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So we’ve owned the Iron Fist 31 Ton Hydraulic Splitter for about four years now. We got a great deal on a this used splitter.
There are three of us at the farm who use all the saws and various wooding tools.
You know what they say about complacency, well one warm day in July, two of us are splitting a nice big birch. We’ve been going for just over an hour and we’re actually on the last piece to be split.
You hear that all the time, but this time it was true, only one big round left to split. I was on the lever and buddy was loading the splitter. He tossed the final piece on the rail and I pushed the blade towards the wood.
For some crazy reason, he decided it wasn’t quite straight enough and rather than nudge it from the side he stuck his Kevlar Gloved Hand <—CLICK HERE—THIS IS AN AFFILIATE LINK —HELP SUPPORT OUR BEER FUND to the “no go” zone just as the steel blade was making contact.
I was watching the log at about the half way point, waiting for the blade to do it’s thing. I heard the scream, hit the lever backwards as fast I could and watched as he pulled his fingers to his chest as he muttered something about not knowing what possessed him to put his fingers there.
We thought the tip of his finger was gone for sure. We left the now bright red glove on his hand and wrapped a towel around the whole mess and took off to the nearest hospital.
Two sweaty, sawdust covered men jump into my nice clean truck, with brand new seat covers, and off we went to the nearest ER. With the amount of blood now soaking through the towel we both figured it was pretty much a given that part of his finger was floating freely inside the tip of his very expensive glove.
Less than 20 minutes later, we arrive at the emergency room where a very good friend of ours happens to be on duty. After reaming us out for not only being stupid as hell, but also sweaty and covered in sawdust, she proceeded to remove my once clean towel and his glove.
We all expected a finger tip to fall onto the floor. We were more than surprised to see all five digits pop out of the glove still attached to his hand. It seems his yelling and my reaction time along with a Kevlar glove saved his finger tip from being lopped off.
It was however crushed like a grape and quite an ugly mess. Once it was cleaned up a bit, to further amaze us, x-rays showed it didn’t break. It seems all the meat and muscle exploded out of its skin, but it could have been much worse.
Fast forward a few months and his finger tip looks somewhat spoon shaped and has very little feeling at all, but at least it’s there. Now he has a story to tell… albeit somewhat embarrassing.
