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Stupid Hurts....

B

Bryce Frazier

Well-known Member
Got VERY lucky yesterday! Had cleaned up my Farmall C and Ford 2N and backed them both up onto the trailer and was getting chains out to tighten them down.

Threw all my chains and then started putting binders on.

Was on my 2nd to last binder, and I put my cheater on it to really suck the Farmall down, and I pulled it over, it snapped like it should, but when it tightened, it rolled with the chain, and I couldn't get the cheater off the end of it because it was pinched between the bed of the trailer.

So I kind of messed with it for a second, then I just figured I would really yank on it hard, and it would just pop out. So, I put a foot up on the trailer for better pull power, and gave it a yank!

Next thing I saw was a 3 1/2 foot chrome cheater heading at warp speed right for my, well, "area". Sure enough hit myself right in the crotch with this cheater, and then I felt an over whelming pain in my right ankle, you know, the one I put on the trailer for better power!

So, what must have happened is that when I tried to sneak the cheater out, the binder flipped over, and released, and due to the power behind it sent the cheater flying upwards (with me still tugging on it) and then slammed into the left side of my right ankle.

Amazed that it didn't break something.... Multi colored today to say the least, but it actually isn't feeling to bad! Am walking around easily already!

Lesson learned! Stupid hurts! Bryce
 
Glad you are feeling better now.
That is a good reminder to everyone; we must be careful with stored energy. Once you begin pulling on a bungee cord or tightening a strap or in your case tightening a chain and binder. You are storing energy and if that item lets loose or breaks then injuries and even death can happen. I took a bungee to the head once and thought to myself if that had hit my face I could have lost an eye.
Let be cautious out there.
 
BTDT!!I have a scar about 6" from my 'area' from a similar event.That's one of the hazzards of hauling 'old iron'...Glad you're ok.Steve
 
Running the old Owatonna swather many years ago, drove through a plow furrow and the head bottomed out, the wheels were spinning. The head lifted with a hand lever, later years the lever could slip upwards, but mine it would lock in place. Anyhow I'm not able to describe that well; the lever catch was pinched hard, holding the machine weight.

I got the crank and used it as a hammer, to pound the lever catch up.

When it came free.the lever flew back fast, real fast. Hit my hand holding the crank, that the crank flew through the air 30 feet. My middle finger swelled up double size. Hurt like heck. At least it was just bruised, nothing broken. Took a while for that to go away. Lucky it hit on the middle parts, not a joint or otherwise, as my hand was the cushion between the lever and the crank, and launching a heavy crank that far takes some force.

Then, afterwards, I hear of people doing that with their head in the way of the lever, and the results being deadly. And I can sure see that, would have been very easy to have my head right about there as I pounded.....

Hope we learn from our mistakes, and they aren't so bad as we can continue learning.

Thanks for the message, we all need to keep thinking.

Paul
 
Best thing to do is to sell those lever type binders and then go buy ratcheting type chain binders ! Best thing I ever did for hauling !
You can get them reasonable priced at Harbor Freight. I used these for years without any problems. These are plenty heavy built enough for hauling old tractors.
 
These binders we have are built for 10,000 lbs a binder, 3/8 - 1/2 chain. BIG red break over binders..

They are made and sold locally, and that is the only reason we bought them! Trying to do our part to help the guy, he is well known through the trucking industry up here, in a good way! :)

These things are built heavy, and I take a bunch of bull from the guys in our club because of how big they are and they are "over kill".. Well, I got pulled over 2 months ago by and ISP, and I KNOW I was 1 or 2000 over weight, and he walked up, smiled, and said "Now THAT is how all loads should be tied down" no issues!


Pheeewwwwwww :)
 
I had a few tussels with a pipe to snap the binders, then bought one especially for that purpose. pulling to bind them down, and the bar releases when snapped over. When releasing it just lets it snap open and doesen't want to throw the bar, best money I ever spent. Like this:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_47812_47812
 
Your life if ones knocks you in the head !

Just trying to help a fellow stay safe.

I used to work at a truck dealer and heard a lot of tales from guys killed by or severely injured from those lever binders.
 
