What was I thinking?

[LLigetfa]

I almost got a Darwin Award. There was this big old dead Aspen in my front yard I had to take down. Rather than just fell it with my chainsaw, what I do is to dig around the stump and cut through the roots with an axe and sawzall after I tie a rope to it. I then use my come along to pull the tree over. The reason being, the weight of the tree pulls out the stump.

Invariably there are always a few roots deeper that get missed but usually the tree just leans over enough to bring them up to light. Not this time.

I use a rope that is longer than the tree is tall so that I can work the come along from a safe distance. With so much rope, there is quite a bit of stretch and I have only so much cable run on my come along. Anyway... I ran out of cable and the damn tree only moved a few degrees off plumb so I decided to go to the midpoint to pull downward on the rope to gain a bit of slack so that I could shorten up the rope for a second pull. I've done this countless times without incident.

I jumped up and grabbed the rope to give it a good yank and the damn root that was holding up the tree let go. The rope went slack and I found myself laying on the ground with the realization that the tree was about to come down on top of me! I scrambled on all fours as the trunk landed near my heels. It was a good thing that I had previously removed the lower limbs as they would certainly have hit me.

As I said, I've done this countless times before without incident. I've had big trees lean over at 45 degrees and the roots still hold it up. I also have chain and a long steel cable which has no stretch to it but found the rope easier to tie off.

Live and learn...

 

[Jack Straw]

I'm glad you're ok and I sure wish there was a video of you running on all 4s like a horse!

 

[LLigetfa]

When I fell a tree with my chainsaw, I can pretty much hit my mark dead on. When dropping it by cutting the roots, there is a good chance that a side root will hold on and turn the tree away from its intended mark.

The tree missed its mark and fell a little to the North. Wouldn't you know it, the direction I scrambled was North too! My wife's precious Lilac was North of the mark too. When I eyeballed the height of the tree, I calculated that tree top would be two feet short of reaching the Lilac and so was out of danger. I was a little off... it was two feet past the Lilac. Fortunately there was a gap in the branches.

Like Maxwell Smart used to say, "Missed it by that much!". Sorry, no video.

 

[hobbyheater]

The tree missed its mark
. Sorry, no video.

Sort of like this! Needed a little more room to turn the RV around!

 

[nate379]

Doesn't take much as well. My neighbors friend passed away last night, drowned out at one of his mining claims. Only mid 20s.

 

[ScotO]

Chit happens when you least expect it. Thank God you are alright, it could've been a grim situation had you not reacted so quickly. Once those trees start falling, there's no stopping them!

 

[Woody Stover]

In the past, I've never cared if I left a stump in the yard. In case the wife or I should happen to care at some point in the future, this tale has convinced me to fuggitaboutit! !!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Lligetfa, I'm so happy you wrote about that! The reason is, you were still able to write it! That could have been your worst mistake ever but it turned out well. Lesson learned for sure and I hope others learn by the mistake. I hope you drank a good strong drink after that one!

 

[Jags]

I still can't get the cartoon image out of my head, of a man on all 4's scrambling away from a falling tree with the background sound effects of a slide whistle.

Don't worry LL, the ego will heal quicker than your body would.

 

[LLigetfa]

Don't worry LL, the ego will heal quicker than your body would.

Ja, for sure but my ego is still bruised.

What I need to get is a pair of wire pullers like the following so that when I run out of cable on my come along, I can tie off and take a second pull.

Alternately, one of these pullers would let me do a continuous pull. I've used them on swing stages and they are limited only by the length of the cable.

 

[Jags]

Yep, that wire puller would fix your urge to hang on the cable.

 

[LLigetfa]

BTW, here's a pic of how close I got to the wife's Lilac.

And a close-up of the stump that I still need to split into smaller pieces.

