# inexperiance



## gremlin (Mar 23, 2008)

Had a job this weekend that required three removals. I climbed, topped and bucked down. Had a good friend of mine ask if i had some extra work cause he needed the money. I told him to show up bright and early at my place and we would head off to work. When we got there i gave him instructions on what to do and what to look out for. I have cut firewood with him before and never thought he would do something like he did saturday. I bucked down to about 25 of trunk and dropped the rest at the stump. The trunk layed slightly on an incline. No other place to drop it. House on one side and storage building on the other. I went out to my truck to grab some gear when i heard his saw fire up. I thought nothing of it until it shut off and i heard a thump and him hollering. When i got to the tree i saw he was on the downhill side of the log when he cut. The cut piece once free started rolling toward him. He didnt even see it coming. Rolled right up his foot and knocked him down. At least he had enough wit about him in the heat of the moment to throw his saw far enough away so that it wouldnt get him. He ended up mashed between the chunk he had just cut and a stump from a previous tree. 
Thankfully he had no more than a sprained ankle and some serious injuries to his pride.


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## hornett224 (Mar 23, 2008)

*lucky is all i can say.*

you better work with him some more.


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## Bermie (Mar 24, 2008)

That same thing almost killed me when I was an apprentice, 'back in the day'.
I was sent to work with one of the conservation crew (Government) He felled a BIG date palm crossways, halfway up a steep slope. It probably weighed over a ton.
When he was cutting the fronds off I was pulling them away, he had me on the down slope!!!
Thank GOD, when the last frond was cut, we were both on the up slope, that palm trunk took off down the slope like a train, it smashed through a fence, chased a cow halfway across the paddock, and scared the $*&! out of us!
If I had been below it, I would have been killed, no doubt.

That trunk on the move, no brakes is indelibly seared into my brain!


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## John Paul Sanborn (Mar 24, 2008)

I will often put a but tie on a trunk that has a chance to go down a slope. 

Cut the notch, tie a marl under and over it, with a bckup of your choice on the top. This will catch it, keeping it from rolling or flipping end for end.

That last is real scary when you see it with big logs.


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## gremlin (Mar 24, 2008)

hornett224 said:


> you better work with him some more.



After it was all and done i chewed his hyde just a little. I know we all make mistakes but it looks bad on ya when ya gotta tell the homeowner(thankfully in this case it was a friend of mine) you have to leave to take one of your employees to the hospital. He knows better and he was pretty hard on himself. Doubt he will make this mistake again.


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## huskykid141 (Mar 25, 2008)

*cutting*

Its dangerous out there and all you can do is take all the saftey precautions you can and keep focused and aware of your surroundings.


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## hornett224 (Mar 25, 2008)

*he needs to know you care.*



gremlin said:


> After it was all and done i chewed his hyde just a little. I know we all make mistakes but it looks bad on ya when ya gotta tell the homeowner(thankfully in this case it was a friend of mine) you have to leave to take one of your employees to the hospital. He knows better and he was pretty hard on himself. Doubt he will make this mistake again.



if you didn't get upset he wouldn't take it as serious and think the next time.i never want to see anyone get hurt.especially when there is no need in it.slow down and ask for help.you handled it well in my opinion.


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## pdqdl (Mar 25, 2008)

John Paul Sanborn said:


> I will often put a but tie on a trunk that has a chance to go down a slope.
> 
> Cut the notch, tie a marl under and over it, with a bckup of your choice on the top. This will catch it, keeping it from rolling or flipping end for end.
> 
> That last is real scary when you see it with big logs.



I don't quite have a mental picture of what you mean. Could you elaborate ?

I understand butt tie, but I got lost on the "marl under and over it" part.


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## gremlin (Mar 25, 2008)

hornett224 said:


> if you didn't get upset he wouldn't take it as serious and think the next time.i never want to see anyone get hurt.especially when there is no need in it.slow down and ask for help.you handled it well in my opinion.



Thank you. I didnt wanna get too ill with him he knew he made a major mistake and was being pretty hard on himself. Im sure the lesson was learned.


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## Mitchell (Mar 26, 2008)

*logs roll uphill to...*

Your friend will never make that mistake again lucky the lesson was inexpensive! Couple things to consider with log movement I have seen in person;

I had to quickly cut out a fellow workers pinned foot under a 3 foot log. He was fighting very hard not to scream. He was wide eyed scared as he knew his rapidly failing leg was the only thing stopping the big log from smearing him. That big hundred foot long log was pivoting uphill on a cut stump he missed when figuring out the binds. 

Another good friend was flicked ten feet "up" a steep hill when a side bind let loose; lord knows how far he would have went if he was not back to a steep hill. 

Another fellow sawyer when finishing a bucking cut had their shirt hook on "pigs ear" [branch stub not cut flush to the bole of the log] just as the 4 foot thick log started to roll down a steep gully. He was quickly lifted off his feet and spun unto the top of the log where thankfully it stopped rolling long enough for him to scramble off. 

Its human nature to forget the often mundane job bucking logs can be more dangerous then felling or climbing them. Know what the log is going to do before it moves as you might have to stand downhill or hold the power head in the off side position to avoid being struck.


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## clearance (Mar 26, 2008)

Mitchell said:


> Its human nature to forget the often mundane job bucking logs can be more dangerous then felling or climbing them. Know what the log is going to do before it moves as you might have to stand downhill or hold the power head in the off side position to avoid being struck.



Very true, great post.


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## masterarbor (Mar 26, 2008)

some of the sawyers might say this isn't the best technique, but i use the wedges of the felling notch to brace a log and then make the cut uphill. it's mostly to keep it from rolling to an undesirable location. if there are people or hazards downhill, then JPS' suggestion is good too.


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