Posted on 01/03/2021 12:48:13 PM PST by SamAdams76
Lumberjacks, arborists and other tree professionals cut down an untold amount of trees and stumps every year. The extremely high risk associated with tree felling requires them to undertake precautions and measures to protect themselves. Despite the safety precautions, many people still get injured in the line of duty. Tree felling is extremely dangerous, that is why most people rely on professionals to get the job done. Of course, not all tree felling is performed by professionals. Hobbyists cut trees too, along with many property owners, but most of them are backed by decades of experience.
Facts and figures
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, logging and tree felling is the most dangerous industry to work for, with over 200 people dying every year from tree felling-related accidents. In 2012, 60 deaths associated with tree maintenance were reported, and another 120 fatalities recor in the forestry and logging industry. The majority of these fatalities were caused by contact with logging equipment like axes and chainsaws, transportation accidents, falling from and being crushed by trees. 200 might seem like a small number, but it is only the tip of the iceberg. It only includes people who died from their injuries. Thousands of tree felling professionals and support staff get injured from tree care and removal every year. While undertaking safety measures and precautions will not completely eliminate the risks associated with the industry, many of the injuries that occur every year are entirely preventable.
The dangers of tree felling
The most basic danger faced by logging professionals comes from the tools and equipment they use. Machinery like wood chippers, chainsaws, log splitters and other hand and power tools are incredibly dangerous, especially if handled by someone untrained or unprepared. Reckless use is a particularly serious problem as not all who die from tree felling-related injuries are professional tree fellers. Many of the tools that are used by logging professionals are freely available on the market. There are a lot of chainsaws for sale online, and with a few clicks on the computer, someone can become an owner of a chainsaw. A momentary distraction and a chainsaw or wood chipper can cause severe injuries to the person in the blink of an eye. Once injured, the person is certain to face financial ruin due to the cost of hospitalisation and the long period in which they are out of service. Even experienced professionals, people who have been using the equipment for years, can still get injured.
Another major source of danger for tree felling professionals is the trees they work with. A lot can quickly go wrong in the process of cutting a tree down. While the government has mandated the use of safety equipment, many people and companies still cut trees without the requisite tools and equipment. These people are at a greater risk of falling from the tree and injuring themselves. Even those with proper equipment are susceptible to falls, albeit at a reduced risk. Electrical lines can also hurt people out in the field. A tree can fall the wrong way and hit an electrical pole or line, and the live wires can electrocute the people nearby. There are also hazards that reside within or on the tree itself. Many species of poisonous and toxic plants and insects make trees their home. Workers who are not wearing the proper protective gear, upon contact with the creature, can find themselves rushed to the emergency room. Some trees even emit poisonous fluids. Dead and dying trees, and trees with rotting wood, pose a major risk to arborists and lumberjacks. A tree that is dying is more weak and unstable, and workers have a more difficult time predicting and controlling how it comes down. The trunks of dying and deceased trees are often hollowed out, and their limbs more unstable and prone to falling without warning.
Finally, a lot can go wrong while the tree is falling down. No one can be completely sure that a tree falls down according to plan, and they have to prepare for the deviations that may occur. Sometimes, those deviations can be disastrous, like a tree falling on a home, on power lines, or on people. They might do everything by the book, prepared accordingly, and something still can go wrong.
Worked with a gal in Seattle years ago. Her boyfriend was the logger who cut the tree down for the Toyota 4 doors no waiting ad. She was an Amazon .. he was a beast.
Hoorah! Ahh, a huge R3 Ponderosa Pine dropped right down the hall with no room for error!! Safe tree felling takes a great deal of skill, experience -and- humility... Respect is needed for the trees being felled, respect for the chainsaw and safety equipment and always a great feeling of gratitude, never taken for granted, when things go as planned.. Great response to the successful felling by this sawyer.
Thanks for posting!š
That is indeed impressive.
My buddy and me was looking for work. They said they needed tree fellers, but there was only two of us so we went to the pub instead.
Oh, big whoop. There was at least six inches of extra room.
Just kidding. Very nice job of aiming, and I’d bet that they spent a fair bit of time preparing the landing area, too. A tree can kick sideways when it hits.
I was a cutter on a Forest Service hotshot crew for several seasons. Made a lot of mistakes, but never seriously injured (a few times only by luck).
Nice!!!!!
I’m pretty doggone good if I must say so myself. However, I took out my basketball hoop last summer, because I was cocky. Lesson learned!
The bark doesn’t look like a ponderosa. I think it’s Douglas fir, but hard to tell from the brief clip.
Wow. No twisting!
I watched that video in its entirity ....what a good job he did. I have felled many trees over my 50-60 years and just like all the tools I have used while in the building trades it comes down to never lose your concentration while using ANY of them and to always be overly cautious. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
ROTFLMAO. That’s good.
Just damn.... suicide by tree.
Can’t burn anything but hardwood in our $4,000 fireplace furnace that heats our 5,000 sq.ft. log home. Even at lowest setting non-hardwoods would overheat and burn way too fast.
My saws are a 20 year old 16” Stihl 021 and 3 year old 24” Husqvarna 460 Rancher (60.3cc, 3.6hp) that I got to replace my old workhorse, commercial-grade Husqvarna 359 (59cc, 3.9hp) that was destroyed in a freak accident that made me sick. The 460 is a slightly larger engine, and seems as powerful as the 359, but don’t think it is commercial grade like the 359 was.
I use a Dremel to sharpen my own chains.
Good on you. I augment my gas furnace by wood fires so I cut a lot of wood. I don’t have the acreage you have but I have few problems finding free wood in my area.
Most of it is already felled for me - i just buck it and haul it home to split.
Keeps me in shape!
Yeah, I think cutting wood, bucking it, hauling it, splitting it, and loading it in fireplace is not only good exercise - it is therapeutic!
That gif is a bit worse then the worst case I had.
It was a large, diseased, cottonwood that was leaning the ‘wrong way’ for the safety of our kennel building, and complicated by other surrounding things we didn’t want destroyed. I had a long channel of about 8-10 feet wide to fell it into.
I looked, plotted, and planned how to do it, then went inside to have lunch.
While eating, we heard a gawdawful crash outside: God had taken it down, on that windless day, dropping it in the center of the safe zone!
Some good wood at the base had caused it to twist as it fell, lining it up perfectly, missing everything.
I’ll be 75 in April, and cutting/splitting wood since my pre-teen years. Read my # 36
Incredible story! Amazing!
Don’t cha love it when God does it instead of us?
Windless day? Right in safe zone?
Yup. Had to be God!
I’ve cut down more trees than I can count. Mostly for BBQ wood as well as fire wood. I finally met one I wouldn’t touch. A thirty foot pecan tree twenty feet from my house died. I found someone who came in and took it out from the top down to the ground. It was quite a scene to behold. I was amazed at the precision that was involved.
There were prayers of thanksgiving offered, when we went out & looked at it, that’s for sure.
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