# Son Saves Father Being Pulled Into Chipper



## Ductape (Jul 1, 2010)

Check it out...... man escapes with minor injuries thanks to quick thinking son.


http://www.unionleader.com/article....rticleId=abf72230-f6e7-4220-a490-c61d429b14fe


A label on Kevin Stacey's commercial wood chipper cautions users to "stop and think." But the day Stacey's arm got caught in the machine's hopper, he's glad his 17-year-old son didn't.

"He just reacted -- bang -- in 100 percent the right way with no hesitation," he said. "If he took the time to stop and think, if he didn't immediately act, that would've been it." 

Kevin, owner of Stacey's Tree Service in Salem, said he owes his son his life.

"To me, Danny truly is my hero," the 53-year-old said.

At about 9:30 a.m. on June 19, the father and son were finishing up a quick tree removal and pruning job at the home of Terry Gatlin in Salem.


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## treemandan (Jul 1, 2010)

Good to hear it ended OK.


So far I have met 2 people who have been pulled in. The one guy lost his leg the other has feed wheel marks on his leg.


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## 034avsuper (Jul 1, 2010)

:agree2: Glad to hear no one was seriously hurt.


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## Matt Michael (Jul 1, 2010)

*very good idea*

"- H, Epping, a much more practical safety device would be an RF transmitter in a glove and a sensor in the feeding chute that triggers a shutdown when the transmitter gets too close.
- Jeff, Manchester"


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## pdqdl (Jul 1, 2010)

RFid wouldn't work.

We put our hands in the chute all the time, just not far enough to get caught. So the sensor would have to be deep into the chute to prevent problems.

Ooops! What if it had your foot, and didn't turn off until your hand got close?


Besides...anybody with the safety inclination to keep their RFid-loaded gloves on while chipping, probably isn't going to get in trouble anyway. On the other hand, it's likely that the people who should have had such a device wouldn't have been wearing it anyway.


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## ct greenman (Jul 1, 2010)

Dad needs to get that boy a beer


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## Curlycherry1 (Jul 2, 2010)

Ok, not to nit picks here but why was he reaching into the hopper in the first place? I'll admit I have only been around big chippers probably 15 or so times, but clearly one needs to not get so far in to reach something that if they get caught they cannot reach the safety reverse bar.

If stuff is stuck pick up a stick and push it in with that.

Oh, and HTH does someone lose a leg in a chipper? That just sounds like a Darwin Awardee to me.


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## peterc38 (Jul 2, 2010)

Curlycherry1 said:


> Ok, not to nit picks here but why was he reaching into the hopper in the first place?




The article doesn't state he was reaching in, sounds more like a freak accident:


"The senior Stacey said he bent to gather some scraps and threw it into the hopper, not noticing a piece of vine had snagged his hand. Immediately, he said, the machine's rollers caught the brush and began pulling him into the hopper. "


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## Curlycherry1 (Jul 2, 2010)

peterc38 said:


> The article doesn't state he was reaching in, sounds more like a freak accident:
> 
> "The senior Stacey said he bent to gather some scraps and threw it into the hopper, not noticing a piece of vine had snagged his hand. Immediately, he said, the machine's rollers caught the brush and began pulling him into the hopper. "



I read that part too and so the way I figgered it he leaned into the hopper. Why else could he not have reached the bar the second he started to get pulled in.

The last three times I have rented big chippers the guys all said at the rental place "NEVER lean into the hopper so that any part of your torso or head is beyond the plane of the front of the chute." Good advice based on hearing about stuff like this accident.


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## emtaeu (Jul 3, 2010)

Is it just me or is the feed table too short. You should not be able to reach the feed rollers from the edge of the table IMO.


http://www.wmur.com/news/24104132/detail.html


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## Amber (Jul 3, 2010)

Wow, that man is so lucky to have escaped with only 14 stitches...

But here's the thing that confuses me. I really don't know that much about chippers so forgive me if this is a silly question, but I know they make saw blades that sense the difference between wood and ... well, a body. The saws that have the sensors installed will emergency stop before they can cut deeply into the flesh. Is that sort of thing not available on chippers???

