You Are Never Safe

[Gary_C]

On Thursday evening I was gathering the last load of pine pulp logs with my forwarder to fill out the load on my semi that I was taking to the mill that night. And yes, I was in a big hurry. It was the last thing I had planned before I shutdown for Christmas.

The trouble started when one small stick from a grapple load bounced and fell crossways on top of the load. So I quickly turned the grapple and tried to pinch that small log between the tips of the grapple. But the grapple tips just missed pinching it squarely and instead shot that little log straight towards the cab. Luckly it just missed and flew by harmlesly. And it was almost like I said to my self, "Ta Ta, you missed." 

So I kept hurrying to get done. And a few minutes later I picked up a bundle of sticks in the grapple and was about to set it down in the front bunk when I noticed one of the ends was not visible. So I quickly spun the grapple around and to my horror I saw the log was not being held in the bundle and was sliding rapidly out as the bundle came around and it's trajectory was right towards the window of the cab. I am not sure exactly what happened next as I closed my eyes and ducked. A lot of good that would have done as that would have put the top of my head right in the path of that stick of wood. 

There was NOT a loud thump so it did not crash into the window or side of the cab. And I saw the stick laying along side of the tire. So either it fell completely out early or my hands stopped the rotation soon enough to stop the grapple before the aim was directly towards the window. Either way, I decided to STOP being in such a hurry. Nothing good was going to come of being in a hurry.

So don't forget, no matter how safe you think you are in the seat of those cabs behind that Lexan, you are never safe !!!!!!!!  And nothing good comes from being in a hurry.  :

[shelbycharger400]

id be putting expanded metal over the lexan windows!   you could leave a 8x8 open window,  you get usto looking through the metal after a while tho.  I used a skid loader that was like that once.  Can you say it was set up for ROUGH service!

[clww]

In the Navy, we term this as "Get-Home-itis".
Being in a rush to get the job done can lead to shortcuts which, in turn, may lead to accidents.

[chevytaHOE5674]

Expanded metal wouldn't do much if the log had any size and was moving at any speed. I've seen a large log come out of a rotating grapple and dent/ start to slice into 3/16" steel place.

Sometimes getting in a hurry costs more in the end.

[sawguy21]

  Glad it was nothing more than a good scare. I lost count of the times I was in too much of a hurry to do it right so had to do it over.  :

[snowstorm]

isnt 1/2" lexan said to be bullet proof.

[Gary_C]

It's impact RESISTANT. Said to stop a bullet. But stopping a 180 grain bullet and stopping a 180 lb. log are two different things. Sure the speeds are different, but the amount of energy may be far greater with a log.

And those Lexan windows do sit in the sun every day and UV light does deteriorate polycarbonate over time.

And we know that some operators have been killed by "chain shot" where a chain cutter has broken off a chain saw chain and gone right thru a lexan window.

And lexan does not come with a guarantee.  :

[Hilltop366]

Hurry slowly is the thing that comes to mind.

[Jeff]

I had one of those moments years ago unloading 10 foot aspen logs with a w-14 case loader.  The semi came into the mill without a loader, so we needed to use the case to pick the logs up and over the bed stakes to unload it. I was just starting to unload the first bunk, my forks were near the top of their range, as the logs were piled higher then the stakes. Certainly over 11 feet to the top of the logs on the trailer.   I wiggled my forks under the top log and started to lift a bit and go forward to get under another. That is when the one on the very top and a bit to the other side, that I could not see, some how spun around on top of the load. This was a 10' long log and probably 14-16 inches in diameter. It shot end first right at me like a rocket. There was no where for me to go and nothing I could do, it  all happened in an instant.  The next thing I knew, everything in front of me turned white, and then the broken safety glass pieces began to crumble in on me.

About 1 inch of the outside diameter of the log had hit the bottom frame of the windshield. One inch higher, and it would have come in the cab and I certainly would have been dead.  I couldn't move the loader as the log had came over the raised mast and was now wedged between that and the windshield frame. I climbed down on shaky legs and went and got another loader to pull the log out of there so I could continue unloading.  I was always gun shy after that about unloading logs with forks

[gspren]

isnt 1/2" lexan said to be bullet proof.

I am recently retired from the Army Research Lab Where I was the Cheif of Experimental Fabrication and there is no such thing as bullet proof anything.