The time has come, the walrus said,
 

to speak of many things.

Don't know (or care) much about kings (though the notion of "gross
national happiness" suggests Bhutan's former king, Jigme Singye
Wangchuck, might be worth another look) and cabbages could keep us
profitably engaged for weeks.....so we'll pass on that (for now) too.

That leaves (in no particularly meaningful order) chestnuts, coulee
country trout in June, and things that lend a sense of perspective to
the world.....or at least to its inhabitants.....or, some of them,
anyway.

Let's start with the latter.....thus putting the lie to the above
qualification.

Yeah, some things really are more important than others, I s'pose.
Roughly 48 hours ago, as I begin typing this at about 7 p.m., I
arrived at home to find a robust elderly woman on the driveway end of
the drawbridge.....with no vehicle in sight. The driveway is 3/4 of a
mile long. There should NOT be a robust elderly woman on the driveway
end of the drawbridge with no vehicle in sight.

Hm........

I pull up next to her.

Do you live here? she asks.

Yes.

She introduces herself and asks if I know her husband, Karl.

Of course. I'm Wolfgang, by the way.

Well, could you move your truck? The ambulance is on it's way and we
need to keep the driveway clear.

????!!

Karl has suffered a "BAD" accident up on the hillside.

O.k., I'll drive up and see what I can do.

I drive up to the barn and park next to a vehicle there. Looking off
to my right I can see a figure standing on the hillside. I walk up.
It's Karl's son standing next to a supine body recognizable (if only
barely) as Karl. Karl is a native Finn from somewhere in Finland
where they speak Swedish. Been here a long time. Married a local
girl and raised good old Murrican kids. And Karl was born with a
chainsaw in his hands. And now he's died (more or less) the same
way. It ain't official.....yet.....there's the whole organ donor
thingy to go through, but the important part of the story, for those
who knew him, is over.

Karl came out to the tree farm on Wednesday morning (Becky encountered
him at the end of the driveway as she was leaving around 9 a.m.) to
"help" Larry out by cutting down a bunch of "over mature" birch which,
on any other day, he would then have cut up to sell as firewood. Karl
was also scheduled to pick up his grandchildren from school at 3 p.m.
somewhere less than 45 minutes drive from here. I'm not yet sure who
first became concerned about his absence or exactly when, but it was
eventually noticed that something was most emphatically NOT
right.....and someone determined, quite correctly, that the search for
the missing Karl should start here.

As alluded to above, I arrived shortly after 7:00 p.m. The first EMT
on the scene arrived about fifteen minutes later. In the next fifteen
minutes no less than twenty cops, firefighters, EMTs and unidentified
others, along with one monster ATV (they called it a UTV.....whatever
the hell that might mean), two firetrucks, three squad cars and sundry
other vehicles showed up. The helicopter, I'm told, was not far
behind. I didn't see the latter till sometime later as it's pilot (a
savvy veteran of 41 years, I was told) decided to wait out on the
pavement rather than risk a landing on the soup that all too soon
swallowed the rear end of the ambulance.....which proved impossible to
unmire with the tractor......they got it out much later with a winch
on the firetruck.....which barely made it in and out in the early
spring mud.

The short version is that we managed to get Karl on whatever the hell
it is they call the modern version of a stretcher......I sorta forgot
in all the excitement.....and seven or eight of us skidded him down
the hill on the snow and lifted him into the back of the ambulance,
where what would be an amazingly efficient crew, if we hadn't seen it
all before, got him stabilized to the point that he could be moved out
to the road.....if the ambulance hadn't gotten stuck. The UTV came to
the rescue.....quite literally, of course. We all followed it out to
the road in a cavalcade of slow moving vehicles.....VERY slow
moving.....no need to aggravate any spinal or other severe injuries.

The rest of the evening is mere details.....except for the part about
the helicopter. Having worked for sixteen years at a medical facility
where the helicopter crew flew an average of three to four missions a
day, I thought I was used to this sort of thing.

Nope.

This guy had come in after lights out.....pretty much total darkness,
what with the solid overcast and the time of day. And he landed this
thing (and subsequently took off) under the same conditions.....with
the tips of his rotors no more than twenty feet from the power lines
along side of the road. Balls. 41 years. Hm.....I'm guessing I know
where he growed up.

