Wood Chipper Death... alleged lack of Warning Signs

[jjp8182]

Yeah, reporters are notoriously poor at getting those kinds of details correct. Williams doesn't even make anything called a "Hog Wood Chipper". It was probably something like this. View attachment 639417View attachment 639418 which would explain the reason for a "tether line". You actually could "fall" into this, something that isn't really possible with a conventional chipper. One really has to wonder what sort of warning signs are needed on a machine like this. The potential dangers seem quite obvious.

Something like that would make more sense than the current production horizontal grinder designs from Vermeer, Bandit, Morbark (who have a "Wood Hog" line) and others. Most of those machines *should* keep a person well away from the more dangerous moving parts as they seem large enough that feeding them with excavators, wheel loaders and other heavy equipment would make far more sense than feeding them by hand.

Sort of seems like the only real conclusions that can be drawn are: something bad happened, someone is suing someone else, and that the reporters involved had a hard time conveying much factual/useful information. .....while they did include names, I've seen a few cases where reporters mangled government press releases to the point that the only usable information the reporter contributed was that something happened, the government was involved, and a press release was issued.

 

[BlueKnife]

Something like that would make more sense than the current production horizontal grinder designs from Vermeer, Bandit, Morbark (who have a "Wood Hog" line) and others. Most of those machines *should* keep a person well away from the more dangerous moving parts as they seem large enough that feeding them with excavators, wheel loaders and other heavy equipment would make far more sense than feeding them by hand.

That depends largely on the size of the chipper and whether or not it has auto feed. I do tree service for a living so I've worked around chippers and a variety of other wood processing machines for over 20 years now. You can't really efficiently feed a chipper that doesn't have auto feed with a machine unless you have someone standing next to it controlling the feed wheel, and having them standing right next to the chute while shoving brush into it with a machine brings it's own set of potential problems into the mix. Most smaller chippers in the 6"-12" range don't have auto feed and even ones that do still have to be hand fed once you get to the small stuff. Ultimately, as is the case with operating any machinery of this nature, you can't fix stupid entirely. You can limit the damage somewhat, but there'll always be a Darwin award contestant who comes along to make money for the lawyers.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Woodchippers scare the heck out of me.
During the recession a few years ago a guy offered me a great buy on a chipper that I couldn't resist.
I needed it as I had a lot of brush and trees to chop up. It sat there for 4 years and I never used it I was
just afraid of the darn thing.

There is not much wiggle room when it comes to safety with those things.

The worst story I ever read was a guy that brought his young son to his chipping job site. He turned around for a
second and his child was sucked in and gone - THAT FAST. If I can remember a branch pulled his son in.

I finally sold the unit for a pretty good profit and I still have all my fingers, toes, legs and arms.

On edit: I went looking for the story

6-Year-Old Killed in Wood Chipper Incident – NBC Connecticut

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^
Thats's a sad story, and the father will have to live with it for the rest of his life.

 

[RandyT]

The disc chippers with the hydraulic feed rollers are not too bad as far as safety. I suspect the child put a limb into a drum chipper which sucks them in like a vacuum cleaner. They will eat a 10-12 foot long limb in about 2 seconds or less.

 

[BlueKnife]

The disc chippers with the hydraulic feed rollers are not too bad as far as safety. I suspect the child put a limb into a drum chipper which sucks them in like a vacuum cleaner. They will eat a 10-12 foot long limb in about 2 seconds or less.

Just for the sake of accuracy and everyone's education. Hydraulic feed wheels are not exclusive to disc chippers. The "drum" chippers that you're talking about are what we in the tree service industry call a "chuck-n-duck", for obvious reasons. Those are no longer made, but drum chippers with hydraulic feed wheels are quite common and are no more dangerous than a disc chipper. Depending on the machine, the drums can actually be a little safer because the discs tend to make the brush swing to one side, opposite the cutting direction, unlike the drums, which cut straight in.

 

[Jstpssng]

6 year old kid, chipper... am I the only one who sees the root of the accident?

 

[RandyT]

Just for the sake of accuracy and everyone's education. Hydraulic feed wheels are not exclusive to disc chippers. The "drum" chippers that you're talking about are what we in the tree service industry call a "chuck-n-duck", for obvious reasons. Those are no longer made, but drum chippers with hydraulic feed wheels are quite common and are no more dangerous than a disc chipper. Depending on the machine, the drums can actually be a little safer because the discs tend to make the brush swing to one side, opposite the cutting direction, unlike the drums, which cut straight in.

The only drum chippers I have worked with were the chuck-n-duck. Worked with Davey and Asplundh tree companies.

 

[BlueKnife]

The only drum chippers I have worked with were the chuck-n-duck. Worked with Davey and Asplundh tree companies.

Yeah, there are a few of them still around. Most of the big companies have switched over to controlled feed. How long ago did you work for them?

 

[RandyT]

Yeah, there are a few of them still around. Most of the big companies have switched over to controlled feed. How long ago did you work for them?

I actually worked for a third party company that scheduled their work, and inspected it after completion of power line clearing. Would of been mid 90's They were starting to get some of the disc chippers with the drive roller feeds around 1995-96