My Pride Is my Shame, Too Big Of a Top with a Crane

[telorinodelhoyoo]

where can i download this song

[wecuttrees]

@telorinodelhoyoo Can you hear a song?  It has been removed? It is Janes addiction "mountain song"

[Tomsouthrock]

a shame people cut down beutiful trees like that, not even dead

[wecuttrees]

@Tomsouthrock It was struck by lightning an dying.

[spymaine89]

WHY TAKE DOWN SUCH A BEUTIFUL TREE ?????????????

[wecuttrees]

@spymaine89  It was struck by lightning an dying.

[Thehoelogdog]

great lesson learned when you live to remind yourself and others. I've had a couple close ones myself. remember that an extra minute will save a life. and that gravity is a bitch. LOL..glad all ended well.

[hawrivermetal]

damn bro....u lucky....bet that was a trip when that butt came by your head...haha....

[9b8]

Oh shit! *shit* My skinny ass woulda be crawling twisties down the trunk of that tree like a horny lizard. All I can say is, good thing that crane was on solid level ground. When you deal with that kind of weight everything gets multiplied. I grew up around draglines, stuck escavators and bulldozers and the like. I've seen booms crash and 5/8" cables snap more then once. Definitely will make a man out of you if it don't kill you. And, like a marine under fire, you WILL know how to shit and get!

[triefnass]

Yes, you really got lucky! A LOT could have gone wrong. Deadly injuries included.

But you have the stomach to tell about it. I also did some risky, stupid things in my early years as professional.

Now I always start from the top and cut it down. Much better to control, less weight, reduced risk. it´s like this advertising line: "power is nothing without

control.

Best regads Julian

[durantree]

You got balls ! And, dont worry about the shame part. You lived to show the story.

[MatthewBanchero]

I'd call that a free lesson. I hope you and everyone else who sees this will not make the same mistake. I've got a video up taking out the top of a big oak with a 40,000lb crane. What I didn't capture on film was the next log down...weighed 9,000lbs...swinging right at my head. A couple months later I had three guys try to beat me up and take my wallet. After having a tree swing at me I just smiled at those guys...they didn't get the wallet. :)

[jamesspeed70]

Whoaaa

[goerizal]

i have to say i do not know that much about this dangerous busines but what if the crane, ropes and all were arranged in such a way to allow pulling the tree top to fall away from you and the house just like a notched tree trunk instead of holding the huge cut branch up in the air?

[sundaycostaandfamily]

All I can say is wow....you almost turned your head into a smashed pumpkin....I looked up tree accidents lately and seen a old man on a ladder do the same thing except you dont know the branch is connected to anything until it kicks back and smashes the guys leg, pins it against the tree for a few seconds and ended up with compound fractures...In 8 years of climbing Ive only indured 3 accidents of my own...and I am very blessed to say I still continue to keep moving foward...thanks for the video

[truelad1000]

yea pride is a son of a bitch in this our line of work.but we all know we couldn't do it without it.good on ya

[RustySurfer23]

Thanks for the post i am a younger tree climber, although i have never done this particular thing i have my share of dumb ass moves.

[arboristBlairGlenn]

Been there, done that myself. Good lesson to see and remember that this can happen to any of us. We all need to slow down and see clearly before we make the cut! Thanks for posting this.

Blair

[natesrepublic]

like a good neighbor state farm is there!!!

[waynedcrane]

i have a crane and tree service, my guys understand the importance of the cut being butt heavy, on the other hand some of my customers who rent my crane service for their jobs just dont seem to grasp the concept of this, it scares the living shit outta me when they dont want to go 3 or 4' higher to set the straps to ensure that the butt end is heavier, my job is to get the tree down safe with noone getting hurt.... your a lucky man

[mootseighthecat]

Yup! live and learn, Even the best make mistakes.

[spelunkerd]

It takes a man with broad shoulders and wisdom to post this kind of misadventure, in the spirit of giving back. You may have saved lives with this video. So, bravo.

Lesser men stand back and criticize, without reading what you said.

[wecuttrees]

@spelunkerd

You know, I really appreciate that. I tend to think most of thoes guys are drunk at the time, or cant read. But either way,  thanks. It is not a lot of fun posting mistakes, but if it helps keep another climber safe, then my pride can take a back seat!.

