Wire Rope or Cable, whatever you wish to call it

[JimR]

Today I almost lost my head. My brother and I were dropping trees using a 5/16" wire rope to make them go where we wanted them to. I was doing the cutting and he was manning my tractor. Never again will I use an old cable. I've had this cable for years stored away in the barn. I've used it many many times over the years to drag trees, pull trees down and what not. Well today it snapped and slapped me right across the side of the head, knocked off my earmuffs, across the side of my neck and left a big red mark down my chest. Talk about seeing the light real quick. First thought was slashed neck, but I found no blood. My poor brother came running thinking I got my throat slashed. Looking at the cable we found that all the inner cores were rotted away. That cable now sits in my scrap metal pile. I have a few more cables that will be joining that one also. From now on I will oil soak any cables that I buy. That will keep the core from rotting out. Man was I lucky on that one. So if you have any old cables kicking around that you use for doing things like I do, please throw them away before this happens to you. I consider myself very lucky today that I didn't get my throat cut or worse, lose an eye or my life. I have six lives left to live.

 

[kennyd]

Wow!

Glad you are OK...

 

[Onthesauk]

Yep, very, very lucky. That's one of those that will wake you up at 3:00 in the morning years from now thinking about it. Very, very lucky!

 

[InlineDieselFan]

Very lucky!!!!

Hopefully many people read this and learn.

steve

 

[Sully2]

Yepper! Wire rope all right! Fiber cord rots and then you tension it at some point..and WHIZZZZZZ it snaps right back at ya! Cable is just as bad!! Wire core..and MUCH stiffer to try and handle..but it gets "strained"..over and over again during time..and then.."same thing happens"

Heavy nylon straps can do the exact same thing...kill you that is. When usng ANY of the above..you want to be WAAAYYYY out of the way...line of fire that is.

Stay safe partner!!

 

[MikePA]

When my father was a young man he worked on a road building crew. Specifically, the initial clearing of the land which involved, as in your case JimR, felling trees. They used wire rope and a bulldozer to pull the cut trees and stumps out. Wire broke, snapped around and took someone's head off. I'm not a professional treeman, but I thought the way you cut the tree determined where it fell?

 

[JimR]

When my father was a young man he worked on a road building crew. Specifically, the initial clearing of the land which involved, as in your case JimR, felling trees. They used wire rope and a bulldozer to pull the cut trees and stumps out. Wire broke, snapped around and took someone's head off. I'm not a professional treeman, but I thought the way you cut the tree determined where it fell?

The way you cut a tree and the way it falls works well on straight trees that are not overly heavy on one side. All the trees we took down the other day were hanging over an old tractor and a rock pile. The tractor is not moving as it has flat tires. It was much easier to pull them the way we wanted to into an open space to cut up into cordwood. I wish everything was so easy when it comes to falling trees. I'm no professional either. But I can land a tree usually where I want it to go if it is not bent over. Wedges help also to make it go the right way.

 

[Timber]

When my father was a young man he worked on a road building crew. Specifically, the initial clearing of the land which involved, as in your case JimR, felling trees. They used wire rope and a bulldozer to pull the cut trees and stumps out. Wire broke, snapped around and took someone's head off. I'm not a professional treeman, but I thought the way you cut the tree determined where it fell?

There are a lot of things that control the fall of a tree.Sometimes the cut will do it but more often then not the tree will go were ever it wants. The hollow ones and the dead are the least predictable. Its always best to cut them from the top down. I use ropes and straps personally and a climbing harness. I drop them from the bottom when I can but if it falls into another tree and hangs up now you have a widow maker on your hands. Cable, Ropes, Straps & Chain all have the potential for a Tension Kill and trees probably being the worst offender. The bottom line is equipment inspection and care. My climbing gear is always in the best of care.

 

[MikeD74T]

When my father was a young man he worked on a road building crew. Specifically, the initial clearing of the land which involved, as in your case JimR, felling trees. They used wire rope and a bulldozer to pull the cut trees and stumps out. Wire broke, snapped around and took someone's head off. I'm not a professional treeman, but I thought the way you cut the tree determined where it fell?

Unless acted on differently, gravity determines which way a tree falls. Cutting technique can change the direction toward gravity, only a crane or helicopter can defy gravity.

 

[czechsonofagun]

There are a lot of things that control the fall of a tree.Sometimes the cut will do it but more often then not the tree will go were ever it wants. The hollow ones and the dead are the least predictable. Its always best to cut them from the top down. I use ropes and straps personally and a climbing harness. I drop them from the bottom when I can but if it falls into another tree and hangs up now you have a widow maker on your hands.

When we bought our place, there was a maple tree hanging. I tiptoed around it for years and finally last spring cut it down b/c of new fence.

But i took no chances, just cut the supporting tree and it all went down in rumble. Cut down many trees in my life with hand saw and an axe - boy scout summer camp - but still scared of hanging trees.