tree workers inured by rope entering chipper

[imagineero]

I heard on the phone from a buddy of mine who runs a good size crew today that he had two workers injured on the job. I wasn't on the phone long enough to get the complete scoop, but from the sounds of it the crew was working in tight quarters with no room to stack. They were chipping as they went, with the chipper very close to the tree.

Through some sort of error, a branch got fed in that had a rope dragged in behind it. One of the guys at the chipper tried reversing the feed wheels, but no good - once the drum had a hold of that rope it was going through. Because the rope was going through other branches, one got flung up and hit a worker in the head, causing minor injuries. A second guy tried wrestling the rope, wrapped it around himself and ended up with pretty bad rope burn and a couple broken fingers. He'll be off work for a couple months. This all happened in the blink of an eye.

I'll get the full story next time I meet up with him, but this could make a good toolbox talk for other crews out there. Once a rope enters a chipper, it's going through no matter what you do, and taking whatever is attached to the rope with it. There's no going back on this one, the only thing you can do is cut the rope if you're quick. Especially of danger in close quarters, when you've got the chipper right under the tree and possibly only one or two groundies. If the tail of the climbers rope ends up in there, there's a good chance he'll be pulled out of the tree.

Shaun

 

[bootboy]

Sounds like it could have been much, much worse. Glad the injuries were relatively minor, considering how easy it is to lose a fight with a chipper.

Be safe out there!

 

[treeclimber101]

Sounds like it could have been much, much worse. Glad the injuries were relatively minor, considering how easy it is to lose a fight with a chipper.

Be safe out there!

They always win , I have never seen a chipper lose

 

[imagineero]

here ya go

Chipper Strike! - YouTube

Shaun

 

[imagineero]

I got the full story today.

What actually happened was the guys were working in close quarters, chipping under the tree. They had a tag line that was used to pull a head over. Lots of branches everywhere, guys chipping and other guys running the ropes. Rope went into the chipper with a branch, while one guy was still trying to untie the rope from the pullover. In a flash, the whole rope was sucked into the chipper before anyone even realised what had happened.

The guy trying to untie the rope got slammed in the head with the branch he was trying to untie, smashed his safety glasses into his face. Hard hat probably saved his life.

Second guy was standing in the bight and got whipped by the line, pretty bad rope burns all over, and got tangled up in it trying to free himself, breaking a couple fingers.

As already noted, could have been a LOT worse.

This would make a good toolbox talk for us all, I talked my guys through it. The image of getting dragged into the chipper at lightning speed is one that most guys haven't considered, and one that sticks in your head. Would it pull you through, or rip your arm off first? If it ripped your arm off, would your shoulder already be in the feed rollers?

Shaun

 

[StrataTree]

Just did some trainning...Had NO IDEA that 30 people go through the chipper every year! Add up the years and it starts gettin real scary real fast...hundreds of folks not goin home...MAD respect for that beast! Was told in trainning that positioning the chipper to close to work area/drop zone is a recurring contributer to many chipper accidents. I will not be whining about dragging brush an extra 15-20 feet anymore! Stay safe out there...
I had a big plastic and aluminum shovel get grabbed by the feed wheels and in 1-2 seconds it was gone. If a coworker isn't within 3 ft. Of chipper you have about no chance. If a coworker is close you still have about no chance.

 

[CalTreeEquip]

Same thing happened to a local guy here in Cal. Got tangled in the rope, picked him up and slammed his head into the machine. DOA.

 

[PhilMcWoody]

I got the full story today.

What actually happened was the guys were working in close quarters, chipping under the tree. They had a tag line that was used to pull a head over. Lots of branches everywhere, guys chipping and other guys running the ropes. Rope went into the chipper with a branch, while one guy was still trying to untie the rope from the pullover. In a flash, the whole rope was sucked into the chipper before anyone even realised what had happened.

The guy trying to untie the rope got slammed in the head with the branch he was trying to untie, smashed his safety glasses into his face. Hard hat probably saved his life.

Second guy was standing in the bight and got whipped by the line, pretty bad rope burns all over, and got tangled up in it trying to free himself, breaking a couple fingers.

As already noted, could have been a LOT worse.

This would make a good toolbox talk for us all, I talked my guys through it. The image of getting dragged into the chipper at lightning speed is one that most guys haven't considered, and one that sticks in your head. Would it pull you through, or rip your arm off first? If it ripped your arm off, would your shoulder already be in the feed rollers?

Shaun

I guess I heard too many chipper stories on both sides of the atlantic in my 50 years.

I walked past a Vermeer the other day, and every time I do I think pretty vividly of the stories I've heard of chipper horrors. Just being anywhere near one that's operating is enough to be extremely wary. Although most crews I see try to keep residents in the hood well away.

I gotta remember to tell my kids in case they ever get involved in tree work — especially since one of them does outside work for now — just how crazy it can be. The rope entangling/dragging people in is a wrinkle even I hadn't thought much about.

 

[Oldknottired]

Grape vines into a drum chipper. Same play, different actor.

 

[ReggieT]

Same thing happened to a local guy here in Cal. Got tangled in the rope, picked him up and slammed his head into the machine. DOA.

Hmm...are there no KILL SWITCHES" on Chippers?????:after_boom:

 

[CalTreeEquip]

Yes, on some but it happens so fast one can't react.

 

[Dia67na]

him up and slammed his head into the machine.

