# minor chipper incedent



## woodchux (Aug 26, 2006)

Well chipping some brush the other day the groundman knocked loose a tooth.

He threw in a limb, and a small chunk of wood flew back out and busted his lip.

He had just started chipping and was standing behind the chute instead of off to the side.

Ya'll be careful out there !


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## matty f (Aug 27, 2006)

Thats what visors are for!i worked with a guy who lost pretty much all vision in one eye when a chunk spat back at him.

I did somthing quite foolish with a chipper on monday,whilst changing the blades i droped a socket whilst doing the blade bolts back up, i put my hand on the cutting wheel to turn it ,whilst trying to fish the socket out with a magnet on a stick ...well brand new blades and razer sharp i cut the tip corner of my index finger off clean slice through the nail ...could of been a lot worse but made climbing awkward the rest of the week.


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## Eagle1 (Aug 27, 2006)

I had blow back one time right between the eyes!! I have noticed that blow back seems to happen with Vermeer chippers alot.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Aug 27, 2006)

I met a guy in the twin cites area who got his hand caught btween the top of the inffed shute and a log. broke bones, dislocated, ripped tendons and ligaments....took months to heal.


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## RedlineIt (Aug 27, 2006)

Yeah, relating to the injury JPS mentioned about putting a short log into the feed rolls...

Sometimes the butt-end of a short log will whip upwards violently, it depends how it gets grabbed by the feedroll lugs.

I know this, seen it a hundred times, instruct new groundies to be aware of it, stand clear, feed from the side.

But, late in the day, tired from a big climb, helping clean-up, I broke my own rules, jammed in a 4 inch diameter, 4 foot long stub in from directly behind the infeed as I dealt with the last of the chippable stuff.

Butt-end whipped up just infront of my face >BAM!< against the top of the infeed chute, then in.

Butt-end took my visor up. That's about one-and-one-half inches to spare, max, between me going home smiling and emergency dental surgury.

Two steps to either side is all I needed to avoid this close call.

There are so many hazards in this line of work, and so many "best practices" we can use to stay clear of them. Two seconds working off of that clear line of best practice is all it takes to expose yourself unnecessarily to hazards.

Let's play it safe.


RedlineIt


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