Just makes me cringe thinking about how badly that could have gone for the guy...


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## Curlycherry1 (Jul 3, 2010)

Amber said:


> But here's the thing that confuses me. I really don't know that much about chippers so forgive me if this is a silly question, but I know they make saw blades that sense the difference between wood and ... well, a body. The saws that have the sensors installed will emergency stop before they can cut deeply into the flesh. Is that sort of thing not available on chippers???
> .



The saw stopping technology you mention is new and is only available for table saws and it is wildy expensive. No way it could be adapted for chippers because chippers have a monster metal blade that has the momentum of Thor and could not be stopped that quick.

What chippers do have is a big bar right above the hopper that is there so that if you get caught you reach up with one hand and hit it and at the minimum the infeed stops. Hit is enough to push it in a ways and the feed rollers actually reverse and spit the stuff out.

This guy had to be in too far, even if he was being dragged in no chipper that I have seen drags a person so fast that standing outside of it there is not at least some time to reach up and hit the stop bar.

And what kind of vine gets wrapped around a person's had and arm so tight that it can't be pulled off? I am smelling a rat here. This guy got stupid and he leaned into the chipper to push that last little 6-12" stuff into the feeder and his hand got caught. By leaning in that much he was beyond the point where he could reach the bar. Stupid move on his part.

There are reasons the hoppers have to be a certain depth to the hoppers. 
http://www.safetyengineeringresources.com/2009FC21.htm


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## Amber (Jul 4, 2010)

Curlycherry1 said:


> There are reasons the hoppers have to be a certain depth to the hoppers.
> http://www.safetyengineeringresources.com/2009FC21.htm



Thanks for the info on the saws!

Read over the link you supplied on chippers. It does seem to support your point that he was probably leaning in or something hinky like that.

That same site also has a link on the saw stopping technology that I was asking about. Very good resource for safety info, thank you!


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## Wortown Mick (Jul 4, 2010)

Curlycherry1 said:


> The saw stopping technology you mention is new and is only available for table saws and it is wildy expensive. No way it could be adapted for chippers because chippers have a monster metal blade that has the momentum of Thor and could not be stopped that quick.
> 
> What chippers do have is a big bar right above the hopper that is there so that if you get caught you reach up with one hand and hit it and at the minimum the infeed stops. Hit is enough to push it in a ways and the feed rollers actually reverse and spit the stuff out.
> 
> ...



Ive been around big chippers hundreds of times, chipping everything from 20 inch pine to tangled messed of grapevines. 

I reach into the hopper all the time.. whatever. I'm conscious enough of my surroundings that im not going to get bit. I generally keep a hand on the feed reverse anyways, even just for leverage pushing blocked down pieces in and such. 

I find thin vines to be the most dangerous, theyre thin enough to slip between the feed wheels and get sucked in at a hundred feet per second.


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## Grace Tree (Jul 4, 2010)

amber said:


> thanks for the info on the saws!
> 
> Read over the link you supplied on chippers. It does seem to support your point that he was probably leaning in or something hinky like that.
> 
> ...



jomoco??


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## Timberframed (Jul 4, 2010)

Keep your hands, feet, all extremities OUT OF HARMS WAY! Vines, rope, chains, blades whatever. What more can be said. I hate to hear about people getting hurt unless they are lawyers, politicians or bankers


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## Iska3 (Jul 4, 2010)

You hear about these things all the time. Chipper, corn picker, PTO Shafts, Tractor Roll-overs. One can never be to careful. Seems like the more you use a machine like this the more you let your guard down. It could have happen to me more than once. Guss we all need to take a little extra time and think about what we are doing.


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## Marty B (Jul 19, 2010)

*You're Fired!!!*



treemandan said:


> Good to hear it ended OK.
> 
> 
> So far I have met 2 people who have been pulled in. The one guy lost his leg the other has feed wheel marks on his leg.



I don't think these two would ever get a second chance to hurt themselves again if I were running the job..:monkey:..As D. Trump would say...You're Fired!!!!!!!!!


