# How do loggers get killed by falling trees? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 6, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-loggers-get-killed-by-falling-trees/166859 "2003-04-06T13:09:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-loggers-get-killed-by-falling-trees/166859/21 "2003-04-07T01:49:59Z")
Oh, forgot to comment on widowmakers (dead snags and branches that fall on the logger while cutting the tree) and chainsaw kickback. Both are serious concerns, and important reasons to always wear helmets and other safety gear. ---
**Author:** ![Fuel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Fuel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuel)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-loggers-get-killed-by-falling-trees/166859/22 "2003-04-07T04:04:40Z")
I remove small trees every once in a while and I gotta say that if that last hack or cut right before the fall sticks in the tree and you try to pry the ax or chain out before the thing falls, it’s dangerous. You never know exactly how long to stand there pulling before hightailing it out of there. And you never know if you are gonna trip on a shoelace or slip on some sap. Guess that’s why they have tandem saws… By the way, pulling out or cutting down trees is so much fun! To see a mammoth growth just _instantly_ jerk out of the ground from the pull of a 6k lb truck going 12 mph is just awestriking. ---
**Author:** ![Simbelmyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Simbelmyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simbelmyne)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-loggers-get-killed-by-falling-trees/166859/23 "2003-04-07T04:56:19Z")
\ ***Instant Karma** \* or vengeful Ents. ---
**Author:** ![honkytonkwillie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@honkytonkwillie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/honkytonkwillie)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-loggers-get-killed-by-falling-trees/166859/24 "2003-04-07T06:12:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > \*\*What happens when you use a chainsaw & it hits a large nail in the tree? \*\* What do you _think_ happens, **handy**? There’s a really big chance that people get hurt. Sounds like you’re alluding to tree spiking. Considered a terroristic act by many, made no more legitimate by calling it **eco** -terrorist. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-loggers-get-killed-by-falling-trees/166859/25 "2003-04-07T10:31:47Z")
According to a Rolling Stone article, entertainer Bob Hope got his flattish face and ski slope nose from a logging accident. He was stripping the upper branches when his tree fell. He slipped around to the upper side, and fell on the tree instead of the other way 'round. His face was shattered, and the local doc smushed it back into the shape you’re familiar with. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-loggers-get-killed-by-falling-trees/166859/26 "2003-04-07T15:05:31Z")
Heard a story about a fatality which occured when a logging truck driver was loosening the tie-down chains on a load of logs. A log had gotten torqued during transport so that when the chain was loosened it literally jumped off of the truck bed and fell on the driver. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-loggers-get-killed-by-falling-trees/166859/27 "2003-04-07T15:43:45Z")
[hijack] “Environmental” groups have been known to spike trees that are set to be harvested, driving long metal spikes at angles into the tree at breast-height as disincentives to those who would cut them down. A chain striking such an object can very easily result in injury or death. The technique is not _supposed_ to be an act of terrorism. Groups will spike (or _say_ that they have spiked) an area of timber that is about to be harvested and then announce that they have done so. This is usually a stalling tactic, causing the timber company to slowly and carefully look for and remove any spikes before any cutting is done. Sometimes this provides enough time for legal opposition of the Timber Harvest Plan to succeed. [end hijack] ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-loggers-get-killed-by-falling-trees/166859/28 "2003-04-07T16:02:24Z")
Hey, handy here. I needed to prune the oak branch above my street so I put a ladder against the branch I was cutting, went up about 11 feet & cut the branch (about 7" dia) & would you know it? But when it got most of the way through the branch came down, attached like a hinge at the base of the cut, swung & smacked right into the ladder, much to the amusement of the guy sitting in his car nearby. Lucky for me the ladder was leaning on a stub. Im sure there are some beginning loggers out there like me that raise the stats quite a bit 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-loggers-get-killed-by-falling-trees/166859/29 "2003-04-07T16:26:13Z")
It isn’t just eco activists you have to worry about - a tree which isn’t in the middle of the woods is likely to have all sorts of crap in it. My neighbor’s tree was splitting, and a tree service put an enormous carriage bolt through the thing - we’re talking a bolt 2 or three feet long and an inch or two thick. It has since grown over. I put an 8 inch 1/2 in diameter carriage bolt through a cherry in my yard for the same reason. Trees near roads and farms may have had fences nailed up against them, signage attached to them, etc. Any tree around civilization is likely to be full of miscellaneous nails, screws, etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-loggers-get-killed-by-falling-trees/166859.md?page=1)