Wedge Injury

[Old Monkey]

If it was just the stitches I wouldn't have filed a claim. Its the dentistry that comes next that scares me.

Those of you who met Mike know he is heavily tatted. When he was at the hospital I texted him this "You are so fired. Tattoos are one thing, but lip piercing? I can't have that." He got a laugh out of it.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

That is funny

 

[treebogan]

Glad to hear your guy didn't loose any Teeth.

I have been hit in the face by a Wedge.It spat out of the Back Cut as I swung the Axe towards it,struck the Axe Head and Hit me in the Mouth.No Tooth damage but a bit of Blood.

Before I have been struck in the Shin.

 

[stig]

I'll always lower my face shield when pounding on wedges.
A habit from back when I used steel wedges. Pieces of those can be knocked off and cause a lot of damage.

Was there only one wedge in the tree?
using two or more sets of wedges and hitting them alternately can overcome the tendency to spit out.
On large hardwoods ( where the wood is hard!) it can sometimes be the only way to get the wedges started.
3 wedges and then tap, tap, tap......taking care not to start hitting too hard till they have a proper bite.

As for stacking wedges, you all know my take on that.

 

[blue]

Does anyone use deadblow hammers for wedging? BigA has a couple and they prove much more effective than an axe.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Wedge horror stories.....had a mis-blow from a sledge on a steel wedge send a corner shooting back and up my forearm. All I saw was a red hot streak.....pretty amazing friction there. A one inch scar on my arm. In the eye would have been serious.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Wow, I'm glad I don't pound wedges.

 

[Widow Shooter]

there is tension and compression in every tree...sounds like the compressed side of the tree did not want to be pounded into.. bummer, hope he gets well quick.

 

[Altissimus]

That's too bad. I've been hit in the leg maybe a time or two, but never got hurt by it. For Mike to get hit in the face, he just about had to strike with the maul head in a low oblique angle to the wedge head, forcing the wedge up and to the side...just bad luck.

For whatever reason, I don't often have a wedge spit out.

Like Newf said, stacked wedges is the most frequent offender. When you do stack wedges, putting a bit of sawchip or dry dirt between them can cut down on slippage alot.

.....I find the indirect glancing blows cause air time for wedges... Burnham that sawdust / dirt trick is one I've never heard of before but I'm adding it to my list of " tricks and techniques for tough trees " ...

 

[treebogan]

Deadblow Hammers are the Norm in New Zealand.But I prefer an Axe as its more versitile.

 

[GASoline71]

For Mike to get hit in the face, he just about had to strike with the maul head in a low oblique angle to the wedge head, forcing the wedge up and to the side...just bad luck.

I mis-hit a wedge in a tree I was wedging against it's lean with a 5 pound single bit axe once and it spit the wedge and hit me in the gut... knocked the wind out of me. It hurt like hell...

Gary

 

[Old Monkey]

I'll have to get Mike on here so he doesn't feel so all alone.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

I'll always lower my face shield when pounding on wedges.
A habit from back when I used steel wedges. Pieces of those can be knocked off and cause a lot of damage.

Was there only one wedge in the tree?
using two or more sets of wedges and hitting them alternately can overcome the tendency to spit out.
On large hardwoods ( where the wood is hard!) it can sometimes be the only way to get the wedges started.
3 wedges and then tap, tap, tap......taking care not to start hitting too hard till they have a proper bite.

As for stacking wedges, you all know my take on that.

This is for the most part my take on it as well. If I'm going to wedge a tree, I take my plastic shoe box of wedges to the tree with whatever I'm using to pound (maul- not swinging full power, ax--could be tapping or swinging, claw hammer 'cause its in easy reach and and easy wedge-over, piece of firewood).

Probably the only time that I use one wedge is when I quarter cut the backcut, removing one quadrant, inserting and seating wedge with taps, then cut the other quadrant of the backcut. Sometimes, I'll add a second wedge.

On bigger trees I just use 2 or more, barbed, textured, and or smooth.
I'll have to remember the dirt/ sawdust trick.

I think that its important to keep your wedges dressed for stacking. I use an ax on stump to trim mushroomed heads, or bandsaw at the shop on occasion. Maybe a flat file sometimes, because its on hand.

 

[Old Monkey]

I think I am going to switch to nerve wedges to keep a similar accident from happening.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Based on the info Darin gave your analysis is flawed. They were taking the tree quartering off the lean, the wedge was not getting started or too much pressure was on the cut to get it set. The tree was married into another tree by at least one branch, which means little or no movement to the lay. A wedge won't help this problem. Tagline will.

Rifled wedges are crap, they are made from a poor plastic compound. When doing urban treework, NOT putting a rope in a tree is often silly. Using a rope or cable when falling in the woods is a rarity, In town it should be SOP.

