dangb93

Here I come again, is anyone leaving their stump grinder cutting wheel running and walking round the front of it! If you are, and you've read this thread well, erm no comment. But if you are in the habit of doing so, and you haven't read this thread please take some time to scroll back to the beginning and have a read. It's been 2 years and 2months and I am still not able to walk without crutches. My leg has been successfully reconstructed, but my foot is badly twisted. I am on the waiting list for surgery this year, which if it is successful it will mean my foot is flat to the ground and I can walk again, if it is unsuccessful then it will be amputated. Above all, do not cut corners with dangerous machinery. One day, it will be one time too many.

Yes, i think there will be because Im not sure that rehab/physio will solve alone

Thanks, looks interesting. Does the knee get sore after a while?

I forgot to write on here that my TSF was removed from my leg on 7th September! So I have no metal in or around my leg now. My leg is officially finished, its not pretty but its my leg and it works It feels relaxed now, not surprising that it now is free from 17 metal pins going through the bones and flesh! The problem now is my foot, it's all twisted and deformed, such that I cannot walk properly on it and still require two crutches... That's the last big hurdle. Keep striving. Oh, and don't forget - turn your stump grinder off before you leave the controls...it's not worth it!!!

As a child, myself and my brother ate many yew berries, we used to take the seed out first though.

Hello mate, thanks for asking. I am waiting to have the TSF removed from my leg now, i was told last month after a routine x-ray that it was deemed ready to come off. Addenbrookes have done amazing job of reconstructing my leg. The only problem now is my foot, which is quite deformed and twisted. Once TSF is removed, then I will have special boot to wear to help strengthen and straighten foot and ankle, and should be able to walk again. I have completed my Level 4, and I am hoping to get out doing some tree surveying as soon as I can walk. I will post again when frame comes off...anyone whose reading this and leaves there stump grinder cutter wheel running and goes near it, STOP!

If it's any help, I can recommend Hinowa 17.75 really nice machine and you can have two people throughout the whole working range.

Another vote for wild service tree

In my understanding of common law, you can cut the overhanging branches as far as the boundary line without consent from the landowner (Earl of Lonsdale v Nelson 1823), but you are not allowed to trespass onto his land to do so (Lemmon v Webb 1894). You must offer the branches back to your neighbour, in an unconverted condition (Mills v Brooker 1919). There seems to be a general acknowledgment that such pruning back to the boundary must be done with reasonable care, which implies not damaging the tree, but I don't know myself where the reasonable care bit is found in common law in regard to pruning back to the boundary. Perhaps someone can enlighten me, @daltontrees or any other consultant on here?

Can the T/R ratio even be applied to anything else than a circular stem? What if the stem is irregular in cross section? I think Mattheck says to use the thinnest residual wall thickness, but where do you measure the radius in an irregular stem - the shortest radius, the largest radius, or somewhere between? But then I suppose the term "radius" is only to do with perfect circles, and many trees are not circles. (Don't worry, I am not a blind user of the T/R ratio)....

I believe this part of the ACOP is in bold, which means that it has legal status.

Almost 15 months since my Bandit ZT stump grinder smashed my leg to bits and almost took it off. Remember!! - turn that cutter wheel off before walking away from the controls!.....anyway, I didn't think I would have cause to post here again so quickly, but this week I had a nice surprise; I had an appointment with my surgeon and an x ray. Regarding the x ray, he told me that the new 71mm of tibia bone is calcifying really nicely. But the appointment got better than that, because he assessed my foot and ankle, and told me that he had no medical reason, much less an personal reason, as to why the footplate could not be removed! He then told me that they only ever remove 2 pins in clinic, any more than that and its sedation and operating theatre. I asked how long for theatre slot, he said 2-3 months. So I said can't we just get on with it, I have had plenty of practice with unbearable pain so far on this journey, and so, after some discussion, with much warning from him as to the pain, he agreed to pull all 4 pins out of my foot in clinic. They said the only thing they could give was gas and air. They first loosened and removed the little nuts and bolts which hold the pins to the black frame. This resulted in a sudden, unpleasant twang as the pin "relaxed" - each pin is loaded with 100kg. This was fairly unpleasant, even with gas and air. But the worst bit was when they pulled the pins out because the bones grow really tight around the pins so the pins have to be wrenched through the bones. The pins go right through from one side to the other. I wouldn't want any more done in clinic like that!! See before and after pics below. Now I can start to put some weight through my leg, and when that bandage comes off my foot I can put a shoe on...but who would have thought how hard it was to learn to walk again! The brain gets trained to the different centre of gravity and one legged hopping when non weight bearing, now I have got to train my brain again.

It's been over 14 months since I almost lost my leg to my stump grinder. I thought I'd put something on here, to keep the thread going, and as a fresh reminder for anyone who hasn't yet seen this thread, be that new members or whatever. Progress is slow, but it's still progress. I never really knew what winter blues felt like, until the last two winters! But I manage to keep smiling most of the time. Not much to report on, but the new section of tibia bone I grew last year is still calcifying. The foot plate and leg frame remain in situ for a while yet. Here's two pictures, one shows the start of 2023, and the second one shows the start of 2024. Remember! Turn your cutter wheel OFF before leaving the controls!!

That's what I was trying to say, but my choice of the word 'levels' was poor I admit. Having the diploma demonstrates a wider knowledge than having an award or cert, because more units have been studied.

Assuming the wood strength of that reasonable wall thickness is still sufficient