Ever had one of those days?

[avalancher]

Yesterday was a beautiful day, a little on the hot side, but decided to take the day off and go cut some wood.
Loaded up and headed out. Got to the woods, discovered that I had left BOTH jugs of bar oil at the shop. Back down the road to a tractor place that carried bar oil.Paid 7 bucks for a gallon.
Back to the woods, started cutting. Ten minutes into the second snag ran into a hive of bees, came swarming out and got stung in several places, including in the unmentionables. Ran for it.
After much wining and sniveling I moved to another snag, ran the winch line out and discovered that I had had forgotten to plug in the charger for the winch battery overnight from the last time. Now a dead battery.
Decided it was time to take a break. Discovered that I had forgotten the cooler in the shop, no water or snacks and it was mid 80's. RATS!
Back to work, located a great 40inch red oak piece and whipped out the 372. Made a few back cuts to relieve the tension on the piece, and it looked in the clear. After the second cut the log rollled free from the snag, and rolled right on top of me, pinning me to the ground by the leg. In my haste to get away from the log and to be free of a saw running wide open I heaved the saw and now couldnt reach it. Tried to get my boot off, hoping to get my leg out from under the log, no go. Cell phone was in the truck, and there was no hope of someone coming along.
After much cursing and fuming, I finally managed to break off several branches nearby and dragged my saw back to me. Holding my breath, I began to cut away at the log. Finally got my leg free, decided to head home before I cut my leg off.
Spent 4 hours from the time I left to the time I got back, wood site was only 8 miles away. What did I get for my effort?
One cord of wood in the trailer, mulitple bee stings, a tore up boot from my saw, and a severe limp.
I should have just stayed home.
Ever had one of these days?

 

[gink595]

Yep, seems like all the time! Not quite as severe as yours but just the same, seems like at times I'd be better off punching myself in the balls then try and go do something productive, I get the same result regardless I might as well cut out the middle man Last SaturdayI volunteered to do some charity work for a family that is getting one of those extreme makeovers, but by local people. They asked if I could take several tree's where they are going to locate the septic and mound system, I load my Bobcat and saw and fuel up which was around 80 bucks and half a tank, drove over and the guy there tells me they decided to not cut the trees but has some trees he would lie taken down that were dead and one near his driveway that was bothersome to him. So I cut the first one and jump in teh Bobcat and go to pick it up with the grapple and my tires blows off the bead F:censored: K, now I have to load back up and drive into town find a place to air it back up, which I did but still, the whole day was a waste of time. I didn't help anybody in need and it cost me about 100 dollars before I was done, for what!!!

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Avalancher, you'd been better off if you had gone to work!!!


WOW!!!!!



:jawdrop: :greenchainsaw:

 

[KMB]

avalancher, I've had some of those days...but not as bad as you with the tree rolling on your leg. :jawdrop:
Glad to hear that you got home in one piece.
A cord of wood ain't to bad for what you went through.

Kevin

 

[KMB]

gink595, this probably don't help, but at least you had good intentions. I also hate spending money and having nothing to show for it.

Kevin

 

[strongback]

You got to go firewoodin' instead of going to work, collected a cord of wood, rescued yourself from a rather precarious situation with nothing but grit, ingenuity and your trusty chainsaw, added another good "Man, I remember this one f'dup day" story to your repetoire, and made it back to the house by supper? Doesn't sound so bad to me.

I hope you didn't get injured by that log. Did you make it part of your cord? I believe I'd give it a special place in the woodshed.

 

[MJR]

Never had a day like that.

 

[Coldfront]

Never that bad. I went fishing once this spring launched the boat went to start it and realized I forgot the key, had to fish around the boat ramp with the trolling motor all afternoon.

 

[TJ-Bill]

Glad your ok avalancher.. sounded like ti could have been worse..

