Unreal

Man, what a tragedy. That guy must be in shock beyond description.

I had a friend who was a logger. I watched him put drop enormous pines right where he wanted them every single time. But even he broke a leg when a tree twisted on him and fell opposite direction. I remember neighbors telling me of another guy across the way who was killed by the same thing happening.

I get nervous every time a tree hangs up in another one. Trees do crazy things with all that stress on them and with weight variations of branches yanking on their balance. Let alone a gust a stray wind playing with it.

My girlfriend is a CNA and takes care of a guy that got a broken neck from a tree that kicked back when cutting it down . He was throwen 20 feet . He wasnt cutting it down and was an observer .

There's a reason why logging is the second most dangerous profession.

wsorg said:

There's a reason why logging is the second most dangerous profession.

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what's the first?

Elderthewelder said:

wsorg said:

There's a reason why logging is the second most dangerous profession.

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what's the first?

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law enforcement

trailrated said:

Elderthewelder said:

wsorg said:

There's a reason why logging is the second most dangerous profession.

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what's the first?

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law enforcement

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I was thinking farming.

I must have been five or six when my little brother and I rode along in the trailer behind the tractor and watched as our dad cut a huge old elm tree, fortunately for us he had a pathetic chain saw so I had plenty of time to argue with the brother that we really shouldn't be sitting on the side of the trailer that was parked a little too conveniently close to the tree, and that we wouldn't get in trouble for walking out into the middle of the field. I didn't really think we were in danger, because of course dad wouldn't take a chance with the tractor, but the dent ended up right where we had been sitting.

benjamin said:

trailrated said:

Elderthewelder said:

wsorg said:

There's a reason why logging is the second most dangerous profession.

Click to expand...

what's the first?

Click to expand...

law enforcement

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I was thinking farming.

I must have been five or six when my little brother and I rode along in the trailer behind the tractor and watched as our dad cut a huge old elm tree, fortunately for us he had a pathetic chain saw so I had plenty of time to argue with the brother that we really shouldn't be sitting on the side of the trailer that was parked a little too conveniently close to the tree, and that we wouldn't get in trouble for walking out into the middle of the field. I didn't really think we were in danger, because of course dad wouldn't take a chance with the tractor, but the dent ended up right where we had been sitting.

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My old man dropped one right on top of the 8N just about folded up the stearing wheel . Trust me when I would cut with him and I was driveing I always parked at least twice as far away as the tree was tall . He may not been the best at felling trees but the guy sure knew how to get some of the trickiest hung up ones down on the ground .

BeGreen said:

Fatality rate and total number of fatalities are different ways to look at this. The fishing industry has the highest fatality rate (per 100,00 workers), followed by logging and farming. Construction, then transportation has the highest total number of fatalities (based on 2008 stats). Interestingly, Texas had the highest number of fatalities per state.

http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cfch0007.pdf

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These chart are all over the net and every one varies somewhat, just like the wood btu charts, funny only a couple of them mention military service, I am sure our men and women in the Middle East would dispute the above chart

REF1 said:

Man, what a tragedy. That guy must be in shock beyond description.

I had a friend who was a logger. I watched him put drop enormous pines right where he wanted them every single time. But even he broke a leg when a tree twisted on him and fell opposite direction. I remember neighbors telling me of another guy across the way who was killed by the same thing happening.

I get nervous every time a tree hangs up in another one. Trees do crazy things with all that stress on them and with weight variations of branches yanking on their balance. Let alone a gust a stray wind playing with it.

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My step-father was an ornery sack of crap but he knew how to take down a tree.
Then there was one tree I will never forget.
It was leaning downhill where we had the trailer parked.
Because it was fully leafed out that little bit of wind played a trick on him.
It didn't want to fall so he drove in three felling wedges.
Then he cut too far and his hinge broke.
It still wouldn't fall.
I started backing up and he told me to stop.
The idea is to stay right near the tree until you see which way it is going to fall.
I saw that huge tree turn 180 degrees on the stump and then fall uphill.
We just calmly walked sideways on the hill and were easily safe.
I was 11 or 12 years old at the time.
We were after sawmill logs.

My brother and I used to do some logging on the side when we were young bucks. We used to cut anywhere from 200-600 cord/year, all late fall and winter work. I remember once we cut down a big 16" hard maple and it fell right between 2 other trees. Just as it was almost down, the butt end of that tree whipped out to one side about 10-12' and just BARELY missed my brothers head. If it would have hit him I'm sure it would have killed him instantly. I could not believe how fast that butt end snapped to the side as it wedged in between the other 2 trees.

The lesson here is when you fell a tree, ALWAYS get well back and to the side of where the stump is. In our years of logging, we never had a single injury, not even a nick from the chainsaw. Even tho we were always careful and wore hardhats, one wrong move or mistake in judgement, and its all over. But when you love working in the woods, I guess you're willing to take the risks. It definitely gets in your blood. LOL

Whenever I am taking down a tree I always make sure I have my escape plan ready to go . . . and I always make sure my friend who is cutting with me . . . or wife if I'm at home cutting . . . is way, way back and out of the line of fire so to speak.


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RE: Fatal professions . . . When working for a commercial trade journal the one thing I learned was that commercial fishing is the most dangerous profession . . . up here in Maine within the past year I can think of at least three separate incidents where several fishermen died . . . not a good year to be a fisherman in Maine.

I used to get the whole family involved in helping out with the years firewood. We never had a close call, I always made sure wife, kids, and pets were well out of the way when I was taking down trees. After a couple of years it was too much of a pain to have everyone around when felling, I found it's easier to do this part of the operation by myself (or with my wife keeping an eye on me for the tricky ones). It's just easier to only have to pay attention to what the tree is doing, not what the tree is doing and making sure everyone else is out of the way. I've found I can do much better at placing the trees where I want them when I don't have an audience to watch out for.

dirttracker said:

I used to get the whole family involved in helping out with the years firewood. We never had a close call, I always made sure wife, kids, and pets were well out of the way when I was taking down trees. After a couple of years it was too much of a pain to have everyone around when felling, I found it's easier to do this part of the operation by myself (or with my wife keeping an eye on me for the tricky ones). It's just easier to only have to pay attention to what the tree is doing, not what the tree is doing and making sure everyone else is out of the way. I've found I can do much better at placing the trees where I want them when I don't have an audience to watch out for.

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I hear that one just last week my cousins husband was telling how he and the family went out and cut down and hauled a tree home 5 kids all under 10. He was so proud all the kids were "helping" even the 4 year old. I was thinking what an idiot he is running a chainsaw with 5 little kids picking up and hauling the wood as he cuts.
I tried to tell him it's great to get the kids involved but be safe about it.