Please note that in the Pacific Northwest, we commonly use the terms faller & falling rather than feller & felling, which are used in other regions. Find health and safety resources for the forestry industry: www.worksafebc.com/forestry
Same thing happened to me. I saw it coming and attempted to duck but it still caught my face. It ripped my skin from my skull from my eye up around my head to my ear. No amount of training can prepare you for a 400 lb widowmaker being thrown at you. I'm lucky to be alive.
should of not stopped running till 2wice the distance of the fallen danger tree... even if this is not possible. dont stop 60 ft away and watch. that was a mistake.
He was twice the distance from the tree, the slab was launched at him and covered the distance. The problem isn't the method, it is the job itself. So long as people are involved with falling trees, people are going to die.
It sounds to me like the faller did seek guidance, and then elected to do it on his own. He did use alternative falling methods. he didn't stand under the widowmaker and knock it down on himself, like the video says, he used not one, but several pusher trees to move himself far away from the dead standing tree. Something to note is that the slab didn't fall straight down, it moved a large distance horizontally to reach him, totally unexpected and no way anyone could have predicted that as it must have been under tension from the limb bound tree falling and then sprung back, or possibly hit an angled surface and deflected or the ground and bounced? I don't think the faller was negligent in any way, but took safety precautions, and was just very unfortunate to have a fluke. That's why falling is soo dangerous, because even if you work safely and take all sorts of precautions, shit happens.
I'm not an expert but that's what I kind of think too. It looks like to me he realized the danger, took steps to mitigate the danger, and just got REALLY unlucky, freak accident type unlucky.
I talked to an old faller who told me that back in the days, blasting was not such a big deal and explosive were readily available in camps. He believe it prevents workers from taking unnecessary risk.
Is it just me,or do widow makers heat seek and track fallers and launch at the nearest faller? Those things might as well be called nature's guided heat seeking missiles. Seeing that thing in the animation,it looks like it could hit a faller on the other side of the forest if it knew where he was.
There are so many employers who tell the employees to just do their job and get their work done. They don't care about safety at all. I know I had a massive rotator cuff tear that required surgery. At least I'm alive to talk about it. My heart and prayers go out to the family of the faller.
As a cell tower worker for many years, I had the opportunity to climb trees and fall sections. I didn't have big enough balls to do this. I'm still alive. Train continually, and never let your guard down. Bless those who do.
Felling trees on my own property has taught me that trees can be expected to do the unexpected very regularly. This sounds like a complicated case and I was intrigued to hear that there is an assessment that did address this situation.
Unfortunate that accidents are often caused by employers demanding faster work at the risk of lower pay. Employers need to take their employees health into account but sadly there always comes a point where human life is weighed against a dollar. Having said that, even a seasoned logger will be unlucky sometimes.
True, beenalogger for years. Never let your guard down,and pray to God for protection. Had a tree break my leg once. It could have killed me cause I never saw it coming.every days a new adventure felling trees.million stories a guy could tell. Couldn't have a better job though ......
Boy, that's a tough one. Its very clear it was a triple threat from watching the video created from the results of a full investigation, but when you are on the job site, its not as easy to assess every possible threat. I think it would be very difficult to foresee a slab flinging out like that. Faller number one was probably qualified to preform the fall, but sometimes things happen that are beyond our control.
Yeah, it seemed like he had a good method, I've seen that method used before, using the momentum of other trees to knock down a hazardous one. That was just shitty luck.
Don't get the design of american logger helmets. They cover up the eyes to much. You just don't find those in europa. Maybe because they block eyesight to much???
yeah these safty video people dont know how real work works. you can allways see al the dangers and it takes to mutch time to look at every posible way to get injured. look at 1000ways to die its a program about how people have died doign the most simplest of things. one guy whent to the bathroom and got crushed by a truck that tiped over it. what ever you do there is danger.
dunno when its tangled its going to put lateral stress on what it is tangled with which seems to be why a chunk ripped out and went sideways. Not a logger just a sperg with many loggers in his family
if they knew there were 25 dead and dangerous tree's why the hell was there no demolition guy brought in to make the area safe before other trees were felled? getting a demolitions guy in for a single tree is expensive, but it's bloody cheap when you have 25 to drop, wire them all up and remote trigger while everyone is several hundred metres away. a bloody sight cheaper than the insurance payout to the widow would have been.
The managers were lazy, stupid and made simple decisions difficult. Bad management should be criminally liable for any injury or death, because they are responsible.
When i was 10 or 11, my friend Mason and I would push over dead trees out in the woods when we were kids. There was this huge dead tree, almost too big for us to even push, but it had some wiggle to it so we got to work. Him on one side and me on the other, we pushed back and forth to get it swaying as much as we could. At that point youd usually start to hear cracking down in the roots/base of trunk and itd start to go over. We heard the roots popping below when suddenly, a large portion at the very top of the trunk (about 30' up id say) snapped off and began to fall. I could tell immediately which way it was going and went the opposite direction. Mason panicked and ran in the same direction as the piece was falling. It struck him ON END right in the top of his skull. Ill never forget how he dropped. Like a sack of bricks, just boom. On the ground. I ran over and started shaking him and yelling at him to wake up. the piece that came down was a good 4' long, 8in in diameter at least. A full minute or 2 went by, at which point i was bawling and getting ready to run for help. Mason woke up and started screaming, blood all over his head and face. I was so fucking happy he was alive. Helped him stand up and walked him back home. We were back at it a couple days later. Trees are indeed dangerous as hell. I wish this story had a happier ending like mine. Rest in peace.
my dad and i cut a decently sized tree for my aunt. first time ever. made me quickly realise how heavy a tree really is. easy to underestimate. but the sheer weight of a small portion can kill you if it were to land on you
Lesson learned: Fallers are expendable in the pursuit of profit. Don't ask for help because you will lose money and your work-mates will think you are a wimp. Eventually your luck will run out, but, don't worry, the company will replace you and keep on making profits for distant share-holders in their tropical island mansions or on their private yachts. Hopefully your widow and orphans will be comforted by the fact that you died doing a job you hate for people who will never even know your name.
That's the real lessons learned here. "Oops, boss is too busy making profit for the company. Oops, faller 2 determined 'eh, not my job to babysit faller 1'. Oops, faller 1 took all precautions but something random happened so 'f u faller 1's family, act of God, no cash for you lel'."
Oh man the widowmaker kept the loose slab on the danger tree, and when the widowmaker fell the slab came loose... I don't know how experienced you would have to be to see that thing falls the way it did...
