Cutting timber on a windy day/ give me some stories

so il logger · January 18, 2015, 12:36:41 AM

Windy days are interesting when your hand falling and im sure you guys have something to say about it. ;D

Maine logger88 · January 18, 2015, 01:31:17 AM

Reminds me of this song I found a few weeks ago!
http://youtu.be/jPZ6Tc1ySOI
And yes I do end up cutting in the wind more than I'd like and have a few stories aswell

so il logger · January 18, 2015, 01:39:59 AM

Amen to that maine logger88 ive had that song in my head a lot on windy days

clww · January 18, 2015, 10:00:09 AM

Cutting big, tall trees on windy days?
I don't.

thenorthman · January 18, 2015, 11:10:20 AM

yep DON"T...

have had the wind pick up on me in the middle of a cut, that always sucks, and there always seems to be a house or something near by... Otherwise I try to avoid it.

cutter88 · January 18, 2015, 01:06:54 PM

I was cutting hemlock one summer the wind was picken up like crazy big storm blowing in was my last hitch of the day , I put a notch in it and it had a dirty lean down hill on the slope I started in with my back cut it started to go I swear it was a 1/3rd of the way over and the wind grabbed it and pushed it right back up the hill, scared the crap right outa me!!

Autocar · January 18, 2015, 04:29:26 PM

I don't cut on windy days I buck logs or haul some to the mill. With the dead ash around here it is not safe on a calm day let alone on a windy one .

so il logger · January 18, 2015, 04:34:38 PM

I don't cut in the wind much anymore since im my own boss. But used to all the time when I had a boss. Its never a good idea especially not in EAB infested ash. Ash is dangerous in the winter even if its a good lively tree.

barbender · January 18, 2015, 11:38:45 PM

Lumberjack48 got paralyzed hand falling on a windy day :(

enigmaT120 · January 19, 2015, 12:42:35 AM

Only Sunny James song I knew was Running Bear.

I try to not even go up in my woods on a windy day.

so il logger · January 19, 2015, 12:48:49 AM

Yeah bad things happen in strong winds. Can happen on a calm day but a guy more than doubles risk in the wind. Real sorry to hear that

craigc · January 19, 2015, 06:49:35 AM

I haven't seen Lumberjack48 post anything in a long tome. Anyone know how he is doing?

Nemologger · January 19, 2015, 10:01:54 PM

My dad got killed hand falling on a windy day.I don't mind cutting in the wind, no match cutting though only hinge cut.

Corley5 · January 19, 2015, 10:26:19 PM

I've done it and have quit because it got too hairy. I don't and won't do it now. A breezy day isn't bad but windy is. I won't cut with the harvester if it's blowing too hard.

HiTech · January 19, 2015, 11:05:10 PM

I don't even hunt on windy days...way too much stuff hanging over your head ready to come down. Was cutting a big tree one day when the wind was blowing and it almost got me. Had the notch cut and was making the falling cut and a gust of wind came and hit the tree and it just splintered. It was like a bomb went off in it. lol Had the falling cut about 1/2 done. Had to buy a few new parts for my saw but not for me. It was close though. That was enough for me.

sawguy21 · January 19, 2015, 11:11:47 PM

Bet you needed new skivvies though. ;D I nearly got nailed by a branch while loading fire wood on a windy day, shut that down in a hurry.

so il logger · January 19, 2015, 11:43:52 PM

My worst windy day was my fault along with the wind of course. I had cut a white oak and it set back but didn't pinch my saw so I went looking for one to knock it over with. Well I found a good candidate so I started in on it. As I was cutting it I felt the ground shake, I was knelt down on my knee because I was cutting it low to the ground. I looked over my left shoulder and there was the before said tree. It came to rest not 5 feet from me. The wind rocked it enough to break the hinge. Had ear plugs in and never hard a thing. Ive cut many windy days since but always with my head on a swivel.

Spartan · January 19, 2015, 11:57:24 PM

When I was learning to cut, I was cutting lodgepole one windy day. I got out and was nervous. walked up to the stand, looked up, and the trees were clacking together, looked at the base and the whole ground was moving around the root wads. I walked back to the truck and the two loggers I was working for looked and me with grins and said, "what ya thinking about? Those dancing trees make you a little nervous?" I said yes. They said "lets go" and we left.

since then I have learned at about what is too much wind and what is just annoying. Some trees aren't too big of a deal like lodgepole. But fir or spruce around here I am much more touchy about.

I never cut into a head wind, ever.

one morning it was super cold and we were wrenching. we had built a fire to keep warm on the edge of the timber in an open area and watched a spruce top break out and go sailing about 30 feet from the trunk, it was about 16 inches at the break, we thought we were safe until a aspen crashed 2 feet from us while we were standing around the fire. We promptly left.

Some wind is ok, you get used to it, sometimes you have to.
Strong wind is stupid. when you hear it moan through the cables on the processor, its time to go.

Ianab · January 20, 2015, 01:57:53 AM

Some days it's not even safe to drive through the forest.

Dash cam from Aussie last month. Pretty close call.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk3NNwJLNA0

so il logger · January 20, 2015, 02:47:36 AM

Im thinking its time to let this post go. Im sorry to bring up bad memories by making the post. I meant well and looked at it as a conversation point. I can laugh at my bad days in the wind. I hurt when i hear some of your stories.

Roxie · January 20, 2015, 05:36:24 AM

Ianab! My first reaction was that the car was driving on the wrong side of the road. :D

lopet · January 20, 2015, 06:41:12 PM

Quote from: so il logger on January 20, 2015, 02:47:36 AM
Im thinking its time to let this post go.

Why ? Nothing wrong with it. There might be a few more comments coming. I too have done things who probably weren't
save at that time. Now I am trying to avoid it when ever i can.

mikeb1079 · January 20, 2015, 10:41:34 PM

threads like this, while sometimes painful, serve a really useful purpose for some of us less experienced guys. watch to watch for, things to consider, etc etc...

so il logger · January 21, 2015, 01:56:50 AM

Yes im all for this post as well, I started it as a conversation topic. I hate to hear that a logger has been paralized or lost his life because of the wind. We know it happens and I wasnt trying to bring up bad things. I meant cutting on windy days and how big of pain it is, dealing with the wind and at the same time cutting production. Just be safe out there it don't matter if its windy or calm.

luvmexfood · January 21, 2015, 07:11:50 AM

Nothing wrong with this topic. Before I started reading on here and learning I would have thought nothing of going out in a hurricane and cutting trees. Learned thru posts such as this the dangers of cutting in wind.