Safety First! Tying down your logs

MaddiesDad · August 29, 2008, 10:28:18 AM

Got these in an email. Fortunately the driver was safe and nobody was hurt! Be safe all.

MaddiesDad · August 29, 2008, 10:51:41 AM

Sorry for the pic problems, I thought I could direct link from my website. Apparently not, hopefully this works.

zackman1801 · August 29, 2008, 11:09:34 AM

what exactly happened? it looks like the logs came into contact with the electrical wires and sparked a fire, but how did the logs come into contact?

MaddiesDad · August 29, 2008, 11:39:56 AM

He was throwing a log line (Steel Tie Down Cable) over the logs and got it caught into the power lines

CarlR · August 29, 2008, 12:36:13 PM

Maddiesdad,

It only takes a second for things to go very wrong. Thanks for the warning pictures! I bet that made quite a flash.

sawguy21 · August 29, 2008, 04:04:47 PM

How did the driver manage to avoid being fried?

Ianab · August 29, 2008, 06:55:57 PM

Quote from: sawguy21 on August 29, 2008, 04:04:47 PM
How did the driver manage to avoid being fried?

Just dumb luck :D

I'm guessing he wasn't hanging on to the chain (he had just thrown it) or touching the truck when it went live.

I bet it was quite impressive though, the arcing would have set fire to the tyres first I guess.

A 'Change the shorts' moment for sure.

Ian

zackman1801 · August 30, 2008, 01:45:03 AM

im surprised that a transformer or a substation wasnt immediately tripped and power shut down. usually when the lines draw too much current the switches flip and power goes down.

Ianab · August 30, 2008, 04:02:22 AM

It's not a dead short, a relatively thin steel cable, only loosely clipped to the truck, and some insulation from the truck tyres and it doesn't draw enough current to trip the breakers.

But enough to start a fire or zap an unsuspecting driver.

Ian

shinnlinger · August 30, 2008, 05:33:36 AM

Wonder what those logs are worth now???

Sawyerfortyish · August 30, 2008, 08:07:22 AM

Around here firewood is worth more than low grade and even some seconds. Other than being blackened I wouldn't be afraid to cut them logs. I'm glad nobody was hurt and I hope they didn't load that truck where it sits. I try to keep a good distance away from power lines when I load with the picker.

thecfarm · August 30, 2008, 08:20:23 AM

That is some scary.He must have quite a arm on him to get it that high too.The guy that cut my lot used straps for tie downs.Kinda hard to throw them any distance or height.Looks like high tension wires?The lines around here that are by the roads,the first wire or two are for the phone and cable.The ones are top are the electic ones.Lucky he did not get hurt.

Jeff · August 30, 2008, 08:41:18 AM

thecfarm, I was thinking the same thing. I've thrown a lot of cables and chains before to tie down and seen a lot of them thrown by guys a lot bigger then me and I never met a guy that could throw one that high.

Ron Scott · August 30, 2008, 11:20:22 AM

I was wondering the same thing. I've seen a lot of cable tie down throws and usually making it to the top of the load is it.

Gary_C · August 30, 2008, 01:09:24 PM

Yes, there are a lot of things about those pictures that raise questions. Looks like he could have parked anywhere but there and been away from those powerlines. Also why an open chain hook on the end of that cable. Never have seen one like that here before. Most tiedown cables have a length of chain on the end to account for varying loads.

Lots of questions.

logwalker · August 30, 2008, 07:25:32 PM

More questions than answers...

underdog · August 30, 2008, 07:43:22 PM

All i know is a few years back my sisters neighbor got fried that very way.
He was parked near his house. do not remember i burning the truck down though.

rebocardo · August 31, 2008, 10:33:24 PM

He had to use something mechanical to get the hook up that far, maybe a slingshot. I have thrown chain and I never could get a length of even 5/16 more then about 10 feet in the air with the hook end.

I bet he threw a rope or something first, went around the other side of the truck, and started to yank the rope over with the hook attached and did not realize he was on the wire until the metal hook met the wire.

When the fireworks started, it probably melted the rope and saved his life.

timberfaller390 · September 09, 2008, 06:16:41 PM

From this months issue of Southern Logging Times:"Extra caution on the part of the truck driver could have prevented the loss of this tractor and trailer and kept a load of grade logs from becoming firewood. In attempting to throw a binding cable over the load, a driver for Jeff Drake Logging Co. of Jackson, TN. instead hooked a 7.2 kilovolt primary transmission line. Within seconds the tires were burning,within minutes the rig was in flames. The driver was not injured. The incident took place July 23 near the Jackson airport."