# Becareful



## Marky Mark (Oct 31, 2005)

I copied this one from a trapping website. 
Makes you think.


Hello All,

I'm finally back home and able to type (sort of) again. For those of you who made trades for some of my calls last spring, again I wanted to thank each and every one of you for the trades. If I can get healed up a bit more I am looking forward to putting those traps to a good use this season. 

Some of you may have heard that I had some pretty bad luck this summer. I was working for a tree service and took a very bad fall on July 1st. I was trying to take limbs that overhung a house from a long dead tree off a 40'extension ladder. The tree was too rotten to tie off from it and I thought I would be ok taking it easy and removing the ends of the overhanging limbs and working my way back toward the trunk. It was a near fatal error. A limb took a bad bounce and I fell the 40' to the ground. One of the ground crew performed chest compressions on me while the ambulance came which probably saved my life. I was in a coma for three weeks and then in a rehabilitation hospital for another month. Just before the transfer to a rehab hospital the doctors were having a meeting to discuss discontinuing life support as I was still on a vetilator and the prognosis was not good. About that time I regained consciousness and began to come around. Fortunately the only broken bone I got out of the deal was my left wrist, but betweeen the fall and the following hospitalization I got VERY stiff and sore. I am just now able to get around some and do a little, but I am still very sore and just got off the pain meds three days ago.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Oct 31, 2005)

Which is why ANSI calls for the ladder to be tied off and the worker to be at least flipped in to the tree.

Several years ago, in Milwaukee, a small landscaper/mower was doing similar work, but on a healthy tree. from the look of the tree he was making salami cuts while his men worked a pull rope on long limbs.

He ended up impailed on a fence post. Not a good way to go, I've allways hoped he was unconcious.


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## Buzzlightyear (Oct 31, 2005)

Never ever ever work of off bloody ladders !!!!


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## TREETX (Oct 31, 2005)

Buzzlightyear said:


> Never ever ever work of off bloody ladders !!!!



So then how are you getting into a tree if you don't use a ladder?

:umpkin: :umpkin: :umpkin:


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## Buzzlightyear (Oct 31, 2005)

TREETX said:


> So then how are you getting into a tree if you don't use a ladder?
> 
> :umpkin: :umpkin: :umpkin:



Ha bloody ha you know perfectly well what i mean !


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## tree md (Oct 31, 2005)

This will be my first post here since 2001. I would have forgoten my username here if I had't goten a happy birthday email from arboristsite.com. The reason I haven't posted here in 4 years is I had an accident on the job and took a nasty fall from a ladder. I was bed ridden for a month and I couldn't walk for a year without the aid of a crutch. I have stopped by arboristsite from time to time and read the threads like a fly on the wall but have been reluctant to post what happened to me because i am embarrassed about what happened and the stupid mistake i made while trying to take a shortcut. I have decided to tell about my accident in hope that maybe someone else will read it and and learn from my mistake. Here is what happened to me:

I was taking down an knarley, ancient pine in Atlanta that I estimated to be close to 200 years old and leaning over the home owner's house. Everything would have to be lowered because the tree was hanging over the house on one side and a fence was right up against the tree on the other. I got the call from an elderly lady who had seen my Ad on a local webpage that I had listed my website on and advertised my tree service. It was a charity job and I had set the woman up on a payment plan as she did not have the money to pay for the takedown all at once, was trying to raise a grandchild on her own and the tree was dangerous and really needed to be taken down. The takedown was a nightmare with an ancient TV antenna mounted in the tree that had to be disassembled (some peices with a hacksaw) and lowered before I could even begin to take down the tree. I started at midday and it took the rest of the afternoon just to lower the antenna from over the house. I began the takedown at about 9 the next morning. It took most of the day to swing all of the limbs from over the house and lower them to my ground hands. I had finally gotten the tree down to a pole that I figured I could drop into the back yard. When I got down out of the tree and looked the situation over I questioned wheather or not I could fit the pole in the back yard so I decided to to take the pole down in two pieces. Being tired and not wanting to climb the 4' diameter trunk again, I decided to use a 20' ladder to get up to where I could notch and drop the pole. I carried my Stihl 044 up the tree to drop the pole and would have been fine had I of wore my belt and tied into the tree. I turned my saw upside down to make the crosscut for my notch so I would not have to worry about woodchips flying in my face as I made the cut. While I was making the cut the saw kicked back slightly, just enough to rock me backwards a little bit on the ladder. I began to loose my balance and decided to jump so I could control my fall thinking that I was only about 15' off the ground and have dropped that far before without incident. I probably would have been OK had it not been for contributing factors bringing me down harder than I had estimated. First, I hung on to the 044 until just before I hit the ground and it added too much weight and brought me down harder than I would have thought. Second, I hit an old concrete step that was burried under the ground and not visible. With the added weight and hitting the concrete step it drove the heel of my Carolina boot right up into my heel which shattered. My guys drove me to the hospitol where the head nurse came in to take over the x-ray process thinking that a junior nures had screwed it up. After the second x-ray the head nurse came back in and told me that I no longer had a heel, it had been completely shattered. I met a friend of mine, another climber on the job the next day and had him finish taking down the pole. The home owner was worried that I would sue her but I tried to reassure her that I didn't operate like that. I couldn't see trying to sue someone who was just barely getting by as it was over something that was my own fault. I had enough work to keep my guys busy for about 6 months but as we were going into the winter and it didn't appear I would be able to climb anytime soon I decided to sell most of my equipment. I moved where i could be close to family who could help me get around. 

