Made some mistakes today

[Bspring]

I cut a large pine tree down that was in the way of my future wood shed. I wanted some weight in the back of the truck while trying to pull the stump so I loaded it up with some of the logs. One of them broke lose and slid forward taking out the back window. If that wasn't enough while dumping the stump later that day with my loader I ran over a stick about one inch thick and it got stuck under the hood. I was leaning off the side of the seat trying to work it loose and eased the tractor forward. It snapped lose and busted my nose open. I bleed like a stuck pig. I decided that was a good time to call it a day. Under the circumstances I neglected to take a picture.

 

[thewoodlands]

Bspring hope your a quick healer, have a happy thanksgiving.


zap

 

[Danno77]

busted nose means it was dang close to your eyes. When you are hurtin' it's hard to remember your blessings, I know, but you were lucky. Noses heal a lot better than eyes. sounds like a crappy day, hope the next one is better.

 

[OhioBurner©]

We all have bad days every once in a while. Just got to realize it could always be worse.

I dont think I ever told the story yet but my first big wood cutting day this spring was a real downer. I only get to cut every once in a while since its a long drive. Was going to get up at sun up and cut all day. Woke up with diarrhea and felt crappy from the start. Think I had a slight fever, felt week, and sweating. Should have just stayed in bed. But was determined to cut wood. On the way to the farm I picked up a gallon of water and a couple large things of gatorade to stay hydrated. Took it slow and easy and for the most part the day went well and I cut several 6' bed fulls. Then I was on my last tree (since it was soon going to be sunset and I still had to load and haul the last few truckloads out of the woods) and my saw got pinched. I forgot to bring with me anything but my 1 saw, so not a whole lot to help me. I tried twisting and tugging for a half hour. The thing was the trunk was cut through, or nearly, when it pinched. So ther only thing I could come up with was to strap the trunk to the truck and try to pull it apart. Luckily I didnt send a strap through the window or anything, I knew to weight it down with a coat, but I ended up walking the truck into a tree scratching the side up and breaking out my tailight. But I freed up the saw. So I loaded up the truck and turned the key and nothing. No start, no click, nothing. Great. It was already getting dark. I was in the woods down a huge hill... I grabbed my bag and started to hike back to the house (no one lives there), its uphill all the way and probably a good 15-20 minute hike atleast. Get to the house... cell phone is dead. House has old rotary phone. Only # I have memorized is the wifes cell and she never has it on, went to voicemail. Now I am in the middle of nowhere, on a dirt road, some amish live about 2 miles away, not like they are going to drive me back an hour north in the middle of the night. Now sometimes when my phone is dead I can turn it on and it will last for 30 sec... so I fire it up. As soon as the thing boots I go to my contacts and start writing down a number of someone up there, first was my brother in law - phone died before I even wrote it all but I remember the rest. Called on the rotary. Luckily he answered. He was at the bar, mostly drunk, but came to pick me up... about 2-3 hrs later. That was a long day without hardly anything to eat. BIL helped me out next day we went down to the truck, of course his ranger with street tires only got half way to my truck, he didnt want to chance the huge hill. Figured out we broke the main power wire going to the selenoid. Found a parts store that happened to be open on easter sunday, got a cable and she was good to go. The contact was all corroded and probably was on its last thread when I jerked the truck hard to yank on the downd tree must have broke it loose. Dont want to ever re live that day!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Wow. A couple of sad stories to be sure. Bspring, I hope you heal fast and are not hurting too much. It sounds like it was an expensive day for both gear and body.

Maybe I should start a thread about gear and bad things happening?


btw, Ohioburner's story just reinforces the way I feel about quitting or not cutting when you are tired. Having the diarrhea always makes me feel really weak and he said he felt crappy. That is not a good way to head to the woods. In this case, it cost dollars, lost time, frustration and that long wait had to be even more than frustrating. I'm betting that is a lesson you won't ever forget!

 

[firefighterjake]

We all have those days . . . fortunately for some of us . . . usually not so bad -- but when things start going bad I just pack it in and call it a day since I know things will usually just go from bad to worse if I keep plugging away. Bspring . . . get well soon.

 

[basswidow]

You must have really been giving that stump hell for the round in the bed for weight to jump up and hit the rear window. Good thing it didn't make it all the way to the drivers seat!

And yes - close call with the stick to the face. Big ouch to the nose - that could have been worse.

Slow down and be careful. These little things are teaching points, an education of sorts. We all get them and the smart ones learn not to repeat them. Just like the bumper sticker says, ..it. happens.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

We all have bad, or scary days. My scariest moment this year was working with my Bobcat. The terrain around here is extremely steep. I have an old trail that goes down the side of a mountain, it actually may have been made by some of the early settlers, there is the remains of an old log cabin in the woods. Well any way I figured I would level the trail and widen it a bit, no big deal I thought. Well as I am grading the trail I must have hit a boulder that move the bobcat close to the edge and here the shoulder was soft and the Bobcat felt like it was going over the edge. Of course this is the steepest part of the hill and I thought for sure it was going over and I was going to be tumbling. Fortuneatly I instinctively pushed down on the bucket and it was the only thing holding on to the trail. Now what do I do? I am hanging on the edge. I did not want to even try to get out. So I figured I would try to go forward and ever so slightly lift the bucket up, to my amazement the Bobcat pulled itself out of the mess and may have saved my life. Needless to say it was a big wake up call and cannot tell you how careful I am now, things can happen in a heart beat.

 

[Bspring]

The back window is fixed and I had them replace the windshield also. It has been cracked for several months. My insurance covered them both with no deducible. I think that is a SC requirement. The nose is still a bit tender and full of dried blood. I would like to cut a sheet of plywood to cover the back window when I am hauling wood because I have had a few close calls in the past. That and not having anything in the bed when pulling stumps should prevent me from doing this again. As for the smashed nose, I think that was just a fluke. That was a good point about being grateful that it was not an eye. I had taken my safety glasses off because I was done with the chainsaw.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Youch man- glad you're doing better

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We all have bad, or scary days. My scariest moment this year was working with my Bobcat. The terrain around here is extremely steep. I have an old trail that goes down the side of a mountain, it actually may have been made by some of the early settlers, there is the remains of an old log cabin in the woods. Well any way I figured I would level the trail and widen it a bit, no big deal I thought. Well as I am grading the trail I must have hit a boulder that move the bobcat close to the edge and here the shoulder was soft and the Bobcat felt like it was going over the edge. Of course this is the steepest part of the hill and I thought for sure it was going over and I was going to be tumbling. Fortuneatly I instinctively pushed down on the bucket and it was the only thing holding on to the trail. Now what do I do? I am hanging on the edge. I did not want to even try to get out. So I figured I would try to go forward and ever so slightly lift the bucket up, to my amazement the Bobcat pulled itself out of the mess and may have saved my life. Needless to say it was a big wake up call and cannot tell you how careful I am now, things can happen in a heart beat.

WOW!

Reading this reminded me of a neighbor who was doing some digging with a backhoe beside his pond. He did a bit too much and that thing started sliding into the pond. He thought he was a goner but was able to get the bucket to grab (very steep from water line down). He finally got it out but had to hurry home to change clothes.

 

[CALJREICH]

Check out this guys bad day. Hope you feel better. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JteV8r8YnN0