I was a groundsman in a residential area butting up against some woods. The homeowner and some friends watched as I was pulling on a bull rope from approximately 90 feet away as the climber was falling a very tall elm. While everyone else thought I was standing in the safe zone, I had expressed my concerns otherwise. Sure enough, as the tree began to fall, it was headed straight for me! I didn't dilly dally and watch this behemoth tree descend on me - I quickly took flight! Good thing - as the entire top of the tree slammed down onto the very spot I had been standing mere seconds earlier. That's why whenever anyone is involved in this process to make sure you plan ahead, to clear your escape route of debris or trip points. The bottom line: if I hadn't done this simple task I wouldn't be here today.
Another job site that I'm lucky didn't kill me was where this tall tree overshadowed a smaller tree, making it hard for me to see the action going on because of the smaller tree's obstructive nature. Anyway, my climber-boss dropped chunks of material down so close to me I almost gone beaned a couple times. Yet he wanted me to somehow protect the delicate branches of this magnolia tree from damage. WTF was that about? He valued a stupid tree over my own safety? I tell you - this caused a lot of friction between us that day and when we yelled back and forth to each other about this the other guys working there with the homeowner clearing away piles of old brush told us we acted like we were married. Needless to say I no longer work for this guy because he was very abusive and cared not in the least about my well being.
@@LK-pc4sq Lucky for me I don't need to work that hard at it. 10 years I've been a ground guy now and I can pin point fall radius every time just by looking at the tree.
The trick is to break a straight stick so it the length of your arm, hold it up at 90° with the tree in the background then the tip of it will be approx the same height as the top of the tree when you are the height of the tree distant from it. Safe working practices say that you should be 1 1/2 the height from the tree being felled.
Unpredictable things happen no matter how vigilant you are. I see he took his time. Thought about it over night. It is tragic for sure. But those of us who make our living. Doing the #2 most dangerous job in the world. Know the risk. Second guessing what an experienced professional Faller should or could have done after the fact, Is pointless. We weren't there that day to evaluate all the conditions present. But looking and learning from it is still a good thing. Never stop learning. RIP brother. And to all my fellow Timber Fallers, stay safe.
He knew the danger tree was rotted out, meaning any part of it could go flying anywhere. He took precautions, but not enough precautions. He also wasn't standing close enough to the trees he was using as protection. Rather than standing behind one of the protective trees, he was standing in between them, which left him exposed.
Happened to my buddy. We call them 'cutters' in south east MO. Skidder Driver, Cutter and Buck Up man is a three man crew. First time, a random dead tree just happened to fall on him, only breaking his femur. Second time, years later, a dying tree he was cutting (hard to tell if they're rotted inside sometimes), split and spun, falling on him, chest and head. He survived but barely. Being a logger for many years def gave me PTSD. Props to the brave dudes that do this stuff for a living.
Inner rotted trees are the scariest in my opinion. Everything looks fine on the outside, cut your notch…solid. Make your final cut after wedging and about 1/3 of the way through the tree you’re running in any direction away from the tree. Having the opportunity to run means you got lucky. Plenty widow-makers snap in the fallers face and game over at that point. Teams are the only way to operate. An excavator will have a spotter, a welder has a fire watch helper, a doctor has a nurse, a mason has a tender, and a pilot has a copilot. When has anyone every seen a fire truck show up with one firefighter? Prayers to this man.
when you're busheling and on day wage on a big commercial job.there really is no time to assess situations like this extensively it's making quick decisions and run like hell.
I know at least six men that died while falling trees in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. One of the killed men was my neighbor; he was killed when the tree he cut jumped off the stump and hit him square in the chest, killing him instantly. Another friend of the family was killed when the saw bucked back and struck him in the neck..and the list goes on.
If the recreation is accurate, he thought he was far enough away from danger , but he clearly wasn't. the answer might not be in looking at the institutional practices as much as teaching a safe distance from that snag would be height x 1.1 Seems like he could have escaped a little further... in sketchy situations why turn around and watch what happens... the "joy" of watching a tree hit the ground isn't worth the risk.. turn around go and keep going until you HEAR the fall... and don't be shy about dropping the saw too... practice dropping the saw so you do it automatically in a hairy situation.. RIP and the rest of us stay safe...
Hard to say what he was thinking, but understand what your thought process is, and I agree that the further the distance the better. But for me, I prefer to be facing the tree as it's coming down. Not because I enjoy seeing it come down, but because I want to be able to monitor unforeseen hazards that may be coming towards me, so I at least have a chance to avoid them. You can't do that with your back turned. So I like to gain as much distance as I can (without the saw like you said), and then turn and face the fall. Stay safe.
betatalk357 totally disagree about it being a freak accident. it was totally forseen hence the danger tree designation. it is anything that is unpredictable. when watching the video they said he used his escape route and i was thinking thats not an escape route that was 2 steps. there was a tree to his left that i would have placed between me and the danger tree or better yet the smaller one further back on the right. now without being on the ground and seeing the terrain impossible totell which is better or if either is feasable at all. iworked in forestery before getting into landscaping. to answer your question. its called creaming. referencing scooping the yummy cream (the best) and leaving the stuff that takes longer and no money in it for someone else. you need to take the good with the bad. plus when you leave one cut block and go to another it can be hours of travel to come back and some you are flown into. this one in the video has a road in just saying
Good point about dropping the saw. He made several mistakes. He was distracted looking at something and didn't notice the break away. Best solution; get far enough back, at least as far as the highest falling object before it is in striking distance.
A set of binoculars is always good to carry. I always had a set when working. Always good to see where and what's hanging above. Sad but you can never be to safe. RIP faller 1. Just a bit a bad luck.
I have fell for over 50 years, the only thing that I can see that he did wrong was when the trees started falling as he stood in his safe place, ( he should have been looking up, (always in a situation like this) I had a very similar thing happen to me, I was lucky.....sorry that a young man had to die that way..
Yes there's a lot of stored energy in a tree. Before cutting one down you should consider the wind direction, tree lean,and drop location area. And notching is crucial.
I feel terrible for this guy and his family. Poor dude is just trying to earn a living and gets killed at work. Tragic! I have seen so many videos of accidents (both real and simulated) that it has made me far more safety conscious than anyone I work with. It's so frustrating when you try to convince a friend not to take unnecessary safety risks and you get told stupid shit like "real men don't need to bother with that", or "give me a break I've always done it this way and never had a problem". I had one guy tell me that just MINUTES after he told me a story how his vehicle had started on fire due to his unsafe wiring job!
Sometimes people with traumatic life events in their history cannot reason properly and kind of get it, but don't truly understand concepts: Think stupid criminals... there's a reason they appear stupid, because they have brain wiring that's been affected.
"You're the only one who always wears safety glasses, but you're the only one with any real eye injuries." Mmmhmm...and I'm still not blind. Despite not totally saving me from some pieces of metal, they've saved me from impact damage, boiling hot motor oil, etc...but nobody listens. I've lived it. This year saw eye injury number three, minor compared to the possibilities. Eye injury number one was without safety eyewear, because I had just taken them off at the end of a repair. Now they're on until I leave the shop for the day. Still, nobody listens. If they stay at it long enough, their time might come. I hope not, but that's not my decision.