I have started to do some lite climbing in the last couple of years and I am thinking about going down to the gulf to help with the clean up as I have completely recovered now but I second the notion of never work off of a ladder!!!


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## CoreyTMorine (Oct 31, 2005)

Tree MD,

we've all made bad descisions at one time or another, sometimes we get lucky other times we get hurt. No need to be embarased, the universe does things pretty randomly from what i've seen, you just got a short straw is all. It's good to hear that you can climb again, thats reasuring to me, i constantly wonder how i would handle a bad accident like that. Thanks for sharing your story, it will keep people who read it more safe. 

Its good to have you back, I'm new here, but i like it, I've learned alot in the past month or so. So please, post all you want.


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## Trinity Honoria (Oct 31, 2005)

tree md said:


> This will be my first post here since 2001. I would have forgoten my username here if I had't goten a happy birthday email from arboristsite.com. The reason I haven't posted here in 4 years is I had an accident on the job and took a nasty fall from a ladder. I was bed ridden for a month and I couldn't walk for a year without the aid of a crutch. I have stopped by arboristsite from time to time and read the threads like a fly on the wall but have been reluctant to post what happened to me because i am embarrassed about what happened and the stupid mistake i made while trying to take a shortcut. I have decided to tell about my accident in hope that maybe someone else will read it and and learn from my mistake.



have you read Jim's thread, "Leg nearly severed by a stump grinder?" Jim posted just after i came to AS asking advice about some trees in my yard... Jim is humble, as you are... and has already spurred many people into re-thinking habits in the profession...

thank you for your honesty... and it's wonderful to hear about your recovery!!! sounds like your outlook is solid!!!


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## pantheraba (Oct 31, 2005)

CoreyTMorine said:


> Tree MD,
> 
> we've all made bad descisions at one time or another, sometimes we get lucky other times we get hurt. No need to be embarased, the universe does things pretty randomly from what i've seen, you just got a short straw is all. It's good to hear that you can climb again, thats reasuring to me, i constantly wonder how i would handle a bad accident like that. Thanks for sharing your story, it will keep people who read it more safe.
> 
> Its good to have you back, I'm new here, but i like it, I've learned alot in the past month or so. So please, post all you want.



I second CoreyTMorine....sometimes bad decisions get us, sometimes they don't. Glad you are doing OK now. The bad ones that we survive teach us another lesson if we look for it.

About 2 years ago, I was doing some rigging in our warehouse and was almost through...went up the ladder one more time, did not have my safety person holding the ladder that last time and just scooted up the 15 feet. I was snapping in my lanyard when the ladder kicked out...my fingers brushed the safety line as I dropped the 10 feet to the concrete (lanyard never got snapped over the safety line). I managed to hit on my feet (could have been my back), luckily not tangled up in the ladder, hurt my right heel pretty badly, I thought it was broken. X-ray said just a bad sprain...still took about 6 months to be able to not feel pain from it.

I am very skittish with ladders.

When I painted the house last year, I installed a high line over the house and safetied into it whenever I got more than 8-10 feet off the ground. Sure enough, I was at the tippy top of a 30 foot ladder painting the overhangs when it slowly eased back and away from the house. I just relaxed and waited for the ride to end...with the stretch I was hanging about 15 feet above ground when it stopped.

I don't like ladders.

Glad to have you around.


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## stehansen (Oct 31, 2005)

Ladders scare me too. I had a job cleaning the gutters on a very high 2 story house, I had to rent a ladder at the rental store and I kept procrastinating on the job and then finally the chiminey sweep guy came to our house and I got him to do it for me.


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## turnkey4099 (Nov 1, 2005)

Had to take down a 20 yoa Black walnut. Not much for size (about 12" DBH) but some tall. Borrowed a 24ft grade 3 ladder to remove the problem limbs (also not much of size). First time I ever bothered tieing off the ladder. Amazing what a difference that made in my confidence. Somehow I had never thought about using a safety tie-off for myself until I read this thread. Brought memories of taking down an ancient red fir right next to the house. Working from ladder again removing a limb, tip dropped, hit ground, butt came back right into my chest and pushed me right off the ladder. Fortunately I was only about 8' up - no damage. That should have clued me to safety lines but it didn't.

