[RowdyRoddy]

I saw on the news last night that a local man was seriously injured this past week by his snowmobile. The story goes that the man and his friend were getting their sleds ready for a ride and one man lifted up the back of his sled in order to spin the track. We're all done this a thousand times. But when he did it it the track broke and the track struck him in the right leg and TORE his foot off!!! He ended up loosing his leg to just below his knee. Freak accident!!

He was on the news last night and appeared to be in good spirits and is planning on visiting schools to show people what happened and to educate young snowmobilers on the potential dangers. He siad that he is begging people to buy a lift with a guard.

Very sobering story. I've lifted my sled the same way many times and never thought that that could happen. Please think of him in your prayers and think twice when your lifting your sled.

Food for thought.

Roddy

 

[pittass]

Yeah, this was in Bishops Falls, NL, We have all done it a thousand times, never thinking the track could break and fly off. He also said his track was not tore, ripped etc. So very unfortunate indeed. You can never be too careful.

 

[rgg--off]

yeah i have a lift i got at peavey mart for like 50$. it works good. if im somewhere with a lift i just tilt the sled to the side.

 

[alleycat]

wow,..sad story.
you just never know when or where something will happen.

 

[Downriver Thunder]

Man, he must have been gettin on it pretty good for it to do that.

 

[Nunavut_Crossfire]

Man....I'm feel sorry for the guy, was going out to ride and have fun and now only hasone good leg....I would say the chances of this happening are 1 in 5,000,000,000,000.

When you lift the track to spin it, just spin it at low speeds and only spin it enought to get it moving and to clear the snow out from the skid. There is no need to spin a track 100 mph while your buddy is holding it up or even on a stand.

 

[Downriver Thunder]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nunavut_Crossfire @ Feb 6 2007, 08:54 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

There is no need to spin a track 100 mph while your buddy is holding it up or even on a stand.[/b]

Exactly.

 

[HighCountry]

this probably happens more times than we know.
i'm a paramedic here in ontario,the year was 1999 it was boxing day,not a flake of snow in the air or on the ground.my new zrt was at home in the garage.i remember this like it was yesterday,and have told the story many many times.
we got a call south of the county for a reported snowmobile accident.my partner and i thought maybe some guys were dragging in the apple orchard,thats what a lot do.
you would not believe what we came across,and yes it is similiar to the previous story.
we arrive scene theres a 15 year old boy laying shocky under a blanket with his 7 year old sister sitting beside him holding his hand and crying.
while an older ski doo blizzard sits on the under carriage beside a fence.my partner removed the blanket.i see two near amputated legs folded underneath our patient,barely held on with a little connective tissue and muscle.my eyes automatic go back to the sled (to paint a clearer picture),i then see a broken snowmobile track 50-60 feet away.
my partner couldn't fathom what happened(not a sledder)i asked the boy was he standing behind the sled and revving it up when the track let loose.he then nodded his head yes.
this particular call has a better outcome than the previous.due to the 7 year old sister(parents weren't home) and quick activation of EMS.we packaged him up,made his legs look like legs again,and transported him an hour to a pediatric trauma center,one leg is four inches shorter,and he's two years behind in school,but he got to keep both legs.
everything in life,we have all taken for granted,including our sleds. "all in a blink of an eye"

 

[Wicked King]

As I learned last year, **** just happens sometimes. We all take for granted the little habits we have in our sport, and don't really give them much thought until they bite us in the rear end. Whether he was running the track 100 or not, he was probably doing it like he always did... just had bad luck this time. (and yes... I've been on the bumper end as well as the throttle end of this habit MANY MANY times)

Too bad about his foot, but nice to see he's doing something positive with his misfortune. There's a good ambassador for our sport!

 

[Nunavut_Crossfire]

If my memory is correct, I think there is a warning in the owners manual on the track alingment sections to not spin the track speeds over X or something to that extint. Someone correct me if I wrong...

 

[Downriver Thunder]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kerry3eb @ Feb 6 2007, 09:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

this probably happens more times than we know.
i'm a paramedic here in ontario,the year was 1999 it was boxing day,not a flake of snow in the air or on the ground.my new zrt was at home in the garage.i remember this like it was yesterday,and have told the story many many times.
we got a call south of the county for a reported snowmobile accident.my partner and i thought maybe some guys were dragging in the apple orchard,thats what a lot do.
you would not believe what we came across,and yes it is similiar to the previous story.
we arrive scene theres a 15 year old boy laying shocky under a blanket with his 7 year old sister sitting beside him holding his hand and crying.
while an older ski doo blizzard sits on the under carriage beside a fence.my partner removed the blanket.i see two near amputated legs folded underneath our patient,barely held on with a little connective tissue and muscle.my eyes automatic go back to the sled (to paint a clearer picture),i then see a broken snowmobile track 50-60 feet away.
my partner couldn't fathom what happened(not a sledder)i asked the boy was he standing behind the sled and revving it up when the track let loose.he then nodded his head yes.
this particular call has a better outcome than the previous.due to the 7 year old sister(parents weren't home) and quick activation of EMS.we packaged him up,made his legs look like legs again,and transported him an hour to a pediatric trauma center,one leg is four inches shorter,and he's two years behind in school,but he got to keep both legs.
everything in life,we have all taken for granted,including our sleds. "all in a blink of an eye"[/b]

HOLY CRAP, that is one heck of a story! Puts alot of things in perspective. I feel so bad for that 7 year old to have witnessed that but in a way it was good she was because her brother kept his legs. She deserves a medal!

