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Logging by your self

Started by woodman, March 30, 2002, 09:05:24 PM

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woodman

   I am not a loger but some times i get the feling that you people are out there alone. Whit if something gos  wrong do you have a system to get help. Let's here some ways you could get help say you broke your legs or somthing?
Jim Cripanuk

Corley5

I NEVER fall trees alone.  I do skid by myself though.  I have a cell phone in the skidder but with a broken leg I probably couldn't get to it :o.  It's hard enough climbing in and out with two good legs.  A cell phone wouldn't last long wading through brush, snow, and pulling cable.  I always let someone know where I'm at and when I'll be back and normally some one checks in on me during the course of the day or just stops to visit.  I skidded for 7 hours today but had two guys cutting firewood from the maple tops so I had company 8).
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

Tom

I try not to work in the woods alone but when I have to, I let someone know where I am so they will know where to look for the body.  I also tell them to make a lot of noise if they come looking for me so I won't drop a tree on them.

I have a cousin who had to take his leg off with a pocket knife to get out from under a tree that fell on him years ago.  He drove himself back to the house and lived through it.  I don't want that to happen to me.  I'm too much of a wimp.

Cedar Eater

I fell alone, but cedar are generally smaller and lighter than most merchantable trees. I can usually move the trees I fell (at least a little bit). I sometimes hold my head against the smaller ones and push them over as I cut.

I'm within 1/2 mile of my house and I generally tell my wife if I'm going to be felling. She usually visits me every few hours and she can tell by the chainsaw sounds if I'm "active".

I worry more about deep leg or ankle cuts than I worry about getting pinned or breaking bones. If you open an artery, it can be over pretty quick. I've got kevlar chaps and I'm working on getting kevlar pak boots.

I've tried carrying a little 2-way FRS radio, but the work is too physical to keep the radio protected. Another thing I do is limit my workday to no more than five hours.
Cedar Eater

woodmills1

I work alone felling red oaks in our forest behind our new house.  First, I am very careful though I know that things can go wrong.  I try to go out to fell when I am fresh from a good nights sleep, with no alcohol from the night before.  I don't push it or rush, i pick the trees to remove carefully, and if they are some of the larger ones in our forest I will run the shovel dozer up against the trunk with the bucket up.  
  Tom, does your cousin live in Merrimack NH?  there was a story of a logger who got pinned by a tree, severed his leg with a pen knife and used his belt to stop the bleeding.  then he crawled into his dozer and drove out of the woods.
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

woodmills1

here is one of the smaller "large" oaks we have in our forest.  the trees are quite dense so it is hard not to hit something, so this one didn't do too bad.  By the way after I notch I make a plunge cut parallel to the notch about an inch behind and above it.  I find this cuts down on the stump pull in the butt log, and gives a little more speed in the initial part of the fall so the trees don't hang up as much in the dense stand.


James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

Ron Scott

Tree falling and its associated logging activities is dangerous business as noted by the insurance rates. Its much better than it use to be however, with the improvements of safety equipment (if used), OSHA and insurance job inspections, cell phones and radio communications, armored equipment, chain brakes etc.

However, many of the small producers and tree fallers still work alone or on week-end days when no one may be around. On the jobs I manage I usually get the name, home address and telephone numbers of those working on the area should I get a call at night that "so & so" hasn't returned home. At least we know where he was working last.

I've come on jobs where a cutter had severely cut himself with a chain saw, another where the cutter alone was also skidding and the skidder rolled back over his leg when he was hooking up the log buch for skidding (brake let loose).

Another had been hit by a "kick back" with broker ribs and chest injuries.

In these situations I happened to be the lucky one to come along in time to apply what first aid I could and call the ambulance. A lot of time lost by all concerned. I have great respect for anyone falling trees as a profession.

~Ron

woodman

   Thank you for your impoint so far. I hop outhers will tell there story  of how thay log  alone so we can all learn froum each outher.
Jim Cripanuk

timberbeast

I'm an example that I would not suggest following.   :o
Most of the time I work alone,  and since my Pop passed on,  I prefer it,  since I only have to worry about myself.  If I have a partner,  I seem to be too concerned with the partner's well-being to concentrate on my own work.
I usually fall and skid for about 10 hours one day,  then mill for however long it takes,  the following day.
Eating before falling asleep tends to be a problem,  but I make sure that I do.
I've found that WATER in large amounts seems to keep me alert,  and that a heavy meal in the belly does the opposite.
While working,  I usually only eat a few bananas and have a couple of cans of V-8.
I've been logging for 30+ years,  so I have seen most everything that can happen,  but I'm never complacent,  and I think out every move that I make.  The cell phone doesn't get a good signal where I work,  but regardless,  it would turn into a pile of computer chips and broken plastic if I wore it.
If something irretrievable does happen,  folks know where to find the deceased......ummmmm.... 8)
Closest guy I have is my uncle,  who is 9 miles away,  and he comes out to check on me from time to time  (with a Stihl in his hand).  He's in his eighties,  but he's still doing his own logging.  'Bout 15 years ago he had a popple surprise him and laid in the swamp with a busted leg until his wife worried after suppertime and came out to the 40 he was cutting and found him.  I asked if he could crawl,  he said no way in hell.
Part of the reason that I've become part-time has to do with this.  I did make money.  But my wife was in a constant state of worry.
The only time that I was really scared was when I had a major barber chair.  Started re-thinking things then.
Don't go in alone.  I don't follow my own advice,  no excuse from me,  just a need I had.
Cedar-eater,  you do much the same as I do,  excepting hours,  and I have bigger Cedar,  so watch out for those Cedars that have a big bole on the bottom and lean to where you can see the roots poking out of the moss.  They can perform some incredible tricks,  even if small!!!!
Woodman,  if it goes REALLY wrong,  I'm done.  Nearest town is four miles on a dirt road,  after getting out of the woods.  Where I cut now is 3/4 mile from that road.
Where the heck is my axe???