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## Bill Becker (Jul 19, 2010)

How the son reacted was very impressive. Sounds like his father trained him well plus he seems mature for his age. One point I'd like to make: OSHA prohibits minors under the age of 18 from operating "powered wood processing machinery" for commercial businesses. That would include chainsaws, chippers, stump grinders and possibly grapples and log loaders. They don't seem to regulate family farms however a family owned operation performing work for the general public would come under their rules.


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## rarefish383 (Jul 24, 2010)

Bill Becker said:


> How the son reacted was very impressive. Sounds like his father trained him well plus he seems mature for his age. One point I'd like to make: OSHA prohibits minors under the age of 18 from operating "powered wood processing machinery" for commercial businesses. That would include chainsaws, chippers, stump grinders and possibly grapples and log loaders. They don't seem to regulate family farms however a family owned operation performing work for the general public would come under their rules.



Double check the OSHA rules. I think the age on the child of the owner is less than 18. Since I was 4th generation in the tree care industry my wife wanted my son to do the work one summer to see what his family went through to make a living. I got out of the business about 15 years ago, so she asked my cousin, keeping the family name going, to give him a summer job. He couldn't because my son was only 17, yet his own son could work for him. I could be wrong, but my cousin was a real stickler for rules, Joe.


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## Bill Becker (Jul 24, 2010)

rarefish383 said:


> Double check the OSHA rules. I think the age on the child of the owner is less than 18. Since I was 4th generation in the tree care industry my wife wanted my son to do the work one summer to see what his family went through to make a living. I got out of the business about 15 years ago, so she asked my cousin, keeping the family name going, to give him a summer job. He couldn't because my son was only 17, yet his own son could work for him. I could be wrong, but my cousin was a real stickler for rules, Joe.



I'm only giving information about events that have occurred recently. I know OSHA rules can be complicated and subject to interpretation. Last November a tree service in southern Virginia had a horrible accident. From what I read in the news accounts the owner appeared to be an upstanding businessman with a big heart. He had a 14 year old boy who was not his son but was living in his home, apparently the boy had no home. The owner was caring for him and had him working with his tree crew. The boy went through the chipper. No one witnessed the event, the other employees were in the back yard at the time it happened. The OSHA investigation determined that the owner was not criminally negligent however they fined him last month $185,000.00 on the rule that minors under the age of 18 can not operate powered wood processing machinery. I believe you can have a minor working, raking debris, dragging brush, spreading mulch, etc. just not operating equipment.

My heart goes out to all who were affected by this. As a business owner I never stop thinking about the "what if" situations that we encounter everyday.


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## Amber (Aug 16, 2010)

Bill Becker said:


> The boy went through the chipper.



Oh my gosh! I'm sorry but I just got a little nauseous with the visual, Bill.  Poor kid.

But speaking of OSHA rules, no kidding on the complicated part. I'm studying up on a 200 page tome OSHA published a few days ago that's going to impact the business I work for in a few years. It's snooze city the way they word their documentation but you've gotta keep up with it.


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## brer (Sep 6, 2010)

I work industrial controls. Basic safety interlocks and everything else.

If I was more familiar with the operation of a wood chipper, I could probably make it a bit safer.

But the flipside is that work would go slower per manhour. There is almost always a tradeoff.

The easiest I can think of is having a dedicated operator using two hand controls that shut the system down if even one hand is released. Another is remote controlled switches that do the same thing if anyone on the site sees something going bad.

There is always something that can be done to make a dangerous job safer if a bit of thought is applied.


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## Bill Becker (Sep 6, 2010)

brer said:


> I work industrial controls. Basic safety interlocks and everything else.
> 
> If I was more familiar with the operation of a wood chipper, I could probably make it a bit safer.
> 
> ...



The newer chippers have many safety features built in as well as optional control interlocks. The JP Carlton model 2012 that I have has a wrist strap attached to an interlock switch that if pulled stops the feed wheels. There are also available foot control pads that must be depressed to enable the feed, if the operator steps off the pad the feed wheels stop.

Even with all the features and design improvements on todays chippers the best practices for chipper operation in my opinion must include never operate the machine alone and do not put any body parts above the feed table or in the infeed chute, always push the small brush with a long piece of brush or wooden push paddle.


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