# Woodchipper blamed in southern Ill. man's death



## projectsho89 (Feb 12, 2010)

From my back yard.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...930753378FDE2DBD862576C80061A32C?OpenDocument


Woodchipper blamed in southern Ill. man's death
ASSOCIATED PRESS
02/12/2010

MARION, Ill. -- A coroner says a worker for a southern Illinois tree service died when a piece of the woodchipping machine he was using flew off and hit him.

Coroner Michael Burke says 46-year-old Mark Davis of West Frankfort died Thursday at a Marion hospital shortly after the accident.

Burke says Davis was working for D.S. Tree Service at a Marion home when the accident happened.

The coroner says the investigation is continuing.

Funeral arrangements are pending.


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## pdqdl (Feb 14, 2010)

Sounds like it threw some chipper knives.

My bandit lost a knife once. It shattered and left a big hole in the cover. No one was hurt.

We never found the missing piece.


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## vandiesel99 (Feb 15, 2010)

*Chipper Explosion*

I've never had a problem with the knives, but the paddles that throw the debris out of the disc area all broke off one time! They where made out of 5/16 steel plate bent in at a 90. I believe one may have hit a stuck piece of wood and caused all the bolts to shear, which then led to a chain reaction that caused them all to come off leading to a very loud, very destructive event. My chute was partially beat up, the box the chipping happens in looks like there was a shotgun duel inside of it, and there was a bolt sized hole all the way through the mining belt and expanded metal that we fashioned our chipper box out of. Brush bandit wanted $150 per piece(6) to replace. I had them fabbed for $150 total. I had them made out of 3/16 so maybe next time the paddle will just bend and I can bend it back. ??


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## vandiesel99 (Feb 15, 2010)

*Springs*

They wanted $30+ per spring for replacing the feed wheel box springs. I got them from a garage door company for $25 total.


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## rarefish383 (Feb 27, 2010)

Back in the day we used a 16 inch Asplundh drum. Some knuckle head threw something into it and it made a really loud noise. One of the knives had a huge chunk knocked out of it. When Dad pulled the blade the big wedge that holds them in was cracked in half. When the object came out of the chute it put a deep groove in it and where the adjustable deflector on the end of the chute got hit there was a big gash. Several years later while getting some rotted chips for the garden I found a huge gate hinge. It was at least 16 inches long and the barrell where the hinge pin is was at least an inch in diameter. There was a slice about 3 inches long on one side of the hinge and the rest looked untouched. At the RPM's those things spun it's really lucky something didn't fly apart. I think I still have that hinge somewhere. If I find it I'll post pics, Joe.


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## 371groundie (Mar 3, 2010)

i was on a jobsite where a rookie knocked the disc lock pin out of its storage spot. it was cabled to the machine and he didnt want it just dangling there so he stuck it in the nearest hole it looked like it would fit in. that would be the hole you put it in to keep the disc from turning. and the chipper was at full screetch. it bent both paddles flat with the disc, sheared the pin off, and tore the hole the pin slides in out of the disc chamber. 

that boy got torn a new one.


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