Stay Safe!

[1overthehillsfaraway]

@spelunkerd that is a crock of shit! anybody who is ignorant enough to hook a top like that and make such an enormous misjudgement should not be cutting trees or doing dangerous work of this nature so your not helping anyone by posting this, just illustrating your ignorance. It only take 1 mistake to get killed... a close call like this was just luck that no one was injured or serious damage was not done to something.

[spelunkerd]

@1overthehillsfaraway So, I guess your point is that mistakes like this should be guarded secrets. After all, it would be human nature to hide that kind of error. Do you really think errors should be concealed?

My point is that by posting this mistake, he allows others, many with less experience, to see what can happen. Sure, it makes the poster look bad. But he's aiming at the greater good, looking beyond small matters, like individual human ego. Many of us can't see so far....

[1overthehillsfaraway]

@spelunkerd No, not guarded secrets at all. Actually it is kind of entertaining to see ignorance in action. What I take away from this video is that some people should not be attempting this sort of work. What do you think... that someone is gonna watch this and say "oh hey, I should make sure I don't hook a tree like that"... well no shit sherlock anyone with an once of brains can see that the top is hooked incorrectly! And you praise the guy for sharing like its gonna help someone else? HOW?!

[WelcomeToMyDream]

@1overthehillsfaraway You are a king size fucktard.

[highnmightytree]

@1overthehillsfaraway as a treeman my self the only mistake made was the chokers should of been higher in the tree 2 keep the top from flipping. the best that would of done with that top would of made it balanced. at times we have no choice but 2 make cuts like that. i have had 2 put buckets from big machines on a crane 2 hold it up because the peice was so big! what would u think of that? lol. 4 wecuttrees i want 2 say good job! in this line of work a miss is a miss and all was safe.

[rascalferret]

The first thing I said was WHY,WHY,WTF,WHY not to micro analyse, I only read the descript after watching..I got one too..yrs ago,I was working the ground on a crane job,(being a young climber,knowing not ready for crane work) the older climber had his first cut brush over just like this one did..but uhh..it hung up on the power lines, broke the pole off, popping the lines like guitar stings with that scary electric bang,bang,bang.NOT COOL..I shuda picked off the bad set up. good luk bro safe2u

[hardcorewheeler93]

hey bud as an crane operator crane booms "deflect" NOT bend

[nicktson]

just goes to show the importance of using the training we recieve in a professional way . we all make mistakes but in tree work they tend to be serious . i recently cut myself pretty bad using my toper with one hand . Really embarasing . Back up the trees again now but use the equipment the way i was taught . Climb safe dude . .

[sandshred25]

its on the climber. crane operator , at worst shoulda known better. on my crew , id expect my groundsman to point out the obvious... total team effort.. thats why we hire a crane, to help us , noy kill us

[tamaragranger]

Why cut a tree that pretty?... wouldn't have your kids loved to see it? or climb it?

[tamaragranger]

Why cut a tree that pretty?... wouldn't have your kids loved to see it? or climb it?

[wecuttrees]

In this case it was me. I was just being very short sighted and wanting to save the 15-20 minutes or setting a few more chokers. Crazy huh? 7 years later I sure am glad that I survived because my 3 kids are Awesome!!!! :-)

[shkunk1]

@wecuttrees I think most of us who've done this for a while have pushed our luck a few times (especially when younger). That shot was kind of spooky, but you pulled it off & ducked in time; so I'd count it as a win. I've pulled a few freaky stunts when I was younger, but we were never into the video thing. In fact, in 26 years, I don't think I've ever been video taped in a tree. Anyway, cool video, good out-come.

Thanks for sharing & work safe.

[NHlocal]

@wecuttrees What's on the menu today? Humble pie. Thank you very much for sittin' down and eatin' a

GREAT BIG helping. You're a good man for posting this video, short, and directly to the point. I'm sure at the

VERY LEAST it will prevent serious injury. Saving a "few minutes" or thinking "it should work" isn't worth losing your life. Once again, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! Oh by the way, are you still doing tree work?

Work safe!

NHlocal.

