Why I work alone

[ChoppyChoppy]

I've gone through a few "oh its good enough" workers.

No, no it's not. Do the work to my standards, which aren't unrealistic, or don't have a job. Quite simple.

 

[kevin j]

Everytime I read one of these threads about someone getting hurt or killed, its always followed with the stupid people doing stupid stuff comments. It makes me just wonder how many perfect people out there never make mistakes. I


I was in same industry as Bill, Railroad. Because it is so big and powerful, the equipment can get you easily. "There are some things out here that can hurt you, but a LOT of things out here that can kill you.' Most accidents were slip ups, not stupidity. Or tired, or routine stuff because it was habit and the attention dropped.
Now, cell phones and text and car drivers, that is stupidity......

 

[old guy]

X2.

I am anal about my firewood being 16" long to fill the firebox. Never fails...someone else helps and I get 18 inch pieces that won't fit and 10 inch pieces that don't stack right.

Now you sound like my brother!

 

[turnkey4099]

I work alone because no one will help me...lol...mostly because when I decide to do it they are doing something else or it's during the week.

Same here. I'm retired and cut wood several times a week. If I waited for someone else to be available I wouldn't begin to get enough to heat my house and sell some.

 

[Philbert]

I am anal about my firewood being 16" long to fill the firebox. Never fails...someone else helps and I get 18 inch pieces that won't fit and 10 inch pieces that don't stack right.

http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/firewood-measuring-sticks.305553/

Philbert

 

[084Amateur]

http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/firewood-measuring-sticks.305553/

Philbert

When I was a kid Dad gave me a 16 inch stick and a piece of chalk to mark logs!

I usually buck with a 16 inch bar so super easy. Also have memorized where the Stihl "s" makes 16 on the 20 incher.

 

[dave_dj1]

I'm not "anal about my wood" but I have found it's nice to have it uniform. As of late I have been measuring and marking with a crayon so it's all uniform.

 

[old guy]

I never stacked my wood, it got throwed in one big round pile.

 

[cantoo]

Valley, the article says Sept of 08.
http://bangordailynews.com/2008/09/...ed-in-wood-splitting-accident/?ref=relatedBox

 

[cantoo]

mudd, you are right it can happen to anyone and it does happen often. I've posted lots of pictures here of stupid things I have done in the past and of close calls that I have had. Threads like this remind us that it can happen at any moment. At work I constantly tell my guys to stay out of the "kill zone" and lots of times it's the guys that have been there forever that get told that the most often. The word I hate hearing from my guys is "should" as in "it should be okay". I hate that. Last thing I want to hear someone say about lifting a 30,000 load is that is "should" be okay. Today one of my guys put a water tote (400 gallons) on a dump trailer and filled it full of water. I had explained to him where to place the tote "center it over the front axle" and even pointed to a spot on the trailer. 2 hours later I happened to be walking past it and the tote is centered over the rear axle. I went to him and asked if it was ready to go as a newer guy was going to be hauling it 20 miles tomorrow morning. Answer is, you guessed it " it should be okay". Told him to lift the tongue and he laughed, told him again lift the tongue. There was about 75lbs of tongue weight on a 14' tandem trailer with water in the tank. Guy wouldn't have made it around the 1st corner.

 

[Dirtboy]

I drop, cut, split & stack alone with cellphone tucked on the back of my belt for emergency. Sometimes when I am working I have been told I don't play well with others

 

[cantoo]

I think most of us here are loners and one of the reasons we get along so well is that we don't work with each other, we are computer screens apart. My wife says I'm getting worse as I get older. I agree with her. My career started in a production factory so I'm used to tight dead lines and getting it done no matter what. My motto was "the line moves on time" and "make it work".

 

[muddstopper]

get caught within 4 ft of the track with a phone on your person, dont even have to be talking on it, and now it will cost you a $7500 fine and your job, Fired on the spot, grab your grip and hit the road.

I like haveing someone with me when running a chainsaw. I have seen to many folks get messed up to think it cant happen to me. I'll buck wood at home and trim brush around the house, but if I a going to the woods, I want someone around if at all possible.

 

[chucker]

I drop, cut, split & stack alone with cellphone tucked on the back of my belt for emergency. Sometimes when I am working I have been told I don't play well with others

! when I am working, "STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY" .. IS THE BEST ADVISE I SHARE ! ONCE. I see myself dropping trees on stupid people... lol

 

[Philbert]

get caught within 4 ft of the track with a phone on your person, dont even have to be talking on it, and now it will cost you a $7500 fine and your job,

How do you call 911 for the other guy? have to run back to a truck where you left the phone? You guys allow/use 2-way radios?

Just curious; not sure how your work areas are laid out, or how spread out they are.

Thanks.

Philbert

 

[muddstopper]

How do you call 911 for the other guy? have to run back to a truck where you left the phone? You guys allow/use 2-way radios?

Just curious; not sure how your work areas are laid out, or how spread out they are.

Thanks.

Philbert

We have radio's for communication. The FRA made the rule. Our trucks also run on the rail, phones must be turned off, you can get fined if it even rings while the truck is on the track. It all started with a train crash out in California. Engineer was on the cell phone and missed a signal and ran into another train. Same thing happened on one of the Metro trains up north. After several deadly incidents, the FRA came up with Rule 27 prohibiting cellphones. As for not having a phone available, we got by just fine for years before cell phones where invented. Its no different than driving a car and texting, there are laws against that too. Cell phones are a handy tool, but they can cause as many problems as they solve

 

[svk]

I love working with friends however most of mine can't get out of the house long enough to do anything.

 

[Trapper_Pete]

How about I title this story why I wear my helmet. 10 years ago I got my first real saw MS260 about a year later my wife got me a pair of Stihl chaps and a Stihl forestry helmet. I figured it was a good idea and wore both any time I was in the woods cutting. Fast forward about 7 years. I was cutting near some trees that had snapped tops laying over on the 20 foot tall stumps. I wasn't even cutting on the tree but was cutting some brush to clear a path to get the tractor in. When the top of a tree that was snapped off came down a fork in the limbs where the branches were about 3 inches in diameter hit my helmet pushing me forward. Knocking me so hard my safety glasses flew off then sliding off the helmet to my shoulders and pinned me and the saw to the ground. I got the saw off. But the way I was pinned down I couldn't get the tree off of me. Luckily this was one of the first times I wasn't cutting alone. I was at my friends farm and he was there helping me with wood.

I am fairly certain that had I not been wearing a helmet I would have for sure had a bunch of stitches and a concussion. If it didn't kill me.

 

[KiwiBro]

I think most of us here are loners and one of the reasons we get along so well is that we don't work with each other, we are computer screens apart. My wife says I'm getting worse as I get older. I agree with her. My career started in a production factory so I'm used to tight dead lines and getting it done no matter what. My motto was "the line moves on time" and "make it work".

Not sure if it is a loner trait or just the realisation most other people are batchit crazy and to be avoided at all costs. I can count on one hand the number of people I can do tree work with without worrying they'll do something stoopid and ruin my day. It's the same reason why I won't employ people in foresty related work, even though I could sure put them to good use if they were competent, which almost by definition (at least here, in my experience) they are not, if looking for a job working around people they don't know yet have to trust with their lives.

 

[svk]

I can't say I've ever cut with someone who put me in danger.

I have cut with folks who were either no help or actually a hindrance. One fellow was so enthralled with showcasing his Granberg File N Joint, Council Tools axes, and Poulan Pro saws that the two of us cut less wood than I would have alone. That was the last time I'll cut with him.