Close Call

[Does’ Leap]

While chaining firewood on my bobsled this afternoon I reached my arm down through the logs to grab a chain and the logs shifted. My right arm was pinched just below the shoulder and I could not move. My peavey was too far away to grab and my cell phone was in my right pocket under my chaps jammed up against the logs – inaccessible to my left hand. Luckily my 11 year old son was helping me and he was able to free me up. My lesson for the day: jam your peavey in between the logs you are reaching between.

Stay safe.

George

[LongViewFarm]

Glad you’re OK George. It’s not always easy to get helpers in the woods. I had a boot get pinched today, but luckily a big winter boot and peavey was handy. Stay safe!

[jen judkins]

Wow, George, you are so lucky. That happened to a friend who logs alone and he was trapped for hours. Eventually help came, but by that time, he had killed the blood supply to his hand and forearm, requiring surgery to replace the artery. He is OK, and still works alone in the woods. You guys are a tough lot!

[mitchmaine]

happy that everything worked out for you george. your son was more dependable than your cell phone. chuck the phone and keep your son with you. stay safe.

[Ed Thayer]

That could have ended really poorly, I am glad it all worked out George.

Ed

[Carl Russell]

George, I’m glad you were able to get home safely….

This post got me thinking about your other post about weaving the bunk chains. While I have reached between logs, I have never felt that I was anywhere near this kind of trap that you describe. Are you waiting until all the logs are on the bunk before you thread the chains?, thereby needing to reach through the logs to manage the chains.

I wrap my chains around the bunk before I load any logs, then weave chains around the 2,3,or 4 logs on the off side first. In this way you should be able to reach under the logs from either side without having to reach down through. Then as I load the near side I wrap each log as I load it.

You may already be doing that, but it just occurred to me to bring it up.

Working alone can be dangerous, but for me it is a reality, not only economic, but emotional. I HAVE to work alone. Not just because I’m an A-hole:p, but because it is my dance. I love the creative freedom of the work I do, and I thrive on it when I’m able to do it without distraction.

However, that requires a high degree of awareness to the potential dangers. Taking time to figure out how to move around these challenges is essential to working alone. Of course there’s nothing like a pinch like that to get you thinking about how to change your choices…… and of course that is why they call them accidents…… you never can be absolutely prepared.

Be safe out there, Carl

[Eli]

Glad to hear you are ok. Things happen fast, I have had close calls myself, more than I like to admit. Be safe. Eli

[Does’ Leap]

Thanks all for your kind words. If my son had not been there, I would like to think that my horses would stand around for a few hours until Kristan came looking for me, but you never know.

Carl, working alone is both a reality and a solace for me as well. Before I became a farmer and father, I was an avid rock climber. The technical and physical challenges gave me a charge like no other. Working horses in the woods fills that void and then some. There is so much we ask of our logging horses (and ourselves) that the opportunities for learning and gratification are limitless. Along with that comes both frustration and potential danger. By working slowly and methodically, I try to limit both.

In terms of the chaining, I normally do lay my first chain around the bunk before I load my first set of logs. However, recently I have found that the chain is getting trapped under my log as I try to shuck it over and moves from the center of the bunk toward the outside and under the log necessitating and extraction. I think this could be avoided by using the peavey to roll the log rather than pry and shuck but that is not what always is needed. Than I started questioning if there really is an advantage to laying out that first chain. Why not get your first set of logs in place, wrap around your bunk and weave?

Yesterday I took a grinder to both my slip hooks in order to make a sharp point that can be driven into a log. I am going to try driving that slip on the outer most log (my first on the bunk) and weaving as I go from the outside in. With the near set of logs, I would continue to weave as I go from the outside, in.

I know, the young upstart trying to re-invent the wheel. If nothing else, it might help prevent that slip hook from falling between the last two logs (a common occurrence with me) as I weave my other chain per your tried and true method. I’ll let you know how it goes.

George

[Carl Russell]

@Does’ Leap 38787 wrote:

….. However, recently I have found that the chain is getting trapped under my log as I try to shuck it over and moves from the center of the bunk toward the outside and under the log necessitating and extraction. ….

Do you have a pin, or U-bolt in the center of your bunk to hold those chains centered?

Just a single pin, or 5/8″ bolt into the back of the bunk will work. Place the chain on the opposite side of the bolt from the deck of logs you’re chaining to keep that chain from sliding in that direction.

Creativity is the secret. You may come up with a great innovation…. that I will want to use.

By the way, Les Barden and I tried to come up with a variation last year, but I have yet to get the sled to try it out.

