What is the most bonehead mishaps you have seen in logging?

[Ken]

I'm glad to see that I am not the only one who has seen (or done) some bonehead things while at work.  I too have run over saws, upset machinery, broke things as well as many other stupid things over the years. 

[Maine372]

a guy i worked for off and on had a brilliant idea one time. he would drop the tree, drive around to the top of it, put the blade down and drive up it breaking limbs off. all he ended up with was a radiator full of branches and repair bill.

[treejoe]

I wedged a tree to hook it around this ladies trailer. It didn't want to hook and after looking at it closly it was caught by another tree. so to the truck i went to push it over. I left the truck in nutral, got out to move my saw. When i got back in i decided to push the tree from another angle. So 1 click down with the shifter for reverse, punch the excelerator and. . . hit the tree pushing it off the stump and what happends? Landed right on the cap.

I skint the side of a tree to drop it so the branckes wouldn't hit the house. Well the TV tower had a bent pole on it and when i dropped it . . . it hit the pole up top, twisted on the stump and took the overhang off the guys house. I missed the flagpole though. lol. Latter the guy had me take down 3 more for him. He told me "19 years and only hit one house is a prity good track record."

[mike_belben]

Some good ones in this old gem of a deceased thread.

[Lumberjohn]

Was dropping gypsy moth oak back in the 80s. We all remember how limbs shower you from them. Well, if I had a chance I would duck behind a tree nearby. A limb hit my 'SHIELD TREE" head high horizontally, broke, the NOW 2 pieces came around the tree and slapped me right across the face. Didn't think it was a boneheaded move but more a victim of circumstances.
I wasn't there to witness this one but heard of a guy retreating after cutting a tree. He fell, his head was against a limb laying there, and a forked limb fell and both ends stuck in the ground perfectly securing his head guillotine style.

[sawguy21]

We were hauling a few loads for a gypo logging outfit on a Sunday, being SDA they wouldn't let us work Saturday. These guys were a real piece of work. I ran out and frantically signaled the loader operator to stop pointing to the truck. He lowered the forks and shook his head, the bucker was on the load knocking small branches off with the saw. :

[Ohio Dave]

I left my truck with my folks so they could use it to move while I was on vacation.  They put it in their garage  (I never used the garage at home).  When I got home I jumped in to the truck put it in drive and drove into the back of their garage.

[Texas Ranger]

Most off them.

[Wudman]

Since this thread has been resurrected.......Years ago, the company that I was working for financed a guy to get him in the logging business.  I put him on a nice piece of stumpage that I had purchased.  They cleared their decksite and set up to work.  They had left a large hickory tree standing for shade.  Swinging some long tree length pine, they decided that the hickory was in the way and needed to go.  The sawhand commenced to cutting.  They had the skidder against it to give it a nudge.  The guy cut through his hinge and the skidder pushed the tree off the stump.  It fell back across the length of the skidder and fell squarely on the cab of the loader.  The loader cab was destroyed.  The skidder survived without significant damage....and they had yet to load a single stem.

I had another crew that turned a Timberjack over on a steep slope.  It was laying crossways and wedged against a stump.  They hooked a second tractor to it and attempted to upright with the winch.  At maximum pull, the cable broke and the Timberjack proceeded to cartwheel down the slope.  It rolled 5 or 6 times before coming to rest at the bottom of the hill.  She was bent up pretty bad.

Wudman

[timberking]

Recently, loader operator swung the machine with a back outrigger raised.  Made a mess off some lines.

[dgdrls]

Was surveying an old brick works site at Dennings point, along the Hudson river.  Logging crew was in clearing, at the end of the day we watched an operator
with a log loader try to offload a drum of diesel.  Yup, he crushed the drum.

D

[nativewolf]

I was with one of my field Foresters one day to go see one of his contract logging jobs cutting timber on our Company land.  We were instituting some new environmental and safety standards, so everyone was a little on edge, as I, the Boss, was going to the woods to check things out.  When we got there, my Forester told me that, "You might not like what you see."  So we got there, wood was being cut, skidded, de-limbed, and loaded.  We heard a shout and saw that the fellerbuncher was smoking.  A minute later, it was on fire.  The operator tried to put the fire out with the water tank on the machine that was there for exactly that purpose.  It was empty.

They called for the skidder to come over and spray out the fire using the skidder's water tank.  The skidder got there, but its water tank was also empty.  Now the fire is really getting going.  As this was going on, at the landing, the loader operator was loading a truck.  There was a guy topping and de-limbing trees on the deck.  The loader operator swung a log around and it smacked the saw-man on the side of the head, and he was down with a head injury.  Called 911.  By now the $250,000 fellerbuncher is burning up.  Plus, now the woods are on fire.  Called the Forestry Commission.  They dispatched a fire-plow tractor to come and plow out the fire.  The Ambulance comes and takes the saw-man to the hospital.  The fellerbuncher, it totally burned up.  The Forestry Commission got the woods fire contained.

We left the site and as we were driving out, I turned and said, "You were right."

True story.

I know that was an old post but since the thread was resurrected I was glancing through it...that sounds like a day out of a movie script.  

[Maine logger88]

Man this is an interesting thread! Here's a video I saw the other day lolhttps://youtu.be/QpW20lY03iU

[sawguy21]

ROTFL. That tree was trying to slap some sense into him. :D

[Maine logger88]

Hahahahah! Yup! Wonder if it succeeded 

[Ed_K]

 I know that guy! looks like my BIL  ;D.

[Resonator]

Reminds me of the old joke, His last words were: "Hey watch this! Hold my beer..." :D

[RPF2509]

Recently one of our contract crews flopped their Timbco over.  Cutting on a steep hill, the operator decided to walk up an even steeper section with the boom all the way up.  He walked over a flat rock and started to slide, when the tracks hit dirt, over he went sideways.  The cab was turned enough so he landed right on the engine compartment.  The hydraulic pump was pushed into the motor breaking it off its mounts. The operator, a veteran of 30 years,  was not wearing his seatbelt but got off lucky with a few bruises.  The Timbco was not so lucky and was totaled.  It took an excavator and a D7 Cat to get it back upright which were luckily in the area.  Another few days with the shop truck and they were able to replace enough bits to get the hydraulics working and were able to walk it down the hill.  This was right in the prime time of summer logging.  Three weeks of production lost and they had to fell the rest of the unit by hand further slowing the skidding.  They found an idle Timbco (rare in the summer) to rent and finally got back to work. 

[timberking]

Back in late 90's early 2000's truck brought brand new Tree Farmer skidder to the job and driver thought he could unload it.  You know what comes next.  The belly pan is catching sun.  still got the picture somewhere.