# Wisconsin man killed after pulling tree down on his truck



## sullyj (Sep 22, 2008)

Here is the article.


TOMAHAWK, Wis. (AP) -- The Lincoln County Sheriff's Department says a 44-year-old logger died when a tree fell on his truck as he attempted to free a wedged chain saw.

Investigators say Randy Smith of Tomahawk was killed Saturday afternoon in rural Tomahawk.

The sheriff department says Smith was trying to cut down a tree when his chain saw became wedged in the tree. Investigators say he fastened the tree to his truck to try and dislodge the saw and the tree fell on the vehicle.


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## 046 (Sep 22, 2008)

don't sound like a logger to me..

here's another version

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Tomahawk Man Dies in Logging Accident 
Posted: 11:05 PM Sep 20, 2008
Last Updated: 8:03 AM Sep 22, 2008
Reporter: WSAW Staff
Email Address: [email protected]w.com

A 44-year-old Tomahawk man is dead following a logging accident.

At 2:15 Saturday the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department, Lincoln County EMS and Tomahawk Fire Department responded to a call that a tree had fallen on a truck and man was trapped inside.

By the time emergency crews arrived, they determined the man inside had died.

He’s been identified as 44-year-old Randy R. Smith

Investigations and interviews with Smith’s 18-year-old son following the accident showed Smith was cutting down a large Pine tree when the chainsaw he was using got wedged in the cut.

Smith then connected a chain and cable to the tree and his truck with the intention of moving the tree just enough to dislodge the chainsaw. Instead the tree broke free and fell directly onto the cab of the truck.

http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/28735559.html


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## A. Stanton (Sep 24, 2008)

*Moral of the Story*

Keep a back up saw handy!


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## yooper (Sep 25, 2008)

A. Stanton said:


> Keep a back up saw handy!



or a longer rope or cable!
so sad somthing like that has to happen


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## TackleTree (Sep 27, 2008)

Screw the saw save a life. No thought was involved or just no experience. There was a reason the saw got pinched. Back up saw and a longer rope may have stopped this from happening. Very sad.


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## pdqdl (Sep 27, 2008)

My guess is that a backup saw would not have helped get the tree down in the direction intended. I believe the tree probably set back on the saw, and cutting the pinched saw free would not have made the tree fall the right direction. Proper technique probably would, but he did not bring that with him to do this job.

I can't tell you how many supposedly experienced tree workers I have hired that thought you could put a notch 1/3 into the side of a tree, and then back cut for predictable results every time. They never heard of a wedge, and they just seemed to think that the baby face cut they made was going to make the tree fall in the right direction. 

Most of the more experienced tree workers come with a different approach: with a long experience of trees not falling the right direction after they installed a "baby face cut", they seemed to think that you should always use a rope to pull trees over, even if they were evenly balanced. "I use a rope and a pickup truck, it ALWAYS goes where I want it to go". 

I shake my head and just give a deep sigh. If they hang around me long enough, they learn other methods. To bad this guy didn't get any chances like that.


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## KsWoodsMan (Oct 1, 2008)

Wedges are cheap insurance against pinching the bar.


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## Zodiac45 (Oct 2, 2008)

KsWoodsMan said:


> Wedges are cheap insurance against pinching the bar.



+1 a couple of wedges would have saved this guys life (this time). I have too say that it's incredable that the guy would do what he did? Wow!


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## Hoopjohn (Oct 2, 2008)

A log trucker I work with who lives in Tomahawk tells me the guy was NOT a logger. The chain he used to pull the tree was 15' in length. 

This accident was a tragedy.


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