Heroes.

Well, they may be over there somewhere or they may not.....but they
are most certainly HERE.....all around us.....every day and night.

Not that it did anyone much good on this particular evening. No
physician myself (let alone a neurologist), but, as noted above, I've
spent a lot of time in the company of the dead and near dead. A
minute or so in Karl's company on that evening was about enough to
confirm the impression that he was toast.

What happened, apparently (no one will ever know the details), was
that Karl had an encounter with a "widow maker", a term that he may or
may not have been familiar with. He certainly knew the actuality, if
not the English name. The severely leaning birch tree whose base he
was lying next to had been notched.....perfectly done, no problem.
But somewhere in the backcut the tree split up to about eight feet
above ground level. A common enough nightmare that almost always has
no memorable consequences. ALMOST always. This time.....well, it
bucked.....it got him.....and he'll never remember it. And the rest
of us will never forget it.

And then we'll got out in the woods.....with a saw.....alone (not that
company would have made a difference).

giles
who, on second thought (roughly two hours into the exercise) will
forego the trout and the chestnuts for now.

oh, and lest anyone get the wrong impression, Karl was not a dear
lifelong friend, not someone with whom i share a long and intimate
history. we probably spent about four to eight hours in casual
conversation over the last two years. he was a nice guy.

The time has come, the walrus said,
 

On Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:24:56 -0700 (PDT), Giles
wrote:

to speak of many things.

snipped

giles
who, on second thought (roughly two hours into the exercise) will
forego the trout and the chestnuts for now.

oh, and lest anyone get the wrong impression, Karl was not a dear
lifelong friend, not someone with whom i share a long and intimate
history. we probably spent about four to eight hours in casual
conversation over the last two years. he was a nice guy.


Thats tough. I've lost a couple friends over the years to bad luck
with trees.

Geo. C.

The time has come, the walrus said,
 

On Mar 18, 7:24*pm, Giles wrote:
*to speak of many things.


What happened, apparently (no one will ever know the details), was
that Karl had an encounter with a "widow maker", a term that he may or
may not have been familiar with. *He certainly knew the actuality, if
not the English name. *The severely leaning birch tree whose base he
was lying next to had been notched.....perfectly done, no problem.
But somewhere in the backcut the tree split up to about eight feet
above ground level. *A common enough nightmare that almost always has
no memorable consequences. *ALMOST always. *This time.....well, it
bucked.....it got him.....and he'll never remember it. *And the rest
of us will never forget it.

Actually the type of accident you describe (here in big timber country
we call it a barber chair) is one of the most common causes of death
or serious injury in timber falling accidents. Many hardwoods
(including Birch) are quite prone to splitting as you described
sometime during the back cut - especially if they have a heavy lean.
Though many saw hands scoff at the practice as being sissy, the safest
way to fell such trees is to bind the butt (immediately above where
the top of the notch cut will be) with heavy duty nylon webbing (made
to handle the extreme forces involved) before starting any cuts. The
old saying that "There are bold timber fallers and there are old
timber fallers, but few are lucky enough to be old bold timber
fallers." is quite true.

Bob Weinberger - DuPont, WA

The time has come, the walrus said,
 

On Mar 19, 3:12*am, Bob wrote:
On Mar 18, 7:24*pm, Giles wrote:

*to speak of many things.

What happened, apparently (no one will ever know the details), was
that Karl had an encounter with a "widow maker", a term that he may or
may not have been familiar with. *He certainly knew the actuality, if
not the English name. *The severely leaning birch tree whose base he
was lying next to had been notched.....perfectly done, no problem.
But somewhere in the backcut the tree split up to about eight feet
above ground level. *A common enough nightmare that almost always has
no memorable consequences. *ALMOST always. *This time.....well, it
bucked.....it got him.....and he'll never remember it. *And the rest
of us will never forget it.

Actually the type of accident you describe (here in big timber country
we call it a barber chair) is *one of the most common causes of death
or serious injury in timber falling accidents.

Never heard the term "barber chair" before in this context. Easy
enough to understand, though. It's also easy to believe that it ranks
high as a cause of death or injury. Do you have ready access to any
numbers?

Many hardwoods
(including Birch) are quite prone to splitting as you described
sometime during the back cut - especially if they have a heavy lean.