The "just trying to earn a living" argument is ridiculous. Do you understand how many horrible acts are committed by people everyday "just trying to earn a living" This man was cutting down forests that took thousands of years to grow in one day.
I camt imagine how the family felt of that man. He's just doing his job....no one would wake up thinking they're going to die that day. It's so sad. My condolences to the family
My condolences to his family and friends. I was associated with several similar cases in my day. Im an ex qualified feller, trainer and assessor, within the forest industry. There was no way to he could know in advance, the dead spar had another section that was going fall backwards onto him. A 2nd opinion may or may not have made a difference. In hindsight, his escape route wasn't sufficient, and the other feller should have been there as lookout. I just hope they don't get into the blame game, nobody ever wins in this inherently dangerous occupation.
DIY'er. I was taught to clear two escape routes behind the tree, 45 degrees to either side of the expected direction of fall, so if the tree starts going the wrong way, you still have a safe (or at least "safer") path to escape. I never really considered part of the top of the tree just bailing out and falling wherever the hell it wanted, where perfect escape routes in every direction couldn't help. Scary stuff.
I like the generic ending ... don't work alone and get a supervisor after saying the supervisor was hard to get ahold of and people didn't want to help out because they would make less money.
Corporations make safety videos so they won't get sued. Not to actually help people. If they wanted to help people they wouldn't allow money to be their god.
My stepdad had a yarder beam fall and sever his leg almost in 2 as a result of a danger tree, but that was 30 years ago. Its amazing he can walk now despite his leg looking like its missing 60% of the muscle between his ankle and his calf
It seems like the widowmaker they highlighted fell down safely and here was another attached to the dead tree, right? That would've been impossible to see.
Understaffed. I work for a county. We have half the workers we had just 15 years ago. Nobody is concerned. The big wig had a meeting with some of the underlings. "We're understaffed so here is more duties for you to do".
Im no expert, but Im pretty sure this video says the cause of the accident was financial incentive, in particular greed of the employer, and the fault therefore lays with workers (and over-stretched supervisor) behaving accordingly.
After 50 years in the woods I can tell you clear an escape route 2x the height of the tallest tree being felled, then use it to take a leave of the area right after the tree starts to fall . I have seen trees chase back or swing around top wise and clear an area too fast for a human to escape. Then there is the widow maker, that branch or split tree just waiting to let gravity pull it to the ground regardless if anyone is under it or not. Distance is good, maybe not macho to watch you 'retreat', but safe.
Swinging on vines as a kid with my best friend...somehow it tied into a dead 40-50 ft pine that fell in 8-12 ft pieces on either side of us. The ground shook. Lucky to be alive
My father worked as a tree surgeon for 35 years. He said many times, "You gotta be smarter than the tree". He managed to out smart them all, but got lucky on unexpected surprises.
I wanted to work in the trades, but I dont want my life being in the hands of some lazy asshole with no regard for safety. That being said, I know a lot of places have honest, hard-working people that truly care about other people's safety in the workplace.
One trick I learned when dealing with hanging branches like that is to swing a good stout line over them with a hayhook tied onto the end. If it's too high up for that then toss a lighter length of baling string with something heavy on the end to help get the stronger rope up to it...
When it comes to cutting trees things sometimes go wrong even with good planning. I think this was simply a case of his escape route and distance from the hazard tree being inadequate. When you're working in wooded conditions, lugging a chainsaw and wearing a heavy boots, it can be difficult to get enough distance before trees start going over.
It seems a pity to me that the decision to fell the 25 dead cedar trees was taken at all: what purpose did that felling serve? They were only really dangerous to someone trying to fell them. The other live trees could have been felled around them with little hazard. This is clearly not a recreational area or park where the public might be put at risk from the large decaying trees had they been left. If left they would have continued to provide a valuable habitat for wildlife, including perches for raptors that would have helped reduce the population of creatures that might damage the young trees growing in the new forest. By the time the next rotation of trees were ready for felling the old dead cedars would probably have fallen apart and no longer be a hazard, whilst not restricting the growth of the new trees to any appreciable extent. It seems to me that what needs reviewing is not just the immediate safety concerns, but the whole idea that felling every last thing in a felling coupe is a good idea.
I think maybe bacause if you leave those trees standing, once the living trees are taken away from around them, they become incredibly weak and prone to falling or being blowing over
Overloaded crew, main problem! Two days for explosive setup, well worth the safety and life of this Man, Cutting any size tree is just plain dangerous no matter how you approach it, something that dangerous in a remote area is best left alone in my opinion. Sad that this Man lost his because somebody would lose a little bit of money.
I know nothing about this, but it seems like lesson learned might be to plan to crouch behind a large standing tree out of line-of-sight from the dead tree. Or, keep a rapid visual scan of all trees involved in the fall, looking out for crazy stuff.
Have the terms of tree felling changed or is the narrorator incorrect in his terminology? I only did this trade for a few years back in the early to mid 90s. I was a climber. When we removed trees it was referred to as "tree felling" not "falling". I believe personnel who specialized in this were known as tree fellers or "fellers" for short. Not "fallers". Being new to the trade back then it was easy to use what sounded like correct grammer but was actually incorrect. Experienced personnel were always quick to correct you. "For todays work we are going to "fell" those three trees in that meadow" would be the correct way to say it. I don't know though, maybe I'm wrong. But I know this, we didn't call them "danger" trees. They were referred to as "hazardous" trees and we would fell hazardous trees.
Horrible thing.I knew a faller that had 3 trees cut up and let a big spruce about 3 to 4 feet go.He had an escape trail cut out but one of the trees he was dominoing broke off on the top at about 14 inches and nailed him running through his escape route.A big man but dead all the same
I hired a faller to take down 3 - 130' eastern white pines, all living. The first thing he did was take out 3 nearby dead ones for his safety and the crew's, he said. One dead one wasn't even on my property, but he fell it anyway. I researched and learned that a mere 10' section of 35" diameter eastern white pine weighs 2,488 lbs. Don't know what dead tree weighs, but sure heavy enough. Leave nothing to chance.
The narration is not specific about what the faller did wrong, or what he should have done. 'Seek qualified assistance and consider alternative falling methods': sounds impressive but what exactly does that mean? It seems to me that the unfortunate man was desperately unlucky.
the widow maker didn't get him, the slab that came off the back did. He should have continued his escape route and not stopped to watch. But honestly, more than anything, hes just unlucky.
One of my friends was chopping a tree with friends and it fell and crushed him. I couldn’t imagine the terror of watching something that seems so sturdy and safe coming down on you, time must have slowed :(
Unfortunately there can be a lot of ego among fallers. These are generally guys who wake up before the sun with a get'after it kind of mindset. Speculating here, it's not like there was competition felling occurring but it sounds like the social pressure to shut up and get the job done could've been in the background of the conversation between the two fellers. Ultimately a failure of leadership and available resources combined with someone who wanted to get their job and not be embarrassed either publicly or privately. Can-Do attitude rues the day yet again.
