Author Topic: Logging Accident Reviews (Read 80399 times)

AlaskaLes · « **Reply #60 on:** October 18, 2016, 01:30:32 PM »

I'd like to share one from our woods here.
2 Winters ago, I was out in our woods with a good friend who likes to hang out and help out during his off season.
He's an easy going, somewhat sarcastic, former Army Ranger...not sure how that all blends, but you get the idea.
I was dropping trees for a new shooting range driveway and he was helping to buck up what I put down.
After felling 4 or 5 med and large Birch, I was about to caution him about the tree he was starting to limb and it's precarious position. It had dropped across a stump 3' off the ground and parked there. My friend did his usual "yeah, yeah!, I know." and I shrugged it off and went back to limbing other trees.

When I'm working a saw, there's not much time off of the trigger. Several minutes later, I paused to move and heard him yelling to me.
He's sitting on the ground, back to another tree, holding his arm.
Turned out he had basically trimmed the legs out from under this large tree and wasn't planning what would happen next. The tree lost it's balance and rolled/spun down off of the stump and a 3-4" branch came around and caught his forearm just past the elbow. He broke his arm in 3 places.
Not a good day!!
We spoke a few days after he got it set and casted and he said "Next time I tell you Yeah, yeah!!...just tell me to shut up, and go ahead with your safety speech anyway."
End result: He learned to listen and I learned to continue with the safety reminders.
We ALL need them.

Abethetenacious · « **Reply #61 on:** December 09, 2017, 08:32:14 AM »

What is a Dutch notch

Jeff · « **Reply #62 on:** December 09, 2017, 10:31:02 AM »

You can find a discription and diagram of a dutchman here, https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/logging/manual/felling/cuts/dangers.html

Basically, its a poorly constructed notch where the notch cuts do not meet, leaving a shelf that doesn't keeps the "hinge" from fully closing. The shelf can cause the hinge to break before the trees falling direction has been committed, causing it to to go astray or it can cause the tree to stall and not fall. It can also be used as a technique to turn a tree.

Abethetenacious · « **Reply #63 on:** December 10, 2017, 05:47:09 PM »

I for one am glad there is not a lot of activity on the health and safety board.been around it long enough to know some folks that either aren't around anymore or won't ever log again.and really I'm not a troll! 2years ago this week, a friend of mines husband died in the log Wood's.he was a pro,and will always be missed. Please be safe out there,that is something we can all agree on.

Abethetenacious · « **Reply #64 on:** December 10, 2017, 05:50:45 PM »

Thanks Jeff,was wondering what a Dutch notch was all about.is there any reason to use a Dutch notch

lxskllr · « **Reply #65 on:** March 04, 2019, 03:10:21 PM »

Boss went to a viewing today. A guy he knew that had been cutting for years got killed by a tree. The story I heard third hand was a tree he was cutting was full of vines, and it spun off the stump and hit his head. Killed him instantly.

sawguy21 · « **Reply #66 on:** March 04, 2019, 03:42:23 PM »

I lost a long time friend a month ago. He didn't show up in town so his buddies went looking for him, they found him on the log landing pinned under the wheel of his pickup. Apparently he had been having trouble with the starter.
Ironically the truck was due to go in the shop the next day for a transmission related recall, they had a problem with popping out of park. For some reason, he neglected to set the parking brake.

lxskllr · « **Reply #67 on:** March 04, 2019, 05:02:41 PM »

Condolences Sawguy. That's actually one of my biggest fears. Working on a truck, and having it come down on top of me. I always try to find something to put under the frame, so me and/or the ground isn't the first thing it hits if it comes off a jack.

lxskllr · « **Reply #68 on:** June 20, 2019, 01:56:35 PM »

Draftsman just told me a school near is house was getting tree work done, and a climber fell out of the tree and into the chipper D^:

Word is he's still alive, but lost both arms. Twenty year old kid. No words... Gotta wonder who thought it was a good idea to put the chipper right in the work zone. There's no finer points about that accident, and it doesn't take a tree specialist to see the potential problems of that setup :^S

Wudman · « **Reply #69 on:** November 13, 2019, 11:58:19 AM »

One of my contractors broke his arm last week. He was felling a large oak and it brushed a smaller poplar on the way down. A limb catapulted from the poplar and caught him. It glanced off his hardhat and hit him between the wrist and elbow of his left arm breaking both bones. He is scheduled to have it plated this week. He said he was watching the fall of the oak and never saw the poplar limb until it hit him, but he did walk away from it.

Wudman

Ron Scott · « **Reply #70 on:** November 17, 2019, 11:05:47 PM »

Certainly may have been worse if not for the hardhat taking some of the hit.

Hickory Bow · « **Reply #71 on:** May 26, 2020, 08:12:40 PM »

Man loses an arm in a chainsaw accident - Dripline.net

I am unclear how this man lived...What a bizzare accident.

421Altered · « **Reply #72 on:** January 12, 2022, 05:32:20 PM »

Near where I live a 77 year old man was killed when attempting to push down a dead tree with the bucket of his tractor. The top of the tree fell back onto the roof of the tractor, crashing through and killing the man. I have no first hand knowledge of the accident, just forwarding the info from local sheriff's office. However, I do know for a fact that he was buried last week. Dead trees can be more dangerous than live trees, be careful!

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