It's officially snowblower season..lost fingers today!
Forums Archive Index > Outdoor Power Equipment > It's officially snowblower season..lost fingers today!
Author: faithfulFrank
Date: 17 Dec 2005 6:23 pm
Well guys,
I just got home from work, and just before my shift ended I dispatched an Paramedic ambulance from our local ER to the trauma center to hopefully fix a person's hand that found a snowblower impeller....
Remember.....DON'T DO THAT. When impellers fight with hands the hands never win.
Frank D.
Author: Highwind
Date: 17 Dec 2005 7:48 pm
That is very unfortunate.
Reminds me that there is a CSC quizz on snowblower safety which seems fairly common sense, but it wouldn't hurt to post it.
Author: faithfulFrank
Date: 17 Dec 2005 8:59 pm
Yes, it is......
I did not mean to sound callous, I really do care about people, especially on EMS calls, but it's my dark sided humor that keeps you doing this type of stuff for almost 20 years....
Frank D.
Author: Chris S
Date: 17 Dec 2005 9:09 pm
Had a guy once keep his fingers. What a lucky SOB he was.
C
Author: Termy
Date: 17 Dec 2005 9:39 pm
Hmm, just a question? Ahh, why don't they make snowblowers with BBC like toro has on their mowers? Ya, mabie there might be less fingers chewed up. Better yet, mabie if you did not operate the snowblower when you were drunk, you would still have fingers :roll: :roll: :lol:
Author: AZinOH
Date: 17 Dec 2005 9:43 pm
My 11 year old nephew came by Friday afternoon and asked could "they" borrow the snowblower? (Translation: he wanted to blow snow). I said I would bring it over. Then while I (not he!!!!) was blowing, he thought it would be fun to walk alongside so he could get sprayed by the snow. I had to YELL!!! and remind him that his driveway is stone. That makes me the "mean" uncle. Guess I'll just have to live with it:)
AZ
Author: Bill_D
Date: 17 Dec 2005 9:46 pm
That's exactly why I have my wife reach in there to unclog. Just plain tooo dangerous!!!
The safety cages on Toros do nothing but cause clogs. Ya dont see many w/ them on after the 1st couple of outings till the owner figures that out. It's just like anything, people will do stupid things time to time. We just had a guy on the news here, that lost his brand new Escalade in a pond, because, get this, he put it in drive and got out to make sure his day time running lights were working!!! Doohhhhhh!!!!!!
Author: AZinOH
Date: 17 Dec 2005 10:02 pm
Several years ago I heard an urban legend (don't know if true or not) about a guy who went ice fishing with his buddy and the dog, driving his newly LEASED Grand Cherokee out onto the lake. The guy is too lazy to drill or chop a hole in the ice, so he pulls out a stick of TNT...lights the fuse and throws it as far as he can. Like a good dog, Rover runs out onto the ice to fetch the "stick" and return it. Now seeing the danger, the guy quickly grabs his .22 and starts shooting at the dog. Rover, being frightened by the commotion and maybe being wounded, heads for the only shelter in the area...and runs under the GC. Then, BOOM, SPLASH.
Supposedly, the insurance company declined to cover this loss and the guy was stuck with it.
Author: Highwind
Date: 17 Dec 2005 10:39 pm
I don't know how effective dynamite would be sitting on top of the ice. They used to clear the ice on the river using small charges but I believe they put them under the ice.
Any hole it did create wouldn't be one you'd want to get near. The ice around it would be cracked and unsafe.
I suspect you are right that it is an urban legend and not true. Good story though.
Author: Paula
Date: 17 Dec 2005 10:49 pm
Bill_D wrote:
That's exactly why I have my wife reach in there to unclog. Just plain tooo dangerous!!!
:shock: BillD, just wait until I bump into your wife at the fruit market next summer... :twisted: :twisted:
Author: Highwind
Date: 17 Dec 2005 10:52 pm
It should be officially the start of snowmobile season around here. One foot of new snow, and not very thick ice. Have to check the paper on Monday to see if anyone contaminated any lakes on the weekend.
Author: Bill_D
Date: 17 Dec 2005 10:56 pm
Paula wrote:
Bill_D wrote:
That's exactly why I have my wife reach in there to unclog. Just plain tooo dangerous!!!
