Stupid Stupid Stupid

[Determined]

Monday after 54 years of being careful it finally happened.

I was hauling manure with my dumptruck from the corrals to the pile in the back of the feedyard, went to dump a load and the box would not go quite to the top, got out and had a look to find hydraulic oil was spraying out of the air operated control valve on the pto pump.

Drove up to the shop, shut and lowered everything down, put a drain pan under the pump, removed the two bolts on the air solnoid and slid the valve out.

I had a leak here years ago and a simple o-ring was all it took to fix it.

Grabbed the o-ring kit and had to choose between one slightly bigger or one slightly smaller so I started with the smaller of the two, put it in, reinstalled the valve and fired it up to test it.

As soon as I touched the control oil was obviously spraying out the side so I shut it back down to put in the larger o-ring.

Simple job, just loosen two 5/16 bolts and slide the control and valve out in one piece.

Kneeling down and reaching under the truck for the valve I didn't quite have enough pull in my arm to get the valve out so without looking I placed my right hand against the frame to give me a little more leverage.

No problem the valve started to slide right out.

In hindsight it was a big problem because when I tested it with the first o-ring I did not realize the box had actually raised up about 3/4 of an inch which was just enough room for the side of my hand and fingers to fit into when I reached up to brace myself.

The rest explains itself, just as I slid the valve out the box came down the rest of the way and showed me no mercy.

The small finger looked like an earth worm that had been driven over by a truck, first look after it was freed I knew it was a goner, the ring finger didn't look much better but I could slightly wiggle it.

No idea how many pins and stiches the surgeons put in the hand and finger bones but it looks pretty straight now.

I thank the good lord for sending my wife to the shop without too much delay, she was able to keep her cool while I talked her through how to fire up the truck and raise the box while at the same time I was reinstalling the valve with my good hand so the box could raise.

Be careful out there everybody.

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[kcm.MN]

Eh, it'll buff out. *lol* :shock:

Really sorry to see/hear about your incident. Sometimes things are just gonna go wrong regardless. From your post, sounds like it was an easy mistake to make.

 

[muleman51]

It happens so fast, makes me shudder just thinking about it let alone seeing it. Gods speed with your recovery. As our local vet told me
after I got a finger smashed putting pipes in behind cows in a chute as a youngster, Just be glad it wasn't your ----

 

[larry@stinescorner]

Very sorry to hear it,,the very best to you as it heals,,,thank your wife for us please,,and hug her

 

[WI Dan]

I'm glad you're alive and it wasn't worse.
At the least, your tale will refresh the importance of being careful - even in the mundane simple tasks.

I hope it heals well.
Don't beat yourself up. It's done and in the past. You'll be better next time.

 

[TimWafer]

Oh Lord!
That just made me cringe. My sympathies go out to you. Ive caught my fingers in some bad places before but not like that. It can happen in a heartbeat. Best of luck in your recovery!

 

[wingnuttx]

WI Dan took the words from my mouth. Dont beat yourself up!! That is pretty nasty but youll heal up soon. Your wife was your saving angel. Wingnut

 

[gotmyfarm!]

Oh no, oh no, oh no. I'm so sorry to hear that. Glad your wife came out soon and sounds like she handled it very well.

 

[Centerplate]

It is never fun to mess up your body. BTDT It was great your wife was there to help you out of the situation.

 

[Ellis Kinney]

I know how you feel, don't beat yourself up over it, everybody on this forum has done something like what you did, most just got away with it. Also keep in
mind that the day before the 4th was the last day some people had all 10 fingers. I imagine your ring finger will recover nicely. You are SO FORTUNATE that
your wife was able to assist. Best of luck on recovery. Ellis

 

[Tgrasher]

Man I feel for you as I've been there, done that. Unwittingly you've joined a club of men who have lost fingers while taking a risk at their work. When
ever I meet some one like me there is an instant comradeship that is usually reciprocal. The worse part of your recovery will be keeping from knocking it
into things you never thought possible. In time it will toughen up and you won't notice any difference until you think about it. I once met a guy who had
all his fingers missing on his left hand but still had his thumb. He had lost them on a river barge tying off a rope. After me asking he said it took a while
but now they didn't bother him and in fact they looked callused from usage.

