# Log roller



## VTMechEng (Mar 4, 2005)

Out doing a removal of a 30" dbh maple. Dropped the spar, bucked it up and went to roll the pieces out of the way for the stump cut. Buddy was helping me roll the first piece, I was on the end and he had the side with the next piece. As we started rolling it the piece beside ours shifted and, out of reaction I guess, he moved his hand to stop it (can't remember doing it). Next thing we know his hand is between the two pieces so I push with all I have on the one I am on and our other worker gets on the other piece pushing. We get him out and the words "holy [email protected]#T" come out of his mouth. It ends up he had a wedding ring on and it crushed into his finger, through skin. With pliers he got it off and took him to the ER. End result he kept his finger but can't feel all too much in it, it hurts randomly, and is about 10 deg colder then the rest of his hand. Had he not had the ring on it would have broken but had less nerve and circulation damage.


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## geofore (Mar 4, 2005)

I hope he learned why you shouldn't wear a ring on the job. Back when I worked construction, wearing a ring on the job could get you busted off the job for a day. If you were doing electrical work, wearing a chain around your neck would get you fired off the job. Edge of square file to file it thin, then break it in half to get it off? If you make it to the hospital with the ring on they cut the ring off. You only need to smash it once to learn not to wear the ring to work. It doesn't seem like an accident waiting to happen till it happens, then it's a painful lesson from the school of hard knocks. Where was your wedge or pry bar? Back in the truck?


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## VTMechEng (Mar 4, 2005)

Wedge was back in the truck. The doc said if he had not taken the ring off he wouldn't have a finger at all due to lack of circulation.


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## rb_in_va (Mar 4, 2005)

geofore said:


> I hope he learned why you shouldn't wear a ring on the job.



I was wondering about that with tree workers. It seemd like a bad idea to me with the rope work, hanging onto limbs and all. I learned this lesson from a friend in the Navy. He had a large class ring on and was swinging down a ladder. His ring got caught, and it got shoved under tha skin. It was nasty watching him pull it back out from under the skin. The blood helped him to get it off his finger though.


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## John Ellison (Mar 4, 2005)

Ouch.. I used to work with a yarder engineer who is missing his ring finger. He went to jump thw last couple of feet down from his machines ladder and pop, goes the finger.

John


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## treechick (Mar 4, 2005)

I've never worn jewelry to work, but then I'm just not a jewelry kinda gal, either ? My boyfriend gave me a beautiful ring last year, and I've always felt 'iffy' about wearing it on site because of potential injury. I'm pretty sure that I've already fractured the gem stone in it on a job... guess it's time to start leaving it home. Thanx for the "heads-up" !
P.S. A lot of the GUYS wear more jewelry than ever before. Most are wise enough to leave out the more dangly sh*t when they come to work. But it is a little comical to see a bunch of holes in their face (& ears, tits, you name it) !!!


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## oldwild (Mar 4, 2005)

working in a packing plant, the strictly enforce teh NO WATCH rule (CTD's, carpul tunnel), due to the heavy knife use. As an electrician I wear no jewelry, including my wedding band, to reduce the chances of an inadvertent shock, just in case I am not wearing my electrical safety gloves. Also working with voltages above 600V, I remove all metal objects off my person. All of my safety equipment have plastic zippers and not metal. All it take anywere is a small slip up and it's over. Be CAREFUL OUT THERE!


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## alanarbor (Mar 4, 2005)

John Ellison said:


> Ouch.. I used to work with a yarder engineer who is missing his ring finger. He went to jump thw last couple of feet down from his machines ladder and pop, goes the finger.
> 
> John



Bingo...I had a coworker that lost his finger in a similar fashion, he swung down off a beam when he was working a framing job, his wedding band caught a nailhead, and that was all she wrote.


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## Crofter (Mar 4, 2005)

Similar, my uncle jumping down from side of a truck, hooked his wedding band on one of the rack bolts. Peeled the skin down to near the nail like an inside out glove. Plastic surgery and a number of operations. Little feeling or circulation; would have been better gone!


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## che (Mar 4, 2005)

Well...now I feel guilty.

My husband bent his up at work about two years ago....I purposely took my sweet time getting it fixed for him, but he said he wanted to wear it again....so I got it straightened out. 

Gotta admit I like seeing it on his finger, but I guess if I have to choose....I'd rather him keep his finger than the gold. 

"Honey....can we talk?" (guys love that lead in.....>lol<)


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## alanarbor (Mar 4, 2005)

che said:


> Well...now I feel guilty.
> 
> My husband bent his up at work about two years ago....I purposely took my sweet time getting it fixed for him, but he said he wanted to wear it again....so I got it straightened out.
> 
> ...



