Colorado Man Dies in Wood Chipper Accident

SF Gate & AP ^ | 12/29/05

[GSWarrior]

A man trimming trees was killed after he apparently was pulled into a wood chipper, police said.

The tree-service employee died Wednesday while he and a co-worker were cutting branches at a Loveland residence, Police Sgt. Rae Bontz said.

"It appears he was pulled into the chipper," Bontz said. He described the death as an industrial accident but released no other details, saying police were investigating.

[bigfootbob]

Probably not. Big machines like Asplund use have hydraulic feeds. It probably grabbed his coat sleeve and drug him in. Happens occasionally to careless workers.

[RichInOC]

Rich's Undeniable Truth of the Day:

When the chipper wants the branch, it's a good idea to let go and let it have the branch.

[kaylar]

I think that "black humor" argument is applicable to the cops, EMTs, etc, who actually have to deal with horrific situations or the aftermath. They make tasteless jokes about what they deal with to keep their sanity. To see people who are no closer to the tragedy than sitting on their asses reading about it, using the black humor argument as an excuse to make "hilarious" puns....yeah, 'sucks' is a s good a word for that as any .

[Maceman]

Yeah. FR is filled with Lenny Briscoe wannabes.

[dljordan]

"I know a guy who was stepping over the PTO on a tractor once. We call him one nut willie today."

I was drilling post holes back in my younger days and got my sweatshirt caught in the pto. Ever heard of hysterical strength? I literally ripped myself out of that sweatshirt. I was terrified and ever since then I been very cautious around machinery.

[tgambill]

needed to find the arm if they did check....sorry that was bad.....

[yellowdoghunter]

but the way these stories are used as props to solicit bad puns kind of sucks.

So true. I quit reading after about the 3rd one. Oh well, I still offer prayers for this man's family.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Back in the early 80s, the loader operator at a neighboring coal mine got out of his machine to remove a large wad of blasting wire that had gotten wound around the conveyor belt of a coal stacker. The belt caught his arm and ripped it out at the shoulder. The man walked up the side of the coal pile and retrieved his arm with his remaining hand.

[raybbr]

A man doing an honest job and has a tragic accident is now funny, unless of course it is your family member.

My family's member is none of your business.

[Past Your Eyes]

This is the business I'm in. I dread coming upon such a scene as this on a daily basis.

[Past Your Eyes]

"Big machines like Asplund use have hydraulic feeds."

Asplundh is one of the contractors that works for us. In my dreams they have hydraulic self-feeding chippers. :(

[rabidralph]

And here ya are. And it's a beautiful day. Well. I just don't understand it.

[Rummyfan]

So how the heck could one accidentally wind up getting pulled into one of these?

[EX52D]

Loose clothing possibly...very sad. If you have ever seen the internal workings of these machines (esp. the large chippers), you could understand that just the slightest distraction could result in such a horrific accident.

[Adam-ondi-Ahman]

Was he torn from limb to limb? Or did he just pull out a stump? </sorry>

[Malsua]

Just because...

[Dashing Dasher]

This one - same article - different posts - with pictures....

[teenyelliott]

We are not supposed to be laughing at this story. We are just supposed to read about random people dying in odd ways, over and over, and make the same comments time after time. How sad, so sorry for the family, it's tragic, yada yada yada.

Tip for the day:

Never wear a tie while chipping wood.

[Dashing Dasher]

Sorry for the family. It's a tragedy.

I'm going to Log a complaint.
There is Mulch too Mulch tragedy in this world.
I'm just going to leaf this one alone.

[beaver fever]

"I worked in a sawmill and I worked with a wood chipper that probably made this one look like a baby. It was one frightening critter."

I worked with a chipper for many years that was driven by an old T33 Dodge six cylinder. That thing had so much torque we I could feed 6 inch logs into it and it wouldn't bog down.

It was a beast and I never got closer than three feet from the chute.