Wood splitters!

[DAY]

"Seen a few ole' timers that did that for a living. Not a one of them had all 10 fingers."
As for missing digits, if you ever attended a farm auction, it is hard to find very many older farmers with all their parts. Corn pickers being the major amputator.

And, yes,deereman75, that's the one I had in mind, when I went a googling! (I think was on 'This Old House', many years ago.

 

[tuerdon]

Never, and I repeat NEVER have your hand on top of the log when you are splitting with an axe, and NEVER have your hand on the end of a log when using a hydraulic splitter.

 

[Don87]

My FIL had a splitter like this one.

My son was using it in the vertical position as shown.

He had his hand on the side of the log when it exploded, taking off the end of his middle finger at the first knuckle.

Those brackets can be more dangerous than the 'wedge' itself, because the danger isn't apparent.

 

[arrow]

Haa...for that wood I wouldn't even need the axe.