Your biggest blunder?

[CurSedVoyce]

Wow Bermy... close call.
Least it was only the circuits got blown.

Funny thing recently, I was hired for a TD along a road and told the customer I had to climb it, section it down, with tag line of course. Customer's friend kind questioned me as the tree was not with in strike range of the power lines, fence or road... I showed her the guide line right under the drop zone, showed her the wood peckered power pole, and told her my way or no way. One good hit could have done what yours did and worse if the pole broke.
To convince her.. I went over and leaned on the guy line with all of my 150#s and man you should have seen it move. She was sold!... LOL

 

[Banned by Squirrels]

I fell.

Broken ankle...

 

[stehansen]

Not tying a tag line on a limb:
the laaaast six inches of the tip brushed a guy wire for the support pole for the power pole across the road...the wire shook>>the pole shook>>>the wire going across the road shook more>>>the power pole shook even more>>>then the primaries started to sway...cccrrrackkkk, sparks and smoke...
I had the traffic stopped and EVERYONE was watching!
It tripped a circuit, Belco turned up to see what was going on, reset it...

My Dad ran into a guy wire with a caterpillar one time and the primary wires wrapped around each other.

 

[Bermy]

My Dad ran into a guy wire with a caterpillar one time and the primary wires wrapped around each other.

Ouch...did the cat get energized?

Mine was like slow motion, and the branch so NEARLY missed, and the power was way over on the other side of the road!

 

[stehansen]

No, the guy wire is not carrying electricity it is anchoring the pole and hitting it shook the wires up in the air until they wrapped around each other. Tripping the breaker and interupting the electrical service to the whole area. The repair crew had this really heavy duty looking come-along type device and they hooked it to the guy and the deadman and pulled the wires tight until they unwrapped themselves.

 

[ptptree]

Making ONE MORE CUT... when I had just said I was done and got talked into ONE MORE CUT... wasnt just the tree that got cut that time... Never again...

It was one more tree to drop. Had the rope set up high 90ft tall fir pole. Customer said "just one more lets pull it over" Already 9hrs in -should've said no. Tree fell on truck and customers gazebo/ fitness house thing. Luckily no one got hurt and liability was paid up .

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Bump!

I joined the wrong tree cut club last year
Poor little crepe myrtle never saw it coming..

 

[sotc]

I don't remember this thread.
Last year I closed a hydraulic valve intending to come back and replace the filter. Got distracted and didn't make it back. Guys drove to the job Monday morning and I went to set the outriggers, POP!! Blew the filter out on a nice asphalt drive

 

[Old Monkey]

Nice. Well I knocked out a ground guy with a branch I threw since I posted last on this thread.

 

[sotc]

The guy that put his back out.... Oh nevermind...

 

[CurSedVoyce]

OUCH Darin...

So far I have been lucky with oily situations and been on gravel drives

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Working near a hot powerline. 1/8 of a second of bzzzzt. D-U-M.

Minor by comparison. Broke a water pipe recently with a spar after missing the crash pad of brush that would have directed the force beyond the pipe. Had a branch take a bad bounce and it cracked the frame on a bay-type greenhouse window on a shed.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I was cutting two Pines sitting very close to each other side by side, both with back lean, and intended to be pushed over by an excavator behind me. When I started cutting, I looked up and it appeared that the bucket was pushing against both trees, so I looked back and I thought that the operator was telling me with his hands to cut both at once. We had been knocking down lots of trees very fast up to that point. I put in both faces and did the back cuts at the same time, but the operator wasn't paying any attention to what I was up to, and had reset the bucket, not wanting to do both at once....of course! One went over correctly, but the other slipped back against the side of the bucket and came crashing down next to the excavator, also taking with it a high voltage line. Very fortunately, the line never contacted the machine, or I believe it likely could have killed the operator. He was very pissed, and rightfully so, I still can't believe my lack of judgement. It was freezing A winter day, and a big rush was on, maybe my mind was numb?

 

[Paul B]

nah, it was the other guys fault.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I knocked out a ground guy

Was he messing with your lunch?

 

[Widow Shooter]

The day I took down a 36" DBH Hedge tree and thought making an angled back cut might keep it from barberchairing.
I hugely miscalculated and ended up UNDER my face cut and had to wedge the whole tree up and over.
Ugle doesn'e even come close to describing that day!

we call that the farmers cut up here...woodlots are full of them Andy i would LOVE some osage splits, wish that stuff grew up here

 

[bill22]

Lets see, popping a small top that had a side lean off and side swiping 3 phase. I've taken a few falls,2 of them bad. I've hit 2 fences. I've seen alot more accidents,but those weren't my fault.

 

[Blinky]

Well Stephen, I joined the wrong tree club a couple of months ago. Took down a 12" white right beside the one I was supposed to kill... I'd taped it and everything and STILL walked over and cut the wrong tree. I'm an idiot.

 

[sotc]

Ha!

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I had three trees, kill two all marked. HO talked to me as I was walking over to the last tree... Stopped.. Talked.. Started saw... Killed tree... I guess I thought I stopped in front of the kill

 

[Blinky]

That's what I did only it was my son i was talking to... HO pointed it out ten minutes later... I was mortified.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I can sooooo relate.. I had to walk away for a spell... Mad at myself...
Took everything to hold back watery eyes during the apology... Took another walk..

 

[Underwor]

Many years ago, about 1979, I was removing a dead walnut for my uncle, in barn yard. Hooked it to back of '59 Dodge 2 ton and proceeded with notch. Found fence wire, tried a little higher found porcelain electric fence insulator, tried another spot or two and found more hardware. So in my infinite wisdom, I tightened up the rope a little and made a generous back cut, with only 3 aborted attempts at a notch, until tree sat on saw. Got in truck and took off toward house. Had to stop at back porch door, about 4' shy of optimum distance. The tree started over, rolled to the right, landed on uncle's recently filled 250 gallon overhead diesel tank. Tank opened up like a tin can on end sending 250 gallons of diesel skyward in a solid red gob. Red gob came down and proceeded to settle dust in driveway for about 50' before soaking in.

Had $250 deductible insurance, bill came to $263. Instead of submitting $13 claim, I ate the tree job and helped bale hay for 2 days. Uncle called it even.

 

[Blinky]

Oh Man! I can't believe you got away for $263!

 

[Bounce]

Stories like that one make me want to buy a metal detector.