Your biggest blunder?

[Old Monkey]

That's what I did on the job site.

 

[Brimmstone]

Lacquer thinner and oil dry. What i use every time.

 

[Burnham]

What is oil dry, Brimm?

 

[SoonerFan]

Blame it on the lawnmower guy.

 

[Brimmstone]

Oil dry is a mechanics version of cat litter.

 

[sawinredneck]

Yeah, cat litter/oil dry, and I've grown fond of Purple power, you can get it at most auto supply stores in a gallon or a windex size bottle. Simple Green works, but I like the Purple power better, then hose it off. But get on it quick, like they said above, the longer it sits................

 

[Brimmstone]

Mineral spirits poured on the spots then let to sit for 2 minutes before applying the oil dry will almost always suck it right out.

 

[tntree]

Go back asap, the longer it stays, the deeper it gets. Wood chips and a broom are always my first course

On site going oh shite - oh shite , tryed black dirt, sawdust, chips oh shit still isn't coming up - go back with Dawn scrub, hose - beg customer not too sue me - reduce price on job -- way too many stupid oil leaks over 25 years

 

[Underwor]

There is some stuff call CitraSolve that works great also. Spray it on and hose it off with water. Will clean up a big oil stain in the driveway under your old truck, several months later.

 

[Old Monkey]

I think we got it licked but none of his hose bibs are working as he just bought the house. We tried Simple Green, GoJo hand cleaner and another product. They all worked to a degree.

 

[Bermy]

I was working out of a Genie lift the other day, had a big limb rigged to pull up and got my 020t stuck, I tethered it to the lift inititally, tried to cut it out the silky, no chance, to had to swing out for another saw...forgot to untether mine from the lift, looked back when I only got about a foot away...looked back and the bar was bent over quite a bit, tether stretched out..ooops, no-one saw except me, as I boomed back I watched the bend spring out of the bar...it was ok thank goodness, that little ring on the back of the 020 sure is strong and bars can bend a long way before they stay!

 

[Bodean]

I like this thread, really learning a lot.

My blunders were mainly very small, very small until I flipped a JD loader.


Here's a stuck saw retrieval video. May be hard to see.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oD0-RmUkoLo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

In hindsight, the guy holding the rope said he shoulda put gloves on.
The loader I flipped is in the background in front of the chip truck.

 

[Old Monkey]

Call for a scrench and take the power head off. Don't risk the power head just because the bar and chain are pinched. Half the time it is just the chain that is pinched and the bar will come out too.

 

[tntree]

Ive had to pull the head more than once, not putting a rope in the tree and the wind comes up.
Nerve racking taking 2 nuts off, imaging the hinge popping off backwards
Pretty much learned to always put a tag line on

 

[Cobleskill]

My first big tree I cut was a blunder. Big dead American Elm, I was 17. It had a bunch of limbs, and I guesstimated it would fall the way I wanted it to. Why I didn't put a wedge in the backcut I don't know. It set back on the saw and I thought the hinge was in danger of letting go, dropping the tree on the saw. Run for tools and frantically unbolt and remove powerhead. I let it stand until it fell on its own. No damage to the bar, but a 4 strand barb wire fence was flattened. Dad never mentioned the mishap, but I am sure he looked it all over.

 

[SkwerI]

Must be nice where your worst casualty is a barb wire fence. I've broken so much stuff over the years that I can't even begin to remember them all. Roofs, windows, lights, an AC unit, driveways, underground pipes, septic tanks, you name it I've broken it. I've probably spent $40K+ over the years fixing other people's stuff.

 

[Cobleskill]

No, not my worst. The unbolting incident just reminded me of it. I was terrified I was gonna turn my Dad's saw into a mangled piece of garbage. It makes me laugh thinking back.

 

[Birdy]

At my first job I was working with my boss in the Westonbirt arboretum hauling brush etc, when he offered me the oppurtunity to fell the spar he had just made out of a 100' scots pine, I greedily agreed, he handed me the huge ass husqy and i went to work, I compromised the hinge on the left side watched the stem swing towards a rare rhododendron and miss it by inches "you have got to get lucky some time" I said, until i looked at the 5' bar I had just bent beyond repair.

 

[High Scale]

Hey Birdy, I work around Westonbirt a lot, not at the arboretum though, some very big trees around there.

 

[Birdy]

My old boss was an intern there and we would regularly contract in the arboretum, it was awesome to be in there first thing sun rising, pruning big old beech trees. Or hanging out by the japanese maples waiting for the curator to turn up.

 

[Porkbrick]

my earliest and worst climbing mistake was getting too close to the primaries when i was seven. skin grafts and most of a year in and out of the hospital. learned my lesson on that one (and got to be the mummy for many halloweens thereafter). more recently... long day, no lunch, trying to finish monterey pine removal in pebble beach. blocking wood down, made my face cut, yelled ready and let er fly... forgot to tie the rope on. got real lucky and missed all the targets below (including the ground guy). left a 200t on the headache rack of the bucket and drove off. it broke. backed over another 200t. it broke too. i think ive backed every truck\chipper we have into every truck chipper\gate post\light pole we have. i call it a learning curve.

 

[Porkbrick]

plus im real good at fixing fenders now

 

[MasterBlaster]

And NOW you're a pro!

 

[Burnham]

Uhh...Porky, please stay well south of Oregon, OK?

 

[Porkbrick]

Uhh...Porky, please stay well south of Oregon, OK?

no worries burnham, all that is behind me. makes me think of another blunder tho. downed eucalyptus, tangled mess, on rope(me), cutting an 8" log under tension. pinched the saw so pulled out the hand saw as there was only a little left to cut. i knew it would pop towards me, so, like a dumbass, i put my hand on the piece to stop it. when it popped, it poppet hard. hit my helmet and knocked me ass over backwards. so whats the first thing i do when the stars clear? i look to make sure no one saw, THEN i checked to see if my teeth were still there. ah pride.