 

[bogydave]

Good thread.
Even the little simple jobs can be dangerous when you "make do" or take a short cut.
Bet you forgot you could scramble that fast, eh?
I know I've qualified for a "near miss" a few times, to receiving a Darwin award. LOL

 

[begreen]

Doesn't take much as well. My neighbors friend passed away last night, drowned out at one of his mining claims. Only mid 20s.

Man that is terrible Nate. I'm very sorry to hear this.

It only takes one mistake or miscalculation to make a life changing difference between success and disaster. It doesn't matter how many times one has done a procedure, you need to treat each new situation with the respect it deserves. A lot of times there are no second chances.

Be careful folks.

 

[BrotherBart]

Yeah it can go south in a heartbeat. Had the first one in my life go the wrong way last year and stumbled and fell getting away. On top of the running saw.

Glad you scrambled fast enough.

 

[infinitymike]

Man oh Man, your hands must have still been shaken when you typed that post!
Thank God you moved quick enough.

 

[Beer Belly]

HOLY CRAP !.....glad to hear you're okay

 

[LLigetfa]

Sort of like this! Needed a little more room to turn the RV around!

Ja, just like that, only much bigger. When I cleared an area to build my house, I had simply flush cut a lot of the smaller trees and covered over the stumps. Years later, the stumps rotted and the ground subsided creating a bunch of ankle twister holes.

A few places I just left the stump and as it starts to rot, I go back and chip away at it. I've thought of hiring a guy with a stump grinder but the problem with a grinder is the truck would leave ruts. I would have to find someone with a small portable unit that doesn't tow behind a truck.

One time I got my neighbor to come over with his backhoe because I had a big boulder as well as the stump. Besides the big ruts from the tires, he ended up making huge holes that took a lot of work to fix.

 

[hobbyheater]

Ja, just like that, only much bigger.

Glad you are okay!
Do you have more pictures of cutting the roots off? Those would be interesting pictures!

 

[Flatbedford]

This is one of the few times I am happy to hear that a friend missed out on an award.

 

[tfdchief]

Man that is terrible Nate. I'm very sorry to hear this.

It only takes one mistake or miscalculation to make a life changing difference between success and disaster. It doesn't matter how many times one has done a procedure, you need to treat each new situation with the respect it deserves. A lot of times there are no second chances.

Be careful folks.

Oh how I can relate to that. Glad you made it out of that one LLigetfa. Sometimes we are not so lucky.

 

[gzecc]

I almost got a Darwin Award. There was this big old dead Aspen in my front yard I had to take down. Rather than just fell it with my chainsaw, what I do is to dig around the stump and cut through the roots with an axe and sawzall after I tie a rope to it. I then use my come along to pull the tree over. The reason being, the weight of the tree pulls out the stump.

Invariably there are always a few roots deeper that get missed but usually the tree just leans over enough to bring them up to light. Not this time.

I use a rope that is longer than the tree is tall so that I can work the come along from a safe distance. With so much rope, there is quite a bit of stretch and I have only so much cable run on my come along. Anyway... I ran out of cable and the damn tree only moved a few degrees off plumb so I decided to go to the midpoint to pull downward on the rope to gain a bit of slack so that I could shorten up the rope for a second pull. I've done this countless times without incident.

I jumped up and grabbed the rope to give it a good yank and the damn root that was holding up the tree let go. The rope went slack and I found myself laying on the ground with the realization that the tree was about to come down on top of me! I scrambled on all fours as the trunk landed near my heels. It was a good thing that I had previously removed the lower limbs as they would certainly have hit me.

As I said, I've done this countless times before without incident. I've had big trees lean over at 45 degrees and the roots still hold it up. I also have chain and a long steel cable which has no stretch to it but found the rope easier to tie off.

Live and learn...

Had a similar situation. After cutting a large limb off a black walnut tree in my yard, I attached a stap to it, to pull it out into a clearing so I could buck it up. It did a 180 and reared up and slammed down a few feet from me. It was the closest I ever came to getting injured while working on a tree! Its amazing how fast it happened.