When I was in the field full time, I always left it home, and put it on when I got home. When I explained why to my wife, she was MOST understanding.


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## che (Mar 4, 2005)

THAT went well! 

I got the proper 'reaction' (squirm) to the "Honey can we talk?" question. 

Mentioned that an initial post was made about rings/injuries/work, which prompted many tales of similar incidents. Before I could say another word, he handed me his ring! Said he'd taken it off today to read the inscription I'd put in when I got it fixed (what a mush) and then had the same thought...."maybe this isn't a good thing to be doing"....but put it back on and went back to work.

Good that this was posted....thank-you!


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## clearance (Mar 4, 2005)

Why wear jewellry to work ever? Well not on this kind of work anyways. I did something pretty similar I was bucking the swell butt (cull) of a big old elm tree with a 2101, as I finished I pushed a chunk away that must have wieghed 300lbs. with my right hand. It tilited into the log and squished the end of my ring finger (wasnt wearing a ring duh). Finger was cut and the bone at the end was broken. Should have used a peavey or kept my hand out of the way. Thats kind of like chinstraps on hardhats, same as a choker necklace. Gettit?? choker.


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## sedanman (Mar 4, 2005)

I had a nine fingered co-worker. Missing the ring finger from jumping off a rack truck. He had a fully de-gloved finger when he went to the hospital, skeleton and tendons, no flesh, ugly!


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## dayman (Mar 4, 2005)

I suggested a no jewelry policy but it got pushed aside. Too bad.

A number of years ago I was sitting in an First Responer class. The talk that night was about wounds. I was flipping through the pages of the book and saw an avulsed finger. Blech...the ring was pulled inside the skin. It looked like a raw chicken neck. I closed the book and slipped my wedding ring off my finger. When I got home I told my [ex-] wife that I wasn't going to be wearing the ring at work. I got The Look from her...but she was relatively OK with the deal. I tried to wear it on Date Nights or when I wasn't working.


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## NeTree (Mar 5, 2005)

Now I feel less guilty about not being married.

(Boy, I'm gonna catch hell for this one..)


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## Newfie (Mar 5, 2005)

You are so much her B!tch!  

Been married almost 12 years, have not worn ring in 11 years 10 months. She's got it somewhere but I don't know. More to marriage than a piece of gold anyhow. 

Where were the wedges and the peavy/cant hook? A couple of simple tools to make life a lot less strenuous(sp.? boy that doesn't look right).


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## NeTree (Mar 5, 2005)

(Mike... after all the crap I have to handle OUTSIDE the house... I'm more than glad to leave the inside to HER. =) )

I've never been one for any kind of jewelry anyways. Always seemed like a bad idea to wear it while working.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Mar 5, 2005)

I'd heard of the ring amputation a long time ago, then when I was in The Gulf, one of our mechanic Sgt's was moving around the vehicals on the well-deck of our ship in heavy weather.

His ring got hooked on the thailgait of a 5-ton and he was stuck there till he could be picked up by some troopers, only a few min, but it was messy. Took more then a few stitches, and he sent the mangled ring home.

I've tried wearing rings a few times, my bootcamp ring is still as shiny as the day I bought it. Though it looks like I may be wearing one sometime in the near future...


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## lync (Mar 5, 2005)

*Hot piece of Jewelry*

True story. Mechanic working on a car up on a lift. Standing under car checking for loose connection at starter. Reaches up with left hand, wedding ring makes contact between 12v cable from battery and casing of starter (grounded). Ring fuses to battery cable, and mechanic is stuck for about 10 seconds. When he finally gets hand loose he pulls hand down, I see the ring is glowing orange, he tries to pull it off with other hand but can't cause he burns those fingers trying to grab the ring. Soaked him with garden hose. Burn't flesh around ring finger, looked and smelled like steak. 

Jewelry is for going out,not working. Corey


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## che (Mar 5, 2005)

> Though it looks like I may be wearing one sometime in the near future...



Tell us more!! :angel:


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## John Paul Sanborn (Mar 6, 2005)

che said:


> Tell us more!! :angel:


Well, that's not for this foum, and I don't see a thread for it anywheres eles


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## woodshop (Mar 6, 2005)

Newfie said:


> Been married almost 12 years, have not worn ring in 11 years 10 months. She's got it somewhere but I don't know. More to marriage than a piece of gold anyhow.


ditto... but substitute 26 instead of the 12. Both as a logger, and then an electronics tech and even working in woodshop, ring on finger is accident waiting to happen. Have not even seen my wedding ring in years, have no clue where she has it stashed. Heck for all I know, it doesn't even fit me anymore. Not an issue


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## sedanman (Mar 6, 2005)

A friend of mine had his tatooed on his finger. Made his wife happy as it is a more permanent reminder and not a safety hazard.


