Stump grinder injury

emr

emr

Cheesehead Treehouser
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
2,193
Location
Neenah, Wisconsin
We dont have a yard to store our equipment so we rent a couple of slots at a storage lot. One of our neighbors at the storage lot is another tree guy. When we first saw his stuff next to ours we were thinking is this guy for real? He had some old falling a part trailer to haul brush and an second old farm trailer with a couple of stump grinders sitting on them. Both grinders were older handle bar grinders. One had the cutting wheel in front and one had the grinding wheel in back. All of his stuff just looked rough and we really wondered what this guy was all about.

It didn't take long before we happened to meet the owner of this equipment and he ended up being one of the nicest guys you could imagine. He would literally give you the shirt off his back. He may not be the most knowledgeable tree guy in town, but he is an honest, very hard working guy and I grew to have a lot of respect for the man.

Yesterday when we were getting ready to roll out for the day, one of our neighbors employees stopped out to get the trailer. That is when we heard the news about our neighbor. It turns out that he was grinding out a couple of stumps about a month ago. He some how slipped while using one of his grinders and fell into the grinding wheel. I guess it messed up his leg pretty bad. It just happened that someone was walking buy right when this happened and the lady who saw it ran over to him and used her belt to slow the bleeding from his leg. The doctors say that this probably saved his life. After he was taken to the hospital, the doctors had to amputate a portion of his leg.

I guess he is doing well, all things considering. He hired this new kid to do all of the climbing and he is getting help from friends and family to get other things done. As a business owner, I have thought many times what would happen if I got hurt, but I cant imagine what it would be like to have such a major injury. I have not talked to him yet, but I am going to get in contact with him soon to offer up any help I can. It just made me sick to my stomach when I heard what happened to him. It has been said before and I will say it again.... our profession is a dangerous one and we should not loose sight of that. Don't let fear over take you, but lets all be safe out there.
 
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  • #3
You know, it is a sad story and it got me thinking about a lot of things. I have been out of school for just over 10 years now and I already know 2 tree workers that have suffered major injuries. This one, as well as a climber that I worked with fell 40ish feet on to concrete and hit utility lines and a mail box on his way down. I think back to my first year or two in the biz and hearing old grizzled veterans talking about how they all knew people who got hurt or killed doing this kind of work. I always figured it was due to the fact that those guys were just a bunch of hacks that didn't care about any rules of safety. Well, now that I am a little older and wiser, I am starting to realize that accidents just happen some times. It really sucks that I have only been in the biz for 10 years and already know 2 people that had major life changing accidents doing what I love to do. And that is just 2 people that I actually know fairly well. It doesn't take into count the people that I just "know" online or who are friends of friends, etc. I just makes you think. Or at least it should.
 
Wow that really sux. Grinder must have been a Hodges, only 1 I know of with wheel in the back. 20 years ago I tried to make 1 as I couldnt afford to buy 1. The first time I tried it out the sucka bit into the stump and pulled a wheelie away from me (luckily) If it had pulled towards me I would have probably ended up like your buddy:(

You will never regret any help you can afford to offer this fellow.
 
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PCTREE said:
Wow that really sux. Grinder must have been a Hodges, only 1 I know of with wheel in the back. 20 years ago I tried to make 1 as I couldnt afford to buy 1. The first time I tried it out the sucka bit into the stump and pulled a wheelie away from me (luckily) If it had pulled towards me I would have probably ended up like your buddy:(

You will never regret any help you can afford to offer this fellow.
Click to expand...

I actually think he sold that backwards machine last year. I am pretty sure the machine he was injured with was a Dosko. He has since sold that machine as well.
 
Most jobs if you mess up you have a tube of white out to fix it, not this one. I was just thinking yesterday as I was moving HUGE pieces of wood around all day what a miracle it is that all of that mass came out of yards and not 1 piece got away from us and did damage. I am starting to feel like if you roll the dice you will pay the price, ie if you do it enough then laws of average dictate 1 time you will get bit.

My big fear of late is the crane outriggers being on a sinkhole or something... Paranoia is strong in this one Luke.... I even changed out the 2 biners on my hitch climber to steel biners and join them with a piece of cordage so if the aluminum frame breaks I dont fall. After all the research I did developing the Wraptors aluminum worries me as it doesnt have an infinite service life.
 
TreeMachine backed into a running stump grinder. It tore his calf up right proper. I can PM you the pics, if you like. No need to post them here.
 
No pics. But thanks the reply. When did this happen?

Dave
 
Last edited by a moderator:
you know i ran htose early stumpers...made by promark, called the little david....wheel 's by your foot with an adjustable handlebar over the wheel
i never liked pulling it towards me
great machines, but you had to know how to operate them or you would end up footless

prayers go out to your neighboring tree guy

oh yeah and the only help i got when i was hurt, was from my tree house family
not the community, so called friends or anyone else
THE TREEHOUSE FAMILY is who kept me afloat
remeber when you get hurt everyone ditches you out like the lions coming for the sick broken one (you)
only the kindness found here kept me afloat ....
just a reminder
thanks fam!
 
Terrible thing to happen to anybody. Sorry about your friend. :(
 
Dang, that sounds terrible. Ever since my own fall, I worry a lot more about accidents like this. It really is a numbers game; the longer you do this job the more the odds get stacked against you. Not that this is news to anybody reading this, but we have a lot more hazards to deal with than the average profession. Not only do we deal with the dangers of working with unpredictable living organisms, but we also use dangerous heavy equipment like chainsaws, stump grinders, and chippers. If a tree doesn't get you with a falling branch, barber chair, or broken out tie-in-point, chances are fair to middling that a chainsaw kickback or chipper feed-roller will. Everybody here ought to be aware that we are all living in that outside margin of statistical probability.
 
MasterBlaster said:
TreeMachine backed into a running stump grinder. It tore his calf up right proper. I can PM you the pics, if you like. No need to post them here.
Click to expand...

That was a nasty mess. I get queasy just thinking about those pictures.
 
TreeMachine left the grinder running while he used a blower...he was backing up using the blower, couldn't hear the grinder because of the blower and backed into the grinder. Bad stuff.
 
PCTREE said:
My big fear of late is the crane outriggers being on a sinkhole or something...
Click to expand...


You aint shitting. I almost went to church after the outrigger was lifted and we went to fix a "divot". (not me in picture btw)

That's scary, about the grinder accident. Damn.
 

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