I've seen it happen a couple of times myself. Didn't know that birch
was a frequent offender.

Though many saw hands scoff at the practice as being sissy, the safest
way to fell such trees is to bind the butt (immediately above where
the top of the notch cut will be) with heavy duty nylon webbing (made
to handle the extreme forces involved) before starting any cuts.

This, too, is news to me. I'd appreciate any more inofrmation you
could provide as I'll be doing a lot of cutting here in the next few
months.

The
old saying that "There are bold timber fallers and there are old
timber fallers, but few are lucky enough to be old bold timber
fallers." is quite true.

There have been times and arenas in life when I've flirted with the
bold thing. I was lucky. I try hard not to do that anymore. Never
did it in connection with tree falling. But, like just about anyone,
I suppose, I've been careless on occasion. I don't think Karl was
particularly bold.....and he was certainly getting old at 69. He may
or may not have been careless.....I don't know whether he had ever
heard of the practice of binding trees with webbing.

At any rate, it now looks as if this "bad luck" may have been
preventable. Casts the whole mess in a different light.

Much to think about.

Thanks, Bob

giles

The time has come, the walrus said,
 

On Mar 19, 1:12*am, georgecleveland wrote:
On Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:24:56 -0700 (PDT), Giles
wrote:



to speak of many things.

snipped

giles
who, on second thought (roughly two hours into the exercise) will
forego the trout and the chestnuts for now.

oh, and lest anyone get the wrong impression, Karl was not a dear
lifelong friend, not someone with whom i share a long and intimate
history. *we probably spent about four to eight hours in casual
conversation over the last two years. *he was a nice guy.

Thats tough. I've lost a couple friends over the years to bad luck
with trees.

Geo. C.

I've known that this sort of thing happens for a long long time. This
is my first personal experience with it. My tenure here suddenly
looks a lot different than it did a few days ago.

giles

The time has come, the walrus said,
 

Giles wrote in news:478b6b73-8443-458c-95e0-
:

giles


Moron!!!!

****-for-Brains!!!!!

ConRad

The time has come, the walrus said,
 

On Mar 19, 8:55*pm, ConwayRadis wrote:
Giles wrote in news:478b6b73-8443-458c-95e0-
:

giles

Moron!!!!

****-for-Brains!!!!!

ConRad

Well, you're certainly right about one thing....."who" you are doesn't
matter. But you just couldn't resist the temptation to show the world
"what" you are, eh?

g.

The time has come, the walrus said,
 

On Mar 19, 4:29*am, Giles wrote:
On Mar 19, 3:12*am, Bob wrote:


Actually the type of accident you describe (here in big timber country
we call it a barber chair) is *one of the most common causes of death
or serious injury in timber falling accidents.

Never heard the term "barber chair" before in this context. *Easy
enough to understand, though. *It's also easy to believe that it ranks
high as a cause of death or injury. *Do you have ready access to any
numbers?

Many years ago when I was involved in logging supervision, I used to
receive regular accident reports from Oregon OSHA on serious logging
accidents. Death & serious injury from barber chairs were always high
on the list. I imagine OSHA still keeps such statistics.

Many
(including Birch) are quite prone to splitting as you described
sometime during the back cut - especially if they have a heavy lean.

I've seen it happen a couple of times myself. *Didn't know that birch
was a frequent offender.

Though many saw hands scoff at the practice as being sissy, the safest
way to fell such trees is to bind the butt (immediately above where
the top of the notch cut will be) with heavy duty nylon webbing (made
to handle the extreme forces involved) before starting any cuts.

This, too, is news to me. *I'd appreciate any more inofrmation you
could provide as I'll be doing a lot of cutting here in the next few
months.

I probably should have used the term strapping rather then webbing.
The type of nylon web strap that log truck drivers in many areas use
to bind down their loads is what is used. Any good saw shop in an area
where there is much commercial logging going on could make one up for
you in a size to handle the size trees you will be working with. It
should be used on any tree with a very heavy lean (especially
hardwoods) or one with a very unbalanced crown (heavy in the direction
of fall).


The
old saying that "There are bold timber fallers and there are old
timber fallers, but few are lucky enough to be old bold timber
fallers." is quite true.

