split & crush death while blocking down

[Plasmech]

Today a pro warned (and scared the *hell* out of me) about something that can and does happen from time to time. You're on spikes, on a safety lanyard, making a block-down cut. The tree splits down the middle for whatever reason...stress you didn't think was there being relieved I would thing. It splits wide, forms a bug "Y". You are immediately killed, yes killed, by the tree taking all the slack out of your lanyard and crushing your internal organs against your main saddle strap. I know this sounds gory but there is no other way to describe it. Has anyone ever heard of this happening? Is there a way to survive it somehow, some sort of different lanyard setup that will let out some slack automatically in an emergency? Serious stuff....scary man...really scared me.

 

[ozzy42]

I have never heard of that happening bombing log chunks out.
The scenerio I think he may have been describing would be more like,,,cutting a top out with no,or improper face cut, and the top peeling over instead of releasing.That's why it is very important to know how different woods react to different cuts in different situations.

 

[Stihl Alive]

never heard of the first scenerio. I've heard of what oz is takling about many times. Never happened to me, but a pro told me that most peels will catch your lanyard and yank you, but the weight of the limb with break the peel instead of crushing you against the tree. Painful yes, deadly no.

I'm in no way an expert on trees, so it may be possible. Anyone ever heard of a peel pulling the climber so tight it killed him/her?

 

[TDunk]

I'm in no way an expert on trees, so it may be possible. Anyone ever heard of a peel pulling the climber so tight it killed him/her?

I never have. When i first started climbing i did just that, i never cut a face in the limb and just started cutting from the back. It jerked me around some and relized what happened and why. But i don't think it could pull you so tight into the tree that it would kill you.

 

[Grace Tree]

You might want to do a search for "ripped off" on the "other" arborist site.
Phil

 

[Dadatwins]

Maybe you are starting to realize that this is a dangerous business and want to stay with your day job. The situation that you refer to is possible but much depends on the size of the piece being cut and the species of tree. As for being scared, you should be, this job is dangerous as many here have told you.

 

[tomtrees58]

hey your the guy with the dear stand is that your next step:jawdrop: tom trees

 

[Jimmychips]

Here's how to prevent being crushed: Attach both ends of your lanyard to a common, center point; forming a "circle" around the tree which you are not in. If the tree splits, or if you get some type of fiber tear, the tree will be exerting it's force on the closed circle you formed with your lanyard, and you will be outside the circle. You may be in a bad spot, but this method should prevent serious injury.

 

[TreeTopKid]

never heard of the first scenerio. I've heard of what oz is takling about many times. Never happened to me, but a pro told me that most peels will catch your lanyard and yank you, but the weight of the limb with break the peel instead of crushing you against the tree. Painful yes, deadly no.

I'm in no way an expert on trees, so it may be possible. Anyone ever heard of a peel pulling the climber so tight it killed him/her?

I've never heard of it happening but it is one of my biggest fears. If I'm doing a big aerial drop I always make sure my saw is super sharp, and the back cut to my hinge is completely accurate. Some trees are so supple ( Weeping Willow Salix x sepulcralis 'Chrysocoma in Spring time for example ) I cut through the hinge completely when the limbs going where I want it. You can fell a large Weeping Willow in Spring and it still be attached to the stump by a hinge as small as an inch.

 

[Plasmech]

hey your the guy with the dear stand is that your next step:jawdrop: tom trees

Intersting that everybody but you realized how serious this post is. I don't see how being crushed 60 feet in the air is funny.

 

[Plasmech]

Here's how to prevent being crushed: Attach both ends of your lanyard to a common, center point; forming a "circle" around the tree which you are not in. If the tree splits, or if you get some type of fiber tear, the tree will be exerting it's force on the closed circle you formed with your lanyard, and you will be outside the circle. You may be in a bad spot, but this method should prevent serious injury.

Sounds like a possibility...

