Someday when we are sitting around the camp fire , remind me, to tell you about the time a fire fighter picked me out of a weeping willow tree,25 foot up

No laughter here either. Lots of wincing.

I was slated to manage an O&G project that was eventually cancelled. From a safety standpoint, the chainsaws and other tree falling operations concerned me a lot more than the explosives to level the hilly site, the heavy lifts, high pressure gas, high voltage power, etc. that we would encounter the rest of the project.

Chainsaws and excavators. Two inventions that keep male life expectancy below that of females.

I was thinking about going out back with a chain saw and start cutting away on the apple tree that is about completely dead.

May have to rethink this one.

A couple at beginning which appear fake are quickly overshadowed by others clearly real and incredible situations that you'd run/jump away from.

My favorite from real life was a friend on a deer stand cutting top out of tree right next to his house/porch. Plan was to cut the tree, as it fell jump from tree and deer stand to roof of porch with a running Stihl. That seems like the dangerous part.

I was on the ground with a 25-30' guide rope, charged with keeping it off the house. I did. Then I realized my "friend" had given me a 25' rope attached to a 40' tree. Running and screaming ensued.

All good, beers popped. I miss that idiot.

quote:

Unfortunately... a notch often isn't enough if the weight distribution is not in the direction you want to go. Sometimes you have to rope it high and pull it in the direction of your notch while cutting the opposite side of your notch.

Very true! That is why they make cables, pulleys, wedges, etc. Not to mention cutting off very heavy/large branches that will be a big influence on where the tree falls. When possible, of course.

those were great

I particularly liked the one where the Italian Cypress slapped the guy

that had to hurt

the palm that trashed the pool - thats just nasty stuff and takes forever to get out of the water system

quote:

Someday when we are sitting around the camp fire , remind me, to tell you about the time a fire fighter picked me out of a weeping willow tree,25 foot up

I am ready for the story. I am hoping this occurred in your youth, but understand if it did not.LOL

I used to cut a fair bit. No one could understand why I always needed a bigger saw. Its just like a gun, bigger is better, and size matters. Its also why I've got a tiny little Stihl top handled saw. One son alway wants to borrow it, figuring --- I don't know what. Smaller is less likely to get me mad when he breaks it maybe.

Rule of life: Chainsaws always come home broken. Other tools never come back. I think its how expensive it is to repair them.

My favorite chainsaw accessory is a Jeep with a winch on it. I never even think of sawing a standing tree that is taller than the 125' winch line. But when I do its only a little longer, like with a choker rope around the tree itself. I only loan my jeep to a very few people I really trust. So far that has been 2 people, and my wife is one. The other was to a guy who's house was at risk. If he fell asleep or got distracted, his kitchen and breakfast nook (I never understood that) would have an expensive repair.

My best mistake was one I learned from cutting a beautiful hickory tree. The guy who owned it wanted it cut. The fact he wouldn't cut it himself should have been a strong hint there might be a problem. So 3 of us took to cutting it. Our spotter was a Federal Judge. The other idiot and I were taking our time. We knew just where we wanted it to fall. The other 270 degrees were maybe a problem, primarily because it was on a steep hill and shouldn't fall across the access road. But it did. 90 degrees away from where we wanted and squarely across the road.

But it did what I've heard called a piroette. The damn thing pivoted on the stump and fell where it damn well pleased. Right across the road. The owner was laughing at us. Said he was worried about that tree from when the lightning hit it. That was the key, it was lightning struck and all twisted up inside, as in shattered. I've always been scared of lightning struck trees for just that reason. Since then I will not touch them.

Oh, and the funniest mistake I've ever seen was a young guy messing up. He was really a handy kid and worked hard at everything. I wonder what happened to him over the years. Anyway, the river was up and pretty much cut off access to the boat harbor. We had some branches that were now in the water and that was the problem.

So young Dwayne went up to the storage shed and pulled out the electric saw. He took his time climbing the tree and rigging the electric extension cords. He even tied it off to a higher branch, then tied the saw to the handle and plugged it in. All above water...

So he took to trimming branches then for whatever reason began cutting the one he was standing on. Yep, closer to the trunk. I started to yell but the guy who owned the harbor said it would be more fun to watch. So we did. He cut and it gave way, dumping him right in the water. Just like you see in cartoons. The saw just hung in the air above him, secured by the cord.

And the kid didn't bat an eye, he just swam to shore, pulled himself out and went up the tree like a monkey. A lot more style than I can ever muster.

Got my three dead trees down today, lived to tell about it. Lined up shoulder to shoulder, which is good because they're gonna be there for the foreseeable future. In order it was Whump! WHUMP!!! Whump.

I'm in the process of removing trees on about an acre of land on our property right now....up to about 8-10" in diameter I can push them over with my skid steer but there are maybe a dozen too big to push over so I'll have to cut down. I'll drop the bigger trees last after I get the smaller stuff clear.
Good timing on the videos for reminding me to expect the unexpected

Friend works as a nurse on a local life-flight helicopter service and she says they do a LOT of tree felling calls. Very dangerous job if not done perfectly.

And you got to be on the lookout for those "widow makers".

quote:

Originally posted by rburg:


So young Dwayne went up to the storage shed and pulled out the electric saw. He took his time climbing the tree and rigging the electric extension cords.

He cut and it gave way, dumping him right in the water. Just like you see in cartoons. The saw just hung in the air above him, secured by the cord.

He's lucky the saw didn't drop in right on top of him and electrocute his dumb ass.

quote:

Originally posted by ggile:
And you got to be on the lookout for those "widow makers".

There was a considerable one hung up at the top of my biggest tree. The tree was only going to fall one way but that limb was straight above me. It's the only thing I was watching.