Tell me something stupid you did!

JMerritt said:
yup, I've forgotten to tie my rigging line a few times. every time my brain struggles so hard when the piece sails off and doesn't stop.
i think my most epic screw up happened a few years ago tho. 200' fir tree removal in a tiny front yard. hard up against the asphalt driveway, with an open carport only 10 feet away on the opposite side of the drive. there was a car parked in the carport and boss said i couldn't be moved, client was out of town. i should have called off the job right there. i don't of course. we start rigging branches. im climbing and my partner is on the ropes with our groundie dragging brush. of course the branches are 20 foot lond and awkward to maneuver. car gets scratched. takes a full day to limb the tree. go back for day two, boss says bring plywood to protect the car. ok. my partner climbs this time. we start rigging the wood. did i mention that the rope wasnt long enough? anywhoo, there is a small redwood under the tree and stubs/pie cuts are bouncing off it in random directions making us nervious about that f*#king car. partner is into 24"+ wood now and cuts a pie cut, he throws the piece AWAY from the car. what does it do? it boomerangs 180deg from 100' up and HITS THE CAR! smashes the tail light and dents the fender. F*#CK! now were two days in and haven't even finished. day three we have 50' of wood left. i climb and we rig it down to a 16' stick. i decide that's good enough and we can fell the rest. its a really nice log and i want to mill it. with thoughts of preserving as much lumber as possible, i cut a humboldt notch and we put a rope on it to pull. did i mention that it had a slight lean towards the car? yeah so... we have the skidsteer on the rope, we put a bunch of tires and plywood on the driveway for protection and my partner starts the back cut. im pulling with the tractor. stem starts to go right where we want, then all of a sudden my too shallow face cut closes and the holding wood breaks early. log immediately goes 45deg sideways and DESTROYS the rear end of the f*#king car! it also misses our crash pad and puts a huge hole in the asphalt. i also panic and back the skidsteer into our rolloff truck which is parked behind me, bending the wheel rim and blowing the tire off the rim. yeah, not a good day. first thing boss asks when i call is if i had plywood protecting the car o_O. oh, and the client? yeah, it was my bosses dad, and that day was my bosses birthday. that was not my finest hour.
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Such a big tree....that was the funniest mofo fucking story I have ever heard....holy mutha of a funny fucking event...I am here in paradise working anf laughing my ass off ....you are bad ta da bone though Jamie....best shit in this thread...Winning
 
Treezybreez said:
Posted it a while back, but it is still funny. http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/threads/sawdust.21356/

A few scary things come to mind. First was a large Tulip tree near a cabin surrounded by national forest. I decided that I had enough room to notch the tree half way up, leave a thick hinge and trip it remotely using a tag line. So I climbed to the top installed my tag line and friction saver, repelled down to the half way point, notched it and made the back cut. Then I remember the chill that went up my spine after I remembered that my climbing line was still up there in the top. good thing the top didn't go until we tripped it!
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WTF breeze...whoa mutha..you are a fucking nut...
 
TimBr said:
Ok, great thread! Thanks for starting it, @Toomuchsawdust! I have nowhere near the depth and breadth of experience all of you folks have, so my story is pretty wimpy. When I was first learning to climb SRT, I think I must have done some large amount of redirecting of my rope. It was getting really late, and dark out, though helped by some back yard lights. So I wanted to come down for the day, and took my foot ascender and knee ascender off of the rope, descending only on my hitch.

I did have a stopper knot near the end of my rope, which promptly jammed itself hard up into the bottom of my pulley, if I'm recalling the details correctly. I did not have much length below the stopper, and being new, I was stuck there for quite a while until I remembered about making a mechanical advantage setup, which allowed me to pull myself back up, and then recover enough length of rope to reach the ground.

After this incident, I always tie my stopper knot about ten feet from the end of the rope, so that I will always be able to easily put on a knee or foot ascender if I ever need to ascend again.