DanG

It certainly behooves all of us to take all the precautions that are available to us, but we are never really safe at any point in our lives. The closest I ever came to being injured by a tree, came at 3am while I was sleeping in my bed. A large limb from a gigantic Loblolly succumbed to gravity and plunged through the roof about 5 feet from me.
The point is, any of us can be killed or injured in any of our daily activities. Safety gear helps, but does not protect completely, and having help nearby doesn't guarantee getting out of a bad situation unscathed.
The bottom line is that we all do what we gotta do, and be as careful as we can. Stay alert, and know when to quit. Keep the insurance policy paid up, too.
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

Frank_Pender

Timber Beast, I suppose I am much like yourself and some others.  I prefer to work by myself.  I am the only one I have to worry about. It centers My attention.  I have been working in the wodds in some manner most of my life.   The last 35 years hgave been primarely by myself.  My boss use to work with me on the weekends some 22 years ago, but she quit, she says, because the fringe benefits fell in proportion to the work she was doing. :D :D  What falling I do, any more, is primarely here in the Tree Farm.  the majority of my  timber is 24" dbh pluse and 130' to 150' tall.  If I have a leaner I use both the "Johnnie Popper" with a bucket that reaches in encess of 14" and or wedges.  I ALWAYS ESTABLISH  an escape route and use the Humbolt face cut for falling.  I have always done my own skidding and moving of logs, both on the farm and on outside jobs.  I have never had a major injury of any sort.  Oh, there have been some scraps and such, but not stitches or broken bones.  I usppost that the odds myght catch up with me some day, but I will be going happily and doing what I have injoyed doing most of my life. 8) I sure did not want to have a heart attack in the classroom, teaching 12 year olds.  :'( So, I decided, after 30 years of that, that sawmilling and manicuring the Tree Farm was going to be where my final destiney was going to be, under a tree or beside.   ;)  I have no right to ask for more than that.  8) 8)  For skidding on jobs outside the Tree Farm I have used everything from wheel skidders to D4s,5s, and 6's  I have a 5 now but alwas use the John Deere 5300 to put the logs on a trailer and haul the directly tothe Mill on the Farm.
Frank Pender

Tillaway

I have been crunched once... while cutting blow down in Alaska.  Tens days in the hospital and six weeks flat on my back.  Physical therapy and I was back to work 3 months later... although not real productive.  Every faller I know has been crunched at least once with the exception of one... he lost three toes inspecting a logging operation and a big limb fell end first and drove his foot into the ground.  I was fortunate enough to have had help and a helicopter at our disposal.  More than a few can't remember what happened and woke up after dark and not able to walk and had to crawl back to the truck and attempt to drive to town.

Now when I cruise or do anything in the woods I carry a cell phone even if I'm not single jacking.
Making Tillamook Bay safe for bait; one salmon at a time.

Corley5

I got crunched once also.  A 6"dbh dead elm was too close to maple tree that I fell.  I looked the top of the tree over like I always do and nothing was tangled in it but something happened as the maple fell.  The elm caught me from behind, drove me to the ground forced my hardhat over my ears and when it popped back up the suspension ripped my ear which needed 18 stitches to reattach.  It also separated my shoulder, sprained an ankle and best of all fractured a vertebrae in my neck :o.  I wasn't hospitalized but spent several hours there for X-rays, CT scans and stitches. :(  I wore a neck brace for a month afterward.  That's why I never cut alone.  I wasn't alone then and am glad I wasn't.  If I hadn't been wearing a hardhat I wouldn't be here now.  This happened about 12 years ago and I like to think that I'm more careful now but s#*t still can happen.
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

NEPAUG_LOGGER

I cut & skid by myself, and I work as safe as possible using all PPE's, and techniques learned in the GOL 1-4.  There are still near misses every day.  I let my wife know where the job is (I actually drive her there), and I call at lunch and when I leave the woods.  I think about the risks constantly, but I have a job to do, that nobody forces me to do, so I try and make a game out of being safe.  Things like always hitting the chain brake when walking, and looking for overhead hazards.  I will clear the area around the tree so I have a good escape path, and I am not hesitant about leaving that beautiful tree on the icy side hill behind un-cut.  I've been in this for 10 years, and I have been to 3 logger funerals.  Two were killed in the woods, and one driving home from the bar at 2 a.m.  Think of your familys, and work safe!  Lang
ANYONE SEEN MY KEYS?

