Leg nearly severed by a stump grinder

[Dan F]

Wow..... Ouch....

It's taken me a little better than an hour to read all this.... Wish DadF had told me about it, rather than me finding out from Jim himself...................

Anyway, Jim, as soon as I saw the date of your accident, "what if's" started going through my head. I was in-between jobs at that point, and had actually considered calling you to see if you needed help in that week or two that I was between jobs........ Don't know if you would have used me or not, but still, I can't help but wonder "what if?".

I've run the Vermeer 252 like you pictured, and the wheel spins for a long time after you disengage the clutch. That is, unless you stick it in the ground. And there is no operator presence switch either. That bar that was bungeed up, should not have been. Period. Yeah, it can be a PITA at times, but there was no reason to have it up like that. I don't know if it was the day that this happened, but my guess is that it was. But that's just a guess.

I've told you I'll help however I can with the Katrina-related issues, I'll extend that to your personal work as well. I'll send you a PM in a day or two about it.

Get well, Jim. I'm amazed at how bad it was, and yet I know it could have been a LOT worse!


Dan

 

[okietreedude1]

Im fixing to buy my first stump grinder, a vermeer 222. I used it on a couple stumps last week as a test run and when I went to get it, Ill be dammed if that bar in the front....wasnt bungeed up!

Even though I was the only one on the site, I still put the bar down. I think this was bungeed for transport as the ramp on the trailer was in the way.

 

[Dan F]

I forgot to mention that what probably stunned me the most wasn't Jim's injury....

What did stun me, you ask???


JPS is getting MARRIED???!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I can't believe it! What is this world coming to?

Anyway, I'm not trying to de-rail this thread at all, just thought I would mention that....

My previous employer purchased a stump grinder attachment for the mini-skidsteer they bought this year. I ran it a few times (days) this spring, and it was like the grinder Koa Man has. As soon as you let off on the auxilliary control, the wheel quit spinning. I had to get in the habit of letting off the control slowly, for fear of damaging the pump somehow.

This was on a Ditch Witch SK500. There was no "lock" to keep the auxilliary hydraulics running. However, for various reasons it was a PITA to not have a lock there, so I devised a lock of sorts using a zip-tie. Potentially dangerous, I know, but I personally would not walk away from a running grinder. I was the only one running it at the time, but who knows who is now....


Dan

 

[Tree Machine]

Thanks, Okie. Thanks DanF. I'm still counting the miracles. I started physical therapy last week. I met a guy named Harry and we shared with each other our injury stories.

Harry was an elevator technician. While testing the elevator he was standing near the opening, the doors were wide open. He had that 'one second', that if you could go back and change one second of your life, it would have been this one second.

Anyway, the elevator was in motion. Harry's back was to the door opening. A piece of his clothing got caught on one of the mechanisms going up. It lifted him and he hit the topside of the door opening and was dropped, not into the elevator shaft, but almost. As he was scrambling his way back through the doorway, the counterweights came down and in much the same way as a chipper knife goes past the anvil, such did the counterweight past that door opening he was crawling into. The counterweight hit Harry's leg up high in the thigh and cut the entire leg off, dropping it to the bottom of the elevator shaft.

My blessings are obvious. I'm not dead. I'll be walking and climbing with my own leg, not a prosthesis. I've been able to help hundreds of men to more fully respect the stump grinder and if that prevents ONE SINGLE injury, that is a blessing.

Dan F offering to come down and help me with jobs (as well a few others) is a blessing. The support I've received from the community, clients with juicy jobs willing to wait for me until this December, an apprentice who's taking on all the not-so-juicy jobs right now. December is fully booked and the latest folks are willing to wait til January when the crown reduction is best done on the dormant tree. In the midst of this, I am able to assist the Katrina Relief Effort.

That's one handful of blessings and I've literally got a chip truck load of them. Everyone, continue being safe and watching out for your workmates' safety.

 

[Eagle1]

Your a good man TM. Keep on pluggin along !!

 

[Eagle1]

"JPS is getting MARRIED???!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I can't believe it! What is this world coming to?" QUOTE

I just caught that one. WOW. I have to say Jonh, do you know what food make woman not want to make love anymore???? Wedding Cake !!!

Please dont edit...a true fact of nature and all us tree workers and arborists are conected to nature.....so it is a legit post...?? ?? !!

 

[CoreyTMorine]

gas lines and recovery

Wow! Just finished the post, I’m going to eat my vitamins as a reward You really are a lucky bugger TM, your leg looks great. The doctors did a nice job.

A few thoughts on safety and stumpers and recovery:

Rory was grinding stumps one day, he finished, backed the grinder up a few feet, hit the disengage, and grounded the wheel. All would have been well, except for the gas line a few inches below the soft soil. I don’t remember if the line was punctured or not, wasn’t on site, but the stumper actually came into contact with it. Fortunately nothing blew up.
A few years later I ran into another “illegal” gas line. I was chunking out a smallish tree 12 or 15’ from a house, I would push a piece off, it would land in the bark dust, the ground guys would move it, repeat. Eventually the hole got several inches deep, Kukaa yells up “Hey, what about that gas register over on the house?”
“Aww, they plant those things like two feet deep, and why would it come over this way and not towards the road?”
He eyes me with that “yeah ive heard that kind of rationing before” look, and starts digging around in the mulch. Sure enough the gas line was only a few inches down and right on the edge of my DZ.
In both cases “dig safe” had not been called. I’m not sure I absolutely trust them anyway. So maybe it would be better to use the grindings to stop the wheel, i know it takes longer, but at least you know what's there.


