopped and looked up as the chunk landed between his feet. idiot. someone screams from a tree run like f**k.

 

i can still see it happening in slow mo. not nice

 

oh and when sitting on a tractor tyre to cross the poles ona sticky starter i forgot i'd left teh tractor in gear....

 

Jamie

[THE88MAN]

done that too jamie,fordson major by any chance?!!

[Mr Ed]

Drella, you have to understand that the health and safety of workers in Europe is rigourously implemented by the government. An incident like you describe with the cherry log might have resulted in a full scale investigation and prosecution by the HSE (read OSHA).

In fact before we attempt any work over here, we have to catalouge every risk and implement controls - and it has to be in writing...

 

Keep the funny stories coming though. I've got a few good ones, especially the one involving the Dynamite, a circus elephant, the prostitute and the busload of nuns. That was a close one !

[Rich Rule]

I've got a few good ones, especially the one involving the Dynamite, a circus elephant, the prostitute and the busload of nuns. That was a close one !

 

ooh, do tell!! can't wait for that one. Love a good story about nuns.

 

2 nuns riding their bicycles down a cobbled street. One turns to the other and says "I have never come this way before" the other replies "I am not surprised, there was a road block and diversion..!"

[Jamie]

done that too jamie,fordson major by any chance?!!

 

 

Nah, it was an MB Trac 1500

 

Jamie