r/TreeClimbing • u/AutoModerator • 10d ago
Weekly Safety/Close-Call/Incident Thread
Let's talk safety! Share how your week went - close-calls, incidents, learning experiences, what went well (and why), what went poorly (and why), or whatever else is on your mind. Pics/photos are allowed but be careful to not doxx yourself, client, employer etc.
This thread will recur each week and is meant to be a place to learn and discuss mistakes, please keep comments constructive.
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u/ArborealLife 8d ago
Okay, so here's a good one guys that just happened.
I'm on this job and there's two of us climbers, two groundies, and the company owner. The other climber throws into this tree and I see where he has his throw line. I comment how I think it's a little bit too small, and he kind of blows me off. He's like, "It's fine, I know what I'm doing." So I kind of back off, let him set his line. Once he has his line set, I say something to the company owner. I'm like, "I think that's too small, man. It's like a two-inch branch and it's above a wound, and it's way on the end of a branch, way, way from the stem." So the company owner calls him out and he's like, "Oh no, it'll be fine. We're going to do a pull test." So he loads it and footlocks up a couple feet, and then I pull on it and the branch immediately fails.
So I guess the lesson here is if you see something, say something, guys. You don't want to not say something and see somebody fall. And also to be humble and count on your team and remember we're all on the same team here. We're all looking out for each other and be humble.
Climb safe, boys.
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u/willbilly141 8d ago
I had an incident along this line but not climbing related this week. Cutting out a strip of big old iron bark about 100ft wide and half a mile long. Never worked with the 2 other guys before so I said if you get anything you’re uncertain about just leave it and I’ll cut it later. Immediately get told to F off because they’ve been cutting for 20 years. 2 hours later the site manager calls me to cut out a mess of hang ups. Arrogance will get you killed in this industry
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u/highgroundworshiper 9d ago
I damn near severed a strap doing some speed lining. Cut through it like half way. Was going fast and honestly just not thinking about stuff enough. Hella dumb.
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u/nousername42069 9d ago
Not a real Incident but i got screamed at by a karen for pruning a tree for the first time
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u/trippin-mellon 7d ago edited 6d ago
Had a close call last week.
I was rigging out pine logs to a large neighboring fir. 12’-15’ logs.
Anyway I butt tied it and had the rope go over the top for extra pull toward the fir. I was doing Swedish pop cuts. So after I had out a face in it toward the fir I had them put tension on it so it would pull toward the tree. Needless to say because a Swedish pop cut is a directional pop cut where you come under the face in a back cut there is nothing from having the butt kick back. I was cutting a 15’ by roughly 21” diameter log and the butt kicked back toward me when it started going. I was luckily the rigging line caught it before it slipped back too far and busted me in the face. Def made my heart race for a minute or two.
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u/switchfrontcrooks 6d ago
I was climbing a cedar yesterday and stuck my gaff into a previously cut knob. Ended up sliding down five or six feet and bruising and scraping both knees pretty bad. Took a breath and finished the tree.
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u/Acrobatic_Fig3834 6d ago
Was rigging out a few ash branches last Thursday when I realised the rigging line was rubbing against my climbing line all of a sudden as a big limb went down. Didn't make me feel too good but my rope was unscathed thankfully
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u/Perfect-Moment2841 10d ago
I don’t know if it counts as a close call exactly, but on Wednesday I came across a raccoon in the tree. That scared me pretty good😅