Chipper Safety Stories

[buzzardroost]

I have an Altec Whisper Chipper (12" drum with 300-6 engine). Since I got the thing, I sure hear plenty of stories and fearful warnings of the chipper's safety.

May have come up before, but please submit your opinions and stories about the safety of these older chippers.

Do you think they are too dangerous at any speed? Are chainsaws more dangerous with those blades exposed and spinning right by you?

 

[CalTreeEquip]

no problem

I ran drum chipper for 20 years, never had a problem.
I did have one knuckle-head jump up on the table to kick a log in.
I picked up a stick and threatened to beat him to death with it, told him I'd rather have him dead that way then by being so stupid as to go feet first into a chipper.
You just have to be careful with then.
What I tell people I sell them to is, if you going to run it yourself and your not an idiot then you'll be fine. If you going to have day labor to run it then your going to have trouble.

WWW.CALIFORNIATREEEQUIPMENT.COM

 

[NWRick044]

Seems like I just ran into you all somewhere. Anyway, I believe their safe to use just like a lawn mower. Got to use it correctly though and give it due respect, cause even the mower can still lob off toes if not used properly. Clearing material seems to be an issue as is lack of patience. Most smaller stuff going into the feed area can collect but is moved forward by the next branch going through. Who ever is feeding needs to know safe areas to feed, what to do in an emergency and what can be used to move stuff through the feeder. Loose clothes can also be an issue as branches can snag and yank. Not too long ago my kids were helping me on a job (22 and 17 years old) and the youngest used a rake to move a small pile forward. You can guess what happened. They were lucky that all it did was suck the rake end through. It sucked it through and did not slow down. Blades took a bit of a beating but were not ate up as bad as I expected. Could have been much, much worse. That's why the blades were sharpened in the last post.

 

[buzzardroost]

One story, a guy had cuff gloves on, got caught and started pulling him in. His had a emergency reverse feeder. I think the manuals advice for proper clothing. Read manuals and religiously follow instructions.

I am sure the manual covered the other story. We had an epic ice storm in KY last January. Somebody was chipping and a kid tried to get a stuck limb going by jumping up and down on it. "It threw his pieces all out into the woods." Fargo with an industrial chipper. Can't recall the movie's name with the live person actually run through. Oh, the horror.

 

[lewis16]

is it like this when it feeds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt0WcptBaJI

 

[buzzardroost]

Oh dear. The youtube clip showed the chipper without the protecter flap and they were using something to push in limbs. They seemed to have some healthy fear of the thing though.