TreeRecon
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2023
- Messages
- 272
Stolen off FB. This made me think of a topic @Fl Canopy Stalker and I mentioned in another post on safety harnesses
No where to run to… that bucket can’t get out of the way fast enough.One of our linemen was up in a bucket when the transformer arc flashed over to his bucket and caught it on fire. Luckily he was able to get down ok but seeing that bucket just go up in flames was unreal. Buckets are great and provide a lot of safety but they can also be a death trap.
I put a rope in tops most times. But then again, I'm never in a bucket, I'm in the circle of death.I don’t even know where to begin, first that’s not a bucket truck, yes an aerial lift of some sort but it looks to be probably a tracked rig like people rent to paint houses, there was so many mistakes made in that video anyone who does this for a living would never have put themselves in that position, attempting to drop what looks to be a giant redwood or something idk what the heck it is, but 20’ up from the stump, a tree of that size, from a bucket you have to be out of your mind, when I’m topping a tree 65’ up from my bucket and what’s left is bigger than I can comfortably push with my hands in case the wind blows up or I misjudged something, it gets a rope in it, end of story, one hand on the saw and the other on the pistol grip, minute that sucker starts to go I’m swinging out of the way, not watching it like a deer caught in the head lights, having a safety harness on was the least of this guys worries, someone needs a mental health check to even be involved in such a stunt let alone allow that video to go public.
Circle of death… give me a break… I’ve owned a tree service business 21 years, and before that worked in other tree departments for major municipalities, so 26 years of total experience, if anyone can attempt to process what that fool was thinking when attempting this stunt they don’t belong in the business, I’ll move along now and go back to the deer hunting threads, I’m done with this one..I put a rope in tops most times. But then again, I'm never in a bucket, I'm in the circle of death.
We can't see the full video, but my guess is he made a $hitty cut + the tree made contact with something that made it roll
So you're saying you don't climbCircle of death… give me a break… I’ve owned a tree service business 21 years, and before that worked in other tree departments for major municipalities, so 26 years of total experience, if anyone can attempt to process what that fool was thinking when attempting this stunt they don’t belong in the business, I’ll move along now and go back to the deer hunting threads, I’m done with this one..
So you're saying you don't climb
Years in the business doesn't mean much when the fatality rate is still so high. That means most tree guys don't know what they're doing due to lack of training
Circle of death… give me a break… I’ve owned a tree service business 21 years, and before that worked in other tree departments for major municipalities, so 26 years of total experience, if anyone can attempt to process what that fool was thinking when attempting this stunt they don’t belong in the business, I’ll move along now and go back to the deer hunting threads, I’m done with this one..
That video had weekend warrior written all over it. There are very few weeks that go buy where I don’t hear somone talking about how expensive a quote was for a professional tree job. And there’s a good reason why professionals fetch the rates they do. Unfortunately it creates a situation where it’s lucrative for guys with some experience to do cut rate sidework. But this is the stuff that happens to folks with enough knowledge to be dangerous.Dude that video is wild and I hope that man is ok.
Someone made reference to fall force and someone made reference to “long tether”…. Fall arrest harnesses like the one he was wearing have a lanyard connection that stretches to 6’. While stretching, it is absorbing some of the fall force. In this instance the snap back from that tree knocked the whole bucket and arm which seemed to catapult him out of it. While it may have increased his force, it’s likely the contact with the tree itself probably hurt as much or more than the force of the fall but there is no way of telling. I do not believe falling all the way to the ground at the speed he came out of the bucket would have been any safer or better for him though… While I can’t speak to the “circle of death” ie the cone of danger, or the right or wrong way to fell as tree of that size, I can say that what he was in wasn’t a bucket truck but rather one of those hydraulic armed pull behind trailer with a bucket on it. While they function similarly, they are nowhere as steady or secure as a high line bucket truck bus to lack of weight. I worked for a cheap company years and years ago that only had a couple of bucket trucks and the rest of us were stuck with a bucket style trailer like the one in this video and just standard moves up and down without being extended would make the whole bucket and trailer jump around. They are horrible and I’d never recommend using one to anyone.