Man dies in chipper accident

Just plain horrible..

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120628/METRO03/206280415

Lynn Pace, Needham's girlfriend and coworker, was on the job site with him when the incident occurred.

"I was looking out for him and he seemed fine," said Pace. "I went to sweep some more. I heard the chipper make a funny noise.

"When I got close to the chipper, another gentleman told me there was a man in the chipper. That was my Shawn. I ran over and shut it off.

"I was too late. There was nothing anybody could do."

State investigators are talking to witnesses and examining the wood chipper.

Pace said Needham was always careful while on the job, but was carrying a heavy work load. She said Needham was behind in his rent and had been forced to accept low bids on jobs which barely covered his costs.

"It was 9:30. Normally the chipper would be shut down already," Pace said. "We were trying to finish before dark. He was rushing to get paid and go on to the next job."

Needham is survived by two daughters and a grandson.

Pace said she would return to the job site despite the fatal accident.

"I have to finish that job to pay for Shawn's funeral," Pace said.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120628/METRO03/206280415#ixzz1zVwnHg00

----


The most recent statistics note that between 1992 and 2002, there were 31 occupational injury deaths nationally caused by wood chippers, according to the American Medical Association.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120629/METRO03/206290368#ixzz1zVxFbFeM
 
Old Monkey said:
We're headed toward more regulation. This just keeps happening.
Click to expand...

Have you seen the new chippers with the emergency stop bar on the bottom of the tray? If you hit that red bar on the bottom of the tray it shuts the whole deal down, you have to walk around to the curb side of the unit and hit a big button to re-engage the wheels.

Vermeer BC1800XL Brush Chipper New_Used -500x500.jpg

One of the crews I know from a different territory has one and they do nothing but MF it all day long, saying its the biggest PITA they ever saw... Any and all brush that goes in trips it and they either have to feed from the curb side hitting the button every 10 seconds or hold the emergency bar open and get beat in the face with brush all day.
 
I feel bad for her, but at some point I have to quit giving. I'll help people I know and every once in a while I'll help family of people I know, but I can't afford to help every stranger I read about who suffers a horrible loss. :(
 
Wonder if it could be possible to put some sensor on the machine, like the type that will immediately stop a tablesaw blade when it encounters flesh? Perhaps somewhat more complicated with a chipper.
 
woodworkingboy said:
Wonder if it could be possible to put some sensor on the machine, like the type that will immediately stop a tablesaw blade when it encounters flesh?
Click to expand...

Before you know it the Z will mandate 2 man chipping teams at all times. I am not saying its a bad idea but it sure would put a crimp into the 2 man crew concept.
 
Yes, it couldn't be cheap. I think the tablesaw one is over a grand, and not nearly the vibration and aggressive mechanism.
 
woodworkingboy said:
Wonder if it could be possible to put some sensor on the machine, like the type that will immediately stop a tablesaw blade when it encounters flesh? Perhaps somewhat more complicated with a chipper.
Click to expand...

That would increase the price tremendously, and as I understand it, once those sensors "fire", they must be rebuilt/replaced before the machine could be used again. It would mean that every time something triggered it, the job (at least as far as the chipping was concerned) would be shut down for a while.
 
bonner1040 said:
Have you seen the new chippers with the emergency stop bar on the bottom of the tray? If you hit that red bar on the bottom of the tray it shuts the whole deal down, you have to walk around to the curb side of the unit and hit a big button to re-engage the wheels.

View attachment 42271

One of the crews I know from a different territory has one and they do nothing but MF it all day long, saying its the biggest PITA they ever saw... Any and all brush that goes in trips it and they either have to feed from the curb side hitting the button every 10 seconds or hold the emergency bar open and get beat in the face with brush all day.
Click to expand...

The company I work for has that exact chipper and its SWEET! The lower stop bar doesn't stop that often and there is a button to restart it on both sides of the chipper. If you are chipping stuff that is going to trip it you can just hold the button down and the feed wheels will keep on turnin. The buttons are far enough back from the inlet shoot that you don't get hit by stuff while holding it.

I like the lower stop bar....if im pushing in litttle sticks or stuff and see a rock in the shoot then i can just bump it with my knee real quick to stop the feed wheels. Not to mention it makes me feel a lot better when working close to the feed shoot stuffing brush in there.
 
There you have it... I havent used it personally just going off what I heard..

I usually try to make someone else push the stuff in though... self preservation and all :)
 
bonner1040 said:
Have you seen the new chippers with the emergency stop bar on the bottom of the tray? If you hit that red bar on the bottom of the tray it shuts the whole deal down, you have to walk around to the curb side of the unit and hit a big button to re-engage the wheels.

View attachment 42271

One of the crews I know from a different territory has one and they do nothing but MF it all day long, saying its the biggest PITA they ever saw... Any and all brush that goes in trips it and they either have to feed from the curb side hitting the button every 10 seconds or hold the emergency bar open and get beat in the face with brush all day.
Click to expand...

Ive run one of those vermeers like that, p o s ...i like the bandit's last chance wire grabs way better, that bottom bar is just asking to be bypassed by the mechanic,
anyone run bandits newest safety design?...its got a plate that you stand on, and when you step off, i believ if i recall correctly it stops the feed wheels.
 
We just got a new bandit 18 this year and we have one from last year. Both have the last chance wires you mentioned... Neither have the plate. However I would likely just keep a log in the tray and set it on that plate every time we set it up.
 
We only had a 12 at Parks, stepping up to an 18 @ big green was amazing. We chip LOGS, hell when we flush stumps sometimes the flare wont fit so we will rip it sideways and jam it in there. I would swear it takes more than 18"..
 
yeah we did that with the 1800 vermeers at great scott, but we were constantly replacing the shafts on the cutters(mind you we had over 20 of em out doing city work)
but we could dump chips within a few blocks, but wood had to be trucked away all the way to stanton, from anywhere in la and oc
 
If I were never to have to read a horrific report of some poor soul being chipped to death, 10k per chipper would be worth it.
 
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