Jeff

Nice post Lang. Thanks. Making a game of being safe seems funny but when you think about it its a great Idea.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

dan-l-b

I do part time felling and logging on my own place alone.  I carry a walkie talkie in my breast pocket or coat pocket.  I let my wife know what I am going  and what I am doing ie. felling forwarding firewood cutting TSI, whatever, and where on the property I will be and when to expect my return.  Santa has promised kevlar chaps and boots belatedly.  I take my compact excavator with me to contend with leaners or other problems.  Safety has been drilled into me since I was a kid in the woods, but is always "good" to read about close calls and such... keeps one from becoming complacent. :P

Larry

I also cut and skid by my self.  To improve my chances of coming back out of the woods these are the things that I have done or do.
1.  Took GOL 1-4 about 3 years ago and practice what I learned.
2.  Wear my hardhat, chaps and steel toe boots.
3.  Let the landowner and my wife know where I am cutting and when I expect to be back.
4.  Keep the truck as close to me as possible pointed in the direction I want to go with the keys in the ignition.
5.  First aid kit in the truck.
6.  I have a pouch on my chaps with a Velcro closer.  Cell phone goes there with a case and a wrap of foam.  Never have lost one or broken one.  Only problem is making sure you have a signal.
7.  Pass on the tough trees until I have help.
8.  I take it easy when I am by self and take a little extra time to THINK.
I have had two close calls in fifteen years of part time felling.  A dead limb fell out of an adjacent tree when the tree I was cutting fell.  The limb cracked the handle on a brand new chainsaw.  The second came 3 years ago.  Was cutting brush out of a fence line and managed to make a cut across the toe of my boot.  The cut didn't get through but since I am still wearing those boots it is a nice reminder to be safe.  
Larry
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

NEPAUG_LOGGER

Them steel toe boots are a godsend at times!  Gloves are priceless pulling cable, even in the summer.  Later
ANYONE SEEN MY KEYS?

Ed_K

 I cut and skid alone also.I wear all the safety equipment, I also have a story board on the wall in the office, where I write down where I'm working on a particular day. I show my wife on a map with the back roads on it where I'm working. If the land owner is close to the job site, I like to let them know when I'm working on their land. I carry a cell phone too.
 I took the game of logging two years ago,1-4. Wonder some time how I stayed alive before. I've had two real close calls yrs ago, bucking up a sawlog steped into ahole in a ledge,and dropped the saw on my left leg, just above the knee cap, 4 stiches out side many inside. That was before I learned of the benifits of KEVLAR CHAPS. Had a headache maker come down on me,broke the strap inside my safety helmet, that taught me to wait 5 mins before limbing out.
 Light breakfast, lots of water and light lunch, keeps me more alert. Especialy during the summer when I do a lot of TSI work. The job I'm on now, I've hired a friend to chop just to have some one around. Now I worry about two people ;D.
 Ed K
Ed K

RMay

My dad use to say it is when you get good runing a saw that is when you will get hurt . He run a saw cuting logs 30 years before he got a 14'' d.b.h. pine on him & he did not live to talk about it . I allways think of it when I pick up a saw .Use p.p.e.,s and work safey.
RMay in Okolona Arkansas  Sawing since 2001 with a 2012 Wood-Miser LT40HDSD35-RA  with Command Control and Accuset .

OneWithWood

I am a weekend cutter.  I have made almost every mistake in the book but I have been fortunate to not get seriously hurt.  I work alone and I prefer it because there is only me to worry about.  I once took my dog with me thinking if I got pinned she would run to the house for help.  I was so concerned about her whereabouts that I was not concentrating on what I was doing.  Consequently I came very close to dropping a tree on her when it did not go where I wanted it to go.  I have since learned about directional falling and I don't take one of the dogs with me.
My work is confined to our 100 acres.  My wife listens for the sound of the saw, splitter, crawler, tractor or truck.  She says she knows I am okay if the pitch of the equipment is changing.  She worries if equipment stops or idles for longer than a few minutes.  I have broken down in the woods and all was quiet for an extended period of time and she dodn't come out so I don't know how comforted I should be :o
Now I carry a talk-a-bout and a cell phone for communication.
All in all I thiink we all realize this is a very dangerous line of work.  I do not dwell on it but I do make sure nothing is left unsaid between myself and those dear to me.
One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

Phil

At a Kentucky Master Logger class I sat in on a few years ago, there was a logger who had gotten his neck broken by a limb while out in the woods alone.  With an intense will to live and a "flopping head," he somehow managed to climb on the dozer and get back to civilization before losing consciousness.

Amazing.

Phil

David

I am not familiar with GOL , 1-4. Would someone please explain? Thanks.

Jeff

GOL  Game of Logging.

Here is a link that tells it easier then I can type it. :)

http://gameofloggingusa.com/

http://hosting.newnorth.net/fista/page4.html
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

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