# Chippier hand injury- Twin Cities, MN-2001



## John Paul Sanborn (Apr 12, 2003)

I talked to the guy at a workshop, think he's a muni employee for one of the burbs up there.

Guy was loading short logs into the chipper, had troubles getting th ffewheels to catch on the log

When they did the log jerked up and hit the top of the infeed chute, trapping his hand.

Did not brerak anything, but tore all the soft/connective tissue, several surgeries and lots of light duty and therapy.

I saw him at the TCI show in MKE this last fall, he said the hand is working OK and he's been back int he trees for some time now.


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## murphy4trees (Apr 12, 2003)

That's a good reason why the hydraulic feeder wheel lift should be considerred safety equipment... When chipping big wood having an operator hold the wheels open until 2nd man has loaded wood and cleared the feed area is a safe and easy method


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## dbeck (Apr 14, 2003)

When feeding large wood into our chipper, we cut the wood into handleable size, at approx 45 degree angle. If you can imagine in your mind, this creates a 'ramp' for the feed wheel to walk up on. This eliminates the need to ram or jam the wood into feed wheels. A guy I work w/ is lazy about this and he likes to grab the control bar and use his foot to shove the wood in. I explain to him if he slips, worst case his foot goes into the feed wheels and i'm sure feed wheels will gobble a suppleand sorft boot. If that doesn't occur, he could bust his butt on the asphalt or crack his head. He tends to shrug me off saying he's good at it and he won't slip. STUPID.
I know most of us cut wood at this angle, but maybe there is someone out there whohad not thought of this and they could use this info.
thanks for your time.


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## NeTree (Apr 14, 2003)

> _Originally posted by dbeck _
> *When feeding large wood into our chipper, we cut the wood into handleable size, at approx 45 degree angle. If you can imagine in your mind, this creates a 'ramp' for the feed wheel to walk up on. *



Exactly what I do. It does make it SOOOOOO much easier.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Apr 16, 2003)

> *If that doesn't occur, he could bust his butt on the asphalt or crack his head. He tends to shrug me off saying he's good at it and he won't slip. *



The stupid ones are the owner and foreman who allow this to go on. If an injury occures then they at least have a workes comp claim. If death, then OSHA can go after both, the foreman is considered a "Responsible Person" meaning they are responsible for the well being and safety of the work staff.


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## treeman82 (Apr 17, 2003)

I guess that's why Morbark has the wheel lift off to the side of the machine? Like that it takes 2 people to feed logs, as opposed to 1 person on a Bandit who might be in a rush.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Apr 17, 2003)

Morbark has the hydraulic lift so you can pay for it  

I like it though, I can reach over and pull the lif handle with one hand and push the log with the other.

I like to watch the spinning knives as the log hits too!


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