dumbest thing in the woods

[scsmith42]

Hmm, dumbest thing I've done in the woods?  That's going to be a hard choice...  :D :D

Well, there's the time that I got the 044 Stihl stuck while toping a tree.  I was about 40' in the air and I didn't have any wedges.  So, I tied a long rope to the top of the tree and hooked it up to the tractor.  I also tied a short rope around the handle of the Stihl and tied it to the tree, so that it wouldn't fall more than a few feet (in theory that is...).  Unfortunately, rather than take 10 minutes to walk over to the barn and get a NEW piece of rope, I grabbed a spare piece that had been lying near the paddock (old manila - probably had been laying there for a year...).

The tractor pulled the top of the tree over, the Stihl fell out of the gap, yanked up short on the rope, and promptly broke it. 

Took me 10 minutes to find all of the pieces to the saw...  The 26" bar had this nice "banana" shape to it

Probably the absolutely dumbest thing that I ever did was  the time that I got a trencher stuck in March (think spring thaw - very saturated ground) cutting some drainage ditches out in the woods near one of the pastures.  No problem, I get the 4WD little Kioti Tractor to pull the trencher out.  Oops, Kioti gets stuck.  So, I get my 4WD Jimmy and brought it down to pull it out.  Oops, Jimmy got stuck too.  So, then I went to get the JD550 Dozer to pull the Jimmy, the Kioti and the trencher out.  Oops, little dozer gets stuck in a different place.

By now, having lost all objectivity, I go and get the Cat D8 to pull everything out.  Wife's been watching all of this and is offering "advice", such as "you're gonna get stuck"...  No I'm not, I reply, I'm  not getting within 100' of this mud hole but instead going up and around it.

Up and around it turned out to be a bad idea.  Took me three weekends, about 100 railroad ties (humping them by hand 500'), and two helpers to get the D8 out (80 of those railroad ties are forever embedded about 20' deep in my pasture).  Not to mention the "elephant" memory that my wife has concering the event...

The list goes on and on, but these two stand out.

[Modat22]

Scsmith that one made me go "wow". The wife ain't ever gonna let you live that one down

[submarinesailor]

You got a D8 stuck!!!!!! Nows that's doing something.  BTW, if it was me, my wife would be letting me know about it for the next 42 years.

Bruce

[gary]

I know what is like getting a d8 unstuck. We had one that got stuck the first day you stepped up about 6 inches to get in it. The next morning you stepped down 2 feet to get in it.It took us a week to get it out.

[scsmith42]

Nah, getting a D8 stuck is easy.  It's getting one UNSTUCK that is the challenge   :D  :D  :D

I'm not sure whether I'm proud to admit, or embarrassed to admit... that this is not the ONLY time that I've stuck the D8...  This was sure the WORST time that I stuck it though...

It does have a large, single shank ripper on the back, and 22" tracks, so there is a lot of weight on the pads (45 tons).  Also, I'm a person that tends to "push the edge of the envelope" at times.  Albeit that this is one envelope edge that I do not get as close to as I used to...

I will brag on one thing - I can get a D8 UNSTUCK pretty darn fast (lotsa practice)!  All it takes is a small dozer and several large logs.

Regrettably (ahem), there is no photographic evidence of the instances of a stuck D8 (wife's memory is bad enough).

Fortunately, in my wife's presence some other equipment operators have discussed their history of sticking equipment, so she's started cutting me a little slack!

A friend of mine that used to work at the local Cat Dealer tells of the time that he was dispatched to the field to work on a brand new (and large) excavator.  When he got to the job site, he noticed an excavator bucket laying face down on the ground, but no excavator.  He asked the owner where the excavator was, and was told "under the bucket"      

It had encountered a sink hole and went down before the operator could work it out.  He was only successful in reaching out and hooking the bucket on solid ground and climbing up the stick to safety.

Heck of a way to lose 350 grand!

[Stephen1]

I needed to cut a tree beside the house, try to pull it the wrong way, the boys hanging on the rope let go when they heard the saw stop, cause it was jambed, tree hit the corner of the roof, bent  it, then took out the power lines, then landed on the road and blocking it.  At least the guy from hydro didn't charge any on the bill. It was a nice sunday afternoon and we had to replendish his bodidly fluids after he hooked up the hydro.   ;D

[timberjack240]

yea we had a guy get a 953 cat stuck at our house one time not easy to get out  ;D

[burlman]

I was clearing a new roadway for a development, i was trying to keep all the trees falling into the roadway to keep the future lots looking proper. Had a 20in maple notched where I wanted it to go, a slight breeze picked up and pinched my saw but good. I waited a few minutes and nothing changed. Oh well I'll walk down to the skidder and  winch the tree over. What I was thinking, or not thinking Is the key operative word. I walk right along my intended path of fall. I heard aloud crack, and all I thought was " [I have typed a profane word that is automatically changed by the forum censored words program I should know better] there goes my saw , crushed " Then I heard my helper yell the tree is turning the tree is turning! I look over my shoulder and saw miss maple charging me with revenge on her mind, I scrambled and dove on my belly, one limb landed right on the back of my heal of my right foot, the tree bounced and I pulled my self clear as she came to rest. The chain saw boot absorbed most of the impact, crumpled it like an acordian, I only recieved a dislocated big toe and a streched achilles heal, was back on the job a day later, Since that day I always keep eye contact with any partially severed tree. and still the sound of a crashing tree sends shivers down my spine. hope we all learn from each others expieriances

[E.B.]

Well the dumbest thing I ever did ??? ??? ???. There too many to name but one that sticks out was a 32in pine uprooted and hung in another pine about 40ft off the ground so I thought I'd be smart and walk up the leaning pine and step onto the other pine. Sounded good at the time. Well about the time I got to the other pine the limb broke and down came me and the leaner. Some how I stayed on top until it hit the ground and I jumped and rolled. I think it scarred the owner worse than me. the dumb part was I had a trachoe and a bobcat setting there with plenty of ropes and chains. I guess I like to do things the hard way sometimes 8)

                                                                                            EB

[olyman]

scsmith42---acually--i think you should hire yourself out as a "professional" crawler tractor remover!!!!!!!!!--have seen pictures of them stuck--sheesh--and ya--my brother owns one--and we own a 385 shield bantam backhoe---weighing 48,000 lbs--im *DanG careful with that thing--cant even try to visualize getting it stuck-uh uh----