WARNING! Gas pumps can be potentially dangerous if not handled by trained and qualified personnel…..wait a minute, I’ve handled literally thousands, I should be qualified, I was until I pulled this bone head stunt.
This beast has been waiting patiently for over 20 years, sitting quietly in my shop just waiting for its chance to pounce on an unsuspecting and clumsy victim. I bought this 850 from a Shell jobber in Indy years ago. Underneath the brown paint is the crinkly yellow paint and I found some citrus based paint stripper that works great at taking off one layer at a time. I had been waiting to try it on this pump and last Saturday I said to myself it’s time to try it.
I was trucking it into my paint/wash room – did I say that it was never gutted, it was loaded with everything it had originally. I think the problem was I did not turn on the lights in the room first and somehow I lost my orientation or depth perception and the pump started to come over on me, there was no stopping it and all I could think of was get the hell out from under it before it chased me to the ground. It knocked me flat on my back, my right leg was the only body part that did not make it all the way out. I feel I got lucky with only a broken leg.
I will be at Peotone (but not with this pump, I should sell it but I won’t). John Kramer has most graciously volunteered to come and help me set up. I always had my buddy Deryl to help in the past, miss him everyday.
This story is a reminder to think about what your doing and do not become complacent with simple tasks. I have no one to blame but myself, but maybe the pain and suffering and the arthritis that the doctor mentioned that will come later will be a reminder not to let this happen again.
See everyone at Peotone, Tom.
The Tokheim attacker and mangled foot.
OW! Heavy times three with all the guts. Heal fast Tom
Larry
Not a pretty site in either photo! Get well Tom and this should be a reminder to most of us that were not getting any younger, so take your time.....we have lost too many members this past year as it is.
Ouch holy ...get well soon
Tom, Sorry about the leg, but you failed to mention how the pump is doing! Those dudes are heavy and old bones heal slow, take care.
Shorty
Tom, I have watched you load a lot of pumps, and envied how good you were. We all know it only takes one small misstep. Good luck, Norm Huff
Get well soon! Sorry for the mishap.It happens so fast. Mark
Hope you will get back on your feet soon Tom.
Get well soon Tom. I have had some get away from me also but they never got me. It does not take much to loose them.
WOW! I feel your pain there buddy! That photo just made me cringe. The Warden is always on me about taking chances, and I try to be as careful as I can, but s**t happens and I'm too old for that any more.
Looking forward to seeing you and John again and it probably won't be too hard to keep track of you this time! I might even be able to keep up. LOL
Heal fast my friend!!
Ouch! Get better Tom! That looked like it hurt terribly, and I bet the pump didn't enjoy it either haha. Heal quickly Tom!
I kind of know what you are going thru, although I was a little luckier. Tripped over a tire, my bad, while moving a Bennett 646, fell on my back but only twisted my ankle. Good luck with the leg!
Hi Tom,
I was just thinking about you the other day and all of a sudden BAM! Here you are! Don't feel bad or embarrassed. I've had my battles with some of these heavy b---tards in the past. Another dangerous pump is a 36B with the guts. I was helping Miles load one at Columbus a few years ago and that pump slid right off the side of the dolly as it was going up into the trailer. Thankfully it missed us. Also got pinned in between a Wayne 56 double display case and the wall when we were loading one of those monsters at Columbus. One time I was removing a pair of Bennett sister pumps from a farm here in Ohio. The farmer and I shut the power off at the barn breaker. Nope, there was still power going to the pumps because the breaker box was bad. When I went to cut that 110 line it sent sparks down into that underground tank, LOL. Felt like Fire Marshall Bill that day, whew! Lucky isn't the word for it. Anyway, I hope you're up and at um soon buddy. Take care. Goober
Dang Tom! Just the other day I unloaded that fully loaded MS70 I bought....by myself. It almost did that to me and even though I got it just in time my back and shoulders hurt for a week! Not to mention my ears hurting from my wife chewing me out asking why in the world I didn't wait for my son to come by and help me. Guess from now on I'll wait on him.....man it sucks to not be young and foolish. Take care of that leg, you'll be back wanting to do the same thing again before you know it....GB
PS....from the looks of all the responses in this thread, it's a wonder there are any Oldgassers that can walk! We're all gonna look like a bunch of midget and sprint car racers at these shows....half in wheelchairs and half with canes! Lol!
Ouch! Hope you are feeling better soon.
It's not always the answer, but I bought a heavy duty appliance dolly with the drop down casters that take the weight and keep the pump/soda machine at about a 45^ angle. It's saved my bacon many times. Some of the best money I ever spent. Take care of that leg!
See, it is a dangerous sport, sounds like many others have had their close calls.
Funny thing Shorty is when the stars cleared from my head and I was still lying on the ground I reached over to check the pump for damage and of course there was none, it did not even break the clock face glass on the bottom side.
...Tom, a while back I had a rotten plank on a trailer give way when I was loading a Wayne 70...the pump/hand truck came right down on top of me - but it happened slowly enough that I was able to fall 'right' and avoid injury...my buddy (a fellow Oldgasser) had to help me out from under the pump, but we were both laughing about it...I'm glad you weren't more seriously hurt! Best wishes for a speedy recovery...drink your milk!
Lets get to what is important... Is the pump OK? LOL.
Just kidding buddy. Sorry to hear about the accident. You will heal up and be back to normal soon! It is a good thing you have good friends to help you out when you find yourself in a situation like this.
Talk to you soon Tom!
heal fast, & get well soon Tom - see you in Peotone.
its obvious the pump is cursed, you should get rid of it and sell it to me! (at minimum cost of course, since its cursed)
Tom: I rolled an ankle real bad last February...not as swollen as yours. Anyway, it wouldn't heal up and after a week finally went to a knee/ankle specialist. Turned out there was more dmage than a swollen ankle. After 8 months of PT (mostly on my own 5 days a week)I am just now released to get back on a treadmill for exercise.
