Today I was pruning a mediumish sized Silver Maple. The main center leader had been removed sometime ago, but there were alot of good sized lateral limbs left. I was working about 30 feet out from my TIP, limbwalking on a 6" diameter limb. At about head there was another limb, about 8" diameter running parralel just above the limb I was walking on. To get into position to make a cut, I threw my lanyard around the upper 8" limb. No sooner did I lean back into my lanyard and cccrrraaaaaaaaaaaack! The 8 incher I was bucked into broke off about 10 feet behind of my lanyard. I helicoptered around, twisting up in my line and lanyard, all while this 8" limb is hanging from my lanyard. I was in a pickle for a minute. I couldnt reach my hitch to descend and I couldnt muster the strength to get the limb outta my lanyard (it was heavy). Anyway, my GF came over to help, asked me if I was OK and fortunatly was able to reach up from the ground and cut enough weight of the limb so we could get it out of my lanyard so I could descend. I didnt get hurt luckily but it scared the shit out of me. Nothing like working away and crack, there you are hanging upside down with another 150 pounds of weight pulling on you. It was scary but a rush at the same time. Scary fun, like a haunted house.
Earlier in the day I was chunking down some logs in the bucket truck removing a large diseased Elm limb, and one of the logs I cut caught a low limb on the way down and bounced right at the cab of the bucket truck, had it not been for the headache rack, I would have totaled the hood and/ or windshield. Whew! Talk about close. The GF saw that one too, smiled at me and said,"you want a rope?" To which I replied, "Please".
Not one of my better days.