drop zone violation

[Riggs]

I took down a double stem ,dead Poplar over a creek , with the bucket . Cake job , tree was beyond dead . One trunk leaned to the left , one to the right . I left the trunks short , about thirty five feet . One trunk was leaning down the creek bed (big Creek), so I had a lowering line in a nearby Tulip tied around the top just to steer it up the hill and drop it , abc stuff. I moved my bucket up and out of the way , by the time I came back the one "dude"was sitting on the ground , with the saw at the top of the log .
The tree was on the ground . It landing just the way it was supposed to , but some how this guy walked away after the cut , up the path the tree was being lowered . He said it was coming over slow , he "should have just stepped back after he cut it , away from the drop zone . Instead he walked the path the tree was about to take and when he realized he ran and the tip of the tree clipped him in the back . The lowering man only had enough wraps to steer it and drop the log . The feller had looked liked a snapper turtle was crawling under his skin up his back , and he was seriously scratched up . If that isn't a close call what is? ... I still can't believe some one would walk in the path of a falling tree .

 

[TreeDr]

That is truely a close call. There is a thing called "common sense". I guess there are people out there using chainsaws that don't have it. Very scary. If the "dude" WAS seriously hurt you could have been looking at a visit from OSHA and possibly a lawsuit. Be careful as to who you hire. Good employees are hard to come by.

 

[BigJon]

I knew a man who had a simular thing happen to him. He was not as lucky. The tree actually tore his skin off down to the muscle. This man died. The ironic thing was he was over my house a few weeks prior helping my father set up his will.