 

[Janicholson]

It will heal. I started listing the tiny things that could have happened to make it so much worse, then I erased them. A friend was giving help
loading a lawn tractor onto a pickup the owner was driving and the deck of the mower caught on the tail gate. it needed to go up 1/2 inch. The tractor
was pulling the deck rearward hard enough to tighten the blade belt. Peace-recovery-forgive yourself. Jim

 

[rrlund]

Makes you wonder why they say it smarts when you do something stupid doesn't it? Looks like you've been using a corn picker and got
too close to the husking bed. There's still a few folks around here with fingers missing from that experience. Not near as many as
there used to be, but still a few.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

Gosh that looks like it hurts. Farming is dangerous
work. A small oversight, and a life changing event.

 

[Steve@Advance]

Prayers sent.

Not sure what to say...

It happens so fast!

 

[Bob Bancroft]

On about Nov 1 1985, I was way down back running a one row New Idea corn picker. I had an empty wagon and a few rows to finish,
and was expecting no one. Weather was extraordinarily hot and dry. So much so that the area below the husking rolls, and above the
shelled corn saver was filling with husks. Stupid stupid stupid reached in one too many times, and the husking rolls caught my left
hand from below. My fingers went up through and started around to go down through the next roll. There the rolls plugged, the slip
clutch hammered away, and I was going nowhere. What seemed like forever was probably 15-20 minutes. I'll never forget looking over
my left shoulder and seeing Dad show up on a tractor, and mouthing are you caught?
I could make this a real long story with all the details, because I remember many, as I think about it. But the ending is that my
squashed hand came out whole. The plate where the husking roll drive slip clutch fastened to the shaft needed fixing as with all
that hammering it broke loose. The repair was slowed by only having one good hand, but I was able to finish the field the next day.

 

[DoubleO7]

Ouchy wawa!!!
I am surprised you only lost one instead of four fingers per your description of how it happened.


On the bright side,.............
Finger nail maintenance time has now decreased by 10%.

 

[rrlund]

I knew a guy who got his jack knife out with his other hand and cut his own fingers off to get out. Another guy said he had to put both feet on the side of the picker, hold his hand with the other hand and pull as hard as he could to get out. He was luck he only lost two fingers from the ordeal.

 

[fixerupper]

Yes it makes me cringe too. Hope you heal fast.

 

[Determined]

A thank you to everybody for your kind words and yes I gave my wife the biggest one arm hug I could.

As dumb as it may sound I think I would feel better about the whole thing if I had been taking dumb shortcuts and not working in what at the time I was considering to be a safe manner.

For now a recliner and a fan gently blowing cool air on my hand are my best friend and I am starting to not need the pain killers as often as I did yesterday.

On a good note I am left handed so I can still write and poke away at a keyboard.

 

[centash]

Sorry about your injury, hopefully it will heal fast with no long term problems. We
all do stupid things, most of the time we get away with it.

Ben

 

[Goose]

Sorry to hear that. Hope it heals fast. Things like that happen so fast it's unbelievable.

I've been missing my left index finger to the second joint since I was 16 months old.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I lost an uncle and also a friend; both had dump beds come down on them while they were working under them. A friend lived through a
combine head lowering on him when his helper loosed a hose. That s##t can kill ya. Be careful! gm

 

[Bob Bancroft]

I tried a few things, nothing drastic. I carried a bar with me. I stuck that in there to see what I could do, but thought I'd better keep my good hand out, in case the rolls started turning and chewing. Being in it from the bottom side I was on my knees behind the picker. I couldn't see anything. I did try pulling as hard as I could once.

 

[sms]

As others have said, it was an accident.
Don't beat yourself up just do your best
to recover. Best of luck, hope all goes
well. About 1 1/2 years ago I crushed the
end of my index finger so speaking from
experience.

 

[Bobl1958]

I also knew a guy that got caught many years ago in a binder. Had to cut his fingers off as well. Harry Woody and he was a great guy.

 

[showcrop]

I am glad it wasn't any worse. It will be four years ago next month that I lost my cousin when a dump body came down on him.

 

[rrlund]

There was an inexperienced young guy right up around the corner who got his caught just a couple of years ago. I don't know if he was able to use his cell phone or if somebody was with him. We saw the fire department and rescue unit headed out that way. They had to dismantle the picker to get him out. It took a while.