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## John Ellison (Mar 6, 2005)

woodshop said:


> ditto... but substitute 26 instead of the 12. Both as a logger, and then an electronics tech and even working in woodshop, ring on finger is accident waiting to happen. Have not even seen my wedding ring in years, have no clue where she has it stashed. Heck for all I know, it doesn't even fit me anymore. Not an issue


Same here, but for 15 yrs. My wife dug mine out the other day. First time I had seen it since the day we got married. I wore it to town and now its back in storage. I never could get use to wearing jewelry.
Cant wear a wristwatch and pocket watches usually end up getting broke so years ago I glued a cheap watch inside my tin hat. We moved here and I started falling for a skidder logger. Of course I had to tell him about how I learned to tell time by the sun in Alaska...hold the hat up toward the sun and measure the distance yada aaa. It is 3:37. Couple of years later he figured it out.  

John


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## canguy21 (Mar 6, 2005)

I snagged my wrist watch and had a hell of a time getting my arm out. Never again.


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## VTMechEng (Mar 7, 2005)

All of these stories have made my buddy feel a little better knowing he isn't alone. He says thanks to all of you. BTW: He isn't wearing any jewelry to work now.


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## texasnative (Mar 7, 2005)

in response to the "Honey can we talk?" question, for a man that translates directly to "You need to sit down and i'm gonna tell you all the ways you've been screwing up"


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## Proj Eng (Mar 7, 2005)

Do you think a Titanium ring would have helped/hurt or made any difference at all? Just curious, as I have one on my finger most of the time.


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## VTMechEng (Mar 7, 2005)

Its funny you should mention a titanium ring because my friend that this happened to was saying how he wished he had one instead of gold, then I showed him something... Take a ring and put it on your finger, now put pressure on the top and bottom like two logs would. If the ring doesn't crush down, as titanium won't, it will probably rotate causing the ring edges to cut into your finger. The end result would probably be the same, lots of nerve and circulation damage.


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## geofore (Mar 7, 2005)

It will still strip the finger of flesh if you catch it on something. The edge digs in and tears the flesh off the bone. Peels it like a banana. It may be less apt to smash flat but no ring is better on the job unless you're pushing a pencil all day.


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## VTMechEng (Mar 7, 2005)

I think that is the main thing to get out of all this, geofore nailed it. Rings, and all jewelry, are bad at any workplace but a pencil pusher.


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## Tom D. Wilson (Mar 8, 2005)

Anything that can get snagged is not good - i'v lost 2 watches to wood chippers and now i dont wear one - its a bit of an Ar$se really coz i dont know when i should telling my boss i should be having a lunch break


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## geofore (Mar 9, 2005)

Tom, slide the watch down to wrist and use duct tape to hold the cuffs of your gloves tight so they don't get snagged. Never use long cuff gloves around the chipper, duct tape or not, they get snagged too often to be safe around the chipper.


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## ontario026 (Mar 9, 2005)

lync said:


> True story. Mechanic working on a car up on a lift. Standing under car checking for loose connection at starter. Reaches up with left hand, wedding ring makes contact between 12v cable from battery and casing of starter (grounded). Ring fuses to battery cable, and mechanic is stuck for about 10 seconds. When he finally gets hand loose he pulls hand down, I see the ring is glowing orange, he tries to pull it off with other hand but can't cause he burns those fingers trying to grab the ring. Soaked him with garden hose. Burn't flesh around ring finger, looked and smelled like steak.
> 
> Jewelry is for going out,not working. Corey




A buddy of mine wears a medic alert bracelet and is a mechanic, he managed to short it out on something with pretty much the same result... burned until he got it into water.... serious burns encircling his wrist


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## geofore (Mar 11, 2005)

Standard proceedure for working on newer cars is to disconect the battery before you start to work on the car. A short may mess up the delicate computer controls in the newer cars. If your mechanic doesn't do this when he works on your car find one that does. I wear a medic alert bracelet. The breaking strength on the ss chain is 180 lbs, the cut loop that holds the chain to the medalion lets go at 30lbs or less. I got that from Stainless Products spec sheet. The loop is supposed to let go before the chain tears the skin.


