Widow maker

[David Goss]

Glad I wasn't there mark, I would have died laughing.

 

On the bright side at least you didn't land on your groundie.

 

:lol: thats just cruel:001_rolleyes:

 

I have had quite a few dead tops breaking out and crashing down around me, caught the first one on my head but luckily i had my helmet on and just saw stars for a few hours. Now i am always very wary of it and look up always when felling, especially if the top is dead.

[David Humphries]

at least you didn't land on your groundie.

 

he did, Rich used to be 7 feet tall !

 

 

 

I had a near one many many moons ago. We were reducing a large Oak with a lot of lower epicormic growth down the trunk. Section that was being lowered was straight & about 4ft x 6". It got stuck with a load of untensioned rope in the epi about 20ft off the ground, I went to try & release it with three poles. Turned out it wasn't very stuck !

 

I bounded out of the way from where it landed, thinking I had just had a lucky escape, when it bounced on the tarmac and caught me square on the base of the spine. Knocked me flying about 6ft. Groundies laughing cause they thought it looked mighty funny from where they were standing

 

Ended up in bed for a week with a Hematoma on the base of my spine the size of a grapefruit

 

Four weeks of ultrasound physio eventually reduced the swelling and my back eased up enough for me to get back climbing/grounding with a better respect for the tree work environment than I had previously.

 

It still aches a little today (9 years on) especially when its cold.

 

 

 

Stay alert peoples. Danger lurks, often masked by stupidy

 

 

.

[Graham]

Stay alert peoples. Danger lurks, often masked by stupidy

.

 

I can certainly vouch for the stupidity:001_smile:

 

Been there a few times and ended up with cracked vertaebra, cuts, crushes etc. Most of them caused by the 'time's money syndrome' of my earlier years.

 

Mishaps can occur where you least expect. We once had a dead willow legged up with a pull line installed. Three of us pulling at a safe distance soon freed it. It landed in long grass and I watched a piece about 3" x 18" cartwheel through the air. I watched it in slow motion, transfixed, for what seemed like an eternity. And then it hit me just below the rib cage. Never been so winded in my life and honestly thought I'd breathed my last:001_smile:

 

To this day I can't understand why I didn't get out of the way!

[normandylumberjack]

I think that there is an easy way to avoid the perils of the dreaded widow maker............ Don't get married and then you are invinceable!

By odd coincedence, and im not making it up, I got wed on Saturday!

I will start showing a little less contempt for nature now!!!!

Be safe

[blazer]

[To this day I can't understand why I didn't get out of the way!

 

I have had that happen a few times - once standing by a cliff looking up when a fist sized stone came down, I froze but had to pump my legs to move, the other time at a traction engine show standing infront taking pictures and it moved (driver couldn't see me) again I froze but had to force my legs to move. Sounds daft to be run over by a traction engine at 1mph With tree felling I can relax and move when needed no prob, or I wouldn't be here.

 

I spend alot of time on a large estate working and walking and have had nearby boughs just drop, no warning - no wind. Heard one story of a tractor driver on an estate who stopped to chat, then as he moved off a large bough dropped in front of him - lucky. When it's really windy on this estate - odd how my phone does'nt work till the wind dies down.

[Mesterh]

They only thing I have had come close to killing me (from a hit on the head)was a concrete post collapsing on my head while clearing around a stump. Scared the excrement out of me, but my trusty old husky helmet saved the day.:thumbup1:It still protects me to this day.

 

Had the odd thing whizzing past but thats always been my own doing.

 

I guess the lack of straight felling means its less of a hazard to most of us arbs.

[Reddog]

In Logging/Felling it is always hard to teach the new folks to look up enough while cutting.

And to watch what is going on while moving to the safe area while the stem is coming down.

[Mike Hill]

About 16 years ago I was working Logging in New Zealand,I heard a guy kind of yodeling and though not alot of it.Some of the Maori guys used to sing when they were felling.Then I saw the other Faller stumbling around and realised somthing was wrong.

 

I ran over and the guy was in a bad way,he had lost half of his face and blood was pumping out of a empty eye socket.I radioed the Yarder to say what was up.He had dropped his felling belt that had his first aid kit on it.We were taught to use the casualty's dressing first and like a nob I took off trying to find his belt instead of using mine.I found his belt and returned to find him semi conscious.

 

After applying both his and my feild dressings to no real avail some guys came down the Hill to tell me the Helo was on its way but we had to carry him up the Hill as it was too tight to get the machine in the gully.

 

By the time he was up on the Skid Site he had turned from a natural brown to green,was pale and pretty much looked dead.The Helo landed and off he went to Rotorua Hospital.

 

What had happened was that a long Stick had come out of a tree he was felling,it struck him because he wasn't looking up.

[firewood]

About 16 years ago I was working Logging in New Zealand,I heard a guy kind of yodeling and though not alot of it.Some of the Maori guys used to sing when they were felling.Then I saw the other Faller stumbling around and realised somthing was wrong.

 

I ran over and the guy was in a bad way,he had lost half of his face and blood was pumping out of a empty eye socket.I radioed the Yarder to say what was up.He had dropped his felling belt that had his first aid kit on it.We were taught to use the casualty's dressing first and like a nob I took off trying to find his belt instead of using mine.I found his belt and returned to find him semi conscious.

 

After applying both his and my feild dressings to no real avail some guys came down the Hill to tell me the Helo was on its way but we had to carry him up the Hill as it was too tight to get the machine in the gully.

 

By the time he was up on the Skid Site he had turned from a natural brown to green,was pale and pretty much looked dead.The Helo landed and off he went to Rotorua Hospital.

 

What had happened was that a long Stick had come out of a tree he was felling,it struck him because he wasn't looking up.

 

Did he survive?

 

http://www.kinnoirwoodfuel.co.uk

[ljohny]

^thats sounds properly nasty! hope he survived.

i was working a wood laying a stone chip path so didnt really need a helmet (so i thought).

i walked off and leant up against a silver birch whilst having a piss and the tree being dead just fell over i turned to run and as i did that got speared on the back of the head by the top 5ft ish of the tree which knocked me to the floor i got up rung an ambulance straight away and ran to a nearby building site as they had first aid. i think i got off incredibly lightly as i had a 4" flap on the back of my head and concusion for a few days.

 

lesson very much learnt!