Fatal chipper accident

[ray66v]

I don't know how much different the chippers today are, but the one I used a long time ago to clear out the area for my dad's barn, would rip the branches out of your hands as the feed rollers got them, and in a flash they would be gone.

You really needed to wear gloves, because it would sting when the branches accelerated out of your hands. Occasionally, the gloves would catch on something as it went flying by you. Or, a branch would push you in the direction of the machine, those would get your attention.

Surprised there weren't more accidents than there were.

I have noticed they generally have a stop bar that runs across the top of the intake chute now.

 

[groundcover]

Sounds like the old 'chuck and duck' chipper. No feed roller just the knives yanking in branches at full tilt.
When I was little there was a guy at my dads nursery missing an arm from one of those. Left quite an impression on me. He ran the grader too , didn't seam to slow him down much.

 

[cqaigy2]

I don't know how much different the chippers today are, but the one I used a long time ago to clear out the area for my dad's barn, would rip the branches out of your hands as the feed rollers got them, and in a flash they would be gone.

You really needed to wear gloves, because it would sting when the branches accelerated out of your hands. Occasionally, the gloves would catch on something as it went flying by you. Or, a branch would push you in the direction of the machine, those would get your attention.

Surprised there weren't more accidents than there were.

I have noticed they generally have a stop bar that runs across the top of the intake chute now.

I remember those when i was a teen, they would just rip the limb right out of your hand. I remember the first time it happened thinking, "Holy Sht!", guy next to me laughed and said, 'oh ya, you should watch out it doesn't yank you into the chipper'.

 

[5030]

I still maintain that is what became of Jimmy Hoffa. The ran him through a commercial chipper and got rid of him that way.

 

[jjeff]

Terrible accident for sure, I run my more homeowner oriented woodmax 8" pto chipper alone usually, before I start chipping I test the last chance bar, which disengages the infeed rollers and became familiar with it's location, and force I need to exert to disengage it but that's me.

 

[5030]

All wood chippers are inherently dangerous but then so are rotating PTO shafts, especially with no shielding on them. Even a small Woodmax can suck your arm in in a second if you don't have your wits about you.

All the safety features and warning labels won't mean squat if you do stupid things.

 

[Bill the Elder]

Back in the early 70s I made money for college doing summer working for a one man tree service company back in northern Ohio. We got a contract with several other much larger companies clearing trees from the perimeter of a tank proving track. One of the companies (starts with an "A") had a crew out with us with a foreman who was pushing his people pretty hard. I watched as one of their ground men put his arm deep in the throat of their chipper to clear a jam.

One thing I will say for that model chipper is it left a great skin flap to cover the amputation site. Probably made work easier for the surgeon who handled the reconstruction of the stump. First time I ever watched a tourniquet put on in the field. Needless to say I was always very careful when I was feeding our chipper and my boss never minded if I shut the machine down before clearing jams.

 

[daugen]

we look at chippers with a lot of respect, but I think back 60 years
running a 1939 JD B with a long belt driven buzz saw out front. Zero safety equipment, just that big spinning whining blade.
Somehow none of us hurt ourselves on that thing. Cut seven cord of wood a winter with it. whump-whump-whump-whump went the belt

I'd expect there to be a variable adjustment for the feed rate on most big chippers. The feed stops I guess when rpm drops below a set point, i wonder if just slowing the feed down
a little would add greatly to safety. Of course if you have a crew of four trying to feed it, going to be a backup

if you look at the youtube videos of manufacturing shops in India, they all have flowing robes, wear sandals, no socks, no gloves, no ear or eye protection, absolutely zero safety equipment.
I look at those loose clothes and all I think about is leaning over a spinning pto shaft. Which you normally would not do, for sure.
But I see these fellows in their robes running lathes and welding and they must lead a charmed life to avoid getting hurt.
Lot of farmers have been hurt on rotating equipment of all types even with safety rules in place.

safety first is just a saying until it happens to you

 

[daugen]

I still maintain that is what became of Jimmy Hoffa. The ran him through a commercial chipper and got rid of him that way.

and then he became fertilizer and truly pushed up a field of daisies...

I always wondered about bailers and the attached ptos. Anything with a lot of external moving parts that want to snag your clothing.

My Woodmax chipper was also an 8 inch but you couldn't put solid wood in that size, made tortured sounds like you were abusing the heck out
of your machinery, versus commercial chippers which seem unbreakable. clearly the difference between prosumer and commercial chippers.
So maybe you have to do a Sopranos and chop up your victim first, then he could go into your Woodmaxx.
See, they have this special model labeled MIL favorite.

I think a pig farmer with a chipper is someone to keep on the good side of.

 

[5030]

Take a couple cucumbers and run them through your chipper an see what happens... A human body is about the density of a cucumber...