I had a brief free airshow thrill! Most of the crop dusters in recent years are turboprop powered, but a Pratt and Whitney radial was pulling this Ag Cat biplane yesterday. You gotta love the sound of these great engines.
13. Clear your work area and your escape path of brush, vines, and other hazards that can trip you or catch your saw.
14. Escape from the bullseye when the tree tips. 90% of accidents happen within 12 feet of the stump. Go more than 15 feet, and stay out of the bullseye until things stop falling.
15. Keep spectators away more than twice the height of the tree in the direction it will fall.
16. Don't cut alone.
17. Keep your body and the swamper's out of the line of the bar in case of a kickback.
18. Set the brake when taking over two steps or when moving through tripping hazards. Keep your trigger finger off of the throttle when you are moving.
19. DO NOT operate a chainsaw from a ladder! Operating with your feet off the ground requires special training.
20. Do not cut above your shoulders.
21. Springpoles must be shaved on the inside of the apex between the ascending and descending sides. If the apex is higher than you shoulders, stand under the springpole and cut it low on the descending side. It will release upward, away from you.Leaning and heavily loaded poles that are too small to bore cut for a hinge should be shaved on the compressed side until they fold.
22. Do not cut a tree that is holding up a lodged tree. Do not work under a lodged tree. Think about a mouse trying to steal the cheese out of a trap.
23. Instruct your swampers and helpers to NEVER approach you from behind or the sides to within the reach of your saw when you are cutting. If you pull out of a cut with the chain running, or have a severe kickback, the swamper can be killed if he is coming up behind you!
24!! Quit When You Are Tired!
3 comments:
I remember seeing a cropduster when I was in elementary school in Kommiecticut. I was on the school bus coming home in the afternoon, and he was working a large field bordered by trees and had high tension power lines running parallel to the flight path. The area was a large farm that was many fields covering several square miles growing broadleaf tobacco. Those fields now are growing houses.
Those are neat to watch. When I was in college I had a job were I would go to a customers field and get on the radio. When the pilot approached I popped a smoke grenade to confirm he sprayed the right field. The job was short lived as he stalled on an upturn and landed in a pecan tree.
I am surrounded by crop fields. The small airport is a mile yonder. Dusters fly low over the house on their runs. I love it.
I knew a pilot who, in 40k hours as a duster, had balled up 7 airframes. My past A&P had an accident. He'd just taken off with a full load when the engine quit. Out of altitude and airspeed, he was going to land straight ahead on a dike. Except a professor from the university was leading a class on a study. They stood right where he was going to put down. Sidestep left, into shallow water, flipped over, the entire tank flooded over him. Bad chemical burns but mostly healed by the time I met him.
Events like that keep me out of the business. Still, I'm inclined to give it a go. Except this isn't something a guy does for a couple of seasons. And I ain't no spring chicken no more. I'd sure like to get back to working pilot status. Something exciting.
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