After this incident, my older brother described my approach to things as "Hanging out in a tree like a Christmas ornament."

Tim
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Toomuchsawdust said:
Duuuuude that's terrifying to me.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Hey, Toomuchsawdust! What part of my story is so terrifying to you? The fact that I stupidly managed to run into my stopper knot, and that if it had not been there, I would have run right off of the rope? Or was it something else?

I guess in hindsight, this is another good reason to keep your hand on the tail of your rope as you descend, in order to feel for the stopper knot running by.

I will say that tying my stopper knot is the very first thing I do after installing my climbing system onto the rope, every time.

It's nice to know that the stopper knot (in my case, a figure 8) works so well. Tested in real-world conditions, as it were.

Tim
 
Treezybreez said:
It's a habit now to check where my climbing line is in relation to chunk of wood, saw etc. :) Thinking back on the job, we should have checked to see where the nearest hospital was in the event that there was an emergency.
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This post makes a couple of great points. The one about knowing where the nearest hospital is located on a continuing basis seems really important. It takes thought and pre-planning to make it happen as a matter of course. It could easily save someone's life in the event of an emergency.
 
TimBr said:
Hey, Toomuchsawdust! What part of my story is so terrifying to you? The fact that I stupidly managed to run into my stopper knot, and that if it had not been there, I would have run right off of the rope? Or was it something else?

I guess in hindsight, this is another good reason to keep your hand on the tail of your rope as you descend, in order to feel for the stopper knot running by.

I will say that tying my stopper knot is the very first thing I do after installing my climbing system onto the rope, every time.

It's nice to know that the stopper knot (in my case, a figure 8) works so well. Tested in real-world conditions, as it were.

Tim
Click to expand...

I have to say Tim I have never used a stopper knot...hate them tropical trees are busy and nuff tight crothes....it is built in to me to always make sure I have enough rope to make the ground...just good practice to have...hate my tail jamming up and I move it loads...now if I was descending from 300' redwood on 200 foot rope DdRT hey stopper it is....lol
 
swingdude said:
I have to say Tim I have never used a stopper knot...hate them tropical trees are busy and nuff tight crothes....it is built in to me to always make sure I have enough rope to make the ground...just good practice to have...hate my tail jamming up and I move it loads...now if I was descending from 300' redwood on 200 foot rope DdRT hey stopper it is....lol
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Likewise stopper knots have caused me way too much trouble getting hung up, especially in pine deadwood.

I tried to slide off the end of my rope climbing DdRT, had worked too long without water in high temps, realized I was crashing, went to the ground, knowing my rope was not long enough but I was too far gone to re-pitch a closed Blake's system (in my early days). My feet were still 5-8 feet from the ground when I ran out of rope. No problem, no stopper, just run off the rope, hit the dirt and beg for water! No. Hitch grabbed tight on the freakin' tape wrap on the end of the rope. Three tries, finally held myself up long enough with one arm to unclip my biner and drop. That was enough for the day.
-AJ
 
