# finger in log splitter



## unkerdas66

well me and my friend were splitting a pickup load of firewood and he had his 12yr old son running the handle .while he was setting logs on splitter to be split and throwing them to me to be stacked next thing i knew my friend was white as a ghost holding his finger so i threw him in the truck and off to the e.r we went ... so now we don't have anyone other than adults running splitter and he is a little more careful where his fingers are View attachment 89201


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## Ductape

Ummm..........yeah, no one should be touching the handle except the guy holding the log. Ouchie!


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## yooper

yep gotta agree with ductape.....unless ya have allot of gorilla tape on hand....nothing funner then looken for a digit amongst a bunch of wood bark.
hope yer friend heals well.


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## carvinmark

Ouch!!!!:jawdrop:


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## 046

ouch!!!! 

no way anyone else is touching controls... with my fingers anywhere near the crush zone.


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## fubar2

A cousin of mine had his wife running the valve on his and she took off his finger. Someone else at the control is not something I recommend anymore.


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## DAVID451

unkerdas66 said:


> well me and my friend were splitting a pickup load of firewood and he had his 12yr old son running the handle .while he was setting logs on splitter to be split and throwing them to me to be stacked next thing i knew my friend was white as a ghost holding his finger so i threw him in the truck and off to the e.r we went ... so now we don't have anyone other than adults running splitter and he is a little more careful where his fingers are View attachment 89201



I have always believed in wearing a pair of welding gloves doing these jobs, it gives you that little bit more of a chance of avoiding this. Just like rigging boots as oposed to laced ones, get pinched by a log and chance you can get clear before it crushes your foot, slipping out of the boot.

My friend ignored this advice 2 years ago and his friend bashed his finger with a sledge hammer, was getting married aswel and it was his ring finger, went up to about twice the size so it did. Two weeks later he got married in las vegas on line and we were all pissing ourselves.


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## 046

welding gloves won't make a bit of different to a machine putting out say 20+ tons of force. think in terms of if it can split a knarly round with ease... your fingers will not slow it down!

now it might make the difference in a sledge hammer, but for a direct hit... nada...

don't get me wrong.. welding gloves are excelling for handling wood to keep from getting splinters... but that's about it



DAVID451 said:


> I have always believed in wearing a pair of welding gloves doing these jobs, it gives you that little bit more of a chance of avoiding this. Just like rigging boots as oposed to laced ones, get pinched by a log and chance you can get clear before it crushes your foot, slipping out of the boot.
> 
> My friend ignored this advice 2 years ago and his friend bashed his finger with a sledge hammer, was getting married aswel and it was his ring finger, went up to about twice the size so it did. Two weeks later he got married in las vegas on line and we were all pissing ourselves.


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## 385xp9106

i bet he dint feel a thing jus alot of blood it happend so fast..probaly jus panicked


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## (WLL)

looks very minor considering what could have been split. glad he is ok be careful people!!!


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## DAVID451

046 said:


> welding gloves won't make a bit of different to a machine putting out say 20+ tons of force. think in terms of if it can split a knarly round with ease... your fingers will not slow it down!
> 
> now it might make the difference in a sledge hammer, but for a direct hit... nada...
> 
> don't get me wrong.. welding gloves are excelling for handling wood to keep from getting splinters... but that's about it



Trust me they make a difference,you dont stand there with your hand in the press as it crushes it, you pull back, and as it nips the glove you have a split second to get your hand out. Been there many times fitting road springs on trucks and got nipped. However there are situations where gloves are dangerous and can drag you in.

The difference wearing a glove with the hammer is that a glancing blow often leaves the skin on, and a direct hit is actually reduced a bit, and you can sit debating wheither to take the glove off or not to see the munched finger rather than see the devestation later while you roll about the floor in agony.

And I have been there aswel slowly taking the glove off hoping the finger comes out in one piece.


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## Kydan

Yes that finger looks sore, hope it heals back to normal.
I was working on my tractor last summer and of course it was running. And sure enough my thumb wanted a trip around the alternator belt and I had gloves on. I think the glove pull the thumb in the pulley but it didn't cut it as bad but more smashed and real quick, And O did that hurt for a long time.


