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Distubing video found.

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slagpot

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Joined
Sep 17, 2006
Messages
116
Location
Beaufort,SC
I didn't want to post it on the forum for obvious reasons. I was wondering a couple of things after watching it though. First the back story...

The name of it is " Dozer rolls down a mountain" on youtube. My first thought was does this guy have the first clue of what he is doing ? Answer....No. Secondly I see he was trying to push very large boulders down the slope and I mean slope. I don't have anymore information other than the video. It was shot in Ca.

Unfortunately the operator of this bulldozer lost his life doing something very foolish. For that may he rest in peace. Still I thought. Why take the chance if you don't know what you're doing. Sadly this sort of thing happens all the time. Harry the home owner ,wants to save some money. Rents a piece of equipment {Knowing full well} he doesn't have a clue how powerful it is. Then destroys something,kills someone or self.

This is why we have HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATORS as a trained,skilled group of folks who know what to do. Now, I've both seen,done & heard of things that weren't safe. This video top's the cake on unsafe operation on any scale...
 
olddozerhand

olddozerhand

New Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2010
Messages
2
Location
Washington
Occupation
Retired, but still do occasional small jobs.
That can happen to "High Time" operators too. Sometimes a situation develops that is unforeseeable and the worst happens. I went to school with a kid, elementary at the time, about 1955, whose dad was as experienced as they get. He was working a steep "Side Hill" on an old D8, no roll cage or overhead protection. Low-Side Slope gave way and he didn`t get the machine turned in time. Low side track bit in and the CAT went over. Threw him out and rolled over him. He was dead where he lay. I remember the incident as a kid. My uncle, who was good friends with the guy, told me about it years later after I started runnin' Dozers and I never forgot it. It`s dangerous work and it only takes a split-second lapse of concentration to get past the "Point of No Return"..
 
JDOFMEMI

JDOFMEMI

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2007
Messages
3,074
Location
SoCal
Slagpot

Good call on not posting it. Someone did post it a while back, and it got moderated out of existence soon after.

It is a horrible result of someone without the level of experience needed to do the job in dangerous conditions.
It could be a good education on what NOT to do when working a steep slope. The main thing I seen was that the operator was more concerned with rolling the large rocks off the mountain than he was in making and keeping safe working area for his machine. You should NEVER go out to the end of the loose material like that just to chase a rock. Build out to it. The rock will still be there. Once you have plenty of room, then roll it. If it does not go, don't chase it too far.

The other thing, once he was off of the road he was building, and clearly in trouble, STOP and get help. It would not have taken much to get it pulled back to the road, but the inexperienced operator kept trying, and ended up rolling down the mountain.

You are absolutely right about the homeowner angle. I do not know if that is what happened here or not, but a few miles from my house there is a D-9L laying on the side of a similar mountain for the same reason. Been there since about 2005. Property owner thought the local contractors wanted too much money to build him a road, so he bought a D-9L at Ritchie Brothers and started himself.
He slipped off on a big rock, and rolled about 200 to 300 feet down the side of the mountain. I am sure his family wishes he would have left it up to a professional.

I also know of another operator on permanant disability with a broken back for the same reason. And he was a many year experienced dozer hand, but with no experience on steep hills in the rock. Did the same thing with a D-8N, but only went a short ways down the mountain. It was far enough to get a broken back though.

Leave the dangerous work to those with the experience to get it done safely.
 
T

Trakwork

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2009
Messages
47
Location
california
Occupation
owner/operator --semi retired
Wow... no disrespect to the dead, but what an idiot. Here is a similar roll over

http://californiadozeroperatorsgroup.org/colorado_fire_fatality_report.pdf

I'm surprised the machine in the video at youtube totally fell apart, no chance. Accidents on slopes happen, I had a close on one myself on icy soil that only stopped from the ripper catching the trunk of a Ponderosa pine, I had my blade down but wouldn't cut ... scary.
 
jimmyjack

jimmyjack

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
656
Location
rhode island
slagpot said:
I didn't want to post it on the forum for obvious reasons. I was wondering a couple of things after watching it though. First the back story...

The name of it is " Dozer rolls down a mountain" on youtube. My first thought was does this guy have the first clue of what he is doing ? Answer....No. Secondly I see he was trying to push very large boulders down the slope and I mean slope. I don't have anymore information other than the video. It was shot in Ca.

Unfortunately the operator of this bulldozer lost his life doing something very foolish. For that may he rest in peace. Still I thought. Why take the chance if you don't know what you're doing. Sadly this sort of thing happens all the time. Harry the home owner ,wants to save some money. Rents a piece of equipment {Knowing full well} he doesn't have a clue how powerful it is. Then destroys something,kills someone or self.

This is why we have HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATORS as a trained,skilled group of folks who know what to do. Now, I've both seen,done & heard of things that weren't safe. This video top's the cake on unsafe operation on any scale...
Click to expand...

i posted this video about a month ago , it got removed ......but thats besides the point
 
powerjoke

powerjoke

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Aug 2, 2009
Messages
1,125
Location
Missouri
Occupation
owner/operator/estimator/mechanic/grunt/ditchdigge
A couple of things bother me about this Dozer video.....

1. The camera shifted away from the Machine when it started rolling (giving the operator time to exit the machine)

2. The camera man was not any more emotional or excited than he was

3. They call the machine a D9 and it is clearly not.

4. I want to believe it was a setup and there was no-one inside the machine.

I hope/Beleive it was a setup.....maybe for an insurance check??


