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Been out for a week, unfortunate accident...

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2K views 30 replies 13 participants last post by  Doug1 
#1 ·
So I have been away form the forums for a week. Wanted to take the opportunity to apologize to some. I know some of you have been waiting patiently for some videos, and some new members I have begun a conversation with and left right in the middle.:rolleyes:

Any how last week while working I had an accident. I am a Landscape Contractor and were doing a significant tree trimming Job in a neighborhood. I was using the extend-able chain saw to remove about a 5" branch and it came down in to the old face. Broke my nose fell back and split the back of my head open. Took some stitches and made my nose a little less pretty but, I guess I am still a pretty fella:p. Now my guys are supposed to tie off any branches with a diameter of 2.5" or more, for issues that are obvious. The particular branch was tied off but the cable clamp was not secure. I would rather this happen to me than my men, they are good guys and been with me for a long time.;)

I am the owner but go on jobs with my guys regularly, cant see the sense in being lazy and useless when I am in perfect good health. This is one I wish I would have been doing tank maintenance or something different.

Any how to those patiently waiting for my replies that never came, I apologize. Some times things happen, but I am back around again:D
 
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#3 ·
Sorry to hear about the face. Hope you are feeling better soon.

My father also has horrible luck with tree cutting. Of course he burns wood so he is doing it a lot so his percentage is up. I think he has dropped 3 trees on himself, 1 on his truck, and 1 on the dog. (dog lived but was a little scared)
 
#5 ·
love the reply Shaggy:D
Mikeman, now you know how a couple rounds with Mohamad Ali is.
You have to duck, float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.
Sorry your "hickups" haven't stopped yet. About the head, you ok?
Mine's getting a CT scan Thurs. Still having a lot of trouble froma car wreck in '86...a treeee. I pushed the steering wheel out the windshield with my back when I hit a tree, came to in a creek.

Not good timing for the new house:(
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the kind words all. You know a hard hat is a great thing and I make it regulation with my company. But those dam things don't cover everything.

Marc you got me Lol... Not really, now with a bit of time i probably can get a vid or two done.

Good luck with that ct Japonicus. Those aren't fun, Or weren't back in the day. Had one about 8-9 months ago. Took 5 min, no offensive noise and no big deal. Hope you get the new machine That I had, no jk I could have gone to sleep on that bench...
 
#8 ·
Wow Mike, glad your alright brother.... Was wondering where you went... We was about to send a search party out... I had a 10' limb of a branch nail me in the head a few years back.. if I woulda looked up I would have lost my eye.. had to get 4 stiches in my forehead... Thanks god for safety glasses..
 
#9 ·
Welcome back :) Real question is did it improve your looks?

Still hurting myself from a much more intentional act of stupidity. 350lbs radial arm saws are not meant to be moved around by hand on a regular basis when organizing your garage after a move..... At least you can blame gravity...I can only blame myself being pissed off and just moving it :)
 
#12 ·
Hmm, Loosing eyes, moving saws, and all your posts. I'm glad for the support from my TRT friends.

Better looks, Well I was always a rough looking fella, a laborer my whole life. In my own eyes I like the scars and the stories behind them. I will say my kids sure did come out looking good, maybe my wife's side though...

Nate you could not have said it better. Had a buddy about 7 years ago get nothing more then a glance on the calf, well that little touch nearly took off a leg. You got to wonder if a machine can cut through an oak what can it do to you.
 
#13 ·
Mike, you familiar with a 5HP mid 70's Homelite chain saw?
I got one with a 32" bar. Litterally do not have to bend over to
trim limbs on the ground. That's one very heavy saw with manual
chain oiler, and zero safety devices. I fell a 38-42" black oak tree
10' from our house. The notch was over my head as the tree was on a steep embankment to a ravine. Holding that saw over my head
to notch it was the most gruelsome demanding feat I've ever done with any saw, and don't 4get to pump that oiler while you're at it.
We started with 1 and 2 man cross cuts for firewood before that.
I was never over weight.

The ct scan is a sinch I worry about the nationwide epidemic of overdosing of the radiation, and on my head. I've had 4 MRIs and yes
they are very obnoxious. They won't see anything up there anyway:lol:
 
#14 ·
man, I had a friend he got his right in the foot, he thought he had his short bar saw and it was a longer one :doh:

make sure that chain is not revved when you put it down!

Japonicus, my dad had the same saw until we had an incident and a very close call, needless to say he sold it after that, but what a nice machine it was, almost nothing you could not fell with it!
 
