A chainsaw is the most dangerous tool I am aware of, and if you are falling timber then sooner or later something is going to happen.
We have a saying....the unlucky get killed and the lucky get good.....I have had trees land beside me....
...had barber chairs......had tops land beside me......had stupid skidderman push snags over in my direction...been hit in the face with debris requiring stiches a couple times...all that and you are still holding and controlling the most dangerous tool.
I sure do miss production falling.
My first year cutting I got hit by a top that was rotten enough to bust off when the tree went over. It was on a steep loose and rocky hillside and I slipped moving away. Ended up face planted into the ground. That one still causes problems 30 years later. I also got a pretty good nick on my left wrist when my bar tip touched my wedge and kicked back out of the back cut. That one was 25 stitches or so.
Just in the last few years 4 guys I know and/or worked with in the woods 3 have been seriously injured wiith one of them dead. 1 of the 3 ended up losing a leg at mid thigh.
The one guy who was killed probably had 30+ years of timber falling under his belt and was widely regarded as a very good timber faller. A widowmaker got him.
I was just talking to my brother a few days ago about logging and we both agreed we missed it for some reason.
