Power stretcher kicked back and took out my knee on a Tuesday job

Ngl I've been doing this for 8 years and never had a stretcher bite me like that. Was working a hallway in a split level near Lincoln, about 30 feet of 12 foot carpet. I was leaning into the kick and the plate slipped off the tack strip, whole handle whipped around and caught me right below the kneecap. Bruised for two weeks. What do you guys do when the plate loses grip on old tack strips? I've been thinking about switching to a shorter stroke or adding some grip tape but curious if anyone else had this happen and what they changed. Has anyone else dealt with this specific kickback issue?

2 comments

2 Comments

paulk8926d ago

Man that brings back some bad memories. I had almost the exact same thing happen a couple years ago on a redo where the tack strip was old and loose, the plate just popped right off and the bar swung around and clipped my shin. Limped for a week and looked like an idiot explaining it to the customer. I started carrying a spare set of pins and checking the strip before I even roll out, if it feels even a little loose I just replace that section first. Also I lean with my body weight on the top of the handle instead of pushing my knee into it so hard, takes some getting used to but way less risk. You tried the hairspray trick on the plate yet?

henry_moore5525d ago

Heard a guy on a podcast once talk about putting a thin layer of rosin on the plate before you start, kind of like what violin players use on their bows. Swear it helped me on a few jobs where the old wood was smooth as glass. That plus keeping your weight over the handle instead of driving with the knee, like Paul said. Also, on the real rough stuff, I've gone as far as to snap a few extra pins into the strip with a hammer, just to give the plate something to bite into. Takes an extra minute but beats a busted kneecap.