 

[HighCountry]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Downriver Thunder @ Feb 6 2007, 10:40 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kerry3eb @ Feb 6 2007, 09:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

this probably happens more times than we know.
i'm a paramedic here in ontario,the year was 1999 it was boxing day,not a flake of snow in the air or on the ground.my new zrt was at home in the garage.i remember this like it was yesterday,and have told the story many many times.
we got a call south of the county for a reported snowmobile accident.my partner and i thought maybe some guys were dragging in the apple orchard,thats what a lot do.
you would not believe what we came across,and yes it is similiar to the previous story.
we arrive scene theres a 15 year old boy laying shocky under a blanket with his 7 year old sister sitting beside him holding his hand and crying.
while an older ski doo blizzard sits on the under carriage beside a fence.my partner removed the blanket.i see two near amputated legs folded underneath our patient,barely held on with a little connective tissue and muscle.my eyes automatic go back to the sled (to paint a clearer picture),i then see a broken snowmobile track 50-60 feet away.
my partner couldn't fathom what happened(not a sledder)i asked the boy was he standing behind the sled and revving it up when the track let loose.he then nodded his head yes.
this particular call has a better outcome than the previous.due to the 7 year old sister(parents weren't home) and quick activation of EMS.we packaged him up,made his legs look like legs again,and transported him an hour to a pediatric trauma center,one leg is four inches shorter,and he's two years behind in school,but he got to keep both legs.
everything in life,we have all taken for granted,including our sleds. "all in a blink of an eye"[/b]

HOLY CRAP, that is one heck of a story! Puts alot of things in perspective. I feel so bad for that 7 year old to have witnessed that but in a way it was good she was because her brother kept his legs. She deserves a medal!
[/b][/quote]


yeah your right! she did/does deserve something for her actions on that day.oh yeah and another thing... mom and dad came home when we were just leaving,i had about 3.5 seconds to explain to them want happened and where we were going.

 

[ZR8RIDER]

A few years ago a guy at work just studded his new track. He had the back of the sled hanging from a rafter. He started the sled and hit the throttle. The track somehow caught and tore in half and then shot out the back at a high rate of speed. It caved in another mechanics snap-on tool box and the studs actually poked holes in the metal. If anyone was standing there they would have been seriously hurt.

 

[beardog]

A few years back at the Salem raceway , grass drags, one of our racers was doing a clean out on his jackstand : track failed and the jackstand and track went about 20ft in the air and 150 feet back ended up in and through the windshield of a nice new Ford pickup truck,can only thank God it hit no body.

 

[canadianfcat]

Man this is a good lesson!!

I've really never heard of anything like this before..spread the word guys!!

 

[Nunavut_Crossfire]

Holy.....I did not know that this is a regualr occurance....I guess I was wrong with my odds.....

And the girl is a hero...I would say she derserves a medel for her actions.

 

[mcflying]

Slightly off the original topic.

But in the second track blowing up story , that 7 year old girl is Amazing ! ! !
Heck I would have likely freaked out and handled it not nearly as well as she did if it was my brother laying there injured that badly.

 

[CatsN'Doos]

wow... i myself am also guilty of this act, i stopped moving the rear end of my sled while its running after the first time that i felt my track rub down my shin while i was pulling my sled out of a drift (bar cleats) after feeling that and knowing the potential damage those cleats could do.... wow.. glad he kept his foot, as for that 7 year old, I surely hope they got some recoignition by someone other than family and friends.

 

[BearOnt]

Gotta be real careful revving them on a stand.
A few weeks ago I had mine on a stand, made sure no one was behind, I stood off to the side by the handle bars. Though I was being safe.
Was revving it up a bit to check my clutch shifting. A stud came loose, hit the concrete floor and bounced out the side and hit me in the shin. I was lucky, nothing but a small hole in my shin. eekkk
Cant be too careful. :lovewinter:

 

[SNOPRO678--off]

I am now 25 but when I was younger, maybe 12-15 I remember when a guy, who my family knew quite well from dirt late model racing here in MN had an accident just like this. Him and his brother, both avid snowmobilers, racecar drivers and four wheeler racers were going out sledding and just like this guy who lost his leg, picked up the back of the sled to clear it and the track split and came flying out the back and went right into his shins. Split them both in half if I remember correctly. He did recover and walks fine. Doesn't race anymore though. It was quite a miracle he can walk again. Since then this doesn't seem to happen around me much.