Several months ago I decided to take down a dead hickory that promised fairly to become a hazard. It had died the year before, and I wanted to get it down before it became brittle. Not a large tree - maybe 16" diameter at 4', but still I looked up for potential widow-makers.
Not carefully enough apparently. Sometime during the process I was struck so hard that I thought I had been hit on the head. Once the mists cleared, I found that a limb about 2" at the butt had fallen 12 or 15 feet away, used the branches as a spring, and launched itself into my left chest, knocking me back several feet. I was wearing a heavy sweatshirt over a cotton work shirt over a t-shirt, and initial investigation showed the sweatshirt was fine - just some pieces of bark that brushed off. So I went back to work.
And worked a couple more hours. Split some of it, trimmed and cleaned up the small stuff, then went inside to clean up. I took off the sweatshirt and found my work and t-shirts in tatters, matted in blood, and three substantial puncture wounds; I have never been so surprised at anything in my life. None of ever hurt - not the injury, not the 27 stitches, not the healing. But that just sets up the question:
I have boots, gloves, hard hat, safety glasses, face shield, and chaps. None of those items were the least help. What would have helped, other than a bullet proof vest? Dead trees are always a risk, I've known that for decades, but could the risk been reduced in any way?
Not carefully enough apparently. Sometime during the process I was struck so hard that I thought I had been hit on the head. Once the mists cleared, I found that a limb about 2" at the butt had fallen 12 or 15 feet away, used the branches as a spring, and launched itself into my left chest, knocking me back several feet. I was wearing a heavy sweatshirt over a cotton work shirt over a t-shirt, and initial investigation showed the sweatshirt was fine - just some pieces of bark that brushed off. So I went back to work.
And worked a couple more hours. Split some of it, trimmed and cleaned up the small stuff, then went inside to clean up. I took off the sweatshirt and found my work and t-shirts in tatters, matted in blood, and three substantial puncture wounds; I have never been so surprised at anything in my life. None of ever hurt - not the injury, not the 27 stitches, not the healing. But that just sets up the question:
I have boots, gloves, hard hat, safety glasses, face shield, and chaps. None of those items were the least help. What would have helped, other than a bullet proof vest? Dead trees are always a risk, I've known that for decades, but could the risk been reduced in any way?
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