Watch Where You're Falling That Thing!!!

[Corley5]

On my way out to the Pigeon River HQs this morning I had a very rude awakening.  I was just west of the Sturgeon on Sturgeon Valley Rd when I came upon an Otsego Rd Comm. pickup with its little orange flasher and four ways on parked on the shoulder.  Yesterday I came across a tractor with a brushcutter so I knew there was work going on in the right of way.  I saw the tractor ahead slowed down pulled out around the truck into the other lane and saw the guy in the ditch with a Husky saw who looked to be cutting brush.  I continued on past, merged back into the proper lane and wham! crash! crunch!.  There were exploding sticks everywhere.  The guy had cut a 6"DBH popple down with the plan that it would fall lengthwise to the road in the ditch.  Wrong!!!  It fell kinda kitty corner instead.  Luckily just the top of the top hit the truck, leaving two small dents in the passenger side fender.  I stopped to talk to the guy, survey the damage and clean the brush off the hood and mirror.  It scared him more than it did me.  Since the truck is a DNR truck and I didn't feel like doing paperwork for the rest of the day and didn't want to see him get into trouble we called it good and went our merry ways.  If it would have been my own personal truck things would have been way different.  They had no warning signs out, this all took place just after a corner etc etc.  It was all done wrong.  The guy wasn't using a proper technique to cut the trees.  He was cutting a notch flat and then making his back cut down at an angle to meet the notch.  Somedays.....