# Not an injury but definately an invite



## gmcman (Jun 10, 2009)

After reading countless threads on chipper injuries, you would think people would get the message. Was working my usual rural rte, turned down a street where a neighbor was watching a tree co. performing a heavy pruning job on a large oak, shredding the limbs on site.

One guy was in a bucket above the tree.....about 20' up and the other was running the branches to the chipper parked on the street. The chipper was roaring and when I drove by, the man on the ground made his way back to the tree about 30' from the chipper and sure enough...noone at the chipper and it was running full tilt with the rolllers turning.

Amazes me how often it happens and how simple the remedy is.


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## pdqdl (Jun 10, 2009)

What's wrong with that?

Depending on the amount of time between branches, it will use less fuel and be less stressful on the chipper to keep it running up to speed. It takes a LOT of energy to get that flywheel weight spinning fast.

Safety issues? Nobody should be near it that isn't authorized. If unauthorized persons are running about loose in the area, they will be safer by the chipper than they will be under the tree being trimmed.


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## outofmytree (Jun 14, 2009)

pdqdl said:


> What's wrong with that?
> 
> Depending on the amount of time between branches, it will use less fuel and be less stressful on the chipper to keep it running up to speed. It takes a LOT of energy to get that flywheel weight spinning fast.
> 
> ...



When we left my old Morbark chipper unattended we hit the safet override which stops the feed rollers. When we leave the new Bandit we slip it into winch mode which stops the feed rollers. At the end of the day, do you really want to start a thread about some poor slob who got chewed up by your chipper through his own stupidty?


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## treemandan (Jun 14, 2009)

TreeCo said:


> I think the point being made is that the feed system was still running when not attended. Not quite the same thing as keeping the disc or drum turning up to speed. That being said I don't neutral the feed system between limbs because I ususally walk away from the chipper as the limb is being chipped.



Everytime I try that the limbs knock the bar into reverse as I walk away.


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## Blakesmaster (Jun 14, 2009)

I can understand shutting down the feed wheels if the chipper is being left unattended for a length of time, backyard job, etc. But if the whole shebang's right out front with a few guys near it making sure no one swan dive's into their chipper I don't see an issue. You can hold the bar as the big stuff gets chewed and when the branch is down to the small chit, walk away and grab another.


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## outofmytree (Jun 14, 2009)

Blakesmaster said:


> I can understand shutting down the feed wheels if the chipper is being left unattended for a length of time, backyard job, etc. But if the whole shebang's right out front with a few guys near it making sure no one swan dive's into their chipper I don't see an issue. You can hold the bar as the big stuff gets chewed and when the branch is down to the small chit, walk away and grab another.





> the man on the ground made his way back to the tree about 30' from the chipper and sure enough...noone at the chipper and it was running full tilt with the rolllers turning.



30 feet isnt close and 1 guy isnt enough. Honestly, how hard is it to shut off the feed rollers.


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## canopyboy (Jun 15, 2009)

I don't think anyone is saying it's hard to shut off the rollers. 

Ideally you have two guys, and one is feeding while one is dragging, but not everyone is that lucky. But you can be a lot more efficient if once it's feeding itself you get the next branch to put in just as the first finishes up. It's a call you have to make, and a lot of people here are going to make it differently. The whole concept of tree work is balancing risk with enough efficiency to still make a profit.

10ft or 30ft, if I can see it (and therefore be aware of people who might wander over towards it) I leave it running. I would reconsider if there were a lot of people around, say a busy street/sidewalk, etc. And of course walking around to the backyard would also qualify.


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## outofmytree (Jun 16, 2009)

> Honestly, how hard is it to shut off the feed rollers.






> I don't think anyone is saying it's hard to shut off the rollers.




Sorry mate, that was sarcasm. I should have said *TURN OFF THE FEED ROLLERS*




> Ideally you have two guys, and one is feeding while one is dragging, but not everyone is that lucky. But you can be a lot more efficient if once it's feeding itself you get the next branch to put in just as the first finishes up. It's a call you have to make, and a lot of people here are going to make it differently. The whole concept of tree work is balancing risk with enough efficiency to still make a profit.




Here we have a difference of opinion. My crew drags to the chipper, creates a long pile, runs the chipper, puts the whole pile through, then turns it off. It is more energy and time efficient. But even if it wasn't, it is safer for me, my guys and the public. I can guarantee that if an accident occurs where you breach Worksafe standards, such as properly controlling pedestrian traffic in a workplace, that it will be the business owner that pays. Furthermore, if you are found to be wilfully negligent rather than just negligent, you can kiss your PL insurance goodbye too. It simply isnt worth the risk. For me its 2 guys chipping and shut down the feed rollers if you leave the apron.


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## canopyboy (Jun 16, 2009)

I grew up as a backwoods kid in the woods of Oregon. My dad ran a cabinet shop, and that's where a lot of my MO comes from. I learned to be safe and work smart, but also that at the end of the day the job had to get done. Now my day job is with the US Gov't, and everyday I see how things like safety get taken to the point where nothing gets done. I understand why the safety office does what it does, and why it is there. But when the chances of someone getting a grain of sand in their eye are less than getting struck by lightening and they shut the whole thing down or demand $50k worth of barriers and precautions for a 1 day job, I just get upset. 

For me it comes down to common sense, Darwinism, and fate. Try to make it safe and work smart, you can't protect every idiot from themselves, and sometimes no matter how safe you are it still might just be your day to meet your maker.

And your procedure isn't that different from mine either with the exception of one person (which I will concede is not a small difference.) And 30ft away might be the far side of my drag pile.

Anyhow, I'm glad to see you're keeping safe, I definitely can't fault you for that.


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## wavefreak (Jun 16, 2009)

The only chipper I ever used was a small homeowner thingy, so take me with a grain of salt.

I've been reading these forums and following links to accident reports and stuff and also have some sense of what it takes to be safe in general. Seems to me that accidents usually take more than just one thing to go wrong. Somebody does something. The next guy up the chain doesn't do something else, and the guy that gets killed makes a mistake that had the other two guys followed procedure he might have survived. Not turning off the feed rollers on a chipper is one of these links in the chain. The question is what is the risk (in this case death) in creating that link in the chain vs what is gained by not. If a stupid homeowner (and they are such a rare animal) tries to "help" is 30 feet close enough to prevent a tragedy? I can't answer that because I don't know the equipment. I do know, that to the best of by ability, I shouldn't create uncontrollable situations.


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## Bearcreek (Jun 17, 2009)

treemandan said:


> Everytime I try that the limbs knock the bar into reverse as I walk away.



Im guessing you have a vermeer. I do that as standard practice. Drag a limb to the chipper, start it in, go back for the next one. By the time I get back, the first one is about done. If I stood and waited for each branch to go through, chipping the brush would take three times as long at least.


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