Can you clarify what you mean. Do you mean that rifles wedges would not have helped in this situation? If so, I see what yo mean. I re-read what I wrote. I was meaning that you have more control with barbed wedges than, in dedending order of control, with stacked wedges, rifles wedges, textured, then smooth. A rifled wedge may have had the same spit out effect, whereas a barbed wedge would like not have.

Perhaps the problem, and Darin can clarify please with more details such as size of tree and number of wedges, was that the feller was trying to overcome the ineffective wedging with more power. If it was bouncing out with every blow, STOP. Don't keep hitting it. Maybe add wedges, check the lean. Check the hinge thickness. Check the wind to see that it isn't gusting when you are hitting the tree. Check the oscillation of the tree to see that it is not rebounding backward from the last wedging force toward the lay. If the tree is moving back at the same time as you are trying to wedge forward, you're fighting it. I believe that hitting the wedge when the tree is swaying back away from the lean is likely to send the energy up the tree, and be more likely to break out a dead limb or top.

Rifled wedges may be crap. I don't recall using them much. Might have just been some that another faller had, that I used maybe a few times. Mostly I use textured wedges, sometimes the barbed ones if I'm stacking.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

When doing urban treework, NOT putting a rope in a tree is often silly. Using a rope or cable when falling in the woods is a rarity, In town it should be SOP.

I agree that there are times, such as when you are already in the tree, that it only makes sense to hang a pull line if there is not a strong enough headlean. Especially when pulling over a spar, where you don't have as much weight to fight a hinge's resistance to bending.

I definitely will fell things with wedges when my experience and judgment give me enough comfort to make that call.

Once in a while, a pull rope can be dangerous or just prohibitively a PITA. Wedging a top or log out of a tree can be necessary at times. One job looking over a lake, we worked on a steep hill where the wood/ brush just had to be dropped down the hill with no extraction. A pull rope would have meant that the groundie would be walking down slash on steep slopes, with lots of places to trip, or "posthole", etc. We could have set some redirects to have them out of the line of fire, downhill from the tree, if we joined two or three ropes and walked over that slash repeatedly.




I was advocating for people to build their tree skills safely, such as having a pull line set, but wedge the tree if they can, taking it as a "given" that they will use a good notch, hinge, and backcut, appropriate to the tree/ circumstances.

 

[pete mctree]

Deadblow Hammers are the Norm in New Zealand.But I prefer an Axe as its more versitile.

I see the logic, but after too many bruised shins I stick with a deadblow hammer now. More forgiving if your aim is not perfect

 

[woodworkingboy]

A little sand would probably be more effective than sawdust in keeping stacked wedges from slipping. When gluing up odd shaped pieces with wood wedges to overcome taper, they often want to slip when tightening the clamps. If I take some course sandpaper and double it over on itself with spray adhesive to keep the faces together, then put it under the wedge against the wood, the wedges stay in place. Never tried it when wedging trees, but maybe having a few of these anti-slip sandpaper little squares with you would be a good idea. They wouldn't take up any room in your wedge pouch.

 

[Newfie]

Sawdust or dirt or any dry gritty soil works well between wedges when stacking. Learned that trick years ago from Dent I believe.

 

[Al Smith]

I never had any real falling wedges until about 6 months ago .I always used steel splitters and drove them with an 8 pound sledge .I've been beaned in the shin a few times .

 

[HolmenTree]

I used to get 10" wedges from Stihl with good beefy teeth on them , can't get them anymore. Best wedges I ever used. Stack 2 of them together with the teeth touching the wood and no way would they spit out, even in frozen wood.
I've been using HardHeads for the last few years, decent wedge but the steel caps break off easily.
A tip on driving wedges , tap them to get them going with the axe resting on the wedge after every hit.
Willard.

 

[Ed L]

Learned really quick to leave the sledge for bustin' concrete and use a lighter axe for pounding wedges. Got carried away hitting the wedge,it was going in so easy, hadn't finished the back cut, hinge was to thick, tree wasn't moving, pounded the wedge in so far I barberchaired the damn tree.

Lesson learned, no harm done 'cept for some soiled shorts.

Ed

 

[sotc]

I mis-hit a wedge in a tree I was wedging against it's lean with a 5 pound single bit axe once and it spit the wedge and hit me in the gut... knocked the wind out of me. It hurt like hell...

Gary

Well I hope you don't drive wedges with double bit axe!

 

[Newfie]

Good use of wedges is a lot more finesse than pure brute force in my experience.

 

[Al Smith]

Got carried away hitting the wedge,it was going in so easy, hadn't finished the back cut, hinge was to thick, tree wasn't moving, pounded the wedge in so far I barberchaired the damn tree.



Ed

It's easy to lift one off the hinge if you don't wedge it correctly .Been there done that early on .Feet don't fail me now .