about two months ago i was working at a camp in central vermont that had been utterly devastated by 80 mph winds. one tree we were working on was a 80'+ ash tree that had tipped over and was caught up in a large maple. the stump had split to pieces and was still sort of attached to the ground. using a stihl 460, i managed to free the log from the stump. i then used a series of undercuts to piece the log out. with each cut, the tree would slide/fall a little bit out of the maple, until it became hung up in some smaller hemlocks. the close call happened when i made a cut to free the tree from these hemlocks.
i undercut the log, as i had been doing. however, the tree did not really move, even after it seemed that i had cut through the wood. with the 460 in one hand, i gave the cut piece of wood a little push, thinking this would free up the cut piece of wood from the remainder of the tree. what it actually did was allow the wood to move and the tree slid off the hemlocks TOWARDS ME. i stumbled back, trying to avoid the tree, but tripped on some roots. as i hit the ground, the ash was still moving towards me, with the cut wood following (held on by a little strap), and both pieces, tree and wood, pinned both my legs. luckily, the tree stopped moving as it had pinned my legs. had the ash moved 6 inches more, it would have crushed my leg.
lessons learned: always, always, always cut/clear/ensure a safety route out of harms way. i did not do this.
before doing any pushing/pulling of cut wood, put yer saw down. i continued to hold onto the 460, and this caused me to either lose my balance or lose mobility.
study the hung up trees at length either with yerself or with someone else. had i known that the tree was going to slide, not fall, off the hemlocks, i could have prepared more.
always do work like this with someone around. my ground person had to cut the wood off of my legs (bruised, not broken), something i could not have done.
for me, lesson learned.
i undercut the log, as i had been doing. however, the tree did not really move, even after it seemed that i had cut through the wood. with the 460 in one hand, i gave the cut piece of wood a little push, thinking this would free up the cut piece of wood from the remainder of the tree. what it actually did was allow the wood to move and the tree slid off the hemlocks TOWARDS ME. i stumbled back, trying to avoid the tree, but tripped on some roots. as i hit the ground, the ash was still moving towards me, with the cut wood following (held on by a little strap), and both pieces, tree and wood, pinned both my legs. luckily, the tree stopped moving as it had pinned my legs. had the ash moved 6 inches more, it would have crushed my leg.
lessons learned: always, always, always cut/clear/ensure a safety route out of harms way. i did not do this.
before doing any pushing/pulling of cut wood, put yer saw down. i continued to hold onto the 460, and this caused me to either lose my balance or lose mobility.
study the hung up trees at length either with yerself or with someone else. had i known that the tree was going to slide, not fall, off the hemlocks, i could have prepared more.
always do work like this with someone around. my ground person had to cut the wood off of my legs (bruised, not broken), something i could not have done.
for me, lesson learned.