[edge24edge]

Ive seen this before on my crew . Climber has one idea strap up the tree quick so he can cut it . Crane guy wants to make as few as picks as he can . And who cares about the ground men ,instead of 2 or 3 picks to make the job go smoother  lets put the whole tree on the ground and F**K the ground men . Whos got the bigger atitude , the climber or the crane guy ???

[1overthehillsfaraway]

how in the heck were you thinking it wouldn't roll over the way you had it hooked?? Not thinking is what it was...

[1overthehillsfaraway]

No shit, it's like what were you thinking man?? that wasn't cutting the top out you were cutting the whole f' in try down practically... then post it on utube so everyone knows enough to not hire you that is about what it amounts to!

[vetteboy613]

how much did you charge to cute that tree down?

[nzclimbers]

Mate. you obviously rigged it up wrong. weight distrobution was calculated wrong. nothing to do with total weight of the piece.

[murphy4trees]

That reminds me of the first crane cut I ever saw, circa 1982, my first job on a tree crew.. climber took off this huge twin lead norway maple top over a stone patio. He chocked it just 10-15' above the crotch and cut it just below the crotch.. (apparently neither he nor the crane op knew what they were doing) ..

The whole top rotated rotated right over him, with 15-20" wood swinging right down on either side of him.. I didn't know enough at the time to realize just how close tyo dying he came.

[vertoisful]

whats that song

[shamrock197078]

i know you are tired of all the critacizem but why not just have taken it smaller and made 2 or 3 extra cuts and be a little more safe. i hate cottonwoods the most of every tree i can think of lol! i just want to add that a fellow tree man has passed away on 12/21/2010 Willie was a deaf person and he was walking a railroad track with hid crew on a tresil and train some how grabed his cimbing gear and sucked him in the train or under it ,not sure! please be as safe as we can guys!

[Made247Taylor]

well dude that was too big of a cut and it wasnt rigged up right!! .. thats why it rolled. but cool vid!!!

[jose091973]

EXELENTE TRABAJO AMIGO,FELICITACIONES

[astartreeexperts]

Bucket truck

[kreszard]

what is the name of that song??

[ultimateguitarwizard]

that was a close one! had a few of those. maybe a tag line at the butt or a butt hitch could have kept it from pitching so fast. those cottonwoods release fast in that big wood though, I climbed a few this week. And I know that tip weight can trick you. If I tie in the middle or near the tip and something actually works, I count it as luck. knocking on some wood right now. Thanks for the video! 

[drdendr0]

It happens my friend! Especially in trees with dead tops. You can't put the chains high because the wood is dozy, so you have no choice but to put them low.... Try to be roped in somewhere else and reach for the lanyard hook when it starts to go!

[preshur]

there should have been parrallels going to the other big leaders.... thats why it went off kilter... the headache ball was only hooked to the main, the secondary main was never hooked up. thats why the tree swung left....too much weight on one side. its one of those things thats hard to judge first. in retrospect,,....now, you'll never do that again!!

[TheExtremetree]

That crap is just to much man..lol. rock on! lol

[ozziairlegger]

And the missu's wonders...why us tree fallers drink...lol......fuck man you where lucky on that day.....everything was against you..odds and all.....but lucky old Nick was looking the other way.!

[gypsy8844]

looks like the fairlead of the crane should have been out in front of where the limb was falling. That and rigging it closer to the cut would have kept it from swinging back. Still, you got it done and learned from it.

[benrose88]

i think the weight was ok for the crane.. maybe you should have just put the slings a little higher up the limbs?

[nighthawk5556]

I'm not sure I understand the 'shame' part. . . . . you did what u set out to do. That much weight to say the least is unpredictable. You used a crane as an anchor so to ME that should be your pride bro. My anchor woulda been my truck or somethin stupid lol

[NikitasGuitars]

@nighthawk5556 amen. any chance to learn and survive shouldnt be shameful. ive seen far more ridiculous setups than this.

[arbutus1000]

Would have been a perfect opportunity to try som spiderlegs

[pinkpunktomato]

A lucky escape for you, and a warning for the rest of us. Is it just me or is the boom of the crane bent under the weight? Was the crane damaged?

[wecuttrees]

@pinkpunktomato booms bend every time. even under their own weight.

at that set up the crain was good for 36,000 pounds (or some ridiculous number). I wasn't worried about the crane.