:shock: BillD, just wait until I bump into your wife at the fruit market next summer... :twisted: :twisted:
I dont make her do it Paula, she always asks, "What happened?", and I tell her, "I dont know ran over something and it clogged it, I think it was a wallet or something." and she always hastily reaches in there and un clogs it for me. :twisted:
Author: Paula
Date: 17 Dec 2005 10:59 pm
Bill_D wrote:
I dont make her do it Paula, she always asks, "What happened?", and I tell her, "I dont know ran over something and it clogged it, I think it was a wallet or something." and she always hastily reaches in there and un clogs it for me. :twisted:
Pssst....Mrs. BillD....next time tell him you think its the TV remote in there...you'll never have to reach in there again... :twisted:
Author: Marshall
Date: 17 Dec 2005 11:42 pm
Bill_D wrote:
Paula wrote:
Bill_D wrote:
That's exactly why I have my wife reach in there to unclog. Just plain tooo dangerous!!!
:shock: BillD, just wait until I bump into your wife at the fruit market next summer... :twisted: :twisted:
I dont make her do it Paula, she always asks, "What happened?", and I tell her, "I dont know ran over something and it clogged it, I think it was a wallet or something." and she always hastily reaches in there and un clogs it for me. :twisted:
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Author: Walt
Date: 18 Dec 2005 8:32 am
Paula wrote:
Bill_D wrote:
That's exactly why I have my wife reach in there to unclog. Just plain tooo dangerous!!!
:shock: BillD, just wait until I bump into your wife at the fruit market next summer... :twisted: :twisted:
The fruit market?... is that where you women go to get new husbands?...I always wonder where we were stored before being bought...Huh.
Author: Chris S
Date: 18 Dec 2005 10:47 am
Walt wrote:
The fruit market?... is that where you women go to get new husbands?...I always wonder where we were stored before being bought...Huh.
LOL..... :D
C
Author: Paula
Date: 18 Dec 2005 10:53 am
Walt wrote:
The fruit market?... is that where you women go to get new husbands?...I always wonder where we were stored before being bought...Huh.
No...thats where we dump off the ones we have...making sure we don't leave a trail of beer cans or remotes for them to find their way home by...
Author: HONEST TECHNICAN
Subject: snowthrower accident
Date: 18 Dec 2005 11:28 am
That awfull frank..............people "PLEASE DO NOT PUT YOUR THERE IN THERE...... :cry:
Author: faithfulFrank
Date: 18 Dec 2005 5:41 pm
Yes Jim,
It is sad......ironically, the Ariens that you helped me get going for my friend the other day has a second chapter....
He called yesterday to tell me he was very thankful...said I took from him a broken chevy and returned a cadillac.....it ran great!
So great, he thought one good turn deserved another...after he did his driveway, he did the widow's across the street........found a gutter elbow that got stuck around the impeller. He almost cried when he called me about it.
I brought it home and got the aluminum gutter elbow out in about 20 minutes, but the whole time I was thinking about those fingers....I was very careful.....pulled the spark wire off, and only went near it with tools, not hands..... All is now well and it works great!!
I see his lawnmower stuck in the corner of the garage...probably with old gas, etc, in it....that will be a project for me next spring....
Frank D.
Author: HONEST TECHNICAN
Date: 18 Dec 2005 7:11 pm
frank that wonderful, I only put pride in my work, nice job for the gentlemen and cleaning the widows driveway, and oh yea frank nice job of getting that gutter out..... everybody be carefull ...jim
Author: Truckman
Date: 18 Dec 2005 8:22 pm
Nice story Frank...I'd like to hear the outcome, etc...(how intact were the fingers, kept on ice, able to be re-attached, etc...)...we don't get that down here (Baltimore), mostly just people shot or stabbed.... :roll:
Author: faithfulFrank
Date: 18 Dec 2005 10:21 pm
I'll try to find out the details tomorrow.....I drove the pumper today and did not get over to the ER.
Of course.....I'll be careful to observe all HIPPA rules...... :lol:
Frank D.
Author: Truckman
Date: 18 Dec 2005 10:28 pm
faithfulFrank wrote:
I'll be careful to observe all HIPPA rules...... :lol: :roll: you too, huh? I guess that's national now...
Author: drumsonly2002
Date: 18 Dec 2005 11:16 pm
Reading about the lost fingers got me thinking about how I poke my hands in the auger housing to find where the gravel jammed it. Then I knock it out with a long screwdriver and hammer. The impeller housing is 1/2 filled with snow that I remove by hand. Looks like I am asking for it by the posts. The auger is not enabled since the handle is not depressed, plus it's jammed. I guess I better stop sticking my hands in there, and get something to get the snow out, and keep my hands away. Even though it's jammed, it's better to be safe than sorry. Nice to have these reminders as one gets too comfortable with the blower. Hate to loose fingers getting too cozy with the blower.
Author: faithfulFrank
Date: 19 Dec 2005 7:02 am
Yup...Ramit bought a nice shovel thing for his....perhaps he'll post about it again with pictures, details, etc.
Frank D.