I'll get a picture of the whole load here tomorrow afternoon! I managed to get the loaded trailer into the covered shop on my first try and am NOT about to pull it out just for a picture! :)

It has about 3 inches of clearance on each side of it! Once side is shelves and then on the other side there are 2 4 wheeler's their trailer, and a few other little things... ;)

Sent you an e-mail back? No FB here! Too complicated for me!
 
Well I would tell you I do not understand but I did this last Friday when trying to check for spark on a 9N got my little finger sucked into the fan belt and alternator pulley
a182612.jpg
 
Bryce - very glad you're ok. Like some of the others have said, wear eye protection at all times regardless of what you are doing and don't get in a hurry. Hurry can get you injured or dead.

Stay as safe as you can. We love our farms and the equipment, but its powerful stuff and the human body is no match for it.
 
old,your'e lucky to still have the finger!!Friend of mine(retired old IH mechanic) lost two fingers that same way.Be careful !!!!
 
Sorry to hear of your injury. I have used snap over for 35 years and never been hit by one but always check to see if there is enough clearance to get bar off and never never stand in front of bar when pulling it down or releasing it. I built my owen cheater bar and its about 4 1/2 foot long and take very little effort to set and release binder.
 
I have stopped using over-center binders in favor of the screw-type. To many sprains and slips. Brought home a 56 Chevy tow truck yesterday, the last "Tow-Mater" I had shipped to England.
 
The thing that experiences like that teach you (and believe me, we've all "been there") is that when you get something in a bind, or something slips and gets hung up, you step back and do an assessment of what's going to happen if you do A, as opposed to what's going to happen if you do B, etc. Its absolutely normal for young folks to "shoot first, and ask questions later", but the painful results are what help you along on the road to maturity. Welcome to the club!
 
Bryce, I was standing about 10 feet behind a fellow years ago as he used a cheater pipe on a binder. He had a 3600 Ford and multishank chisel plow on the trailer. As he pulled down on a chain across the plow, the pipe slid off and the binder handle flew up and hit him in the neck. Now this guy weighed at least 250 lbs and was all muscle and fell back towards me. I am 5'8" tall and weighed about 160 at that time. I caught him and lowered him to the ground as best I could. This was a Friday afternoon. Monday he came back and said his neck swelled up like a basketball that evening and the doctor told him if it had hit his jaw or his adam's apple, he would probably have died. It hit right in between them.
I think of that every time I see a binder like that now.
Richard in NW SC
 

I use snap binders, but try to avoid using a cheater. 99% of the time, you can get a good lock without one, especially if your binders have a long handle. Might wanna consider leaving the cheater in the toolbox.
 
Reading along, and I was wondering if the ratchet type were outlawed by F.M.C.S.A. or whomever the presiding authority is.

I used the ratchet type daily when running a 50 ton rogers low boy moving D8Ks, 627 scrapers, 980 wheel loaders, 235 excavators. Thinking about this, I can't imagine using the other type, I honestly did not like the darned things because that last link you want to hook it to, and really cinch the load down, would seem to take a lot of force to send it over center. Equipment with wheels would squash a bit, and you know the deal with these, look in your mirror after a few miles or whenever, you may have to pull over and tighten them.

When I delivered framing orders of dimension lumber and sheet goods from the lumber yard, the load would be on stickers, either (2) 2x4's or 4x4's across the deck. Load with a fork lift, and it had to be arranged in a certain manner, long lumber on the bottom, sheet goods on top, and don't bury the sill plate lumber LOL ! We would then pass a chain under and up to the top, use the over center binder with a nice cheater pipe to cinch it together, well after we placed angle iron to prevent the chain from damaging material. when we got to the site, we would raise the body up, let the load slide off and hit the ground, then lay stickers down, drive ahead and pick up the chain, angle iron and binder. None of those forklifts that attach to the back end of the truck in those days.
 