Pj
 
O

OCR

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Feb 21, 2008
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1,195
Location
Montana
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Rancher/Farmer, Wildland Fire Fighter, State snowp
Trakwork said:
Wow... no disrespect to the dead, but what an idiot. Here is a similar roll over

http://californiadozeroperatorsgroup.org/colorado_fire_fatality_report.pdf
Click to expand...
That's interesting that you found and posted that fire fatality report, Trakwork... nice job.

Here's some discussion about the incident, from a couple years ago, here on HEF.

The thread starts here:

https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?t=5819





The fellows name was Matt Will... May he rest in peace.
Dozer accident that took Matt Will:
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
It's a rather long thread, so if you want just the discussion, start at post #85, at the URL below.

https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/showthread.php?t=5819&page=6



OCR
 
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J

JoeinTX

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Messages
55
Location
Arlington, TX
Never seen the vid before and didn't know it had been posted here or anywhere for that matter.

Watched it. Looks like a recent model JD all right, not a Cat.

The cascade down the mountainside looks real, allright. The motions and terrain make me think it an actual piece of real equipment tumbling down a slope.

Don't know who was shooting the thing.

The chopper reaction toward the end, over the exact terrain captured earlier in the vid, makes me think it a real occurrence. Any and everything to prove the opposite appreciated....
 
T

Trakwork

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Joined
Oct 25, 2009
Messages
47
Location
california
Occupation
owner/operator --semi retired
Thanks OCR... I never knew Matt Will, what a sad story. .I have thought of joining Calfire, as a contractor, but I have fought only one fire with a Terex 8240 and was amazed at how fast the fire moved. I would only cut in fire breaks at a safe distance, no point of injury or worse losing you're life.
 
O

OCR

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Joined
Feb 21, 2008
Messages
1,195
Location
Montana
Occupation
Rancher/Farmer, Wildland Fire Fighter, State snowp
Trakwork said:
Thanks OCR... I never knew Matt Will, what a sad story. .I have thought of joining Calfire, as a contractor, but I have fought only one fire with a Terex 8240 and was amazed at how fast the fire moved. I would only cut in fire breaks at a safe distance, no point of injury or worse losing you're life.
Click to expand...
You're welcome, Trakwork.

Well, the first fire we went to, we took our old 8230... lol



Here's a few more videos on YouTube, called "Dozer Boss"... some rather good, some rather mediocre... guess you can pick and choose.

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=023B8213E39B3D29&feature=bf




OCR
 
T

Trakwork

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Joined
Oct 25, 2009
Messages
47
Location
california
Occupation
owner/operator --semi retired
Great videos OCR. I will be viewing all of them.. book marked ! Thanks... watched the first one, what a professional effort those guys do. If ever I do that for Calfire first thing i'm doing is putting grouser bars on, i like a dozer that grips hard.
 
thebaz

thebaz

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Joined
Nov 25, 2008
Messages
251
Location
Australia
powerjoke said:
A couple of things bother me about this Dozer video.....

1. The camera shifted away from the Machine when it started rolling (giving the operator time to exit the machine)

2. The camera man was not any more emotional or excited than he was

3. They call the machine a D9 and it is clearly not.

4. I want to believe it was a setup and there was no-one inside the machine.

I hope/Beleive it was a setup.....maybe for an insurance check??


Pj
Click to expand...

I'm with you on this one. I know I am being optimistic in this case, but like you, I am hoping this is a setup. I was expecting some kind of banter in the background and at least some expletives during the rollover. The time stamping on the video looks a little suspect, although it could be legit. It seems very strange that the dozer rollover was caught on video only after it was rolling with an obvious break in filming at the crucial moment.
I sure hope it is a fake, that is an awful way to die, (not that there is a great way)
Baz
 
9

95zIV

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Joined
Mar 11, 2006
Messages
795
Location
Cincinnati, OH
Occupation
RR Contractor Super.
thebaz said:
I sure hope it is a fake, that is an awful way to die, (not that there is a great way)
Baz
Click to expand...

Oh yeah there is, when I go, I want to be like my grandfather, peaceful and in his sleep.






Not screaming like the passengers in his car.

I'm glad someone brought up the camera just going away from the machine like that right before the roll started. The machine is really moving before the camera gets back on it.
 
T

Trakwork

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Joined
Oct 25, 2009
Messages
47
Location
california
Occupation
owner/operator --semi retired
powerjoke said:
A couple of things bother me about this Dozer video.....

1. The camera shifted away from the Machine when it started rolling (giving the operator time to exit the machine)

2. The camera man was not any more emotional or excited than he was

3. They call the machine a D9 and it is clearly not.

4. I want to believe it was a setup and there was no-one inside the machine.

I hope/Beleive it was a setup.....maybe for an insurance check??


Pj
Click to expand...

Looked like the camera holders knew nothing about equipment, possibly just on lookers, persons in the area, residents, campers, who knows. The operator for whatever stupid reasons, pushes the rocks and then finds himself wondering how to get out of the bad position, at that point the camera crew appears to have decided to stop filming , who knows why? then the camera is quickly turned back on the dozer as it rolls.
Just guessing of course, but there were two men on the top of the hill, one the operator , the machine a Deere , and an on looker.. my guess maybe a land scaper/contractor wanting a few large rocks and the operator totally ignorant of the dangers involved. maybe the camera crew was down below to haul the rocks away? either way not real smart.
 
jimmyjack

jimmyjack

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Joined
Jan 20, 2007
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rhode island
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