Comments?

[Gologit]

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=black+springs+bucking+accident

 

[old CB]

I don’t like being the armchair quarterback, but this incident seems a pretty clear error of judgment. When the bar got pinched on the other side, that should have been an easy to read signal that the tree was spring loaded—and in which direction. From the start, the sawyer should have been thinking about what forces were keeping the tree suspended off the ground—it had to be wedged some way or other. In those situations you always use caution and pay close attention to the tension and compression.

With these simulations on a screen things may be over simplified—but the situation does not look complicated. That’s my take.

 

[old CB]

Thinking about it too, the idea that the sawyer could finish his bucking cut, set his saw down, then stand up . . . and then the tension released--seems pretty bizarre.

 

[Philbert]

As old CB suggests, I was not there either. But in the situation described by the animation, I would have probably approached the trapped tree from the top, preferably with a pole saw, and removed the limbs first. This is what I call 'simplifying the problem'. With the limbs removed, it would have been more clear how that section was supported, and the side bind / spring forces could have been anticipated and addressed.


Releasing the tension from the top would involve smaller diameter wood and shorter tree sections / lower leverage forces, and could let the tree drop. The pole saw provides the sawyer with additional distance, as well as addressing the high reach, and the green trees could provide some barrier protection if the tension is read correctly.

Philbert

 

[Gypo Logger]

Had he started at the crown, he would have had at least one standing tree running defence for him.

 

[jefflovstrom]

Experience matters,,job site briefing may have helped,
Jeff