Abstract: Employee #1 was operating a skidder. He had pulled a tow of logs from the woods and dropped them at the loading area. He was observed glancing backward at his grapple at the same time as he was turning and lowering the front blade. The observer assumed he was going to push the logs further off the road, but a large red oak tree with limbs 6 to 8 in. in diameter had earlier been felled across the road; its top had been cut off to clear the road. As the skidder was turning, a limb about 6 in. in diameter caught in the door opening and was forced into the left side of the employee, pinning his body against the opposite side of the cab and crushing the cab with such force that the skidder stalled. Employee #1 died of his injuries.