One of my first side-jobs ever was with an older "treeman" in his 50s. He was a helluva climber/rigger, so I was looking forward to learning from him........ohhh I learned alright. We were removing a pine at the corner of a house(where the triplex hooked) and right over a brick fence. I had borrowed my Dad's pickup (Sonoma short bed) to clean up the debris. That meant mucho trips to the inert landfill. Anyhow, things were going pretty smoothly. We were rigging everything into a pine next to the one we were working on. Problem was, every time we went to dump, "The Machine"(his nickname) would insist on stopping at the store for a beer. I was young and impressionable (and liked beer) so I thought this was just how the "real treemen" did it . We continued to work the tree down and several trips to the dump (and store) later, it was time to start cutting the spar. I put a few wraps on the tree(pre port-a-wrap days) and "The Machine" went to work. Well, he cuts a piece maybe 8ft long 14" in diameter and pushes it towards the rigging tree. It swings pretty......and hangs there...motionless. He screams at me to give it some slack and I flip some around the tree.....nothing. I walk up to the tree and I see a 4" stub has lined up perfectly in a crotch and the spar is balanced there perfectly. I say " hold on, I have an idea" and proceed to take the wraps off the tree and pull the rope across the yard. I tie a bowline on a bight and slip it over the ball on the tow-hitch in an effort to pull the spar up the tree to free it (stop laughing at me). Well, when I just spin tires he says " I'll just swing over and cut the stub" I agree and I untied the knot and hold the rope (totally forgot about those all important wraps). He swings over, cuts the stub and I start to lower the piece. I let it down slow, hand over hand-like three times before my feet left the ground. The next thing I know, I'm shooting up the rigging tree like a rocket . All the while , I'm more worried about that brick wall than myself. I hold on until I pass the triplex wire-then I start letting loose on the rope. OMG how fast a rope eats through the skin on your hands at that speed. I finally let loose and I swear to you, I'm an easy 20 ft up, flying over the triplex and about 25 ft into the neighbor's yard. I tucked and rolled like a true "tree ninja" and somehow pop up unscathed......except for my hands.........OMG my friggin hands! He screams "You ok young man?"(apparently my nickname) and I said yes- and put on a pair of gloves to finish the job. That was the most painful $200 I ever earned, but the lessons learned that day were priceless. Ya know, sometimes when I'm telling these stories, I just gotta thank God for cutting a dumbass a break.
 
LimbLoppa said:
One of my first side-jobs ever was with an older "treeman" in his 50s. He was a helluva climber/rigger, so I was looking forward to learning from him........ohhh I learned alright. We were removing a pine at the corner of a house(where the triplex hooked) and right over a brick fence. I had borrowed my Dad's pickup (Sonoma short bed) to clean up the debris. That meant mucho trips to the inert landfill. Anyhow, things were going pretty smoothly. We were rigging everything into a pine next to the one we were working on. Problem was, every time we went to dump, "The Machine"(his nickname) would insist on stopping at the store for a beer. I was young and impressionable (and liked beer) so I thought this was just how the "real treemen" did it . We continued to work the tree down and several trips to the dump (and store) later, it was time to start cutting the spar. I put a few wraps on the tree(pre port-a-wrap days) and "The Machine" went to work. Well, he cuts a piece maybe 8ft long 14" in diameter and pushes it towards the rigging tree. It swings pretty......and hangs there...motionless. He screams at me to give it some slack and I flip some around the tree.....nothing. I walk up to the tree and I see a 4" stub has lined up perfectly in a crotch and the spar is balanced there perfectly. I say " hold on, I have an idea" and proceed to take the wraps off the tree and pull the rope across the yard. I tie a bowline on a bight and slip it over the ball on the tow-hitch in an effort to pull the spar up the tree to free it (stop laughing at me). Well, when I just spin tires he says " I'll just swing over and cut the stub" I agree and I untied the knot and hold the rope (totally forgot about those all important wraps). He swings over, cuts the stub and I start to lower the piece. I let it down slow, hand over hand-like three times before my feet left the ground. The next thing I know, I'm shooting up the rigging tree like a rocket . All the while , I'm more worried about that brick wall than myself. I hold on until I pass the triplex wire-then I start letting loose on the rope. OMG how fast a rope eats through the skin on your hands at that speed. I finally let loose and I swear to you, I'm an easy 20 ft up, flying over the triplex and about 25 ft into the neighbor's yard. I tucked and rolled like a true "tree ninja" and somehow pop up unscathed......except for my hands.........OMG my friggin hands! He screams "You ok young man?"(apparently my nickname) and I said yes- and put on a pair of gloves to finish the job. That was the most painful $200 I ever earned, but the lessons learned that day were priceless. Ya know, sometimes when I'm telling these stories, I just gotta thank God for cutting a dumbass a break.
Click to expand...