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## sedanman (Mar 11, 2005)

geofore, That is NOT "standard proceedure". Disconnecting the battery on some modern cars like a Chrysler 300 means about a half hour re-programming things like "smart-glass" and re-setting customer radio pre-sets and re-programming the shifter (YES the shifter on a 300 is actually a computer)


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## MasterBlaster (Mar 11, 2005)

NO bling-bling at work! WTH for anyway? It either eventually hurts you, or you lose it.


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## geofore (Mar 12, 2005)

I don't know about your shop manuals but mine say to disconect the battery before working on the electrical system. Removing a starter is one move that would have me disconecting the battery. Whether it's done or not is up to the mechanic. Do you switch your saws off or disconect the spark plug wire before working on them, like sharpening the chain? How something is done as opposed to how it is supposed to/can be done leaves a wide margin for error. Take your car to one of those fast oil change places and see if th guy doing the oil change can reset the computer to restart it's count on milage since the last oil change, chances are he can't/doesn't know how to do it. I think sometimes they hire guy's that can say, "Do you want fries with that?"


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## glens (Mar 12, 2005)

When working on the starter I'd probably remove the lead to it from the solenoid and leave the car's electronics otherwise powered up; unless the solenoid was on the starter itself.


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## sedanman (Mar 12, 2005)

I have a 95 Grand Voyager on my lift right now with the trans out, battery still connected power to the starter is isolated. NY just adopted a statewide emmisions testing program that uses the vehicles powertrain control module to verify compliance. C.A.R.B. readiness monitors nust be in the 'ready'staus to pass the test. Disconnecting the battery erases readiness stautus and the monitors have to run on their own in normal opeating conditions. This can take WEEKS and HUNDREDS of miles. Disconnecting the battery erases all the memory. A 2005 model Grand Voyager can have 34 computers yes I said THIRTY FOUR. That's an awful lot of information to be throwing away. I'll tell you how crazy the computerization of cars has become, the key cylinder is no longer connected to an ignition switch, it's a key position sensor and that info is relayed on a bus to a forward control module that completed the requested circuits. The horm pad on many new cars is also wired the same way, there are 5 volt sensor wires replacing a lot of formerly 12 volt high current circuits. THe dash lights no longer dim through a rheo-stat rather a computer switches the totally on and totally off at a duty cycle corosponding to an input from a dimmer switch which is now a potentiometer. A phenomena called 'persistance of vision' takes over and we see an average of tha on time of the lights. Sensors are no hard wired to the control module they are phsically closest to whether that module need the input from the sensor or not. It uses less wire to bus the info to the computer that needs it rather than wire directly. Using computers in this way cut 35 pounds of copper wire out of every single new generation Chryler Corp min-van made 400,000 cars time 35 pounds of copper each.


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## geofore (Mar 13, 2005)

I'm busted on this one because I still disconnect the battery to work on my cars and reset the computers after. Looks like I need to learn some new tricks.


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## chicken89 (Mar 14, 2005)

i had a problem with my security system tripping. apparently when i had it installed, they disconnected the battery and never fully tightened it when they reconnected it. it would cause the alarm to cut out the power to the car some of the time, other times the connection to the battery would come lose and the power would go out in the car altogether while driving. 
am i saying that you shoudl disconnect the battery?! not always, but if you do, make sure you reconnect it when you are done. caused alot of stress on my wife since she has to transport the kids she babysits for. it cut out on her on the way to work


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## dayman (Mar 14, 2005)

Sedan man,

There are times when you HAVE to disconnect the battery from the car. Do you have any tips on ways to do this without losing the computer memory?

There is a gizmo that is made from a cigarette lighter male end with a 9v battery clip on the other. This is plugged in to send 9v to the radio so that the presets aren't lost. Would something like this work? Could a jumper setup be used to go from cordless tools to the battery terminals?


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## chicken89 (Mar 14, 2005)

i am not a mechanic, but what about using a positive end from another battery outside the car? the circut would not be complete, but you will still have power for the other car, and a grounding point from the car you are working on


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## clearance (Mar 14, 2005)

What about driving good old iron?-carb instead of injection for starters, fuel pump on the block with two bolts instead of in the tank. No computers except for h.e.i.. No sensors to sense that you have some cash in your jeans so they can croak. Can't take it in the bush cause it might get scratched type of truck? I always take of the negative cable, takes a few minutes to reset the stations on my tapedeck. Dinosaur in my 80 Chev 4x4, 350 4speed, bush bumpers, sure is great in traffic-people are so polite to me but ignorant to those with nice vehicles.


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## rb_in_va (Mar 15, 2005)

clearance said:


> Dinosaur in my 80 Chev 4x4, 350 4speed, bush bumpers, sure is great in traffic-people are so polite to me but ignorant to those with nice vehicles.



Got a pic of the truck?


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