Pulled a rope wrong and sent a chainsaw 15 feet through a garage door

I was at a job site in Clifton last month, trimming back a big silver maple that had grown into a power line drop. My climber had the saw tied off on a throw line, but I had the wrong knot on the tag end. When I yanked to free it up, the whole setup slipped and the saw swung hard into a neighbor's garage door. Fiberglass and aluminum everywhere. Cost me $400 to replace the door and a half day apologizing to the homeowner. Now I always double check that my hitch is a friction knot, not just a half hitch. Anybody else have a tool slip that turned into a mess? What do you use to keep rope tension right on a bucket truck?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_diana3d ago

Hmm, I have to push back a little on that one. A friction knot won't save you if the rope isn't loaded right in the first place. Sounds more like a rigging error than a knot problem. If the tag end wasn't tied off or secured to something solid, any hitch is going to let go when you put that kind of sudden yank on it. I always run my line through a carabiner or a pulley on the bucket and keep a wrap on a cleat or a bollard before I pull. You need tension on the rope before the knot even matters.

piperbailey3d ago

Buddy of mine tried hoisting a deer with just a prusik on a wet rope. Ended up with a bruised shin and a buck in the mud.

miles_hall1d ago

Gotta ask how wet we're talking here though. A soaked rope changes the friction coefficient a ton, especially with a prusik that relies on grip between wraps. I've had knots that were solid on dry rope slip like crazy after an hour of rain and mud, so maybe the conditions were just as much the problem as the rigging.