What had me the most worried was Hooking that much weight onto a cottonwood. I was aware that it may tip, but I was scared to go out further because I didn't want the tips to crack And the whole piece come down. If you look carefully, you can see the bottom leader cracks laterally at 22.5 seconds

[RickciD]

@wecuttrees it maybe good for a high weight but that much weight falling downward rocking not only yhe boom but the turret too! Hope you guys inspected at least the boom and turret. not only was it large amount of weight but it was uneven weight as well. Guess it makes it hard to use your scale on the crane

[AceTreeManagement]

nice crane work !

[hendotintco]

no way i'd be in that tree..good job.

[sszztoetayoa]

Question, Why was there a crane there in the first place? From what I could see, there was plenty of room to limb and chunk! Also why were the chokers so low? Im just wondering!

[loversinthenite]

who agreed on where the strap should have gone because i would of looked for center gravity of the load and avoived a flipp job like that

[patfan420]

p.s. what kind of tree was that?whatever it was she was a big'un.

[wecuttrees]

@patfan420

Sure, No problem. It was a cotton wood in colorado springs colorado.

For the longest time I did not post it, but finally I decided to because it woudl help others. Its not so fun to show my mistakes. but if it helps someone else, well.... its worth it.

[patfan420]

the tree company i work for urges us to report/share our near misses and it is not so much as frowned upon but used as a learning tool at saftey meetings...we all make mistakes...hopefully in deciding to post your own mistake you encourage others to swollow there pride and share theres.

[kalin1210]

@wecuttrees Where abouts in the Springs?

[patfan420]

where i work we have a saftey team and a saftey manager...the funny thing is...most of the members of the saftey team has had incedences like this and have been promoted to this position later on in their career because they have that knowlage and experience of what can and will go wrong. so i'll tell you what i tell them....thanx for messing up so i dont have too..lol...glad you made it out ok

[outofmytr33]

Thanks for posting. Never rolled one that size but it does happen and like you said usually early on. These days, like you, I raise the price of the job and lower the weight of the pieces.

Glad you lived to show us all what can happen when you bite off more than you should.

Bet your little un's are glad Dad "slowed down" a bit too.

Merry Christmas.

[timber020]

Thanks for sharing, we all bite of a bit more than the crane can chew on occation.

[madsppp2000]

I will bet you dont do it that way again......

[tl124]

Amen brother. Close.  But we learn from all of it...

[christna05]

Wow, thank god you are ok. First off, three chokers is what probably caused it to roll. the three chokers were working against eachother with too much weight on top. We do nothing but crane work here in baton rouge and we never take chances like that. The climber and crane opperator should have more experience together before trying cuts like this. Good video though, good luck brother man.

[chriscorfe]

glad you werent hurt

def a valuble lesson lurnt buy all

we want to minimise accidents like this in our industry, so maybe this vid will make people see that the only way is the safest way!

thanx for putting it on

and take care

[LLoydB6]

WOW!!!! Man what don't kill you makes you stronger!!!!

[blondemommyvomit]

Crane operator should've known better.

From it all, a testiment to how tuff cranes actually are. That thing hardly bounced with all that movement and top flopping.

Very cool....

[wecuttrees]

smile.... Love your screen name.......

[murphoioioi]

p.s - Im not slagging you off either! We all make mistakes I have made plenty myself! Just Im glad your ok!! be cool! later!

[wecuttrees]

I didnt take it that way. Some people are really uncool about their comments.

I put the clip up, obviously knowing that it was a mistake. But if it helps keep someone safe.... then that is good.

[murphoioioi]

Yer Im a fully qualified Arborist in Australia and although I havent read many of the comments, I must say that peace of work was very hazardous / dangerous and avoidible. Obviously tree assemtents weight of crown estimates and positioning of rigging gear had been poorly installed, are you harneesed / rigged in with ropes etc? I couldnt see any fall arrest gear!. etc. ectc. and i could go on and on.

[murphoioioi]

However I commend you for making this video public as it is a good example of what can happen when assesments and proceedures are not carried out by a trained and competent persons.

That trees crown could easily and quiet quickly have been accessed and some weight reduction carried out. Had the sling and crane rigging been properly positioned higher the result would not have been as extreme, tho still too hazardous as release was cut incorrect and very poorly executed.