 

[eert]

all chippers that people should be using have kill switches on each side right next to the feeder, just slap that big fat yellow button (yellow on bandits, red on Vermeers)as fast as you can, would need super reaction timing, if you have chainsaw running maybe cut the rope, considering the kill switch will be about 2 inches frmo where your hand is while feeding if standing in the correct spot it wouldn't be impossible to hit it before all the rope goes threw, it would be quite possible to hit it in time i think.

i cant imagine what i would do if there was no kill switch, maybe go work for a real firm that cares about my safty, maybe run over and just put it out of gear (just turn of off), then smash it back in again to slam the drum to a stop. Honestly i would be in shock and probably would just die, maybe if i had chainsaw in hand running i would try to cut the rope. So reversing the feeder dosnt do anything right for the rope is tangled in the drum? Same thing with all vines, we have cats claw over here and you always cut it up in a couple meter lengths so this dosnt happen.

 

[imagineero]

The kill switch shuts the engine down, but the drum or disk will still be rotating for at least a minute. 200' of rope will go through the chipper in less than 1 second. If the rope was n front of you, and you knew it was going into the chipper, and you had the chainsaw at the ready, running at full speed, you still wouldn't have time to cut the rope. You wouldn't even have time to make the decision to cut the rope, the more likely scenario is that the rope would wrap around the bar and hopefully rip the saw out of your hands because f you didn't let go you'd be going with it. This is literally happening at the speed of a whip cracking.

There is no way to stop this event once the rope has entered the chipper, and there is no response possible. The kill switch, key, emergency stops, and roller stops/reversing the roller all have zero effect. For this reason, you need to be extremely vigilant about ropes near chippers, and also with winch cables,ropes and vines.

Shaun

 

[isaaccarlson]

The whole rope into chipper never really entered my mind either. I rarely even have a rope anywhere around when I am chipping, but thank you. You may have saved my life somewhere down the line.:msp_rolleyes:

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Why do chippers not have an emergency brake that stops the drum?! Hit the Emergency stop and it kills the engines and locks the brake on the drum.

 

[derwoodii]

Why do chippers not have an emergency brake that stops the drum?! Hit the Emergency stop and it kills the engines and locks the brake on the drum.

dynamics of inertia typically a 500kg steel drum or disc spinning at 1500rpm wont be stopped by a friction brake system fast and if it is stopped fast the captured energy will disassemble it like a bomb.
Keep ropes away well away keep staff trained and refresh that as often as can


CDC - NIOSH Publications and Products - Hazard ID 8 - Injury Associated with Working Near or Operating Wood Chippers (99-145)

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

It would stop it faster than letting it just die down!

My friend has a dyno machine with 2000lb rollers that will do 150+mph if a car has enough power. It stops in 5-6 seconds from runnng wide open, nothing blows up.

dynamics of inertia typically a 500kg steel drum or disc spinning at 1500rpm wont be stopped by a friction brake system fast and if it is stopped fast the captured energy will disassemble it like a bomb.
Keep ropes away well away keep staff trained and refresh that as often as can


CDC - NIOSH Publications and Products - Hazard ID 8 - Injury Associated with Working Near or Operating Wood Chippers (99-145)

 

[imagineero]

Mass and momentum... I guess the drum on a typical 18" weighs in at around 1,000lbs and is rotating at 2500~3000RPM, and is maybe 3' or more in diameter. From memory the pulley on the drum is larger than the pulley on the engine, so the drum is rotating faster than the engine speed. Assuming a 3' drum, and 3,000 RPM, that drum is rotating at about 450'/second (about 300 miles/hour). Once it gets ahold of a rope it's going through. You could put some type of emergency brake on it, but it would explode. You could use a friction brake, but it wouldn't be slowing it down in any sort of useful time frame. Your friends dyno is likely hydraulic drive, which is easier to slow down than the direct drive on chippers. There's a hydraulic drive grinder that has an emergency stop feature, but the disk is obviously a lot smaller and lighter.

Back in the real world, even if you could engineer some kind of emergency brake, and it was instant, the chances of recognising the hazard, reacting to it and hitting the switch in time are remote indeed. You might not even be anywhere near the switch at the time. You may not even see the rope go in. Having spoken to the guys on the crew the day of the incident, it happened so fast that nobody could understand what had happened. Only the one guy even realised a rope had gone through, the rest, who were all watching couldn't understand what had just happened and how the two guys were hurt. Extremely lucky that the injuries were not more serious or fatal.

The real story for me though, is that most guys aren't even aware this is a hazard. Every couple years we seem to have a fatality caused by a rope or winch line entering a chipper, which everybody responds to with comments like "why didn't they stop the rollers/hit emergency stop/whatever" and then when it's explained, everybody is totally surprised and amazed at the danger of it. Very few guys are aware what a hazard this is, and how quickly it can happen, and that there is nothing you can do to stop it once it has occurred.

Spread the word, talk to your mates and crew members. I don't have a winch on my chipper, but I have a subcontractor with an 1890 who does. With my 250XP, ropes are not allowed remotely close to the chipper, and all crew are vigilant about it. We have a rule that lowering ropes must be untied and put aside before cutting, and then we drag and chip. When using the 1890 with a winch, we use a 3 man system. Once the first drag is in the chipper and getting fed through, the guy on the controls freewheels the winch and one guy hauls it out for the next drag. A third guy stands off to the side and keeps the cable free of the tree being chipped. The guy on the controls can stop the rollers at any time the cable becomes snagged. I think hauling cable while chipping is an extremely hazardous activity.

Shaun

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Trust me, a brake would not be all that hard or overly expensive to setup on a chipper. I know how chippers work, I used to do repairs to several Veneer brand, 6-10" units.

It would not explode and would stop it in 5-8 seconds.

I'm not saying that it would have stopped this accident from not happening, but I bet it would stop many! Maybe a guy looses a hand instead of his whole arm or whole body.