Always Check/double check trees for dead limbs (widow-makers) that can break off and stab you while cutting. . Don't mess with any tree past 2' in diameter or weirdly shaped trees or ones with a branch lean you can't be sure of Don't cut rotten trees , or live trees connected to dead ones by limbs or vines- the pull and snap back can launch slabs(pieces of dead trunks) or limbs (window-makers ) like spears, even further than the fall distance. I'd stay with a 16" or 18" saw , wear safely glasses and gloves. Plan clear escape routes. Find someone with good logging/arborist experience to check your method. If in doubt. And probably just to check how you use a saw and cuts. I learned OJT, but that is not the best way and dangerous Watch for snakes , wear boots not tennis shoes LOL. For just firewood , If in doubt about a tree(like one with a widow-maker/ dead limb up there) , find another tree. Regards
My uncle got hit by a widow maker. The limb was 6 inches in diameter and fell 80ft. My uncle was hunting when this happened and was unconscious for 8 hours before he dragged himself out of the woods. I thank god he wasn’t married!
Physics is wack It’s pretty much impossible to not have something weird happen because the universe, given enough time, anything that can happen will happen no matter how unlikely.
Ouch, not sure why he stated in the danger zone. I had similar experience but to a lesser degree when I fell a tree and dead branch at adjacent fell on me when I went to look at the stump. It was not 500lb but when it hit me , it felt like 500lbs. I always stop and now and look up at any surrounding trees for hazards.
I spent some time shake block cutting up the coast in BC. Watching and hearing a snag toboggan down the mountainside after being cut is just unbelievable in the energy and power created. Falling in areas that have been hit by fire has to be one of the most dangerous jobs out there. Nice money though...
I don't know how anybody could have identified the slab as a hazard, because there was no "slab" before the problem tree was freed. If blasting was introduced to every problem then that become a hazardous factor in itself.
My boss in BC would have us remove all the dead and dead fall before work. It ended up becoming my main job and responsibility. I’m sure it saved us from many incidents.
I think the best adage, that applies is. Look for and expect the unexpected. Or the more common. Murphy's law. "Whatever can go wrong will." With routine jobs, it's so easy to get complacent. So never let it become routine.
I been in the tree climbing business for 38 years. Here is the rule. As soon as the tree tips over you pull the saw and run. don't stop, just keep running until the wood is on the ground.
A silly question: If a square notch was cut into the tree, and a 20 ton or more jack inserted and utilised, would that have reduced the risk of injury or death in this case? There was a video on YT a while back with a man using a hydraulic jack to fell trees. His claim was that the tree went where it was intended to go, with less risk of injury to the person felling the tree, or damage to surrounding property.
Please note that in the Pacific Northwest, we commonly use the terms faller & falling rather than feller & felling, which are used in other regions. Find health and safety resources for the forestry industry: www.worksafebc.com/forestry
I stay away from anything called "Widow maker".
Especially if her sister calls her that.
Unless you're single of course.
lol... dont walk 20 feet into the bush than ;p;p;p
That’s why you always make sure there are no branches above where you decide to pitch a tent.
It's only a "Widow Maker" if you are married.
It’s sad that they said if a worker took time to help another they would be paid less that day..... That needs to be thought out a lil better.
does reality scare you?
or maybe youre the boss and dont want people to find out that, thats how it works
@@mitchellz2872 tf you talkin bout? Does that scare him? You’re not in a movie.
@@mitchellz2872 wow kid ur so edgy
It's called piece work
Same thing happened to me. I saw it coming and attempted to duck but it still caught my face. It ripped my skin from my skull from my eye up around my head to my ear. No amount of training can prepare you for a 400 lb widowmaker being thrown at you. I'm lucky to be alive.
Sorry to hear that but appreciate your line of work
jesus christ i hope your face is okay man
Holly shit, I can feel the pain and horror reading your comment.
couldnt u just run further back u prolly sit ther n watch the tree fall
@@blobtheblob7975 He's from Cranbrook, BC. He wears a Bugs Bunny Halloween mask when he goes out in public.
when falling a danger tree, you must expect everything to go wrong, so that nothing goes wrong
should of not stopped running till 2wice the distance of the fallen danger tree... even if this is not possible. dont stop 60 ft away and watch. that was a mistake.
Murphy's Law
He was twice the distance from the tree, the slab was launched at him and covered the distance.
The problem isn't the method, it is the job itself. So long as people are involved with falling trees, people are going to die.
@@StormCat539YT even if he got behind one of the green trees he would have lived
I mean -- "danger tree." It's right there in its name.
It sounds to me like the faller did seek guidance, and then elected to do it on his own. He did use alternative falling methods. he didn't stand under the widowmaker and knock it down on himself, like the video says, he used not one, but several pusher trees to move himself far away from the dead standing tree.
Something to note is that the slab didn't fall straight down, it moved a large distance horizontally to reach him, totally unexpected and no way anyone could have predicted that as it must have been under tension from the limb bound tree falling and then sprung back, or possibly hit an angled surface and deflected or the ground and bounced?
I don't think the faller was negligent in any way, but took safety precautions, and was just very unfortunate to have a fluke.
That's why falling is soo dangerous, because even if you work safely and take all sorts of precautions, shit happens.
Macks Power I agree. It really does seem like a tragic freak accident.
This is exactly what I was thinking. Poor Fellow used the 3 good trees to his advantage. Then a freak accident happened. That sucks man
I'm not an expert but that's what I kind of think too. It looks like to me he realized the danger, took steps to mitigate the danger, and just got REALLY unlucky, freak accident type unlucky.
Final destination.
in one second.
I talked to an old faller who told me that back in the days, blasting was not such a big deal and explosive were readily available in camps. He believe it prevents workers from taking unnecessary risk.
Funny, I was thinking the same thing. Some line det cord would have been a lot safer...
All problems can be solved with the proper application of high explosives.
@@blackhawkorg take more then a little det cord to take those down.
Forty two years drilling and blasting in the logging industry in British Columbia, I can't count the trees I've blasted. Hundreds.
@@patgh63 were you related Mike Horvath from the Traxxon fame ?
Is it just me,or do widow makers heat seek and track fallers and launch at the nearest faller? Those things might as well be called nature's guided heat seeking missiles. Seeing that thing in the animation,it looks like it could hit a faller on the other side of the forest if it knew where he was.
that wasn't a tree; it was Jason Bourne
It wasn't the widow maker that killed him.
the new ones skip from logger to logger, depleting charge after about the second or third feller, depending on their constitution. Scary shit indeed!