[murphoioioi]

Climbing / cutting techniques are vital in safe tree removal, you could have easily tied in on the other stem where you would have had retreat and sectioned out the limb/crown. Holding cut could have been made, you then retreat, crane cracks section off.

It is my obsevation that many simular insedences occur as a result of peoples reluctance too climb! Thinking maybe they can get the job done quicker.

[murphoioioi]

Obviously the unforeseen can and does happen in our industry but that was totally avoidible and the out come as Im sure your well aware could have been fatal!! Your a lucky bloke! Be safe! Even if an employee requests you do otherwise! Educated yourself on advanced tree hazard assesments and climbing techneques 4 your saftey and 4 the safety of all.

Its a valuble lesson learnt mate for you and others in the industry, be aware and be safe

[knt3119]

Wow...this is an incredible video. You have balls of solid rock my friend. I was awestruck when I watched this. I will probably have nightmares. Have you tryed selling this footage to a TV show? I bet they would buy it. Glad you are still with us!

[wecuttrees]

well, big balls maybe.

it was about 4 years ago.

I am just glad that I am alive after all teh scares that I had in tree service.

Thanks for the comment.

[toadabc]

Not too much dumber than when I held a branch up in the air with one bare hand, and the chain saw in the other hand to cut the branch. The finger next to the blade only needed 22 stitches.

[vangoing]

Big balls enough to post vid 2! What dont kill us only makes us stronger & wiser ;) Respect to you..

[wecuttrees]

ya know. I have to say that it is cool when people like yourself are smart enough not so make a stupid cutting comment. you would not believe how many guys are out there whit such low self esteeme that they have to cut on this video. Like I dont know by now that it was a dumb thing to do?? but 3 out of 5 comments are dumb guys posting their aarogant comments on how I should now have done it.

anyway, thanks for being cool. stay safe. double check your logic in every cut!!!!

[climberdad]

makes my butt cheaks pucker every time I watch it.

[wecuttrees]

Yeah,

me too,

[vangoing]

Took balls to do that! You were also very lucky!! Not done meany crain jobs myself but enough to know about the point of ballance. I not heard of a pie cut? US thing i guess. I always use step cuts when craining but very small ones. Beast of luck to you & keep safe;)

[beenerkillz]

i do this type of work frequently, bad tie strap in points, it needed to be closer twards the top of the canopy, and not in wide multiple points but in 2 close proximity spots. One more thing, ALWAYS use a notch cut or a "pie" cut. I DON'T RECOMEND FOR ANYONE TO DO THIS TYPE OF WORK IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY EXPERENCE DOING IT. YOU CAN SNAP CABLES, STRAPS, FLIP CRANES AND MOST OF ALL KILL YOURSELF!!! Please be safe my fellow tree-workers!

[adamclint1]

nice vid mate, big saws big trees big cranes........... big balls dude from uk

[imnothot159]

yo I know that feeling man its crazy but thats what makes the end of the day special and the people who do that shit , ever notice the stupid things aint worth fightin over keeeeep cutin man

[Aprenticewoodspoiler]

Stay safe.Nice vidio.

[mrke8ting]

wow ur a very lucky man to still have ur head where it is. glad u weren't hurt tho, geez just goes to show even if u plan it well, something can still go wrong unexpectedly.

[RomanSandy]

Go big or stay home! Hope you had a change of underpants nearby. LOL. I've taken peices too big before to. Agree with playfordtree

[JRONII]

that was a great video! thank you for sharing :)

[jackson2120]

dude how long have you been doing this and what were you thinking?

[extremetrees]

That was pretty monster. The crane seemed to hold it well thou. Thanks for posting certainly stand up of you. Cheers!

[mccormickchainsaw]

wow scary shit man

[Honeymouu]

as an operator i always have lives on the line. literally. thats why i love crane operating.

[izzytree]

yo woah that was one ambitious section@! and second the comments from playfordtree

[playfordtree]

Good on you Mate!!

It takes balls to show your mistakes.

One of my videos show some pretty shoddy tree work as well

I think by showing your f#ck ups, it helps others not to make the same mistakes.

cheers

simon

[kidesqu]

era evidente que iba a rolar. error de planificación ?!.