There have been times and arenas in life when I've flirted with the
bold thing. *I was lucky. *I try hard not to do that anymore. *Never
did it in connection with tree falling. *But, like just about anyone,
I suppose, I've been careless on occasion. *I don't think Karl was
particularly bold.....and he was certainly getting old at 69. *He may
or may not have been careless.....I don't know whether he had ever
heard of the practice of binding trees with webbing.

At any rate, it now looks as if this "bad luck" may have been
preventable. *Casts the whole mess in a different light.

Much to think about.

Thanks, Bob

giles

Bob Weinberger DuPont, WA

The time has come, the walrus said,
 

On Mar 21, 8:45*pm, Bob wrote:
On Mar 19, 4:29*am, Giles wrote:

On Mar 19, 3:12*am, Bob wrote:

Actually the type of accident you describe (here in big timber country
we call it a barber chair) is *one of the most common causes of death
or serious injury in timber falling accidents.

Never heard the term "barber chair" before in this context. *Easy
enough to understand, though. *It's also easy to believe that it ranks
high as a cause of death or injury. *Do you have ready access to any
numbers?

*Many years ago when I was involved in logging supervision, I used to
receive regular accident reports from Oregon OSHA on serious logging
accidents. *Death & serious injury from barber chairs were always high
on the list. *I imagine OSHA still keeps such statistics.

Many
(including Birch) are quite prone to splitting as you described
sometime during the back cut - especially if they have a heavy lean.

I've seen it happen a couple of times myself. *Didn't know that birch
was a frequent offender.

Though many saw hands scoff at the practice as being sissy, the safest
way to fell such trees is to bind the butt (immediately above where
the top of the notch cut will be) with heavy duty nylon webbing (made
to handle the extreme forces involved) before starting any cuts.

This, too, is news to me. *I'd appreciate any more inofrmation you
could provide as I'll be doing a lot of cutting here in the next few
months.

I probably should have used the term strapping rather then webbing.
The type of nylon web strap that log truck drivers in many areas use
to bind down their loads is what is used. Any good saw shop in an area
where there is much commercial logging going on could make one up for
you in a size to handle the size trees you will be working with. *It
should be used on any tree with a very heavy lean (especially
hardwoods) or one with a very unbalanced crown (heavy in the direction
of fall).











The
old saying that "There are bold timber fallers and there are old
timber fallers, but few are lucky enough to be old bold timber
fallers." is quite true.

There have been times and arenas in life when I've flirted with the
bold thing. *I was lucky. *I try hard not to do that anymore. *Never
did it in connection with tree falling. *But, like just about anyone,
I suppose, I've been careless on occasion. *I don't think Karl was
particularly bold.....and he was certainly getting old at 69. *He may
or may not have been careless.....I don't know whether he had ever
heard of the practice of binding trees with webbing.

At any rate, it now looks as if this "bad luck" may have been
preventable. *Casts the whole mess in a different light.

Much to think about.

Thanks, Bob

giles

Bob Weinberger * *DuPont, WA


Hi, everyone. Wolfgang - thanks for that story, entertaining and
thought provoking, as always. And thanks, Bob, too, for sharing from
your expertise.

Please forgive this question - I'm not too embarrassed to say that I
don't quite get the mechanics of this accident.

google image search of "logging accident barber chair" produced this:
http://www.forestryforum.com/images/...arberchair.jpg

Is the issue that part of the tree from *below* the intended cut gets
split along with the main part of the tree and that's what swings up
with bad potential results?

The time has come, the walrus said,
 

On Mar 21, 8:02*pm, "dr.narcolepsy" wrote:
On Mar 21, 8:45*pm, Bob wrote:





On Mar 19, 4:29*am, Giles wrote:

On Mar 19, 3:12*am, Bob wrote:

Actually the type of accident you describe (here in big timber country
we call it a barber chair) is *one of the most common causes of death
or serious injury in timber falling accidents.

Never heard the term "barber chair" before in this context. *Easy
enough to understand, though. *It's also easy to believe that it ranks
high as a cause of death or injury. *Do you have ready access to any
numbers?

*Many years ago when I was involved in logging supervision, I used to
receive regular accident reports from Oregon OSHA on serious logging
accidents. *Death & serious injury from barber chairs were always high
on the list. *I imagine OSHA still keeps such statistics.

Many
(including Birch) are quite prone to splitting as you described
sometime during the back cut - especially if they have a heavy lean..