I had one of these last Sunday. I went out to score some free wood, it was in an akward spot with pushed over trees. So it was tree on top of tree on top of tree. Ended up pinching the bar on my 310, got out the little 180 to make a relief. 180 ran like crap for som ereason won't cut sh*t. Spent 30min freeing my saw. Loaded up the truck and left, 1/2 way out my tailgate pops open 1/2 the load flies out, turns out I lost a striker on the pass side. I get home forgot about the lad of gravel in the driveway so I couldn't go around the house, horse trailer was parked in front but I decieded I could get around it.. AAA wrong got the truck stuck. Figured enough being productive I'm going to mow the lawn. I've been fighting with the battery in my lawn tractor for 2 weeks now. never seems to hold a charge. SUnday was no different mower wouldn't start. I checked online $39.00 for a new battery, great I'll go buy one, So I drive 20 min into town get to the store haha $39.00 he!! no try $69.00 plus $10 depoist I get back.. whatever I bought it. I get home put it in go to start the tractor NOTHING.. WTF!!.. test the battery with my meter 0 volts..??? I open the plug on the top EMPTY, nothing in it. GGrrr..

anyway ,, went inside had a beer and watch tv..

 

[avalancher]

To be honest, I have never had a bad day cutting wood before. Sure, things went wrong, but it was always nice to be out in the woods with the saw roaring away. Will this incident temper my enthusiasm for cutting? Sure, but i am doggone sure it will be temporary. At least until my leg heals up. After I got home I wondered if I was going to have to cut my boot off, it was so swollen up but I just got these puppies! Finally managed to get the dang thing off......
Well, at least this doesnt happen every time or i would stick to fishing.

 

[iowawoodcutter]

Never that bad. I went fishing once this spring launched the boat went to start it and realized I forgot the key, had to fish around the boat ramp with the trolling motor all afternoon.

Better than forgetting to put the drain plug in. Done that once or twice...

 

[biggen0_8]

A few years back, (before 4$ a gallon gas) I drove 30 miles to cut a huge red oak blow down. I forgot my cable that I use for pulling logs so I backed my truck down close enough to use my 20' logchain. By the time I got close enough to use the chain I was down in a sippy hole that I couldn't get up out of. So I walked a mile across the cow pastures and fields to my buddies barn to borrow his tractor. The battery was dead so I dug around and found a charger and got it going. Worked my way back into the pasture with the tractor and pulled my truck out.

If I would have stopped at that point it wouldn't have been so bad, but no, while I've got the tractor here, lets pull the log out. Bad idea, I get the tractor stuck, now what? So I take the truck and drive 30 miles back to town, the only person around to help is my wife. We drive the 30 miles back , by now the tractor is sunk in the mud to where the front axel is on the ground, this is a 4440 JD, not a real small tractor. We hook a big snatch strap on the tractor (I'm not feeling real confident) I tell her, when you see the tractor start to move forward, you hit it!

Son of a Gun, finally something went right, first time I hit the throttle, she stands on the gas, the old Ford hits the end of the strap and started jumping around and up out of there I came. I put things away, took the tractor to the barn and went home. 120 miles at 9 miles to the gallon, a whole day and nothing to show for it. Some days you get the bear and some days the bear gets you.

 

[Ductape]

Hahaha !!! Your day sounds like the story of my life !!

 

[Zackman1801]

some days you just have to ask yourself is it worth it for some free wood?
a joke a teacher told me a few days ago.
$10 in gas for the saw
$50 in gas to fill the truck
$200 for the new windshield where a limb went through
$3,000 for the cast on your leg
free firewood eh?
Just try to be carefull out there, seems like you got away pretty untouched, but sometimes you arent always that lucky.its always the times you think you are in the clear when things come up. i always try to look at the worst so that i can try to stop it from happening, but its all luck of the draw. physics are a funny thing.

 

[wdchuck]

60 miles one way, forgot the extra bars for the saw, that left me with 4 used chains, okay, just don't hit the dirt right?, yah.
Dulled all four chains, but did have a file, soooo, put the saw in a shallow cut in a log, to act as a vice, start filing, the log roles and takes me with it, my wrist goes across the fresh cutters with body weight on it, felt the cutting, and really didn't want to look, filleted the skin right in-between two big veins, and on top of a tendon. WHEW. just a flesh wound. Then it started to rain, just enough to make everything slippery.

At the end of 6hours, had a load of wood in the truck, 80"x60"x42"H. stacked snug. Should be a cord once split.