Harry K


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## johnha (Nov 2, 2005)

*Hello and Chime In*

I found this site early this year while researching saws and have been lurking ever since trying to suck up all I can. I'm not a professional, but I have been heating my house with wood for about three years.

I digress. I have a ladder tying story. I strapped my 24' ladder onto a troublesome maple a couple years back, to take down a 4" limb on the other side. Good and tight, I thought. I made my bottom cut, then the top cut, and watched the limb fall the 20+' to the ground, safely from the opposite side. I thought.

Well the limb bounced and the cut end sprang (is that a word?) straight into the ladder rail about 6' off the ground. The ladder than tried to roll off the trunk but only made it about 1/4 of the way around thanks to the strap. 

I'm hanging onto the ladder for dear life, on an angle the designer never intended it to see, and managed to drop my saw. Now that POS always gave me the darndest time trying to keep it running but it fell the 20+', bounced, landed directly under where I'm hanging and of course kept running.

I was *real* lucky that day. My mistake was not tying myself. I've always had a healthy respect for ladders but am not afraid of them but I think I'll leave the climbing work to the pros and do my cutting on the ground.

BTW, thanks for the site and all the helpful information.


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## PWB (Nov 2, 2005)

tree md said:


> I began to loose my balance and decided to jump so I could control my fall thinking that I was only about 15' off the ground and have dropped that far before without incident. I probably would have been OK had it not been for contributing factors bringing me down harder than I had estimated. It drove the heel of my Carolina boot right up into my heel which shattered. My guys drove me to the hospitol where the head nurse came in to take over the x-ray process thinking that a junior nures had screwed it up. After the second x-ray the head nurse came back in and told me that I no longer had a heel, it had been completely shattered.


Doesn't take a very bad fall to do that kind of damage. I fell about 12 feet off a truck a lot of years ago, shattered my left heel in an estimated 30 pieces. I was young, had a good surgeon, and was in very good physical condition at teh time. Spent 11 days in the hospital waiting for the swelling to go down enough that they could operate. I'm lucky, I still have an ankle joint of sorts, the surgeon saved me some motion. Wouldn't wish it on anyone though! When I went back for the year later checkup, he told me I'd probably get arthritus in the joint, as it's the wrong shape. I said what do you mean get? already got! Doesn't take much of a fall...............


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## BlueRidgeMark (Nov 3, 2005)

Doing a PLF (Parachute Landing Fall - what the paratroopers do) can greatly reduce the damage from a fall, as long as you don't land on something irregular, like a tree trunk or branch. Seriously - folks have survived falls unhurt by doing a PLF.

Doesn't help if you don't land on your feet of course.


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## Newfie (Nov 3, 2005)

I doubt a PLF will help you that much. Remember they are designed to help you keep from messing yourself up when you have a parachute on. But I guess something is better than nothing.


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## tree md (Nov 3, 2005)

Thanks for the kind words guys. Sorry to take so long getting back to you but I have spent the last couple of days persuing my other passion, bowhunting. Even though I am not working, I am still spending my day's hanging out in a tree, hehe. I meant to also say that the reason I decided to take the shortcut in the first place is the tree was covered in ivy and hard to work my flip cord up the trunk. I wouldn't advise working off a ladder under any circumstance when cutting trees. Oh yeah, and when I said I had experience in dropping from 15 feet, I didn't mean I had on the job experience. I got that experience when I was about 16 and would sneak into my girlfrinds room. Her Mom came close to busting me probably 6 times where I had to jump off the 2nd story eve!!!


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## PowersTree (Nov 18, 2005)

Ive been over 100' up a tree......but I wont even THINK of stepping on even a 6 foot step ladder.


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## clearance (Nov 18, 2005)

Ladders are bad news, I like spurs and a steelcore in any treework if I am not in a bucket. Thanks Coreymorine, I am now using a split tail system with a blakes hitch. My boss got me to do that after my tautline slipped and I went down about 70' real quick until it finaly grabbed. You had suggested that to me earlier. It was because of different rope that was smoother than what I was used to. Scared me pretty good. I think that the level of care is directionally in proportune to the heights involved. Back in '99 I was building scaffolding in a boatshed around a boat. Through my own neglect and daydreaming about the weekend (it was friday afternoon) I fell about 12' to the floor. I woke up in the hospital about 25 hours later and boy did I have to piss. Anyways it took me a while to get my balance back and my fine motor skiills in my right hand were affected. The only thing I can't do is sign my name naturally. People have died falling from less than 5', gives you something to think about 180' up in some old spuce or hemlock. But were you should really be thinking is when you are 10'-30' from the ground. A little fear and common sense will look after you at the big heights.


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## fmueller (Nov 20, 2005)

Sounds like that shoulda been a job for a bucket truck.


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