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## biggenius29

Kydan said:


> Yes that finger looks sore, hope it heals back to normal.
> I was working on my tractor last summer and of course it was running. And sure enough my thumb wanted a trip around the alternator belt and I had gloves on. I think the glove pull the thumb in the pulley but it didn't cut it as bad but more smashed and real quick, And O did that hurt for a long time.



I had gloves on and got them caught in a belt and around the pully my finger went. That was over 2 years ago. 3 surgerys later, along with a year of theropy my finger is comming off on Tuesday morning.


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## 046

OUCH!!!!!

I'm wincing.... reading your stories


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## carvinmark

biggenius29 said:


> I had gloves on and got them caught in a belt and around the pully my finger went. That was over 2 years ago. 3 surgerys later, along with a year of theropy my finger is comming off on Tuesday morning.
> 
> Sorry to hear this. Hope it goes well for you.


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## DAVID451

biggenius29 said:


> I had gloves on and got them caught in a belt and around the pully my finger went. That was over 2 years ago. 3 surgerys later, along with a year of theropy my finger is comming off on Tuesday morning.



Yes you have to temper when you wear gloves as I said, rotating stuff and loose clothing aint good, neither is rings and watches if you are a mechanic.


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## huskystihl

That sucks! Been there before though and must say that a good pair of gloves has saved me from no more than a good smashing a few times. I split mostly in the winter so it hurts twice as bad with frozen fingers. No doubt this will stick in his mind and you can bet he's gonna know where that wedge is at all times from here on out.


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## 371groundie

i grew up running the lever on a splitter for my dad, then about the time i was 12 my younger brother started on the lever while i was handling the wood and dad was cutting. none of us ever had a close call with the splitter, ever.

step one, never ever ever handle the log my the ends! only the sides! the splitter never touches the sides so your hads are safe. 
step two, use a pulp hook. i learned to use a hook safely before i could run the splitter. 

put them together. drive the hook into the side of the log and youll have no worries. not saying its error proof because mistakes happen. but as i said, none of the three of us have ever had a close call, let alone an accident.


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## Raymond

:computer:I've always had either my 10 year old son or wife running my lever for me. Even without experience at first.

The trick is to NEVER put your fingers on the top of the log, never.

I still have all my fingers.


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## Raymond

371groundie said:


> i grew up running the lever on a splitter for my dad, then about the time i was 12 my younger brother started on the lever while i was handling the wood and dad was cutting. none of us ever had a close call with the splitter, ever.
> 
> step one, never ever ever handle the log my the ends! only the sides! the splitter never touches the sides so your hads are safe.
> step two, use a pulp hook. i learned to use a hook safely before i could run the splitter.
> 
> put them together. drive the hook into the side of the log and youll have no worries. not saying its error proof because mistakes happen. but as i said, none of the three of us have ever had a close call, let alone an accident.


Sorry 371goundie. I didn't notice your post till I did mine. :agree2:
Not only is this guy going though a tough time with a nasty injury like that but now his son running the lever has that guilt to live with the rest of his life, when really it wasn't his fault. :computer:


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## mantis

Wonder if that hurt?


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## Kydan

biggenius29 said:


> I had gloves on and got them caught in a belt and around the pully my finger went. That was over 2 years ago. 3 surgerys later, along with a year of theropy my finger is comming off on Tuesday morning.
> 
> Sorry to hear that especially after 3 surgery and over 2 years later having to lose your finger. I know I was happy to see my thumb still attach when I pulled my glove off, and the belt was no tighter than it was.


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## Rftreeman

that sucks that he got hurt but like the others stated if you handle the wood by the sides this will never happen.


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## tlandrum

i feel for his pain. i just went through a second surgery on my reattached fingers last wenseday. it sucks and i sure cant run a saw for a few weeks. hard to make a living as a logger when you cant saw or run skidder. i can still run knuckleboom but i generally am the fellar.