At least the ride home was uneventful. Some days, working alone is :monkey:

 

[avalancher]

After I got home that evening, the wife said, "See, that is why I dont want you alone out in the woods!"
yeah, if I had someone there it would have been nice, but in all honesty I have found I prefer to cut alone. I get irritated at folks that have to stop and take a break every five minutes, and all those breaks stick in my mind when it comes to dividing up the wood when we get back. Not only that, it seems that every time I go and cut with someone else one of two things happen. I spend just as much time fixing their saws because of no maintenence, or I end up loaning out one of mine cauze their saw was a piece of junk. Nothing gets me more ticked than to see one of my saws constantly hitting the dirt.

 

[Billy_Bob]

Going to cut wood is like going camping....

Did I remember to bring this? Did I remember to bring that?

To make matters more complicated, I will bring different stuff depending on where I am going and what I am doing. So if working in someone's backyard in a city, might need hand truck or wheelbarrow to pack the wood out. Or if working in the woods, I will take my GPS, shovel/fire extinguisher, maps, survival stuff, etc. If cutting very large trees, need to bring my 36" saw. If bringing a helper, need to bring an extra set of PPE (hardhat, chaps, etc.) If felling trees, need to bring my felling box.

The other day I remembered everything except I did not bring my boots! So I had to work in blackberries wearing tennis shoes. Not fun because the low shoe laces keep getting caught in the thorny blackberries.

 

[avalancher]

Wanted to give you a guys an update to my bad day, and a warning to go along with it.
When I hit those stinking wasps in that wood, i got hit many times, from what I can figure over twenty stingers stuck in me. The day after I had some redness to my eyes, particularly to my left eye. I thought nothing of it,and sure didnt connect it to any bee stings.
By Thursday my left eye was screaming, red and swollen and very sensitive to light. Spent the night in and out of a hot shower trying anything to make me feel better. I got an appointment with the eye doctor of Saturday.
My wife drove me to the doc on Saturday, he took one look at my eye and had my wife rush me to the emergency room nearby. The specialist was called in, and he confessed to have never seen an eye in such bad shape. My cornea is blown up to twice the normal size, several ulcers on the sides,and I have some severe nerve damage. He asked me if I had gotten sprayed by some chemicals? Nope.
the next question floored me. Ever got hit by a large amount of wasp stings?
I let him know what happened, and he said that I was lucky. Or will be lucky if I make a recovery.
Today I am better, I have regained some blurry vision in my left eye after putting antibiotic drops and steroid drops in my eye every thirty minutes. I stayed up all night on Saturday and Sunday, applying the drops every thirty minutes. I am hoping that I will regain my eyesight.
Guys, be careful out there. i took the macho attitude of its just bee stings and shrugged it off, but the shear amount of poison can do some severe damage if you dont get help. I can see fine out of my right eye, but only time will tell about my left.

 

[wdchuck]

Due to poor reactions in the past, and growing up with allergies, I keep antihistimine tablets on my person when out and about, it has really saved my bacon after a sting. Only takes one for me to need medicine.

Sure hope your eye gets back to normal. What a way to find out how your body reacts to the venom. Did the doctor recommend anything should you get stung again, epi-pen, or any pills?

 

[ktm rider]

2 years ago I had a day like that. I was using a circular saw on my porch. The saw kicked back on me and severed my right thumb at the base of my hand. It was hanging just by some skin. So, I take my shirt off and wrap it around my thumb.
I live on top of a mountain, very secluded. Nearest neighbor is 3 miles away. So, no one was home except me so i take off for my car. I missed the second step and fell down the steps. I instictively put out my right hand to catch myself ... OUCH !!!! I ended up smacking my head off the concrete and almost knocking myself out. Now I'm also bleeding from a large knot on my forehead also!
I run for my car... Car keys are in the house. I run up and get the keys, all the while bleeding very badly, I return to the car and realize the car is a 5 speed. That won't work. SO I run for my Yamaha Rhino thinking I can get to my neighbors house. Well, Guess where the Rhino key is ! Yep, in the house.

Well, I finally made it to the hospital, Surgeon put my thumb back on with 70 stitches 3 pins and who knows how many wires...

I am no longer allowed to play with any power tools unless I am supervised