This has always been one of my all-time favorite stories, learned long ago in my youth but I never knew it was put into a song! Wonderful.
The version I learned included him getting his fingers run into the pulley at the top of the hoist, breaking them, then meeting the 1/2-full barrel coming back up as he (now out-weighing it) fell back down, breaking both his legs too.
I'll share this video with the scores of people who I've tried to tell about this hilarious story over the years, but didn't know how to find it.
Frank