Without a picture it may be difficult to describe very well. I was thinking that if there were 2 bitch links either welded, or otherwise attached, to the back of the bunk, perhaps inside a U-bolt, like on my sled, they could be used as the central hitch-point for the bunk chains. If they were slotted hooks, the chains could be dropped in rather than having to thread them through the bitch-link. In this manner, one would never have to actually twist the chains, and slack could be adjusted quicker and easier. This would also allow for shorter chains, and may simplify the attachment and weaving.

For that matter, one could use the U-bolt in the back of my bunk in a similar manner.

I am not apt to change the way I do it, as I think there is some functional advantage to chaining directly to the bunk. The twist is right on the bunk, so as the chains are tightened around the logs, they are attached tightly against the wood. I intuitively feel that these other methods would have too much slip-and-slide to them. Les was interested in a quick and simple (typical of his designs) way to attach logs to a light sled for light/quick loads, with minimal handling, which I admit could be a good hybrid of the cart and sled. In the right situations this could alleviate the risks that you are encountering.

Another part of the variation had to to with not needing to weave and use grabs over slip hooks. Of course this gets back to the light and often scenario, but we were theorizing that chains attached as described above could be basically laid out so that the choker hook would come up from below, and the loose end of the chains would then be drawn together in the center using a chain binder. This would probably not work if you were loading ten logs on the sled, but I just mention it here as encouragement to think outside the box as you strive for effective solutions to your working challenges.

I am stuck in my own habits, but it doesn’t mean others need to be too……:confused:

If nothing else, it might help prevent that slip hook from falling between the last two logs (a common occurrence with me)

I solve this by being a bit sloppy so that the hook hangs, then if there is too much length, I twist the chain a few times to shorten it to my desired position.

Carl

[Tim Harrigan]

George, glad you got out of that tight spot with no injuries. I also work alone and like it that way, for the reasons you and Carl mentioned. I count on being slow and methodical and observant, I refer to is as having eyes in my ass. I also know that things happen and I have often thought that even though I carry a cell phone and a whistle that there is a possibility that I could not get either of them if I got in a tight spot and I could be trapped for several hours before anyone came looking. I have thought of some protocols, like calling in at certain intervals, but never implemented them. I hope I don’t regret it some day.

[mitchmaine]

i remember working in the woods with my dad and brother. it was a great time, working talking and laughing. i guess we must have cut some wood too, can’t remember. anyways, when my kids were small, it was alot easier and faster to go in and cut alone. they grew up and are gone and i’m still cutting alone. i have my system and it still seems to work. but i really miss the sound of that laughter sometimes. i’m taking a firm stand on taking the kids in to the woodlot, regardless of how much time you gain or lose. good for them and you too, especially if they end up rolling logs off yor cell phone so you can call out to tell someone your ok

[Tim Harrigan]

Good point. I guess that is the price we pay for being, as Carl points out, A-holes.

[mitchmaine]

i wouldn’t put it that way, tim. but i know alot of jobs are easier, quicker sometimes if you just get up and go do it your self. i pushed my horses when i shouldn’t have many times, now thats being an a-hole, now i look at it different, wished i’d done somethings different, thats all.

[Rod44]

Another way to haul the logs.

http://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww161/chochocookie/biglogs008.jpg

[Does’ Leap]

Well the sharpened points on the slip hooks worked well. If you find it easier to weave your second, or near set of logs, as you go compared with having to snake chain after the fact, it might be worth a try. I drove the hook into the wood both a hammer and a peavey and it held fine for my purposes. Carl, if you come up with an easier chaining method I would love to hear about it. Chaining time is the biggest drawback I can find to using a sled. Although I am getting more proficient, a faster method that would adequately secure logs would be welcome. However, I am not sure a lighter sled would be desirable in my situation. The real benefit of the bobsled fr me is its payload. I loaded up a cord of wood + / – today and went just over half a mile (thanks to Google Earth I can now dial in my skid distance accurately). Although I will often “go light and go often” while ground skidding and using my arch, I tend to load as much on my scoot and sled as I think the horses can draw. When I am drawing fuel wood, I have a pretty substantial hill leading up to the house (in contrast, my sawlog landings are mostly downhill). I will often block off a quarter or more of the load at the bottom of the hill so they can make it up.

I have a friend who logged with horses for 20+ years using a bobsled and travois sled (sp?). He used a swivel bunk on his bobsled with 2 rings on the outside of the bunk. The bunk was also equipped with small spikes to keep the logs from sliding off the bunk. He wrapped one chain from one ring to another around the load and used a binder. He didn’t even use a back chain. Hard to believe he kept all his logs, but he swears by it.

Mitch, although I like working alone, I also enjoy the company of others. I have been trading a day a week with a friend who logs with horses and have been enjoying it. I also agree about the importance of involving our kids. My son put up a bit of a fuss before going out the other day. I insisted he come out and he really enjoyed it. He also got to save his dad! We need to take the time to share our work and passions with our kids, even though it takes time.

George

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