 

[ropensaddle]

Use middle d's early in my career I made a large snap cut and the whole
limb split I would have been crushed but get this; I was using an old leather
buck strap and it broke. I don't know how I had enough strength to stay on
that limb and it hurt like hell but I was ok after my manhood quit hurting.
I decide right then and there to start clipping in to the middle d's or both
to a side d so it will stop in the event of a split. It happened for several
reasons but was most attributed to old ice injury and our cheap company
with homelight trimsaws.

 

[DK_stihl]

Absolutely

never heard of the first scenerio. I've heard of what oz is takling about many times. Never happened to me, but a pro told me that most peels will catch your lanyard and yank you, but the weight of the limb with break the peel instead of crushing you against the tree. Painful yes, deadly no.

I'm in no way an expert on trees, so it may be possible. Anyone ever heard of a peel pulling the climber so tight it killed him/her?

This exact scenario happened to a buddy of mine that I went to school with. he had his lifeline in the other side of the tree, and was making the topping cut on the lead that he was safetied into. Upon making his back cut, the weight of the 20' top (heavy lean) split the trunk, and his wire core lanyard (hard to cut with a 192T) pulled him into the trunk and crushed his pelvis. The only reason he didn't get hurt worse was because the top finally snapped and relieved the pressure. On top of all this, his ground guy didn't climb, so he had to get to the ground on his own. Once he was on the ground, the ground guy told him to "WALK IT OFF!". I can't believe some people. The moral of the story is : take a smaller top.

 

[318firebug49]

Split remedy

I keep a piece of grade 70-5/16 chain and a small binder with me, if there is any fear of a split I wrap above the cut if on the ground and below the cut (right at my lanyard) if in the tree. Usually, if you make your cuts right you won't have a problem, but it's always better to err on the safe side

 

[johninky]

Read " Sometimes a Great Notion" by Ken Kesey or see the movie. Movie I believe had a different title.

 

[Metals406]

The tree splitting thing is pretty old school... It's said to have happened to guys topping huge spars back in the day with a double-bit.'

Word tell, is that only the best guys, with huge cast iron ballz were toppers. They got paid the most out of the logging crew, and were real tuff. In those big tall trees, the trunk diameter could still be huge! They would spend hours up there cutting out the top.

 

[masiman]

That would have to be a smaller tree and the only thing that could get crushed would be what is in between the lanyard connection points.

 

[moss]

Serious stuff....scary man...really scared me.

Good, very good sign, there is hope for you.

That's why you should learn to climb before you consider chunking down trees. It's two different learning curves, you can't do them at the same time. It should be obvious which one you start on first. Any wrong decision while climbing can kill or maim you, any wrong decision while working in a tree can do the same and is even more likely to. So don't put them together as a beginner, one thing at a time.
-moss

 

[Plasmech]

I keep a piece of grade 70-5/16 chain and a small binder with me, if there is any fear of a split I wrap above the cut if on the ground and below the cut (right at my lanyard) if in the tree. Usually, if you make your cuts right you won't have a problem, but it's always better to err on the safe side

That sounds like a *really* good idea. I think I will be getting a short length of 70-5/16" chain real soon! It's like a seat belt...you could go your whole life without ever needing it but it sure feels a hell of a lot safer with it on.

Thanks man, seriously!

 

[Plasmech]

This exact scenario happened to a buddy of mine that I went to school with. he had his lifeline in the other side of the tree, and was making the topping cut on the lead that he was safetied into. Upon making his back cut, the weight of the 20' top (heavy lean) split the trunk, and his wire core lanyard (hard to cut with a 192T) pulled him into the trunk and crushed his pelvis. The only reason he didn't get hurt worse was because the top finally snapped and relieved the pressure. On top of all this, his ground guy didn't climb, so he had to get to the ground on his own. Once he was on the ground, the ground guy told him to "WALK IT OFF!". I can't believe some people. The moral of the story is : take a smaller top.

I would have used whatever life I had left in me to feed that ground guy into the chipper.