And on the topic of recovery; Peter Grover busted his leg back in 99 or 2000 I think, anyway he then spent 6 months sittin on the couch. This must have been infuriating for peter, the guy was an animal. Climb trees all day, then come down and drag brush right over the ground guys, then go home and get on his mountain bike for a ride. Anyway, he finishes his PT and the doc gives blessing ‘go out and climb trees oh spider monkey of the gawds.’ So peter runs right back to his practice tree, gets somebody to punch the timer for him, and starts the 40’ footlock to the bell. Up he goes, reach, pull, lock, again, again, again, in no time there is the bell, smack it, CLANG.
From the timer guy “Good job Pete, 14.3, nice climb…Pete? Peter are you OK?….”

I don’t know the exact details from there; I heard the story from one of his guys at a bar in Idaho. But I guess what happened is that he died of a massive heart attack right there on the rope. Perhaps it was a pre-existing condition, but I don’t think so. I think his body just “relaxed” a little while healing, then Peter hit the rope like he was at worlds again and it was just too much.

So you take it easy TM, and everyone else who is laid up, the trees will still be here . Good luck and God bless

CTM

 

[fmueller]

Jayzus man I am amazed at what you went through. You sound like a good man though and that you have the wherewithall to get through this. I wish you the best for you and your family! Just an idea, places like ECI and ACRT hire tree people as work planners and ROW coordinators if yer looking for something like that although I imagine after working for yourself for that long it would be tough to have a boss. Just a few crumbs for thought. Stay bucked up camper!

 

[rick2752]

I am new here and was just reading and grimacing about the accident. I wonder if vermeer or anyone has contacted the guys who invented saw stop. Its an automatic brake(dont ask me how) that kicks in when a table saw blade hits flesh. They show them touching a hotdog to a table saw blade and it barely nicks the hotdog coming to a screeching halt. It may sound stupid but I would bet that that technology could be adapted to a grinder. Posted this on the wrong post earlier, sometimes I wonder

 

[Sizzle-Chest]

TM, lookin through your pictures makes me wonder if I could deal as well. Man, you got the juice! I got a tree job to do in the morning and shoot if I don't play it extra safe after seeing a little of what you gone through.

 

[Tree Machine]

Thanks you guys. Actually, I'm not sure you're all guys. With a name like Sizzle-Chest, you could be an exotic dancer.

I appreciate you all dropping in and having a say. I pull little nuggets of wisdom out of all your posts and I get the full sense that you're more safety-conscious as a result of these 195 posts. That is the most I could possibly hope for.

Rick, welcome to ArboristSite! Whatever you're looking for, you'll find it here.

Status report: I've got new X-rays, let me go get those. You all stay right there, OK?

 

[Tree Machine]

Recent X rays

Here they are. This is the week before last. It still looks broken to me.

 

[Stumper]

Jim, How does it feel? What are you able to do in PT? Most importantly how are your spirits?

 

[stehansen]

As I understand it Peter Grover had an anurisism burst in his brain, while practicing climbing in a huge paradox walnut tree. His Dad owned the largest local tree company here. At that time they probably had 10 crews working.

 

[Tree Machine]

Eeek! Peter Grover, just a terrible arbo fatalaity. What a huge loss. I'm so sorry to hear that.

Jim, How does it feel? What are you able to do in PT? Most importantly how are your spirits?

Thanks for asking, Stumper.

I'm doing remarkably well. October 16 marked the 4th month anniversary. I'm supposed to be on crutches, but I don't honestly use them anymore. I still limp because there's still pain, but if I focus and accept a little higher level of pain, I can walk without a limp.

I've been able to do tree estimates for a month now, and have all of December and all of January booked, so, you were asking about my spirits, they're pretty good. I have a fat slug of debt I didn't have before, but knowing I have ample work as soon as I can step back in, that is all I need to know.

I'm also in a 'new gear good mood'. I have quite a bit of work that can be approached from the ground, where normally I would climb for it, now I may be attacking it from terra firma. I took your advice, Stumper, and got a Silky pole saw. I chose the yellow Hayate, extends out to 20 feet, YOW! Between that and the Echo Power Pruner, and the pole pruners this is my plan for starting low and slow. I just put new knives and turned the anvil in the chipper, so it's ready for the Winter season, which is my favorite time of year to do tree care.

PT is great. They're strengthening not only the leg, but the entire tree climbing apparatus. They want me stronger than before. I'm embracing all of this. They tell me I'm a good patient. Elizabeth is on them to get rid of the midrif bulge she says I've developed.

 

[pantheraba]

Here they are. This is the week before last. It still looks broken to me.

Some, yes, but it looks like callus has laid down pretty thick on the tibia so it is mending...that rod is supporting for now...and the fibula I think you said they decided to let it do its own thing. It looks like it is finding its way back together, too.

You are doing a great job of mending...your attitude has to make a lot of difference. Hang in there, bro!

 

[rb_in_va]

Actually, I'm not sure you're all guys. With a name like Sizzle-Chest, you could be an exotic dancer.

I believe that is a reference to a Jerky Boys prank.

 

[Tree Machine]

Huh....whaa....???

 

[rb_in_va]

http://www.laugh.com/main_pages/comicpage.asp?cid=55

 

[Tree Machine]

Ahhh, now I get the reference.