I've seen it happen a couple of times myself. *Didn't know that birch
was a frequent offender.

Though many saw hands scoff at the practice as being sissy, the safest
way to fell such trees is to bind the butt (immediately above where
the top of the notch cut will be) with heavy duty nylon webbing (made
to handle the extreme forces involved) before starting any cuts.

This, too, is news to me. *I'd appreciate any more inofrmation you
could provide as I'll be doing a lot of cutting here in the next few
months.

I probably should have used the term strapping rather then webbing.
The type of nylon web strap that log truck drivers in many areas use
to bind down their loads is what is used. Any good saw shop in an area
where there is much commercial logging going on could make one up for
you in a size to handle the size trees you will be working with. *It
should be used on any tree with a very heavy lean (especially
hardwoods) or one with a very unbalanced crown (heavy in the direction
of fall).

The
old saying that "There are bold timber fallers and there are old
timber fallers, but few are lucky enough to be old bold timber
fallers." is quite true.

There have been times and arenas in life when I've flirted with the
bold thing. *I was lucky. *I try hard not to do that anymore. *Never
did it in connection with tree falling. *But, like just about anyone,
I suppose, I've been careless on occasion. *I don't think Karl was
particularly bold.....and he was certainly getting old at 69. *He may
or may not have been careless.....I don't know whether he had ever
heard of the practice of binding trees with webbing.

At any rate, it now looks as if this "bad luck" may have been
preventable. *Casts the whole mess in a different light.

Much to think about.

Thanks, Bob

giles

Bob Weinberger * *DuPont, WA

Hi, everyone. *Wolfgang - thanks for that story, entertaining and
thought provoking, as always. *And thanks, Bob, too, for sharing from
your expertise.

Please forgive this question - I'm not too embarrassed to say that I
don't quite get the mechanics of this accident.

google image search of "logging accident barber chair" produced this:http://www.forestryforum.com/images/...arberchair.jpg

Is the issue that part of the tree from *below* the intended cut gets
split along with the main part of the tree and that's what swings up
with bad potential results?

I can't speak with any authority to what happens generally, but in
Karl's case, and as I have seen before, the split occurs (or, starts,
anyway) right at the place where the back cut is made. The
illustration at the site you pointed us to is a bit misleading in that
it doesn't show the notch, which is precisely opposite where the split
has occured and where the sawyer has met his doom. Of course, the
result shown can also happen without a notch having been cut at all
(as shown) but common practice, as far as I know, includes notching on
the side toward which the tree is intended to fall. However, this may
indeed not be the case where trees lean severely and where they are
intended to fall in the direction of the lean. Obviously, cutting
opposite this direction will produce the intended result without a
notch.....but the possible consequences (with or without the notch,
for all I know) are now all too obvious.

In any case, the answer to your question would appear to be no.....the
split starts at the backcut and moves up through the trunk.....or so
it has always been in my admittedly limited experience.

Incidentally, I've seen in happen even with small trees and without
any significant lean. And, unlike what is shown in the illustration,
the busted end does not necessarily always simply lever up. It will
often kcik back as well. Imagine the broken end actually moving
toward the sawyer so that even if he were standing several feet back
from where he is shown in the illustration. Depending on
circumstances, he might still be toast.

And, of course, it is not just whole standing trees that are
dangerous. I narrowly missed being decapitated myself by a four inch
cherry branch last spring. The tree was already down......dropped by
a much larger oak that took several other trees with it. The cherry
branch was obviously under tension.....had a significant bend to it.
I misjudged the angle of the bend or the forces at play or one thing
or another. I cut it and felt the wind whizzing past my left ear
before the import of what had just happened (or not.....depending on
point of view.....I'm glad to report that I'm in a position to take
the latter) registered in my brain or Becky's; she was about fifteen
feet away, waiting to load up the sawn firewood.

Any way you look at it, wherever the sound of a chainsaw penetrates
(or any other saw) there is danger aplenty.

But then, the same can be said for any place that such sounds never
reach.

giles
who has known all his life (on a more or less intellectual level) that
one way or another they WILL get you in the end. it's just in the
past few decades that a more personal and visceral point of view has
come to hold sway. :)

p.s. Karl died about 2 or 3 a.m. on saturday.