PSA: Pay Attention at all times.

[boyst]

In any situation which could ever be dangerous, difficult, or suspect pay attention. Don't use your phone. Check your surroundings.

 

I don't need or want sympathy. I don't need the well wishes. I need people to be safe...

 

 

That being said. We were felling trees and a tree fell on my brother.  He is ok, concussed and broken bones. It could have been much worse. In literally the time it took for him to pull his phone out and answer a call the tree came down.

 

He was far enough away and the tree should have never fallen like it did. He was not paying full attention. That .01% of the thousands of trees I fell wasn't worth it.

[Buffalo716]

48 minutes ago, boyst said:

In any situation which could ever be dangerous, difficult, or suspect pay attention. Don't use your phone. Check your surroundings.

 

I don't need or want sympathy. I don't need the well wishes. I need people to be safe...

 

 

That being said. We were felling trees and a tree fell on my brother.  He is ok, concussed and broken bones. It could have been much worse. In literally the time it took for him to pull his phone out and answer a call the tree came down.

 

He was far enough away and the tree should have never fallen like it did. He was not paying full attention. That .01% of the thousands of trees I fell wasn't worth it.

I just saw a car/motorcycle crash on broadway sloan lovejoy line … fast speeds , not good

 

The motorcycle is basically on the train tracks

 

And yes Broadway is now blocked off

 

Praying for this young man or woman’s life and your brother

 

 

Edited June 11, 2023 by Buffalo716

[Your Brown Eye]

My dad's aunt died while strolling along the Genesee river and a tree fell on her.

[SinceThe70s]

1 hour ago, boyst said:

In any situation which could ever be dangerous, difficult, or suspect pay attention. Don't use your phone. Check your surroundings.

 

I don't need or want sympathy. I don't need the well wishes. I need people to be safe...

 

 

That being said. We were felling trees and a tree fell on my brother.  He is ok, concussed and broken bones. It could have been much worse. In literally the time it took for him to pull his phone out and answer a call the tree came down.

 

He was far enough away and the tree should have never fallen like it did. He was not paying full attention. That .01% of the thousands of trees I fell wasn't worth it.

 

Felling trees is an overtly dangerous proposition - but your thoughts apply to a dangerous activity that most of us engage in on a daily basis and by and large take for granted - driving a car.

 

Appreciate your post.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Situational awareness is a must in all facets of life.  

[boyst]

Head laceration, concussion, missing a square inch of flash on the top of his head, bilateral collapsed lungs, only one broken rib, but a broken sacrum, a broken foot, and several broken vertebrates, and completely crushed T9. No surgery needed, thankfully.

Edited June 11, 2023 by boyst

[Johnny Hammersticks]

Good lord man.  Sorry to hear about this.  I was thinking about trying to cut down a couple 30-40 foot cedar trees along my driveway that are dying.  Never done it before, but figured how hard could it be?  Maybe I’ll just pay to have it done. 🤔 

[boyst]

2 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

Good lord man.  Sorry to hear about this.  I was thinking about trying to cut down a couple 30-40 foot cedar trees along my driveway that are dying.  Never done it before, but figured how hard could it be?  Maybe I’ll just pay to have it done. 🤔 

If they are dying trees, there's a reason they're called widowmakers. The wood is not consistent throughout the tree, in some cases it's only the sapwood holding it up and that is unpredictable.

 

If you know any good old boys with a chainsaw they may be capable of doing it, but if you never done it before there's no reason to jump into it. Especially if you don't have the saw already. If you're going to just get a Lowe's chainsaw for 400 bucks you're better off just paying someone to cut them down. It'll cost more than $400 but the time will be the savings.

 

A cedar tree is pretty tough to cut down and because of the foliages it is susceptible to any gust of wind making it more unpredictable. They also weigh considerably more than the average tree with a very thin profile causing all of that weight be very focused. This is not allowed for a very easy control fall in some cases.

[ExiledInIllinois]

14 hours ago, boyst said:

Head laceration, concussion, missing a square inch of flash on the top of his head, bilateral collapsed lungs, only one broken rib, but a broken sacrum, a broken foot, and several broken vertebrates, and completely crushed T9. No surgery needed, thankfully.

Holy moly! All my well wishes and prayers for a full recovery!

[ExiledInIllinois]

4 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

Good lord man.  Sorry to hear about this.  I was thinking about trying to cut down a couple 30-40 foot cedar trees along my driveway that are dying.  Never done it before, but figured how hard could it be?  Maybe I’ll just pay to have it done. 🤔 

As you know... I work for the USACE. 😏... #1 cause of injury leading to death in the organization is falling a tree.

 

Yeah... You'd have thought it would have been a strained finger from  intense sudoku playing or a terrorist IED while building a hospital or landing strip in Afghanistan... But NOPE, it's tree cutting. 

[Draconator]

We're buying a house in Orchard Park with a number of dead pine trees surrounding the house. We know one of the first things we need to do is to clear the lot of those dead trees. 

[Wacka]

Guy three doors down worked for the town. They were cutting down a tree in the town park and it fell on him.  What probably was the major reason he died was that he was an alcoholic and was legally drunk on the job. 

[ExiledInIllinois]

On 6/12/2023 at 7:22 AM, Wacka said:

Guy three doors down worked for the town. They were cutting down a tree in the town park and it fell on him.  What probably was the major reason he died was that he was an alcoholic and was legally drunk on the job. 

Well... That'll do it! 😉 

[leh-nerd skin-erd]

On 6/11/2023 at 12:45 PM, boyst said:

If they are dying trees, there's a reason they're called widowmakers. The wood is not consistent throughout the tree, in some cases it's only the sapwood holding it up and that is unpredictable.

