FELLING QUESTION - HOLLOW SYCAMORE

Wearing ear protection was not generally accepted or used because you had to be aware of everything going on around you. This had it's disadvantages, but survival was the #1 goal, plus making a buck.
 
The flight deck of an aircraft carrier required the same thing, but you can bet we had hearing protection.
 
I might pull my left ear plug on a fell I wanted to be sure I had every bit of feedback I could get from the tree. But mostly, not necessary.
 
Yes, true, but we were doing pull settings in old growth with a lot of stuff going on, climbers rigging trees, radios communicating with the pull machines two sets of fallers working in close proximity to each other etc. I remember a situation that even happened on a cat ground setting, I was on a ridge bucking a pine just above my partner who was falling a large ponderosa. I looked down as it started to go over and saw a large school marm break loose straight above him. I screamed like never before and he heard me and instinctively jumped away as it crashed right where he was standing, would have been certain death. If he had been wearing ear plugs he wouldn't have heard me, no way. I am not recommending that anyone not use hearing protection at all. It is a personal decision with a lot of variables that should be considered carefully. I am still dumping trees at 66 and have never been seriously busted up in the woods and don't need hearing aids "yet". A lot of hearing issues seem to be related to genetics too it seems. Other thoughts anyone? Thanks guys.
 
I think you are right about some people being more affected by noise than others.
I've always used hearing protection and am none the less having to wear hearing aids.
 
When it's quiet, the ringing in my ears really bugs me. I have to have some type of sound to block it somewhat.
 
Some years back, I was sitting in a giant sequoia, watching the sun go down, probably 50 miles from the nearest house, a really, really quiet evening.
Then Richard turns to me and says: " I bet your tinnitus is really loud now, eh?"
It was!
 
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Burnham, go have a hearing test and try a pair of aids.
Once you get used to wearing them, they make a HUGE difference.
I used to wear mine on and off, since it is folly to wear hearing aids while running a saw and Sam isn't much of a conversationalist.
Consequently I'd forget to put them on when around people.
Then Margot told me that when she'd been spending a weekend with me, come monday, people at her work accused her of yelling/talking real loud.
So now I make sure to wear them all the time, when I'm around people.
 
Why are you all ( almost all) so set on pulling that tree?
Why pull something that has a natural lean in the direction you want it to go?
Complete waste of time IMO, but that may just be the bushel faller part of me speaking:lol:

I agree on the shallow face, on a tree like that I'd try to make the face small enough that I keep as much sound wood as possible in the corners, even if that means barely nibbling through the rind of sound wood in the middle.
Did an emergency jobfew weeks ago. Homeowner notched tree which was leaning in a direction which would of caused no damaged. He made his box , tree snapped and fell sideways into another tree. Sometimes dealing with rotted trees they can do funny things. IMG_0229.jpg IMG_0227.jpg IMG_0227.jpg
 
Oh, absolutely, but I've never had one going against the lean, in still weather.
 
I got pretty shocked at how bad my hearing actually was when I did the test, Burnham.

Not so much the part where they pipe a sound in and you raise your hand if you hear it, because you obviously can't tell how much you are missing.
The part where they put me in a sound chamber and had me do word recognition was embarrasing to put it mildly.They say a word and you have to repeat it.
The hearing tecnician showed me the transcript afterwards and I had more than 1/3 of the words wrong.
Like she'd say "chicken" and I'd say "deciduous" or something like that.
Richard had already been telling me that he'd noticed I couldn't hear him so well if I couldn't see his face and lip read him. That sound chamber experience really opened my eyes ( and ears!).
From personal experience I'll say it is typically something that one puts off for too long.

Like hip replacements.:D
 
I am in complete agreement, Stig. Melanie would be more than happy to back you up on that, too...both ear tests and hip replacements :).
 
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