#16 ·
man, I had a friend he got his right in the foot, he thought he had his short bar saw and it was a longer one :doh:

make sure that chain is not revved when you put it down!
Tell you what, that is a great point. I had a skill saw jump away from me back in the framing days. A little prop on the foot and a quick chop go very fast. But when you put that sucker down, well...^^^
 
#15 ·
Indeed there is some familiarity with that product.:cool:

Over the head cuts:rolleyes: not an easy feeling. But any one in the woods or in the particular trade where it demands has to do it eventually. My old man grew me up with a wood stove for heat and I remember many of summers splitting stocking and driving up and falling trees. Just a lad learning the way of a chain saw, and this last incident was close enough for me.:nuts:

I will say I feel fortunate enough though, could have give me a nap that I would have not woken from. I dont think allot of people understand that it takes little weight and not to much velocity to have a fatal headache.:p
 
#18 ·
Glad you re OK Mike, I live out in the country and have cut and burned wood fo 30+ yrs. I hate overhead cuts, even with a small saw. I hace nicked the toe in steel toe boots a time or 2, Now when I cut anything not down I wear chaps, mesh goggles, all that. We have a lot of pine from last year that is decked that I buck up, wife makes me get someone to be out with me if she cant, as wel as a serious first aid kit, When we go up in in mountains cutting hardword, everyone wears safety gear, we usually have 2 4WD with trailers and An EMT friend with his Cherokee, no back seat, major trama first aid kit, none of the three of us has had a nasty screwup but we have hauled a few people off the mt. in the jeepulance. If you work around saw blades a box of maxipads are your friend, trust me. The EMT has his official Radio, more than once we have called in a have ambulance meet id at bottom of the mt, so far no one has needed a dustoff, but one incident where a guy was cutting with a large saw in sneakers slipped of the log, landed on bar and sustained a NASTY cut across top of thigh missing Femoral by half an inch, that one was a tossup. We wer up high, called in the incident and said we were rolling down in the Cherokee, Got on the Log truck CB channel and let them know we were hauling A and B, we had log trucks pulled over, crew bosses prerunning and getting theroad cleared, and 2 Crew Cab trucks with 1st aid and stokes following us down the mt in case the jeep broke. All this time we have radio contact with Mercy Flight who are in route and waiting to be advised, met ALS bus at the cross roads at bottom of the hill and let them take over. They redressed the pressure bandage, plumbed him for fluids and had the chopper detour slightly in a standby, but got him in and were able to patch him up just fine.
Complascncy is even wrse than stoopid, Fortunatly that one ended well, but a chain saw is like a cross between a pirahna and a motorcycle, give it your undivided attention, cause it will hurt you and not feeel remorse
 
#19 ·
we got really lucky Doug, we had steel toe boots, but thats about it, no chaps and some times we had sunglasses. the only time we were allowed to go wood cutting was at the end of the logging season, so after a couple weeks we were the only people on the hill, with nothing but a HAM radio and sometimes a shot to the repeater. we marked the spots we could get a shot at the repeater on the map so if anything came up we would know were we could call for help. having a wood burning stove as the only heat source for 6 years will do it to ya.
 
#20 ·
Ah, Doug a smart man you are. Growing up I felt very comfortable with my old man. Paramedic Captain for Sun city FD for 21 years, and now sits as Asst Chief. He will retire in the next 8 months. I can always remember as a kid the stories and safety that came with being around dad. Always brought his kit with him, I think you know what I mean by kit, Like the Jeepulance^^^. This was just one of those things where I got bit. Have had some close calls in the past.
 
#21 ·
I hear ya Mike, I was a river guide for years, the guys that taught me were Dr, DDS, and EMTs we always had enouugh med supplies to deal with anything short of a heart transplant it seemed. We did not have cell phones back then, but there "may have been Marine Radios in a few rigs, and down in town, as well as SSB CB radios with 100 watt kickers in trucks, as wel as EMS/Police radio.
Having said all that I have to admit that while out working in the field in my super duper "Packers Boots" I stepped in a gopher hole and managed to turn my ankle some, not crippling but annoying, I sit on the back posrch soaking it in Ice Water.
I am so used to my old Dell lappy with the battery that is old and 15 min run time unplugged, i often forget that I can now sit and surf on Dyans new Acer with wifi ;)
And yes I feel stoopid, thanks fr asking :)
 
#26 ·
Thanks guys. Tell you what, who would have though TRT to be 2nd family?? Makes a great place to pass the time for feeling under the weather.

Hope that ankle gets better Doug, in my younger days I let the drink rule me a bit. Been over 10 years without a drop, but had a bad ankle roll in the day. Never fun and you don't realise how much you depend on certain joints until you do give it a roll, or a smash.
 
#29 ·
who cares about a crutch or not, I guess they say 1-2 beers a week or 1-3 glasses of wine a week is healthy for you, but I like to eat a few cookies at a sitting, not just take a little bite and put it away if you know what I mean :p

when my wife got pregnant and we moved to a dry area here in TX it was easy not to drink :arg:
 
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