Oh WTF....you guys have had some good initiation....that's priceless...I at first thought the tacoma was going to bite it...I have roped a fair set of wood but never a burn...seen all my employees get it ...not listening....losing focus
 
TimBr said:
Hey, Toomuchsawdust! What part of my story is so terrifying to you? The fact that I stupidly managed to run into my stopper knot, and that if it had not been there, I would have run right off of the rope? Or was it something else?

I guess in hindsight, this is another good reason to keep your hand on the tail of your rope as you descend, in order to feel for the stopper knot running by.

I will say that tying my stopper knot is the very first thing I do after installing my climbing system onto the rope, every time.

It's nice to know that the stopper knot (in my case, a figure 8) works so well. Tested in real-world conditions, as it were.

Tim
Click to expand...
Running out of rope!

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
 
LimbLoppa said:
One of my first side-jobs ever was with an older "treeman" in his 50s. He was a helluva climber/rigger, so I was looking forward to learning from him........ohhh I learned alright. We were removing a pine at the corner of a house(where the triplex hooked) and right over a brick fence. I had borrowed my Dad's pickup (Sonoma short bed) to clean up the debris. That meant mucho trips to the inert landfill. Anyhow, things were going pretty smoothly. We were rigging everything into a pine next to the one we were working on. Problem was, every time we went to dump, "The Machine"(his nickname) would insist on stopping at the store for a beer. I was young and impressionable (and liked beer) so I thought this was just how the "real treemen" did it . We continued to work the tree down and several trips to the dump (and store) later, it was time to start cutting the spar. I put a few wraps on the tree(pre port-a-wrap days) and "The Machine" went to work. Well, he cuts a piece maybe 8ft long 14" in diameter and pushes it towards the rigging tree. It swings pretty......and hangs there...motionless. He screams at me to give it some slack and I flip some around the tree.....nothing. I walk up to the tree and I see a 4" stub has lined up perfectly in a crotch and the spar is balanced there perfectly. I say " hold on, I have an idea" and proceed to take the wraps off the tree and pull the rope across the yard. I tie a bowline on a bight and slip it over the ball on the tow-hitch in an effort to pull the spar up the tree to free it (stop laughing at me). Well, when I just spin tires he says " I'll just swing over and cut the stub" I agree and I untied the knot and hold the rope (totally forgot about those all important wraps). He swings over, cuts the stub and I start to lower the piece. I let it down slow, hand over hand-like three times before my feet left the ground. The next thing I know, I'm shooting up the rigging tree like a rocket . All the while , I'm more worried about that brick wall than myself. I hold on until I pass the triplex wire-then I start letting loose on the rope. OMG how fast a rope eats through the skin on your hands at that speed. I finally let loose and I swear to you, I'm an easy 20 ft up, flying over the triplex and about 25 ft into the neighbor's yard. I tucked and rolled like a true "tree ninja" and somehow pop up unscathed......except for my hands.........OMG my friggin hands! He screams "You ok young man?"(apparently my nickname) and I said yes- and put on a pair of gloves to finish the job. That was the most painful $200 I ever earned, but the lessons learned that day were priceless. Ya know, sometimes when I'm telling these stories, I just gotta thank God for cutting a dumbass a break.
Click to expand...
Lmfao. Great story.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
 
jmaher said:
Another:
Early on in my career we were removing a large maple in a tight back yard. It was fairly tall, so we had some room to let big tops run.
For whatever reason, I clove hitched my rigging line to a branch close to the piece I was taking to keep it out of the way while I cut my notch. Saw ran out of gas in the cut, sent it down to be refueled, and finished the notch with my handsaw while I waited.
Saw came back up, and I ripped through the backcut. And the gutter. And a patio set.
I never retied my rigging line.
Ugh.
Click to expand...
This is a perfect example of why we need to focus while in the tree. Its like a game of chess. these sorts of small mental mistakes can cost you your life!!!
 
