Hog splitter kicked back last Thursday, nearly lost two fingers

Doing a side job for a farm outside Des Moines, 300 pound sow on the rail. My old splitting saw has a worn guide plate, I knew it. Hit the pelvic bone wrong around 7am and the blade kicked back hard enough to bounce off my wrist guard. Cut through the glove clean, bled like a stuck pig. Got six stitches at the urgent care in Ankeny. The farmer just shrugged and said "that's why I pay you, not me." I should've swapped that plate out weeks ago. Anyone else had a kickback scare and what do you run for hand protection now?

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blakem139d ago

That guard plate thing is exactly how these accidents happen... you know it's worn but it's not broke yet so you put it off. Six stitches is lucky honestly, a kickback like that can take a finger clean off if it catches the bone right. I switched to those Kevlar-lined gauntlets with the extra padding over the wrist after my own close call, but the real fix is replacing wear parts before they fail, not after.