Lesson learned

[Quartlow]

Went up in the woods today to clean up some more and aquire firewood. Been cleeaning up the tops from a logging operation of way past and cutting out the dead stuff. Found a cherry about 16 inches or so in diameter. Eyeballed the situation and decided since it was dead I would just give her a push with the dozer.  ;) Well it it really didn't have anywhere to fall and it got hung up in another tree. Not a problem right? I mean we have chains and a dozer.  ;D Cut to dead ash trees , drug them over buy the cherry hooked on to it down low and gave a tug and away we go. Only thing was the biottom hung up and I pulled it over, on top of the ROPS  Didnt hit very hard only scratched the paint.  : So here I sit the chain is holding the bottom down adn the top is hanging out in the wind so to speak. If it wasn't for the tight area I could have hauled it out that way.

Now how did I get it off? Well it was almost up against another tree I just spun it sideways and drove out from under it. .

Oh yeah the lesson learned? Look back once in a while when your pulling a tree out

[farmerdoug]

Quartlow,  I am glad that you did not get hurt either.  Good thing you have a ROPS on your dozer, fer shure.

Farmerdoug

[Ed_K]

 Sometimes you don't have time for corrections,even when you are looking back. I pulled a 20" softmaple that was hung up in a hemlock on a sidehill.
Put a chocker on it, hook to the cable, had about 10' played out and took off. It came down real fast, right down the hill,up under the skidder and took the back wheels off the ground, thought it was going to tip the skidder over, it was give it full throttle and get out of there  :-[.

[asy]

Darned good thing ROPS Doesn't now stand for   Real Ornery Pushed-in Skull...

Be careful out there!

asy :D

[Flyboy]

 : It can happen pushin on em too. I had a D8 H and was pushin on this old dead pine, bout 3' on the stump, in soft sand and the dang tree just wouldn't give up. Backed up a little, 2nd gear to give her a bit of a bump. Bumped it all right, tree broke off about 20' from the top and come a crashin down on my hood ($1700. if we'd got a new one) Smashed the Muffler and Stack (we had a used one) and cost me a pair of drawers :'(
I don't do that no moe :

[Cedarman]

Quite a few years ago, I was at the neighbors house and I could see where he had pulled some logs out of the woods with a pretty good sized tractor with a cab and a smashed back window.  I asked how he got that window busted.  He said he was pulling a 10 foot log out the skid road when the log hit a stump and caught.  The front of the log stopped, the back end came flying up forward and into the back window. 

Moral, never drive fast when pulling short lengths, or always keep the front of the log in the air.  Also keep a heavy amount of protection at your rear in case something comes flying at you from behind.

Also never let anyone stand by a skid road while you pull logs.  They can make things go whoosh in the nearby woods.

[thecfarm]

Can't say I ever heard of that before,Cedarman.Had to read it a couple time to make me understand what you meant.That must of been some scary.A good way to get killed.

[Cedarman]

About 6 months ago there was a 4" by 8' cedar log laying perpendicular to the driveway.  Went by it with a tractor with a front end loader.  Not going fast at all.  Steered to miss the log but the out side edge of the front tire caught the end of the log and flipped it up in the air.  It came down in front of the big rear wheel.  One end of the log landed on my foot which was on the clutch pedal.  The rear wheel forced the log down on my foot.  This log had one end digging into the ground one end breaking off the clutch pedal, shearing off the kill cable knob and pinning my foot to the floor.  Luckily, the tractor died when I hit the brake and lowered the RPM's.  I knew for a fact my foot or leg was broke, but came out of it with only a slight bruise.  One of those freak accidents.  One of those accidents that are totally preventable, by 1) keeping things where they need to be.  2) Never let your tires hit the ends of logs.

[Quartlow]

Yeah Fly boy, i learned that lesson long ago, ya don't bump trees  :D

Oh well no one was hurt the dozer escaped unscathed so it was a good day. The ironic part was I was thinking earlier that I didn't have my cell phone on me, could be a bad thing if I got in trouble.  :

Oh well figured since no one was hurt you guys could point and laugh at me  :D :D

[boboak]

      When I first started working in the woods an old side-rod told me "They're ain't no original mistakes...its almost impossible to make a mistake that somebody before hasn't made...even if they won't 'fess up."  You came close but not quite an original...glad you didn't get dinged up and that you learned from it  If I learned from all my mistakes over the years I'd probably have a PHD in screw-ups. :

[woodbowl]

Before I converted my mill to hydraulics, turning a 30" log was a real chore. Leaning back 45 degrees and snatching a cant hook with both feet planted on the log was common. I found out that a cant hook needs to be good and sharp if it's going to hold very well. To make a short story even shorter, I reared back with all I had, the hook slipped and I was sent flying. I landed on the slab pile about 10' away and flat on my back. The lesson learned was, make sure you keep a sharp hook or a soft place to land.  ;D

[RSteiner]

Glad to hear you are able to share this event and did not end up a hurt or worse.

I remember years ago hearing Soren Ericson tell a group of us at one of his sessions that this very thing could happen, some doubted because it never happened to them or any one they knew.

Seems that others have had or seen a similar thing happen.  Maybe we can all learn from your experience.  :P

Randy

[sawguy21]

Woodbowl, one saving grace is that you did not rap yourself between the eyes with the handle.

[Quartlow]

your right in it could have been worse, it wasn't so very long ago we had a thread where a man got crushed in an excavator when a tree fell on the cab.

[woodbowl]

Woodbowl, one saving grace is that you did not rap yourself between the eyes with the handle.

  I didn't do it that day.   But I have done it, and it front of a customer! ... DanG that's embarrassing and hurts like the dickens too. I don't know which one is the worse.   

[OneWithWood]

This morning's paper had a story of a man who died yesterday when a tree fell back onto the cab of his excavator. 

[Tom]

..and we have a story in "Health and Safety" of a fellow who died when a tree fell on his excavator.  It must be a lot more common than one would think.

Actually I've found it was on the General Board.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=10277.msg140234#msg140234

[OneWithWood]

Do the cabs on excavators lack a beefy ROPS system?  I have never operated one so I don't know.

[Tom]

I've seen ROPS on some of the smaller excavators, but, now that you mention it, don't remember ROPS being a popular item on the larger machines.  There is some bulk in the design of the cab but nothing like you would find on a most bulldozers and tactors.   

Owners of the machines that are envolved in land clearing rather than just digging will usually put cages around the operator.  I don't know if they reinforce the structure for rollover protection or not. 

That's a good question for a manufacturer.

[Ianab]

Do the cabs on excavators lack a beefy ROPS system?  I have never operated one so I don't know.

As standard they just have a cab with a light frame, not enough protection for a falling tree or serious rollover.
To be used for forestry the digger should be 'bush rigged' with a full roll-over and falling object frame. Usually looks like a Gorilla cage around the cab  :D

Saves a lot of lives and prevents a lot of damage to the standard cab from branches and assorted debris.

Couple of years ago a local contractor was building tracks near here prior to a pine plantation being planted. He was working near the top of the ridge in a fairly big excavator and the ground gave way. The digger rolled about 300ft into a gully and as far as I know it's still there, although there was talk of salvaging parts with a helicopter. He was wearing a seatbelt and had only minor injuries, he walked out by himself.

Ian