JMerritt said:
yup, I've forgotten to tie my rigging line a few times. every time my brain struggles so hard when the piece sails off and doesn't stop.
i think my most epic screw up happened a few years ago tho. 200' fir tree removal in a tiny front yard. hard up against the asphalt driveway, with an open carport only 10 feet away on the opposite side of the drive. there was a car parked in the carport and boss said i couldn't be moved, client was out of town. i should have called off the job right there. i don't of course. we start rigging branches. im climbing and my partner is on the ropes with our groundie dragging brush. of course the branches are 20 foot lond and awkward to maneuver. car gets scratched. takes a full day to limb the tree. go back for day two, boss says bring plywood to protect the car. ok. my partner climbs this time. we start rigging the wood. did i mention that the rope wasnt long enough? anywhoo, there is a small redwood under the tree and stubs/pie cuts are bouncing off it in random directions making us nervious about that f*#king car. partner is into 24"+ wood now and cuts a pie cut, he throws the piece AWAY from the car. what does it do? it boomerangs 180deg from 100' up and HITS THE CAR! smashes the tail light and dents the fender. F*#CK! now were two days in and haven't even finished. day three we have 50' of wood left. i climb and we rig it down to a 16' stick. i decide that's good enough and we can fell the rest. its a really nice log and i want to mill it. with thoughts of preserving as much lumber as possible, i cut a humboldt notch and we put a rope on it to pull. did i mention that it had a slight lean towards the car? yeah so... we have the skidsteer on the rope, we put a bunch of tires and plywood on the driveway for protection and my partner starts the back cut. im pulling with the tractor. stem starts to go right where we want, then all of a sudden my too shallow face cut closes and the holding wood breaks early. log immediately goes 45deg sideways and DESTROYS the rear end of the f*#king car! it also misses our crash pad and puts a huge hole in the asphalt. i also panic and back the skidsteer into our rolloff truck which is parked behind me, bending the wheel rim and blowing the tire off the rim. yeah, not a good day. first thing boss asks when i call is if i had plywood protecting the car o_O. oh, and the client? yeah, it was my bosses dad, and that day was my bosses birthday. that was not my finest hour.
Click to expand...
I just woke up my wife, laughing at this. Some days the bar eats you.
 
First off, shouts out to Toomuchsawdust for this thread. I got stupid stories for days! My crew was cutting a new right of way for a new shopping center. Bass Pro Shops had shown interest so the developer was working like mad to get the site prep done. We started at the sub station and worked our way down (about 1/2 mile) . On the 3rd day they brought in a bunch of lights- I was like WTF? The next day I saw why. They worked all night and took at least 20 ft of earth and made that shit disappear. We skipped past that section due to the equipment and kept cutting. At that point, the right of way pretty much hugged a fence next to the interstate anyway, so small trees were all that we had left there. We finished the rest of the work in another three days and went back to the section we passed. Now the section was easily 60 ft below where it was the last time I saw it. F#ck! I got out my gear and started climbing the remaining trees. I was the only climber on the crew and I got to the last two trees. I looked at em and thought " these two will ride if I just side strip them" Instead of climbing I pulled the bucket truck (55' center mount) up the bank (40 degree grade) and set up. I put chocks out on both rear tires and pads under the outriggers and go to work. First tree goes smooth. On the second tree, I can't reach everything, so I turn the boom around and lay it out flat(long reach). As I'm maneuvering to the last two limbs, I drop the bucket a bit too fast. The truck somehow hops the wheelchocks and rolls down the hill(with me in the bucket!!!!) Once the truck is on flat ground, I realize my groundman can't catch the truck. I make the decision to lower the boom as close to the ground as possible and bail. Before I can jump out, he jumps on the driver side step to save me, but the E-brake finally slows the truck to a stop. He asked if I was ok, and after I said yeah he f*cking lost it-said the look on my face was unforgettable. I didn't think it was so funny....that's what I got for being lazy.
 
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