Crazy thing is if he had stood maybe only a foot further over the 500# slab would have missed him!
I know right
I've cut forest down, done it for years! Every now and then no matter how safe you think your being something odd happens that can kill you.
Anyone lose limbs in the wood chipper???
Thats right Chris,it can happen to the best,i dont how much experience this bloke had before this,that bush looks fallen all over the place..
@iFIopsi K. try wiping with no TP.......
@iFIopsi K. Have you ever gone tree planting? I can walk through a forest my grandfather cut down and replanted.
@iFIopsi K. think about the house your living in,
There are so many employers who tell the employees to just do their job and get their work done. They don't care about safety at all. I know I had a massive rotator cuff tear that required surgery. At least I'm alive to talk about it. My heart and prayers go out to the family of the faller.
Sorry about your injuries. I agree whole heartedly .
...and then?
Actually not all there is boses e
Who do care thats y he hires multiple guys
Danger tree: the tree that fights back if you cut them down.
Errrr , naaa the danger tree was already dead / can't begrudge being cut down !
As a cell tower worker for many years, I had the opportunity to climb trees and fall sections. I didn't have big enough balls to do this. I'm still alive. Train continually, and never let your guard down. Bless those who do.
Training is nonsense and quite stupid, all this can be done through simple mimicry.
So you traded risk of instant death for slow death by cancer
@@gxlorp exactly my thoughts, how those 5g workers stay alive i have no clue 🤣🤣😂
Always sad to see somebody die when they're just trying to make a living. ◊ R.I.P. ◊ Faller #1
Felling trees on my own property has taught me that trees can be expected to do the unexpected very regularly. This sounds like a complicated case and I was intrigued to hear that there is an assessment that did address this situation.
Man, the universe had a sniper rifle on that man
Unfortunate that accidents are often caused by employers demanding faster work at the risk of lower pay. Employers need to take their employees health into account but sadly there always comes a point where human life is weighed against a dollar. Having said that, even a seasoned logger will be unlucky sometimes.
True, beenalogger for years. Never let your guard down,and pray to God for protection. Had a tree break my leg once. It could have killed me cause I never saw it coming.every days a new adventure felling trees.million stories a guy could tell. Couldn't have a better job though ......
Sounds like he was experienced and a freak accident happened. Its sad, and its a very dangerous job.🙏 to the family, friends, and coworkers.
Damn, 64 feet away. That’s when God is just out to get you.
For real
Not when the tree is 100+ feet high...
if the guy had moved in the opposite direction of the fall there wouldn`t be any accident. simple ..that said the guy was extremely unlucky
64 feet is less distance than between home plate and first base in baseball. Really not that far in perspective
@@coltafanan I’m so used to the acronym that it seems weird to type out “For real”
What a terribly freakish accident. Condolences to those who knew and loved the deceased.
Boy, that's a tough one. Its very clear it was a triple threat from watching the video created from the results of a full investigation, but when you are on the job site, its not as easy to assess every possible threat. I think it would be very difficult to foresee a slab flinging out like that. Faller number one was probably qualified to preform the fall, but sometimes things happen that are beyond our control.
Yeah, it seemed like he had a good method, I've seen that method used before, using the momentum of other trees to knock down a hazardous one. That was just shitty luck.
Don't get the design of american logger helmets. They cover up the eyes to much. You just don't find those in europa. Maybe because they block eyesight to much???
yeah these safty video people dont know how real work works. you can allways see al the dangers and it takes to mutch time to look at every posible way to get injured. look at 1000ways to die its a program about how people have died doign the most simplest of things. one guy whent to the bathroom and got crushed by a truck that tiped over it. what ever you do there is danger.
dunno when its tangled its going to put lateral stress on what it is tangled with which seems to be why a chunk ripped out and went sideways. Not a logger just a sperg with many loggers in his family
@@sirMAXX77 idk if he had just fell the tree that was dead the other trees wouldnt have fractured.
if they knew there were 25 dead and dangerous tree's why the hell was there no demolition guy brought in to make the area safe before other trees were felled?
getting a demolitions guy in for a single tree is expensive, but it's bloody cheap when you have 25 to drop, wire them all up and remote trigger while everyone is several hundred metres away. a bloody sight cheaper than the insurance payout to the widow would have been.
The managers were lazy, stupid and made simple decisions difficult. Bad management should be criminally liable for any injury or death, because they are responsible.
Always poop at the base of the tree 💩 🌳
When i was 10 or 11, my friend Mason and I would push over dead trees out in the woods when we were kids. There was this huge dead tree, almost too big for us to even push, but it had some wiggle to it so we got to work. Him on one side and me on the other, we pushed back and forth to get it swaying as much as we could. At that point youd usually start to hear cracking down in the roots/base of trunk and itd start to go over. We heard the roots popping below when suddenly, a large portion at the very top of the trunk (about 30' up id say) snapped off and began to fall. I could tell immediately which way it was going and went the opposite direction. Mason panicked and ran in the same direction as the piece was falling. It struck him ON END right in the top of his skull. Ill never forget how he dropped. Like a sack of bricks, just boom. On the ground. I ran over and started shaking him and yelling at him to wake up. the piece that came down was a good 4' long, 8in in diameter at least. A full minute or 2 went by, at which point i was bawling and getting ready to run for help. Mason woke up and started screaming, blood all over his head and face. I was so fucking happy he was alive. Helped him stand up and walked him back home. We were back at it a couple days later. Trees are indeed dangerous as hell. I wish this story had a happier ending like mine. Rest in peace.
my dad and i cut a decently sized tree for my aunt. first time ever. made me quickly realise how heavy a tree really is. easy to underestimate. but the sheer weight of a small portion can kill you if it were to land on you
Lesson learned: Fallers are expendable in the pursuit of profit. Don't ask for help because you will lose money and your work-mates will think you are a wimp. Eventually your luck will run out, but, don't worry, the company will replace you and keep on making profits for distant share-holders in their tropical island mansions or on their private yachts.
Hopefully your widow and orphans will be comforted by the fact that you died doing a job you hate for people who will never even know your name.
Lesson learned kids, never try anything.
That's the real lessons learned here. "Oops, boss is too busy making profit for the company. Oops, faller 2 determined 'eh, not my job to babysit faller 1'. Oops, faller 1 took all precautions but something random happened so 'f u faller 1's family, act of God, no cash for you lel'."
Forestry, one of those few industries where adding explosives can make things safer
I'm fairly new to logging but I have learned a lot from all of your safety videos thanks
Oh man the widowmaker kept the loose slab on the danger tree, and when the widowmaker fell the slab came loose... I don't know how experienced you would have to be to see that thing falls the way it did...
Sounds like he did everything right except retreat to an actual safe distance.
I always learn so much industry jargon by watching these videos, you can tell they're made for people who really do this.
