So You Think You Are A Logger???

With a falling tree you have everything going against you, weight, leverage, acceleration, can't really tell for sure if its hollow, where the center of mass is, a huge sail area that often is high enough to be in a much higher wind than at the foot of it, other trees around it that may catch, dead limbs, etc. It is an art and good loggers seem to have a feel for it, I don't and get an expert to drop them for me, he uses cables, come along, load binders, falling wedges, and a couple times said no. Get a tree service with a crane as it was just too risky, admire his advice even more now as he knows his limits as well.

 

I refuse to own a large chainsaw,I stick with my dinky 14'' that way we both stay out of trouble.

 

Your story reminds me of this story. When I was young and had 4 kids to raise, I used to work part time felling dangerous trees for city folk. I grew up on a hard scrabble farm in the mountains, my Dad and brothers logged every winter and I learned young to fell trees. This old man had about a 4 foot diameter oak on a hill right behind his house in a retirement community. He wanted it down. He had it in his mind that tree was going to fall and come down the hill and land on his house. He hired me by word of mouth and we made the deal. I showed up with help and the tools, plan being I would climb the tree, delimb and rebalance so gravity would ensure that it fell across the face of the hill when it fell, and the other trees would catch it and prevent it rolling very far and we could commence clean up.
Well I was young and strong and climbed many trees. I threw my safety rope around the tree attached my limbing saw and what I needed and sunk my spurs and proceeded to climb. I had a habit of paying attention to what my spurs told me and always listened and tried to feel that the tree was good to climb. I had examined the tree and it looked solid.
I planned to drop the branches on the down hill side and leave the branches on the side that I wanted it to go. When the last branch fell, on the down hill side, I felt an odd tremor, I looked up and saw a place in the very top were lightning had struck a long time ago.
The dots connected and I came down that tree like a scalded cat.
Let's say I had a bad feeling. I proceeded to notch and drop the tree. When it fell, I found the whole tree was basically hollow, and only a few inches around on the outsides were still live, and one spot maybe a foot long on the side that I notched was live in about 12 inches.
I almost had to change my shorts when she was down and I saw that.
So yah you never know it is a dangerous game. I had lots of experience I thought, had been doing this for 3 or 4 years and making good money. But you can always learn. Luckily non of us were hurt or killed. Trust your gut. I had a bad feeling and got down right now.

 

I’m from a family of loggers. That doesn’t make me one though.

 

I have felled and help drop a quite a few trees, but I am not a logger. If the tree is within striking distance of something I don't want struck, out comes the phone and in comes the paid professional. Yup I'm a scaredy cat.

 

I actually did it professionally and even logged in the big timber in the Rockies. It is a very dangerous game. Far higher fatality rate than just about any other job. You know it is time to get out when you look around and your the oldest by far, and even the young guys are marked up or limping.

 

Worked on a heavy construction and maint crew. This sawmill we were hired to do some repairs on, the morning that operations shut it down, a young man was killed on the job, before we even locked out. The log sorting deck jammed up with a log jam, and he followed what he had been taught, shut it down put on all safety gear, hard hats, chain saw pants gloves, glasses etc. So he went out and proceeded to cut his way into the mess. No one had taught him that logs under pressure and bound up like that are extremely dangerous. He cut through one was undr tension and it snapped back, caved in his chest, and threw him against the steel wall and knocked his brains out. Very sad day. 23 years old just married wife 6 months pregnant. Logging and off shore fishing are the 2 highest fatality jobs there are. Nothing else even comes close

 

I pretend to be a logger every summer. We heat the house with wood. I prefer to buck windfalls but sometimes there is thinning of a stand involved.

Only trees I hate are the ones that appear to be solid but once the cut commences .. you find out the inner third or half is rotted .. those suck big time.

 

Some times I'd like a spring loaded ratchetted high speed wench in conjunction with a 20 ton and put the cable around the tree 100' up and preload the thing before beginning the first cut .
I've never done tree topping , (capable but not willing ) which for most situations is ideal, but in some cases even that can be chancy
I have seen trees that homes had been built in close proximity and their height and limb size cold not simply drop limbs safely.
Felling the tree between homes was not possible because the property lines put an other home in jeopardy and falling the other way put power lines in jeopardy . Best scenario for this would be using a wench "capstan" and ropes lowering limbs as close to the trunk as possible and biscuits one at a time. no free dropping.

 

The way I used to cut those kind close in around homes I would climb as high as I could until the tree got fairly small. Double wrap my safety rope and hinge cut branches let them lay in against the tree, then cut the last bit, if the house was real close, I would attach a rope before cutting and lower down to the ground crew. When I had the limbs out of the way. I would work my way down the spar that was left. Set my spurs as deep as I could double wrap my safety and start cutting blocks and dropping them. Hard dangerous work. Do not even attempt this on any trees with any sign of defect on the main trunk. One tree could take all day. Exhausting and very stressful.

 

I hate the heavy leaners, need to learn the plunge cut better.
Those leaners are the most dangerous trees I've ever cut.

 

i have dropped many trees , 6 foot at thebase was the largest i have done,
i have hit / or missed the landing zone a few times.
tonight im hunting and pecking with one finger from MY FU.
the alder hit me ,right lwr arm right top of leg and left knee.
pure pain for 2 hrs , dizzy but no puke.

Frigg the drop , be smarter than i , get out of the way quicker , work when yur good, not tired like i was.
28 drops this week , another 20 when im back up in 3 weeks or so.
KNOW THE LIMIT SLOTH OF PUSH.
just bruised all over ,
wife freaked seeing i was KO.