Another tie down danger. My brother was putting his canoe on top of his car. Pulled down on a long bungee cord to hook on trailer hitch. Slipped out of his hands, broke his glasses and sent them about 100 feet. The hook caught beside his eye and ripped out through his temple. Took him 2 weeks to regain his sight in that eye.
I think of that also every time I use or see someone using a bungee.
Richard
 

It really puts you in a 'bind' when the chain twists like that. In the hundreds of times we bound down combines I don't remember anyone getting hurt bad by a binder. You do get a feel for it after awhile when you're pulling it down. One time I do remember is when one of the tougher guys on the crew was hit in the head by a flying binder. It made a sound like a hammer hitting wood. He just rubbed his head, grinned and kept on working.
 
Always take any twist out of the chain before hooking your binders onto it. Only had to figure out how to undo a binder with the handle aimed at the deck once to learn that one. Used another chain and binders to pull it sideways and open.
 

Farmerjohn I have a scar in my upper lip from a bunge letting go on the other side. It was a long one that was pretty well stretched. Felt like I was hit by a bat. Thank goodness the back side of the hook hit me. If the hook would have come around and caught my mouth it would have ripped my lip off.
 
When I was your age we had cattle, hogs, row cropped, hayed, and put up silo.

I got ran over, ran into, knocked down, stepped on, bit, kicked, nnalert myself instead of the hogs. I got cut, scrapped, burned, bruised. I fell, tripped, ran noisy tractors with no ear protection. I went to the ER with metal in the eyes, stitches, broke my front teeth out courtesy of a Gleaner F's rock door.

I water skied with spectaular crashes, I jumped out of perfectly good airplanes, I rappelled off cliffs, I was a long distance runner.

We ran everywhere, jumped off truck beds, fell off piles of hay. We banged into things, things banged into us. Our hands, arms, and shins were masses of scabs, scrapes and bruises. Bandaids were our friends.

Other injurys too numerous to mention.

Now that I am 60, everything has added up, compounded, and stiffened up.

You may be OK now, but it all takes it toll in later year.

Be careful and take it easy on your old body.

Gene
 
SNOW(insert more suiting word) happens. Working on the farm and with machines I can say I been beat, bloodied, burned, clobbered and fell many ways. I almost cut my finger off with a axe, almost was trampled on by cows, knocked nearly unconscious when hit my head on various objects. I was even 6 inches from losing my head when helping cut firewood on a buzz saw.

We all do stupid things and we get punished, and we learn. The important thing is we don't get hit worse and are still around.
 
Your not kidding about the later years! The
stainless steel wires hold that two of my vertebra
together sure do bother me now that I'm in my mid
fifties Didn't think nothing about them when they
wired me back together after the motorcycle wreck
when I was twenty
 
Old:

Your finger looks a lot like mine did back in '95 when I worked in a metal fabrication shop. I was torch-cutting arch supports for the Infield tunnel at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway out of a 4'x 8' sheet of 2" thick steel plate. The plate started to come off of the rollers on the cutting table and I made a grab for it to keep it on the table, instead it pinched my gloved fingers against the jagged edges of the burn table. I pulled my hand out of the welding glove and my right little finger & right ring finger were both shredded to the bone. Never went to the Hospital, just took care of it myself right there on the job-site (had all the medical supplies in my truck), filled out an incident report and went right back to work. Only lasting evidence is a split nail on the little finger.

Doc
 
Was tightening the binder chaining down one of my tractors after a show in Adrian, MI years ago. Cheater slipped off the binder and flew right over a brand new Dodge pickup parked next to my old rig. Sure made a believer out of me!!
 
Back in 1969 we were binding down a load of logs on my dads log truck, binders head high, my dads hands slid off the end of the binder just before it snapped over, the end of the handle hit him at the top of the eye socket. He was tough but that had to hurt. I am always very careful after seeing that.
 
I remember you said everything you have is stick, same thing here for years, every truck, tractor, dozer etc., til I got my last car, and it could have been had with a 5 speed, but that one had no A/C, so I had to skip it. I can see the palming of the the shift knob, and the throb of that cut at the same time, then looking forward to some quality time with the doctor. My father had to drive himself to the hospital one time, with a broken leg, in his truck that was also a stick shift, makes things interesting real quickly.
 
All these horror stories should convince everyone to go with the ratchet type. Beware that some of the stuff HF sells is not DOT approved. Please don't let $$ dictate your life.
 
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