Wtf I saw one of these videos and now I can’t stop
I was a groundsman in a residential area butting up against some woods. The homeowner and some friends watched as I was pulling on a bull rope from approximately 90 feet away as the climber was falling a very tall elm. While everyone else thought I was standing in the safe zone, I had expressed my concerns otherwise. Sure enough, as the tree began to fall, it was headed straight for me! I didn't dilly dally and watch this behemoth tree descend on me - I quickly took flight! Good thing - as the entire top of the tree slammed down onto the very spot I had been standing mere seconds earlier. That's why whenever anyone is involved in this process to make sure you plan ahead, to clear your escape route of debris or trip points. The bottom line: if I hadn't done this simple task I wouldn't be here today.
Another job site that I'm lucky didn't kill me was where this tall tree overshadowed a smaller tree, making it hard for me to see the action going on because of the smaller tree's obstructive nature. Anyway, my climber-boss dropped chunks of material down so close to me I almost gone beaned a couple times. Yet he wanted me to somehow protect the delicate branches of this magnolia tree from damage. WTF was that about? He valued a stupid tree over my own safety? I tell you - this caused a lot of friction between us that day and when we yelled back and forth to each other about this the other guys working there with the homeowner clearing away piles of old brush told us we acted like we were married. Needless to say I no longer work for this guy because he was very abusive and cared not in the least about my well being.
Trig and a prop prortractor would show where the top would land.
@@LK-pc4sq Lucky for me I don't need to work that hard at it. 10 years I've been a ground guy now and I can pin point fall radius every time just by looking at the tree.
The trick is to break a straight stick so it the length of your arm, hold it up at 90° with the tree in the background then the tip of it will be approx the same height as the top of the tree when you are the height of the tree distant from it. Safe working practices say that you should be 1 1/2 the height from the tree being felled.
@@Aholeintheozone I love that simple trick!
Unpredictable things happen no matter how vigilant you are. I see he took his time. Thought about it over night. It is tragic for sure. But those of us who make our living. Doing the #2 most dangerous job in the world. Know the risk. Second guessing what an experienced professional Faller should or could have done after the fact, Is pointless. We weren't there that day to evaluate all the conditions present. But looking and learning from it is still a good thing. Never stop learning. RIP brother. And to all my fellow Timber Fallers, stay safe.
He knew the danger tree was rotted out, meaning any part of it could go flying anywhere. He took precautions, but not enough precautions. He also wasn't standing close enough to the trees he was using as protection. Rather than standing behind one of the protective trees, he was standing in between them, which left him exposed.
Out of all the jobs that I do at home cutting down trees is by far the most dangerous. I hate doing it.
Happened to my buddy. We call them 'cutters' in south east MO. Skidder Driver, Cutter and Buck Up man is a three man crew. First time, a random dead tree just happened to fall on him, only breaking his femur. Second time, years later, a dying tree he was cutting (hard to tell if they're rotted inside sometimes), split and spun, falling on him, chest and head. He survived but barely. Being a logger for many years def gave me PTSD. Props to the brave dudes that do this stuff for a living.
Inner rotted trees are the scariest in my opinion. Everything looks fine on the outside, cut your notch…solid. Make your final cut after wedging and about 1/3 of the way through the tree you’re running in any direction away from the tree. Having the opportunity to run means you got lucky. Plenty widow-makers snap in the fallers face and game over at that point.
Teams are the only way to operate. An excavator will have a spotter, a welder has a fire watch helper, a doctor has a nurse, a mason has a tender, and a pilot has a copilot. When has anyone every seen a fire truck show up with one firefighter?
Prayers to this man.
This one is heart breaking. Everyone of us has been in this situation.
@Crocellian
I haven’t.
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WILL CHANGE.
No body has.. -_-
Everyone?
@@goms5559 fellers I would assume. Lots of people in lots of industries have been on dangerous situations due to cost cuts, however
when you're busheling and on day wage on a big commercial job.there really is no time to assess situations like this extensively it's making quick decisions and run like hell.
...and therein lies the problem.
That's true to a point but that's when experience comes into play.
Pretty much every industry preaches safety in the meetings then in the field its get it the fuck done.
I know at least six men that died while falling trees in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. One of the killed men was my neighbor; he was killed when the tree he cut jumped off the stump and hit him square in the chest, killing him instantly. Another friend of the family was killed when the saw bucked back and struck him in the neck..and the list goes on.
And this is why my kids are going to college.
@@Youngstown529 So they will be poorly educated and have ZERO skills, all the while starting their young adult life in massive debt.
Great idea.
If the recreation is accurate, he thought he was far enough away from danger , but he clearly wasn't. the answer might not be in looking at the institutional practices as much as teaching a safe distance from that snag would be height x 1.1
Seems like he could have escaped a little further... in sketchy situations why turn around and watch what happens... the "joy" of watching a tree hit the ground isn't worth the risk.. turn around go and keep going until you HEAR the fall... and don't be shy about dropping the saw too... practice dropping the saw so you do it automatically in a hairy situation.. RIP and the rest of us stay safe...
I'm sure the joy of watching a tree fall has long past, more likely since he was paid by volume he stayed too close to save time.
Hard to say what he was thinking, but understand what your thought process is, and I agree that the further the distance the better. But for me, I prefer to be facing the tree as it's coming down. Not because I enjoy seeing it come down, but because I want to be able to monitor unforeseen hazards that may be coming towards me, so I at least have a chance to avoid them. You can't do that with your back turned. So I like to gain as much distance as I can (without the saw like you said), and then turn and face the fall. Stay safe.
betatalk357 totally disagree about it being a freak accident. it was totally forseen hence the danger tree designation. it is anything that is unpredictable. when watching the video they said he used his escape route and i was thinking thats not an escape route that was 2 steps. there was a tree to his left that i would have placed between me and the danger tree or better yet the smaller one further back on the right. now without being on the ground and seeing the terrain impossible totell which is better or if either is feasable at all. iworked in forestery before getting into landscaping. to answer your question. its called creaming. referencing scooping the yummy cream (the best) and leaving the stuff that takes longer and no money in it for someone else. you need to take the good with the bad. plus when you leave one cut block and go to another it can be hours of travel to come back and some you are flown into. this one in the video has a road in just saying
Good point about dropping the saw. He made several mistakes.
He was distracted looking at something and didn't notice the break away.
Best solution; get far enough back, at least as far as the highest falling object before it is in striking distance.
A set of binoculars is always good to carry. I always had a set when working. Always good to see where and what's hanging above. Sad but you can never be to safe. RIP faller 1. Just a bit a bad luck.
Thanks for these videos. Probably saved me injuries if not my life.
I have fell for over 50 years, the only thing that I can see that he did wrong was when the trees started falling as he stood in his safe place, ( he should have been looking up, (always in a situation like this) I had a very similar thing happen to me, I was lucky.....sorry that a young man had to die that way..
