Guys, don't get complacent out there!!!

[weedkilla]

I can put my hand up too - I've had at least one stupid moment that nearly ended my days.
I was tired at the end of a long day, I didn't look up carefully enough and missed a hang up. It smacked me in the head hard enough to knock the lenses out of my glasses, luckily I was wearing a helmet. It buried me into the leaf litter and I had branches go into the ground either side of my kidneys. The scariest bit was when I came too and dug myself out the world was all blurry. Took me a while to realise I was looking through the frames of my glasses without lenses!
We were just dropping feral pine and walking away, it was a dense patch and that day alone I'd dropped more trees than most people would in their lifetime. Didn't stop me from getting complacent, not looking up enough, continuing on when I was tired to finish a patch...... One mistake is normally ok, start combining a few and it gets really ugly really quick.

Thing is it's human to make mistakes, when a mistake will threaten your life you better be certain you do everything you can to avoid them and minimise the risk of the ones you make.

 

[RandyMac]

I managed to live through a lot of stupid stuff, factoring in that I did it on purpose. My bro and I used to head out early Saturday mornings in a beater pick-up to Southern Humboldt, for a day of beer, heavy revolvers and sportfalling. Between the two of us, getting into trouble was certain.

 

[treeslayer2003]

thats wierd huh Randy.........i can't imagion what its like to get pulled out of a tree stump lol..........tho i did see a guy being held by the ankles once doing some thing close to that.

i been hit n knocked around alot in the woods..........when i look back at the stupid crap i used to do.........its a wonder i'm still here.......scars and all.
i think most just don't realize how much wieght they are playing with and how little it takes to kill you..........i been lucky i guess.

 

[treeslayer2003]

poll for the fallers; how many been cut?
1 me, once. left shin, 100% my fault.

 

[HuskStihl]

Sometimes the trees try to kill you for no particular reason. I was clearing brush on my tractor a few years back and snagged a vine with the bucket. Woke up not long after on a moving tractor with blood in my eyes. Lucky it was a sweetgum. Wood was rotten and light

 

[treeslayer2003]

Sometimes the trees try to kill you for no particular reason. I was clearing brush on my tractor a few years back and snagged a vine with the bucket. Woke up not long after on a moving tractor with blood in my eyes. Lucky it was a sweetgum. Wood was rotten and light

i know a guy lived in a body cast for one year like that.

 

[RandyMac]

poll for the fallers; how many been cut?
1 me, once. left shin, 100% my fault.

Never, not once with a moving chain.

 

[Chris-PA]

Sometimes the trees try to kill you for no particular reason. I was clearing brush on my tractor a few years back and snagged a vine with the bucket. Woke up not long after on a moving tractor with blood in my eyes. Lucky it was a sweetgum. Wood was rotten and light

I've pulled on vines with the bucket a few times on purpose - but there's always been a big pucker factor with it. Something about putting all that load on something and trying to pull it straight toward you.......

 

[Gologit]

poll for the fallers; how many been cut?
1 me, once. left shin, 100% my fault.

I got a paper cut once.

 

[treeslayer2003]

ok guys.

i will explain; i was 26 cocky and thought i was the toughest man alive. late thursday afternoon and 100 degrees, i was determined to get one more load.
large pine with big limbs and lots of um, i was limbing what i had already cut down and sweat was pouring all over me.........i actualy cut the limb i was standing on and fell right on the turning chain with my left shin........chain brake did its job and i got a shallow cut about 2" long. it didn't bleed and i finished that load very care fully.
why did it happen? i was very tired very hot and pushing like a dumb azz not watching what i was doing.

 

[Chris-PA]

.

ok guys.

i will explain; i was 26 cocky and thought i was the toughest man alive. late thursday afternoon and 100 degrees, i was determined to get one more load.
large pine with big limbs and lots of um, i was limbing what i had already cut down and sweat was pouring all over me.........i actualy cut the limb i was standing on and fell right on the turning chain with my left shin........chain brake did its job and i got a shallow cut about 2" long. it didn't bleed and i finished that load very care fully.
why did it happen? i was very tired very hot and pushing like a dumb azz not watching what i was doing.

Hey, I saw Wile E. Coyote do that once!

 

[bnmc98]

poll for the fallers; how many been cut?
1 me, once. left shin, 100% my fault.

Just sharpening without gloves, more than once to my stupidity.

I get hurt falling down more than being hit by a saw. A lot more.

 

[treeslayer2003]

Just sharpening without gloves, more than once to my stupidity.

I get hurt falling down more than being hit by a saw. A lot more.

yep, did that once to the bone..........gloves every time.

 

[Guido Salvage]

I got a paper cut once.

This will just confirm Draino's suspicions...

 

[nmurph]

Sometimes the trees try to kill you for no particular reason. I was clearing brush on my tractor a few years back and snagged a vine with the bucket. Woke up not long after on a moving tractor with blood in my eyes. Lucky it was a sweetgum. Wood was rotten and light

I found out recently that a fellow I had worked with for several years and had retired, was yanked of his tractor while working in the woods by a vine and ended up under the mower. I have spent many days on tractors mowing some nasty tracts and have often thought how bad it would be to have that happen. Fortunately, the tractors either had cages or at least ROP. Still, I've ended up in some precarious situations.

 

[Gologit]

This will just confirm Draino's suspicions...

Dammit, does that mean no Christmas card from him this year?

 

[RandyMac]

Dammit, does that mean no Christmas card from him this year?

Damn, is it Christmas already?

 

[Gologit]

Damn, is it Christmas already?

Sure. Why not?

 

[blsnelling]

Some good stories guys. Thanks for sharing.

 

[tlandrum]

merry Christmas,ho ho hoes