veteran tree man through chipper

climber1966 · Mar 10, 2006

Brian from Brians Trees service, Loveland colorado was pulled through his chipper last month. Six inches of his right leg and foot was all that was left. According to reports from the men working with him, he was feeding logs into his vermeer chipper when his glove got caught on a stub. There was a man in the tree above him, but was unable to get to the chipper in time. Brian was a good man whom I had worked with in the past. He had many a friend and 20yrs in the industry. We all need to be careful, it could happen.

woodchux · Mar 11, 2006

Dam shame... sorry to hear it.

xtremetrees · Mar 11, 2006

Thats sad I'll keep a better eye on my gloves from now on.

Tom Dunlap · Mar 11, 2006

Don't let anyone who chips wear gauntlet cuff gloves.

http://www.trapman.co.uk/gantlet-gloves.htm

Use knit wrist gloves to reduce the chance of snagging.

AND!!! keep all body parts out of the infeed chute. Use other pieces of brush or wood as a push stick.

Ancient One · Mar 11, 2006

This is Depressing

I am not a climber nor a arborist, but this type of news hurts down to the soul of all of us that work with our hands in making a living. I have managed to survive to an old age working in many phases of heavy industrial maintenance, Plus some late time stints at building construction. I keep a mental alert eye out for hazards not only to myself but to those around me, especially the younger whom have not yet learned the proper acts in being safe minded. Any industrial site is full of hazards, whether they be cranes and overhead lifting, rotating machinery, electricity, working at heights, or other activities that may kill or maim in an instant.

It really strikes a heavy blow when an experienced owner is the victim.

Let us all have a silent moment for Brian, his family, and the co-workers that were at the accident scene.

climber1966 · Mar 11, 2006

as a expression of sorrow to his family a bunch of local arborist/groundies went and finished the job he was on. presented the check to his family/estate. there was still a red stain about 10ft wide on the ground where the chipper was. Brought a lump to alot of veterans throats......

DeanBrown3D · Mar 11, 2006

Tom Dunlap said:
Use knit wrist gloves to reduce the chance of snagging.

And related to this is if you're falling trees, wear pants that do not have any upturn or seem at the bottom (such as jeans) that could catch on a stump instead of ripping through.

My condolences.

Dean

Sprig · Mar 12, 2006

My deepest condolences to every member of his family and friends, my dreams may never be the same :cry:

Serge

TreeLady · Mar 13, 2006

Deepest condolences to his family, friends and especially his crew. I can't even imagine their pain...

Shaun Bowler · Mar 13, 2006

My crew and I talked about this accident this morning.
We work on commuter route. A train goes up and down a corridor about 60 miles one way.
People get killed on that route all the time.
The newspapers always explain the "incident" tragic...
What about this.. Here comes the TRAIN! GET OUT OF THE WAY.
Those of us who have been in this industry become familar, very familar with a rake as much as a chipper.
My point is, I am not convinced that all chipper accidents are accidents.
What do you think?

Ancient One · Mar 14, 2006

I Dunno

I took a look at the Vermeer web site. A chipper in the photo on the site has a entry chute that is pretty big and the bottom of the chute is below waist height. Looks like it would be easy to get sucked in, if a big branch or tree section had a stub to catch an arm or hand. The photo shows an operator pushing in a tree trunk about 15" or so in diameter. Once the infeed takes hold of the branch, log or tree trunk, there is no hope. Some of these things have 200 HP, would not even slow down if a man went through.

You gents that operate a chipper similar to the one in the photo chime in and give us your take. I understand the red bar on the infeed area will stop the machine, but from the photo, looks as it could be difficult to operate if one is caught by a branch or stub. I guess if you are feeding branches or logs, you best feed butt first, so the "grabber" stubs won't grab.

PS, did a Google and found out the accident involving Brian Morse in Loveland CO occured on December 29, 2005. Is this the same incident of this topic?

For info, do a google on chipper accidents. Real scary, many folks have been killed in chipper accidents.

clearance · Mar 14, 2006

Shaun Bowler said:
My crew and I talked about this accident this morning.
We work on commuter route. A train goes up and down a corridor about 60 miles one way.
People get killed on that route all the time.
The newspapers always explain the "incident" tragic...
What about this.. Here comes the TRAIN! GET OUT OF THE WAY.
Those of us who have been in this industry become familar, very familar with a rake as much as a chipper.
My point is, I am not convinced that all chipper accidents are accidents.
What do you think?

I am sure that many "accidents" work or otherwise are suicides, and I'd rather that someone who wanted to end thier days had an "accident". A lot easier on family and friends, been around both, don't like either but I think you know what I mean. I do not think people use the chipper method, just can't imagine doing that rather than, pretty well anything else. Not a very happy topic, or really appropriate to speculate on this poor chap. Just sucks bigtime, nothing more I can say.

kmoose · Mar 14, 2006

Reguardless of the events leading up to or the cause, my heart cries for the family, friends, and coworkers of this man. God Bless

Jumper · Mar 14, 2006

Sad regardless of how it happened. I pity the coworker that was there, not to mention the customer. You hear of accidents involving chippers all the time, though I wonder how many tree service personnel are killed driving to or at work every year; such a story would not have the same sensation, ie sell as many papers or ads.

jpzaf · Mar 26, 2006

I've had clothing get caught while feeding a chipper. Had one shirt torn almost off. My first reaction was not to hit the stop bar, but to hold on to the shoot! If I was being pulled in fast I may not have had time to stop it or reverse the feed wheels. Both times this happened I was feeding from the side and standing back from the shute.

I feel for everyone involved, especially his family.

itsgottobegreen · Mar 28, 2006

I we helping a friend chip up some trees we cut down on his property. Rented 12" morbark. I told him no gloves. Period. That I would kill him if he put any on. Cause if I didn't the chipper would. Then showed him where to stand when feeding the chipper and how it all works, etc. (his first time ever using a chipper). Wasn't an hour later, I saw he had gloves on feeding the chipper. Stopped him, Flipped out on him, $@*#@*$@#* Then ripped his gloves off and threw them in the chipper. Solved that problem.

He flipped out at me for chipping up his gloves. I told him I rather buy you a new set of gloves than buy him a coffin. He complained about getting sap on his hand and thats why he put them back on. LOL

I have heard to many stories of people getting hurt or killed with chippers because of gloves getting caught on brush.

veteran tree man through chipper

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