Yes there's a lot of stored energy in a tree. Before cutting one down you should consider the wind direction, tree lean,and drop location area.
And notching is crucial.
I feel terrible for this guy and his family. Poor dude is just trying to earn a living and gets killed at work. Tragic! I have seen so many videos of accidents (both real and simulated) that it has made me far more safety conscious than anyone I work with. It's so frustrating when you try to convince a friend not to take unnecessary safety risks and you get told stupid shit like "real men don't need to bother with that", or "give me a break I've always done it this way and never had a problem". I had one guy tell me that just MINUTES after he told me a story how his vehicle had started on fire due to his unsafe wiring job!
Sometimes people with traumatic life events in their history cannot reason properly and kind of get it, but don't truly understand concepts: Think stupid criminals... there's a reason they appear stupid, because they have brain wiring that's been affected.
"You're the only one who always wears safety glasses, but you're the only one with any real eye injuries." Mmmhmm...and I'm still not blind. Despite not totally saving me from some pieces of metal, they've saved me from impact damage, boiling hot motor oil, etc...but nobody listens. I've lived it. This year saw eye injury number three, minor compared to the possibilities. Eye injury number one was without safety eyewear, because I had just taken them off at the end of a repair. Now they're on until I leave the shop for the day. Still, nobody listens. If they stay at it long enough, their time might come. I hope not, but that's not my decision.
@@iamtheliberated Yeah, I learned early on that chaps on bikes aren't just for looks.
The "just trying to earn a living" argument is ridiculous. Do you understand how many horrible acts are committed by people everyday "just trying to earn a living" This man was cutting down forests that took thousands of years to grow in one day.
I camt imagine how the family felt of that man. He's just doing his job....no one would wake up thinking they're going to die that day. It's so sad. My condolences to the family
My condolences to his family and friends. I was associated with several similar cases in my day. Im an ex qualified feller, trainer and assessor, within the forest industry. There was no way to he could know in advance, the dead spar had another section that was going fall backwards onto him. A 2nd opinion may or may not have made a difference. In hindsight, his escape route wasn't sufficient, and the other feller should have been there as lookout. I just hope they don't get into the blame game, nobody ever wins in this inherently dangerous occupation.
Theres a fkn rule never take your eye off the top or tree
It wasn't the top, it was a slab from the side.
DIY'er. I was taught to clear two escape routes behind the tree, 45 degrees to either side of the expected direction of fall, so if the tree starts going the wrong way, you still have a safe (or at least "safer") path to escape. I never really considered part of the top of the tree just bailing out and falling wherever the hell it wanted, where perfect escape routes in every direction couldn't help. Scary stuff.
I like the generic ending ... don't work alone and get a supervisor after saying the supervisor was hard to get ahold of and people didn't want to help out because they would make less money.
Corporations make safety videos so they won't get sued. Not to actually help people. If they wanted to help people they wouldn't allow money to be their god.
I once tried to push over a dead tree. I wasn't able to. But what I did manage is to break off the upper half(12+ft), which fell directly beside me...
My stepdad had a yarder beam fall and sever his leg almost in 2 as a result of a danger tree, but that was 30 years ago. Its amazing he can walk now despite his leg looking like its missing 60% of the muscle between his ankle and his calf
Remember these words.
Lost time is not worth lost life.
Even if it takes a month, your kids will still have you around.
My buddy's on Vancouver Island have been hurt so many times because of the danger from falling trees in the mountains
It seems like the widowmaker they highlighted fell down safely and here was another attached to the dead tree, right? That would've been impossible to see.
This is like an anti-advertisement for the lumber industry
Understaffed. I work for a county. We have half the workers we had just 15 years ago. Nobody is concerned. The big wig had a meeting with some of the underlings. "We're understaffed so here is more duties for you to do".
Im no expert, but Im pretty sure this video says the cause of the accident was financial incentive, in particular greed of the employer, and the fault therefore lays with workers (and over-stretched supervisor) behaving accordingly.
Had a friend up here in Maine get killed by this exact same accident recently very sad
I know I'm late. It's 2021 and I hope all of you in this work field make it home the way you came into work. Stay safe.
Explain your crude tardiness!
Too late for you to shup up
The upbeat guitar bgm really sells the "oops, try again" tone of this safety video.
I'm sorry for the man, and his family. RIP
After 50 years in the woods I can tell you clear an escape route 2x the height of the tallest tree being felled, then use it to take a leave of the area right after the tree starts to fall . I have seen trees chase back or swing around top wise and clear an area too fast for a human to escape. Then there is the widow maker, that branch or split tree just waiting to let gravity pull it to the ground regardless if anyone is under it or not. Distance is good, maybe not macho to watch you 'retreat', but safe.
Just use the force my gimp.
Swinging on vines as a kid with my best friend...somehow it tied into a dead 40-50 ft pine that fell in 8-12 ft pieces on either side of us. The ground shook. Lucky to be alive
My father worked as a tree surgeon for 35 years. He said many times, "You gotta be smarter than the tree". He managed to out smart them all, but got lucky on unexpected surprises.
I wanted to work in the trades, but I dont want my life being in the hands of some lazy asshole with no regard for safety. That being said, I know a lot of places have honest, hard-working people that truly care about other people's safety in the workplace.
One trick I learned when dealing with hanging branches like that is to swing a good stout line over them with a hayhook tied onto the end.
If it's too high up for that then toss a lighter length of baling string with something heavy on the end to help get the stronger rope up to it...
When it comes to cutting trees things sometimes go wrong even with good planning. I think this was simply a case of his escape route and distance from the hazard tree being inadequate. When you're working in wooded conditions, lugging a chainsaw and wearing a heavy boots, it can be difficult to get enough distance before trees start going over.
Prayers going out for his family its never easy
Rest in peace brother. Its a dangerous job stay safe
These simulations are amazing. They should put out more of these type of videos out.
It seems a pity to me that the decision to fell the 25 dead cedar trees was taken at all: what purpose did that felling serve? They were only really dangerous to someone trying to fell them. The other live trees could have been felled around them with little hazard. This is clearly not a recreational area or park where the public might be put at risk from the large decaying trees had they been left. If left they would have continued to provide a valuable habitat for wildlife, including perches for raptors that would have helped reduce the population of creatures that might damage the young trees growing in the new forest. By the time the next rotation of trees were ready for felling the old dead cedars would probably have fallen apart and no longer be a hazard, whilst not restricting the growth of the new trees to any appreciable extent. It seems to me that what needs reviewing is not just the immediate safety concerns, but the whole idea that felling every last thing in a felling coupe is a good idea.
@Anonymous Anonymous that sounds like the easiest lawsuit in history for that employee
It could very easily be a danger for workers as they're moving the downed trees around, no? Seems like it would be
I think maybe bacause if you leave those trees standing, once the living trees are taken away from around them, they become incredibly weak and prone to falling or being blowing over
👏🏽👏🏽🌱
Overloaded crew, main problem!