I always had bad ankles and now my ankle "rolls" just by looking at it or even walking on level ground and will probably always be that way from here on in. I stepped off a curb yesterday and it rolled and almost ended up in a heap. I would encourage you to get it checked out by a specialist if it doesn't get better with ice and ibueprophen soon. good luck
Oh wow, I just saw this posting. You were definitely lucky. Did you limp into work on Monday, immediately trip and fall, and claim it was an "on the job accident" so you can get paid while healing? Take care.
Ed.
Tom, if you need any help getting things loaded including yourself, let me know just a stone throw away.
Bob
Wow Tom , it's a wonder you didn't break something ! That foot looks like it will be sore for awhile . Hopefully it will heal quickly.
Best of luck and hope you heal fast Tom.
Ed
Just got back from Tom's place. I swear if it weren't for the crutches you would hardly know his leg is broken. I figured I'd catch him at home resting a bit. He is still moving pretty well and gave me a tour of the place like he had 2 good legs. If I was a pump guy I'd probably have wet myself. Thanks Tom, I really enjoyed checking it all out. Very, very impressive!
I fell for you Tom. Got scars on my arm from a Tokheim 36B. Richard
Thanks guys for the kind words! It was still a bone head move but sounds like I'm not alone. Hopefully this will be a reminder for everyone to not get complacent. Sounds like I have a good safety talk topic for my shop Techs this week.
Ed, you rascal you, only a retired postal employee could come up with such a plan...LOL. When I limped into work they all thought the mountain bike got me.
I really enjoyed Greg's visit this afternoon and it got me thinking how smart he and all the other sign and cans guys are.
Hope you heal up soon Tom. I haven't ended up under a pump yet but every time I move one I wonder to myself why I didn't want to collect stamps.
I wonder how many Accident Reports show the time of occurrence as 7:01 LOL.
Ed.
Wow, get better soon! Ive broken my ankle before, and i remember keeping it up was about the only way to keep it from throbbing!
If misery loves company, I've also broken bones by gas pump. I had a clear vision double visible (about the heaviest pump imaginable) drop on my hand and crush a finger. Healed back just fine but reminds you just how unwieldy these pumps can get.
Hope ya get better soon... Dropped a few myself.
My knees buckled (no pun intended) when I saw that pic.
Wow that's gonna leave a mark!! Sorry to see about your accident. Get well soon!!
This reminds of a posting a few weeks back about someone going to put little roller bearing type casters through the bottom frame in order to roll pumps around. Great idea, but a little scary to me when your dealing with something that is 6-8 times taller than wide and has a lot of mass above center of gravity!
Everyone be careful out there!!!
Sorry to hear this Tom. Hope it doesnt hurt for too long. Heres hoping you heal up soon.
Listen to what the docs say, and make sure you do all the physical therapy prescribed. Been there, done that--but in a much more mundane fashion.
Sorry to hear about your accident. I've dropped a couple of pumps over the years but never felt a need to throw myself under them to cushion their fall. As was said previously, you look at stamp collecting with an entirely new perspective.
Try to get some rest. I know that won't be easy for you, and that it will probably take longer than you would like, but having two good legs is kind of important. Get well soon!
Hope you recover quickly !! It could have been a lot worse..
Tom,
I am so sorry to hear about the accident. You are always so careful moving pumps. I have watched you at Iowa Gas. All it takes is a slight miscalculation to reach that point of no return. You reached that threshold and could not overcome the laws of gravity. I am speaking from personal experience. Many here on Oldgas posted pages of nice comments to me when they found out about my pump accident that occurred about 4 years ago. I was moving a G&B 66 pre-visible in almost the dark outside in gravel and the wheel on the dolly hit a small rut. The pump started to fall down towards the F-150 truck and I told myself in a spit second I can save the situation from occurring. Guess what? I tried to right it back up and that darn thing got heavier and took me down on my back completely underneath the two rails of the dolly. It came down with vengeance and it bounced off my body snapping my collar bone on both sides. I could not lift my arms over my head for months. Fellow oldgassers at Iowa helped me out when I arrived only two months from the date of the accident. Thank you everyone who was gracious to help me through that rough time.
Tom I will pray that you have a speedy recovery and that you heal well like I did. I have not had an once of pain aftermath from my accident. The doc had said that he had never seen anyone break the collar bone both sides at the same time. BTW I sold that pump really cheap and will never own another like it.
Take Care,
Rob
Tom, wishing you a speedy recovery.
Believe it or not, that pump will always have a a very storied existence and a special place in your collection and mind.
Sorry to hear about the leg Tom. I have had a few close calls myself, never broke anything, but definitely have had some scuffs and scrapes. I am scheduled for back surgery the week after next from the accumulation of some of these along other bone head stunts in my younger days.
I hope you are back to your old self real soon.
Tony
The broken leg didn't slow Tom down any. At Peotone he was moving faster than I've ever, kneeling on a scooter with his broken leg, and pushing off with his good one.
It doesn't take much to get hurt, thanks for the reminder and get well soon!
Wally
How about an update Tom!
Hows the ankle?
Dave
Time to invest in a tripod dolly.
This accident of Tom's really enforced the idea that I need to buck up and get one of those really nice tripod dollys, or else quit handling pumps, and I don't think that will happen anytime soon. LOL
He should on as last time I talked to him they had to go do surgery on his leg.
Talked to Tom Saturday night. His leg was not healing correctly and they had to operate to fix it. He is recovering but has cabin fever already.