man killed by shackle on tow strap

[rebocardo]

http://michiganjeepers.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=3941011&f=130109322&m=902106753&r=104106163#104106163

This man attached a shackle to join two 3" tow straps, a strap snapped and the result as a widow and one child now fatherless. The survivors witnessed it too.

I try to be safe in everything I do, but, this is one reason I try not having my wife or children around me when cutting even firewood. I would not want them to witness something like that and you do not need distractions.

I was tired the other day and decided not to use the chainsaw to cut up some 3 to 4 inch wide branches towards night fall because I figured it would be a big safety risk.

So, I was content to take longer and cut it with my bow saw. The saw was sticking in the kerf a lot, so to speed it up I decided to cut 1/2 through and jump on a 4" branch to snap it.

I forget to step on both sides of the cut.

One side came up and wacked me right on the ear and almost knocked me out. Luckily all I got was a boxed and bloody ear, a bad headache, short term hearing loss, and experience.

Sure wish I had a hard hat on at the time, though I am thankful I had at least enough sense to not turn on the chainsaw.

[Tom_Averwater]

That sounds awful about that guy in Michigan. :'(

[DanG]

Rebo, I'm sure, in retrospect, you wish you had used the chainsaw. Sometimes it is just safer to use a tool that is up to the job, rather than something less. If you are too tired to use a chainsaw, why do you have the energy to worry away at a 4" limb with a handsaw? ???  To me, it's kinda like using a dull knife, which is much more likely to slip and cut you, than a sharp one.  A proper tool, ie, chainsaw, makes for a much safer job.

[ADfields]

I'm with Dan hear!;)   Right tools, right knolage, right training, right state of mind or or go home before you kill some one!!   I cant tell ya how many times I have been called out to recover something after some nut with a 4x4 and a tow strap has injured or killed some one. : :
Andy

[sigidi]

Crikey, this kind of stuff is just too much.

It's so troubling to think what goes through kids minds when stuff like this happens. :'(

[slowzuki]

Many people will join a couple of yank straps with a shackle but it isn't safe at all!  They are thinking, this giant shackle will never break, and they're right.  Usually one of the straps breaks and fires that shackle through the back of their jeep.

Less common is the tow hook rips off, another more common is the trailer ball comes off and rockets by.

Please, as soon as yank straps or stretch straps are involved be careful!  Make sure the attachment points are stronger than the strap(most 2" straps are at least 20,000 lb rated), never join 2 straps with a shackle.  If a longer strap is needed, thread the eyes through each other.

Play safe guys!

[Murf]

Absolutely!!

I saw something similar first-hand a few years back when a neighbour at the cottage was cutting firewood one fall.

They had friends up to help with the worrk & share in the wood, one of the friends was a real 'wanna be' outdoorsman. Big useless 4x4 and all. They decided that instead of trying to carry the wood up a hill to the road he would just use his winch to drag it up the hill. When the truck skidded instead of the log, any sane person would rethink the approach, but not him. They split some blocks to act as chocks under the trucks wheels and went back to pulling. I even offered to go get my backhoe and just carry them but that was too easy I suppose.

Anyways, finally the chain they were using as a choker on the end of the winch's cable decided it had enough of the shenanigans and surrendered. It let go with a crack like a rifle shot then a fast whistle as the cable recoiled. When the chain snapped that also relaxed the trucks suspension which had been loaded by the winch pull, this just added to the  momentum.

That broken chain & cable back so fast and so hard that it went through the grille, the rad and out the hood from the underside, through the windshield and was stuck in the roof panel.

If there was someone in it's path it would have cut them in two.

After the initial shock wore off I couldn't resist asking if NOW they wanted me to go get the backhoe. They agreed.

[leweee]

Murf
At my age the distance between stubborn & stupid are small.   ....appropriate technology....the right tool for the job...and play SAFE ;D

[rebocardo]

> in retrospect, you wish you had used the chainsaw.

No, I just wished I had gone home sooner and not stayed to work in the dusk/dark. If I was that tired to make such a stupid mistake I am glad I did not multiple it with a chainsaw.
 :

> If you are too tired to use a chainsaw, why do you have
> the energy to worry away at a 4" limb with a handsaw?  

Mind tired and distracted is different then body tired.

I feel really bad for that five year old to see his father get killed like that, it has to be very hard to handle and understand.

[Murf]

Lewee, I understand your point of view completely, as I get older I doscover that more and more I find that the right tool for the job has 4 wheel drive a cab that includes a ROPS structure.

When I pick up something heavy it doesn't hurt my back, and when I drop it, it's pretty hard to get myself in the toe or shin.

"Last line" reffered to below, edited by request.  :-[

[leweee]

That last line will get you in trouble Murf :D :D :D

[Ron Wenrich]

I had a guy call me last week looking for tops for firewood.  I never did get back to him.

I heard on the radio, he was killed cutting firewood.  Seems that he was pulling a tree with his tractor and flipped it.  He was crushed.  The man was 26.

I know the are he was in when it happened.  It isn't a tractor area.  You have to use the right equipment and work smart.  Even then, accidents happen.