Cutting Accident, Yesterday.

[Bushler]

Sort of embarassing to say the least, after posting safety rules and all. But yesterday I got a log on me while bucking. It was scary, but I came out lucky with bruised ego and bruised leg.

I had to go look at the logs today to figure out what happened.

End of the day, yesterday, I was cleaning up some runaways and was on my last tree for the day, it was a dangerous place to work, very steep, with the tree resting on some poles and quartered downhill. A hemlock, bucking at 42' it was 24" scale end.

After clearning all the poles and debris away from the cut, I looked it over carefully, butt was uphill and securely behind a stump. The top was hanging, and would fall clear. The butt log would fall down and away. The most obvious danger were the loose poles and some tan oaks, but I cut them down and made sure nothing would hit them when I made the cut.

I want to emphasize that I looked this over very carefully, knowing I could walk away if it was going to be dangerouls, the shovel was only a hundred yards away.

Anyway, I had to stand on one of the oaks to make the cut, and when I finished the cut instead of falling away like it should have the damn log rotated (I later today realized the log had moderate sweep) and popped loose from behind the stump, and swung up on the log I was on, knocking saw into my chest and knocking me over backwards off the tan oak, except for my left leg which got pinched between the tan oak and the hemlock log as it started sliding.

It took me down the hill about six feet then the hemlock ran up on a small knot and stopped. The knot was big enough to allow me to jerk free, and I landed on my back underneath the whole mess, and just knew it was going to continue sliding and snuff me. It didn't, I scrambled clear.

Today I can walk with pain. There's very little swelling, but a major dent in the muscle. It was my good leg.

Sure do love my job.

Rule 8. Expect the unexpected.

 

[oldirty]

stay safe man. glad to hear you made it out.

 

[slowp]

Got ice packs? Rest it and get well!

 

[Tzed250]

Stuff will try and get you...glad you are ok.

 

[redprospector]

I had a doug fir a lot smaller than that shatter my left knee about 7 years ago. It reminds me every day to expect the unexpected. You are a lucky, lucky man.

Andy

 

[Zodiac45]

Good Post and Scary Stuff Bushler!

Glad you're ok (relatively speaking). The best layed plans of mice and men and all that!
I've had a dream very similar too what you described. As I'm trying too scramble out it's like I'm in tar or thick mud and can't move fast enough. Always wake up twisted up in the blanket and heart pounding!
Go easy.

 

[Burvol]

Hope your leg gets better, you need the good one for sure! I had a close one bucking a log last week too. I was in a piece I had cut with a guy shoveling turns out and he needed a few more trees cut, so I fell them and he was pulling lenghts out and I was working them up with him holding all the knots just right for me. After I had done one or two, he started shoveling out the last ones I had cut and was laying them in a nice lead in a clean area. One of those trees had a hell of a bowl to it, and I noticed it both before I fell it, and when I went to buck it....so I thought. The tree was not the same one, but a tree with ONE hell of a wow in it. I usually always put my left foot up on the but end of the buck as I start on a potentially dangerous buck, but this time I only had part of a toe. I started my cut and I made it probabaly an inch in before it just exploded and threw me back so hard in a whipping motion that I came down on my face right over my saw. The log hit me in the shin so damn hard, but I think I was more surprised than anything. You can never be too alert or ready to spring, I am becoming quite aware of it, have to. Like you said with the log you cut that had sweep, you can never be absolute with what it's going to do, even if 25 or 30 of them went sweet earlier. Stay safe Bushler, hope your leg gets better

P.S... I started wearing suspenders!!!! Per your advice...Well, my pants don't fit me anymore since I quit boozin six months ago, so I have to wear them. I have to say after another chance, not bad!

 

[Bushler]

Thanks guys. I went back to the scene again, not comfortable with the whole thing. There's no way 1 1/2' of sweep could have catapaulted that 3,000 lb. log up to where I was standing. It just couldn't have happened, and I know it.

The only other possible explanaton is that the hanging top cut lifted the butt log and threw it at me. The fulcrum that made the top hang, and the butt sag was maye 6 feet from where I bucked the log. I went an looked at the cut end closely to see if there was a mismatch on the cut that would allow this to happen, and there wasn't. The cut was clean, it looked like it had been done with a chop saw, the cuts matched perfectly. Maybe end pressure allowed it, but there was no stain or marks to indicate this.

The first cut I made was over the top and around to the far corner, and then I continued to cut around the back side and underneath, and actually felt the kerf open, as it should on a sagging cut. I then came back across the top, and it closed out, I cut the near side sap, and then reached underneath and did the undercut, and POW, it broke clean and came straight up at me.

What bothers me is, I'd do it exactly like that again! I did it right, but there was something there that I can't figure out.

Aliens with an anti-gravity gun or something.

Leg is damaged for sure. I cut for three hours today and only getting about 50% use from it.

The log got me right on the plumbob. No, really, I had it in my left pocket (3 oz. lead sinker).

Its going to be a long week.

 

[slowp]

Good Post and Scary Stuff Bushler!

Glad you're ok (relatively speaking). The best layed plans of mice and men and all that!
I've had a dream very similar too what you described. As I'm trying too scramble out it's like I'm in tar or thick mud and can't move fast enough. Always wake up twisted up in the blanket and heart pounding!
Go easy.

Hmmmm. My bad dreams have moving lines all over the ground so there's nowhere to walk.

Bushler, fashion dictates that you should be wearing suspenders. I can't believe you haven't been wearing them! Seriously, besides holding pants up, I maintain that they take some of the strain off the back when running saw all day. We round people have to wear them because belts don't work but waistbands stretch out as the day goes on. I heard a conversation about "going to fire that guy if he shows up with saggy pants tomorrow." It is an issue.

 

[Bushler]

'Spenders not only look cool, but they are good for clipping on your retractable marking crayon holder. On the other side you can tuck your gloves when fueling a saw, or chatting on the cell phone.

I like to run my wedge belt through one side of my suspenders to keep it from slipping down.

'Spenders, where form meets function.

 

[Bushler]

SlowP, I reread your post, I've been wearing spenders since I first started logging, age 18, 1966. It was an unwritten requirement.

 

[Billy_Bob]

Well I gave advice to someone here to watch the small branches when bucking a tree because the small branches can fall and hit your "big toe"!

And it was not but a few days later that I did just this! I was clearing away some small stuff so I could get in to buck a larger down tree. So I just cut a small 4" branch off and down it went to hit my big toe!

No damage to my toe except an ouch, but I should have taken more time to think about where that branch was going to go after I cut it. It did surprise me though. I was not expecting it to go that direction...

 

[smokechase II]

Respect

Bucking doesn't get much repect.

Bucking on a hillside is a big deal. Really big deal.

**************

Firefighters often have it easier than timber cutters.

We don't have a mill wanting bucks at a specific spot.

Just wanted to pay a little time in the person to person respect column.

**************

{Firefighters also take a lot of Vitamin 'I'.}