The first time I ever saw a feller buncher was when I was traveling down the Maine Turnpike during the widening Although I didn’t know what it was called, I always wanted to keep my eyes on it and watch what it could accomplish. It ‘s the same feeling that you get when you are driving by an airport as a plane is about to land, you just can’t take your eyes off until that powerful jet completes what seems to be unimaginable

Our feller buncher is a very large yellow machine with bright red claws. It moves through the woods, cuts and grabs the tree at the same time. It’s gets it’s name from the action of "felling" which is the proper term for cutting, sawing, or chopping a tree over. The feller buncher exudes power like a stately grandfather, you love it, and you fear it at the same time. It twists between the trees and selectively cuts the ones that are being sold. It’s amazing how the operator can maneuver down trails and weed out the trees that will leave the forest in a healthier state.

We were on my second job and the feller buncher had to cut a large hemlock on the edge of the property nearest the road. The tree was huge. The operator planned to come from behind place a back cut, then come around and properly complete the cut, while grabbing the tree and carrying it into the property away from the road. I was standing in the road watching the process unaware that I was about to learn a lesson that would probably keep me safe for the rest of my logging career. As the operator made the first cut, the size and the degree of rot took over and it started to crackle and snap and head directly towards me. It took a second for my mind to process what was happening and then everything happened in slow motion. I spun, grabbed onto my hardhat and ran as fast as I could away from the tree down the road.

The feller buncher came to the edge of the property, reached out into the road, grabbed the hemlock and very casually dragged it onto the property to place it in the pile. La, la, all in a good days work. Safety is huge on the job site and we need to be aware of our surroundings at all times.

Later on when I got into the truck with my boss he said, "So, what did you learn today?" He explained that’s why logging is one of the most dangerous professions, and even though an operator does everything correctly there is still the one variable that is out of our control, Mother Nature.You never know what is going to happen when you open a tree up. How much rot or where the heaviest part of the tree is. So the 300ft rule is in effect at all times…and it’s printed in bold reminders on the feller buncher, trust me, I will never, ever need a reminder again.

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