There was another guy about my age at the time, forty years or so ago, got wrapped up in a hose reel on an irrigation traveler. The hose wasn't collapsing on the reel like it should have while it was winding. He kicked it to try to flatten it out. It caught his foot and pulled him in. I guess he was still going around when his dad and another guy came looking for him. He survived, but there was a lot less of him by the time they cut him out. I guess his dad wanted to take the torch and cut up the reel to get him out but the hired man told him not to. They said it was a good thing he didn't. They said he'd have bled to death if they had taken the pressure off.

 

[redtom]

First, I'm sorry for your injury and pray for peace of mind. Second, I thank you for sharing because most of us here have/are
taking chances all the time with our bodies and we need a reminder. I spent my career working mostly on forklifts in a huge plant.
Sure enough one night while alone. I stuck my hand in the mast right where they put the stickers of the hand with fingers flying
off in a cleaver like action. My right ring finger went through a space only about 3/16. I dont know why but the damage was odd,
it split like a hotdog and never hurt, I must've crushed the nerves. It healed a little funny, I lost the nail and for the life of
me or my coworkers, we never could figure out how it went through such a small space without further damage.

 

[Paul Janke]

If you would have come close but got away with it then we may not have heard about it at all. Your accident did happen and we have now heard about it which may actually save many
fingers. Those saved fingers will likely not be mentioned, but the heads indirectly attached to them will be very glad.

 

[paul]

Thank you for sharing.

So many things to be aware of and to remember.

The past 3 years I had a bull reach over a gate in the barn and want to play with the bale I was carrying. I was in the way, put a hole in my tummy. Two years later
almost to the day a ladder broke under me while I was coming out of a wagon, I hit the ground fell over backwards and broke a rib or two on the hitch. I dont think I did
anything wrong in either case, but stuff happens.

Paul

 

[SDE]

I had a scare y incident many years ago. What really surprised me afterward was the different emotions that arrived later. From wow that could have been worse to being angry that it happened. When I read your post, no one else had replied yet. I just couldn't say anything about it for a while and I knew where the story was headed before I got to the end. Personally, I think we all get closer to those types of things without realizing it at the time. will you be called Lefty from now on? Best of luck with your recovery.
SDE

 

[pms]

Glad it wasn't worse and your ok.When I was
in the sixth grade a school buddies dad
wasn't so fortunate.He was working under
the raised box on his dump truck.Box came
down on him and that was that.
Paul

 

[buickanddeere]

Thank You for Posting and Sharing .
You will have saved many others from the same or worse fates .

 

[Bret4207]

Kind thoughts and prayers headed your way! And my respect for being able to put the valve back together, that's one tough way to earn your "Man card"!

 

[Crazy Horse]

Man, that's a bad one Determined. I knicked the end of my finger on a table saw blade once and felt sorry for myself. Not sure I could handle your injury as well as you have. Hopefully the healing goes along well, good luck from north of the 49th.

 

[SVcummins]

Ive been lucky I havent done anything like that but my day is
Coming Im sure

 

[Mike M]

As gross and scary as these post are they sure can be a good reminder. Just last weekend I was using my radial arm saw and remembered a previous post about not getting in a hurry especially on the last cut. I caught myself getting sort of in a hurry and remember that post. I slowed myself down and paid attention before I got into trouble.

 

[Gtidwell]

Glad it was not worse than it was. Here
is hoping and praying to a speedy
recovery sir.

 

[rustred]

i know all about this kind of misfortune. yes all too bad, happens quicker than a blink.

 

[Vito]

Ouch! Hope it all heals up.

Vito

 

[Steven Allen]

Was working on my pickup, once, and tried to pull the bracket holding the clutch and brake pedals out from under the dash. I released one mount, and the heavy return spring over-centered and used the pedal shaft and the mount as shears, removing the end of one of my fingers. It clung on by a small patch of skin, and the docs were able to sew it back on, but the nerves in it are dead, and the bone is not aligned correctly. Doesn't help my already poor typing.

All it takes as a moment. I pray your recovery goes even better than mine.

 

[47fivewindow]

Don't feel alone, It has happened to the smartest when equipment moved unexpectedly. Thanks for posting. Maybe we should all resolve to slow down and think twice.

 

[Pete in MD]

Bet you had some close calls in your elevator days Chip.