Two days for explosive setup, well worth the safety and life of this Man,
Cutting any size tree is just plain dangerous no matter how you approach it, something that dangerous in a remote area is best left alone in my opinion.
Sad that this Man lost his because somebody would lose a little bit of money.
I know nothing about this, but it seems like lesson learned might be to plan to crouch behind a large standing tree out of line-of-sight from the dead tree. Or, keep a rapid visual scan of all trees involved in the fall, looking out for crazy stuff.
Have the terms of tree felling changed or is the narrorator incorrect in his terminology? I only did this trade for a few years back in the early to mid 90s. I was a climber. When we removed trees it was referred to as "tree felling" not "falling". I believe personnel who specialized in this were known as tree fellers or "fellers" for short. Not "fallers". Being new to the trade back then it was easy to use what sounded like correct grammer but was actually incorrect. Experienced personnel were always quick to correct you. "For todays work we are going to "fell" those three trees in that meadow" would be the correct way to say it. I don't know though, maybe I'm wrong. But I know this, we didn't call them "danger" trees. They were referred to as "hazardous" trees and we would fell hazardous trees.
Sir, this is a Wendy's.
Dude that chuck seemed to leap off the tree toward him. Man he must have angered treebeard.
Horrible thing.I knew a faller that had 3 trees cut up and let a big spruce about 3 to 4 feet go.He had an escape trail cut out but one of the trees he was dominoing broke off on the top at about 14 inches and nailed him running through his escape route.A big man but dead all the same
I hired a faller to take down 3 - 130' eastern white pines, all living. The first thing he did was take out 3 nearby dead ones for his safety and the crew's, he said. One dead one wasn't even on my property, but he fell it anyway. I researched and learned that a mere 10' section of 35" diameter eastern white pine weighs 2,488 lbs. Don't know what dead tree weighs, but sure heavy enough. Leave nothing to chance.
The narration is not specific about what the faller did wrong, or what he should have done. 'Seek qualified assistance and consider alternative falling methods': sounds impressive but what exactly does that mean? It seems to me that the unfortunate man was desperately unlucky.
he shouldve focused on the widow maker immediately after the cover and during the fall
the widow maker didn't get him, the slab that came off the back did. He should have continued his escape route and not stopped to watch. But honestly, more than anything, hes just unlucky.
One of my friends was chopping a tree with friends and it fell and crushed him. I couldn’t imagine the terror of watching something that seems so sturdy and safe coming down on you, time must have slowed :(
Sad ,Sometimes just a extra set of eyes to look over the situation can be a big help spotting all the hazards.
Unfortunately there can be a lot of ego among fallers. These are generally guys who wake up before the sun with a get'after it kind of mindset. Speculating here, it's not like there was competition felling occurring but it sounds like the social pressure to shut up and get the job done could've been in the background of the conversation between the two fellers. Ultimately a failure of leadership and available resources combined with someone who wanted to get their job and not be embarrassed either publicly or privately. Can-Do attitude rues the day yet again.
It amazes me how many people are killed by trees every year. A gentleman died just this morning when a tree fell on his car during a storm.
I always have cut firewood with confidence: until I started watching these tree cutting fail videos.
Always Check/double check trees for dead limbs (widow-makers) that can break off and stab you while cutting. .
Don't mess with any tree past 2' in diameter or weirdly shaped trees or ones with a branch lean you can't be sure of
Don't cut rotten trees , or live trees connected to dead ones by limbs or vines- the pull and snap back can launch slabs(pieces of dead trunks) or limbs (window-makers ) like spears, even further than the fall distance.
I'd stay with a 16" or 18" saw , wear safely glasses and gloves. Plan clear escape routes.
Find someone with good logging/arborist experience to check your method. If in doubt.
And probably just to check how you use a saw and cuts. I learned OJT, but that is not the best way and dangerous
Watch for snakes , wear boots not tennis shoes LOL.
For just firewood , If in doubt about a tree(like one with a widow-maker/ dead limb up there) , find another tree.
Regards
My uncle got hit by a widow maker. The limb was 6 inches in diameter and fell 80ft. My uncle was hunting when this happened and was unconscious for 8 hours before he dragged himself out of the woods. I thank god he wasn’t married!
Rushed into tragic unplanned outcome. Have never heard of a vertical slab of tree disengaging from ANY tree before. How common is it?
Did his family get any compensation? Who was "considered" at fault? What was the final conclusion officially given ?
Physics is wack
It’s pretty much impossible to not have something weird happen because the universe, given enough time, anything that can happen will happen no matter how unlikely.
the family needs to seek legal counsel to decide who is at fault here.
Ouch, not sure why he stated in the danger zone. I had similar experience but to a lesser degree when I fell a tree and dead branch at adjacent fell on me when I went to look at the stump. It was not 500lb but when it hit me , it felt like 500lbs. I always stop and now and look up at any surrounding trees for hazards.
I spent some time shake block cutting up the coast in BC. Watching and hearing a snag toboggan down the mountainside after being cut is just unbelievable in the energy and power created. Falling in areas that have been hit by fire has to be one of the most dangerous jobs out there. Nice money though...
I don't know how anybody could have identified the slab as a hazard, because there was no "slab" before the problem tree was freed. If blasting was introduced to every problem then that become a hazardous factor in itself.
My boss in BC would have us remove all the dead and dead fall before work. It ended up becoming my main job and responsibility. I’m sure it saved us from many incidents.
The lesson I learned from this accident is to RETREAT FURTHER AWAY FROM THE DANGER TREE once the subject trees start falling!!!
I think the best adage, that applies is. Look for and expect the unexpected. Or the more common. Murphy's law. "Whatever can go wrong will." With routine jobs, it's so easy to get complacent. So never let it become routine.
kinda hard to predict the unpredictable.
Very glad this was recommended to me
Paid by the hectare? That's sounds ridiculous
I been in the tree climbing business for 38 years. Here is the rule. As soon as the tree tips over you pull the saw and run. don't stop, just keep running until the wood is on the ground.
A silly question: If a square notch was cut into the tree, and a 20 ton or more jack inserted and utilised, would that have reduced the risk of injury or death in this case? There was a video on YT a while back with a man using a hydraulic jack to fell trees. His claim was that the tree went where it was intended to go, with less risk of injury to the person felling the tree, or damage to surrounding property.
Dang, rest in peace.
Best thing to do is stop clearing swathes of forests and/or woodland.
Yes, the deadly Danger Tree. Only a fool would attempt to cut down the DANGER TREE
Better than the other safety videos I have seen. I like how they have tips for both employers, and employees as opposed to one or the other.
R.I.P. in peace Faller One
Rest in peace in peace?