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## GNAR13

hmm...memories...my leg under the Argo...my uncle's finger in the belt and pulley...oh and the best, my buddy's finger in the sausage grinder:chainsawguy:


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## rtrsam

Had something similar hapened to me...twenty or so years ago. I was running an old home made splitter with my dad, splitting some really stringy old fir (butt cut). My dad was on the control, I was placing chunks to be split and doing everything else. The splitter wedge was also home made and had a diamond plate surface. The chunk on the splitter popped, so I reached in to grab a chunk and throw it clear. A big slab off the chunk popped iff, trapping my finger between it and the wedge as the ram continued to shove the wood through the wedge. So my finger (middle finger, right hand) got all mangled and twisted between the side of the wedge and the wood. I jerked my finger clear, and the first thought as I looked at this blood dripping mess was, if I just chopped it off with some aviation shears ,maybe I could just wrap it up and not have to go to the hospital(very clear thought on that matter, I had three good pairs of aviation shears, right cut, left cut and straight).

In proper woodsman fashion, I ran some cold water in it, wrapped it up with toilet paper and duct tape and went back to work. Lost my fingernail and screwed up bow season that year (could not hold the bowstring). Otherwise healed okay, no further medical.


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## ntsarborist

*t*

i have seen that happen, not a good sight


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## RCR 3 EVER

*Neighbor kids use splitter as a horsie*

I saw our stupid neighbor running his splitter with his kids sitting on top of the thing and one actually sat on a large log as it was being split. I waited for the ambulances to come around.
When we use our splitter we use gloves and it helps since if you feel a tug on the glove you may have time to jerk your hand awayeven if you just handle the logs on the sides.
Standing next to the beam is also dangerous while waiting to catch a split log. We have very few large logs and one split with such force it tossed one of the pieces several feet away. Luckily my dad was loading the trailer with another piece so he was not standing in his normal spot.

All kinds of dangers just be super careful and wary of everything and everyone around you helps.


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## Taxmantoo

RCR 3 EVER said:


> I saw our stupid neighbor running his splitter with his kids sitting on top of the thing and one actually sat on a large log as it was being split. I waited for the ambulances to come around.



Should have taken pictures. Then if you ever want to get rid of the kids, you can send the pics to child protective services and the kids will disappear like magic.


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## Raymond

taxmantoo said:


> Should have taken pictures. Then if you ever want to get rid of the kids, you can send the pics to child protective services and the kids will disappear like magic.


That is unsafe. I could see using my mother-in-law but my kid? Actually I have a very cool mother-in-law, let me switch that to the X-wife. She's got the butt for it now days too. :hmm3grin2orange:


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## Upidstay

A wise man once told me the secret to leading a long, full life:

PAY ATTENTION

Pay attention while driving, less accidents. Pay attention in school, get better grades, make more money. Pay attention to your wife, less fights. Pay attention when operating a machine that puts out 20 tons of crushing force, you get to keep all of your finges.


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## pdqdl

Raymond said:


> :computer:I've always had either my 10 year old son or wife running my lever for me. Even without experience at first.
> 
> The trick is to NEVER put your fingers on the top of the log, never.
> 
> I still have all my fingers.



:agree2:

Yep. I even let my 7 year old run my splitter lever. She did a darn good job, and only pulled the lever wrong a couple of times in the beginning. 

No way was I going to put my hand where it could get caught.

Regarding logs splitting and flying out: That happened to me last fall. Durn near knocked me down, and both my girls _started laughing at me_. I'll admit I was pretty crabby with them about the laughing they did. I heatedly suggested that I would be willing to throw a log at them and then they would know what it felt like. They stopped laughing shortly thereafter.


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## Booshcat

My 3 and 1/2 year old boy helped me out today. It's called UP, STOP, DOWN ,STOP, UP etc...
He only eats PB&J


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## taylor6400

Well, i never got my finger stuck in a splitter wedge, but i did crush the heck out of them with a splitter. I was setting mine up vertical once (not hooked to a tow vehicle) and i lifted with handle, then put my hand under the beam to push it the rest of the way up and the axle part rotated around and crushed my middle 3 fingers between the beam and and the base the beam rests on when in horizontal position. Holy SOB did that hurt...i did have a pair of light leather gloves on and i was a little worried what my fingers were going to look like when i pulled it off. But it was all good, nothing mangled or even broken just crushed, swollen and bruised. My middle finger knuckle was about triple its normal size and i had some cool color changes happen! Needless to say that i now pay more attention when going vertical. Make sure im on level ground so it cant kick up as easy. And dont put my hand under the beam anymore!


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