 

If you know any good old boys with a chainsaw they may be capable of doing it, but if you never done it before there's no reason to jump into it. Especially if you don't have the saw already. If you're going to just get a Lowe's chainsaw for 400 bucks you're better off just paying someone to cut them down. It'll cost more than $400 but the time will be the savings.

 

A cedar tree is pretty tough to cut down and because of the foliages it is susceptible to any gust of wind making it more unpredictable. They also weigh considerably more than the average tree with a very thin profile causing all of that weight be very focused. This is not allowed for a very easy control fall in some cases.

Inherently and exceptionally dangerous line of work.  I’m happy your brother is recovering but holy crap, what a life changing turn of events. It’s amazing no surgery is required! 
 

Off the top of my head, knowing a few tree guys:

 

A guy working on a property I own was on a line with another guy, torquing on a smaller tree while another guy was in the air, cutting.  The line guy moved a bit for better torque, snapped his ankle and femur.  Ironically just saw him the other day and he told me it was painful af. 
 

Same guy told me earlier in his career, a guy up in a tree was cutting near the top, small section of trunk and branched fell wrong, went between his legs, severing arteries in both legs. Bled out on the way down. 
 

Kid went into a wood chipper used by the tree company 5+ years ago. Day laborer, 21 or so. Shirt got caught. 

Guy I know was cutting a small tree with a chainsaw, hit a chain link fence, saw kicked back and took a notch 75% of the way through his shin. 
 

@Johnny Hammersticks if you have any hesitation at all, hire a pro. 

 

[BarleyNY]

Buddy of mine needed some large trees taken out. Was thinking of doing it himself. New homeowner at the time and didn’t have any knowledge, but decided to get a price on having someone else do it. The first guy that came out to quote him was missing an eye and several fingers. He just hired the company. Said it was either a job that was dangerous af or the company picked the right guy to come out and quote to scare people. Either way, not worth the chance. 

Edited June 15, 2023 by BarleyNY

[Wacka]

Not broken bones or death. My brother works for the county highway dept. and in the fall, they cut down dying or dead trees in the county right-of-way.  They are cutting a tree  right next to the guard rail  and one of his crew  leans on another tree that was also  adjacent to the rail. Someone notices that the  vines growing up the tree are poison ivy (a few red leaves left). That guy got a pretty bad rash. They had to put on gloves and respirators while cutting that one down.

 

Also in the  work garage, they were working on one of the trucks. My brother is leaning over  an stands up straight.Hits his head on an edge and the blood starts to gush. Ended up with 8 staples in his head. Only stayed home a day or two. 

He's in his 50s and his hair is thinning. Look closely and you can see the scar.  His hoodie looked like a massacre.

Edited June 16, 2023 by Wacka

[boyst]

1 hour ago, Wacka said:

Not broken bones or death. My brother works for the county highway dept. and in the fall, they cut down dying or dead trees in the county right-of-way.  They are cutting a tree  right next to the guard rail  and one of his crew  leans on another tree that was also  adjacent to the rail. Someone notices that the  vines growing up the tree are poison ivy (a few red leaves left). That guy got a pretty bad rash. They had to put on gloves and respirators while cutting that one down.

 

Also in the  work garage, they were working on one of the trucks. My brother is leaning over  an stands up straight.Hits his head on an edge and the blood starts to gush. Ended up with 8 staples in his head. Only stayed home a day or two. 

He's in his 50s and his hair is thinning. Look closely and you can see the scar.  His hoodie looked like a massacre.

When working on tight conditions and because ofy stature I almost always wear "head protection". My hair is thinning and the slightest knick blood comes pouring out. In summer I wear my welding beanie, in winter a stocking cap. 

[ExiledInIllinois]

45 minutes ago, Wacka said:

Not broken bones or death. My brother works for the county highway dept. and in the fall, they cut down dying or dead trees in the county right-of-way.  They are cutting a tree  right next to the guard rail  and one of his crew  leans on another tree that was also  adjacent to the rail. Someone notices that the  vines growing up the tree are poison ivy (a few red leaves left). That guy got a pretty bad rash. They had to put on gloves and respirators while cutting that one down.

 

Also in the  work garage, they were working on one of the trucks. My brother is leaning over  an stands up straight.Hits his head on an edge and the blood starts to gush. Ended up with 8 staples in his head. Only stayed home a day or two. 

He's in his 50s and his hair is thinning. Look closely and you can see the scar.  His hoodie looked like a massacre.

I used to work in hydrographic survey with the Upper Mississippi crew between Quad Cites and Dubuque... Poison ivy was everywhere cutting line for a baseline. Some of us that were allergic to it just learned to live with the urushiol rash and take a cold shower (hot shower opens pores) and scrub any oil off immediately when getting back to the hotel at night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ExiledInIllinois]

Like to see great "risk assessment?" /sarcasm... Watch this... WARNING⚠️: If stuff like this bothers you, don't watch.

 

Wanna a lesson in situational awareness? Check these high-speed clowns!

 

The chick in the green bikini steps up her leadership game.

 

Best comments: 😆 

 

"Noticed Mr. Clean regaining consciousness for a moment but when he saw everybody got hurt because of his incompetence he played unconscious again."

 

"The girl in the green bikini was amazing - was thrown the most violently, yet gained situational awareness immediately. The first to check others safety, signal for help and assist others. You cannot train for that - you just have to be like that. Inspirational."

 

"Green Bikini's danger awareness meter: 10 Purple Bikini's danger awareness meter: 1"

 

The full play-by-play:

 

[boater]

On 6/11/2023 at 12:46 AM, boyst said:

completely crushed T9

Ouch. That's going to be a lifelong condition to reckon with.

 

And broken rib... those suck. You can't breathe, and God forbid you attempt to laugh.

 

I hope for an uneventful recovery.