[oldred]

I had a buddy get hurt quite seriously when a hydraulic ram failed and a piece of it hit him in the chest. What he was doing was one of those things that turns out is very dangerous but not something someone might think about, thus the warning here. He was using a ram from a 10 ton Porta-Power as an extension for a 20 ton hydraulic jack, that is he need to extend the reach of the jack so instead of blocking it up he just extended the ram out to the length he needed and put it between the jack ram and the load (a small bulldozer track adjuster). The problem is the ram was rated at 10 tons while jack was rated at 20 tons so when the jack was close to max it exceeded the ram rating and caused the check ball in the connection (the hose had been removed for clearance for the jack) to shoot out like a bullet and it hit him squarely in the chest! The doctor says that unless a blood clot forms he will be ok but it is a serious injury.

I have seen several times people using a bottle jack as an extension in a hydraulic press and never really gave it much thought but if (that is IF) this is done make SURE that the jack exceeds the press rating, actually using a jack for this purpose is just a bad idea anyway. When using a hydraulic ram or bottle jack look over the situation and make sure there is no way the load can increase, such as removing one jack when two or more is being used. I know a situation such as this is more likely to occur when working on heavy equipment but I can see how it could happen in a home garage, not likely but the results if it does can be deadly as it nearly was here.

[SS66chevelle]

Hopefully your buddy will be ok! This is a classic example of how accidents often happen. People are using the wrong tools for the job sacrificing safety for convenience or to save some money. I've learned some of these lessons myself during my project (fortunately not to this extent!), and now I am saftey paranoid.. Heck I even use jack stands under my chevelle when it's on all 4 tires sitting on the ground if I am under it, because it has a full air ride suspension.. if an air line goes, so does the car...

[dinger]

I'm glad your buddy is ok. I had a friend years ago that was killed by winching in his boat onto the trailer, the cable snapped and hit him in the chest, just in the right place to stop his heart. A freak accident, yes. I still remember that though, and in all instances of pulling/pushing acts, try to think of the worse possible consequences and how to avoid injury.

[oldred]

That 1/2" diameter steel ball came out of that ram like a bullet and hit him almost dead center in the chest, if it had of hit him over his heart (it missed by about an 1 1/2") it almost certainly would have killed him. There is a really nasty looking depression the size of the ball surrounded by a huge bruised area but this should heal ok. I know this type of accident is rare but he is proof that it can happen and coupled with the fact I have seen the reason for this done several times over the years I just felt it might be worth the warning. I could see it happening by maybe someone jacking up a heavy car or pick-up with a big floor jack and then using a small bottle jack as a stand while the other jack was moved, I saw this exact same situation done recently and never gave it a second thought. I don't think I have done it myself but I actually don't remember and probably would have if I had of seen the need, I have no idea if I would have recognized the danger of overloading the smaller jack. I could also see someone doing it in a press and indeed that has been done many times because it is just handy to grab up a bottle jack and extend it to whatever reach needed. The danger may not always be apparent but in this case it can be deadly.

[SS66chevelle]

Originally Posted by dinger

I'm glad your buddy is ok. I had a friend years ago that was killed by winching in his boat onto the trailer, the cable snapped and hit him in the chest, just in the right place to stop his heart. A freak accident, yes. I still remember that though, and in all instances of pulling/pushing acts, try to think of the worse possible consequences and how to avoid injury.

I just saw a small segment on this issue on "xtreme 4x4" on spike. Ian was talking about cable snap back and was recommending the use of "winch rope" instead of the aircraft cable. Apparently when it snaps it just falls down instead of slicing the operator up, plus it floats if you drop it in water or mud.. I'm not really into offroading but it's interesting to learn about and some of the work they do on that show is pretty sweet..