A coroner is warning against the Kiwi "do-it-yourself" instinct after a Southland man was killed felling trees at an Invercargill property in May 2021.
Edwin Coulter, 54, was struck by a falling treetop while working eight metres off the ground using a pruning belt and chainsaw. He had been topping pine trees at the back of his mother-in-law's section, cutting directional notches and using a rope attached to a four-wheel-drive — pulled by his wife — to control where they fell.
It didn't go to plan. Associate Coroner Dan Moore described what happened when Coulter reached the biggest tree on the property.
"Mrs Coulter started driving forward in the vehicle, but she could tell the top was not moving. She put the handbrake on and got out of the car to tell Mr Coulter this. As she did, the treetop fell sideways in the direction of where Mr Coulter was positioned, hitting him in the chest," Moore said.
The coroner found Coulter had no training or formal experience in tree felling — and that the job was clearly high-risk.
"Mr Coulter was carrying out what was clearly high-risk tree felling without having any form of training or formal experience in this area. This 'do-it-yourself' attitude is not uncommon in New Zealand; as a previous ad campaign has noted, it is practically part of the Kiwi DNA," Moore said.
"It is also an approach that works perfectly safely in many circumstances. However, it also needs to be tempered with recognising when it is appropriate to engage someone with expertise and training."
Moore noted the couple had been unable to find an arborist before attempting the work themselves.
The coroner said people should hire a qualified arborist for trees on a lean, any work requiring climbing, or jobs needing assisted felling techniques like rope-pulling. Tree felling, he said, could pose a high risk of serious injury or death.