Manual tree falling is a dangerous occupation, with a high ratio of serious injuries to total injuries. Many of the serious injuries and fatalities in manual tree falling are the result of objects falling from the canopy or cut trees striking the faller

Previously funded research developed and tested a prototype for a new manual tree falling tool, the Wood Duck, with the objective of removing the faller from the base of the tree before the tree begins to fall. This project was aimed at making and field testing two specific modifications to the Wood Duck to improve its performance