AGRONOMY
Scott Oberaigner utilizes a unique new tool on the farm
On Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, Scott Oberaigner was harvesting corn
alone at his farm near Delano, when he realized the picker had be-
come clogged. He parked in the field, but neglected to turn off the
tractor’s engine, which powers the implement.
Oberaigner owns a New Idea 324 Pull Type corn picker. It is de-
signed to remove corn from the field, by first separating corn cobs
from the stalks, and then stripping off the husks. Sure enough, he
noticed there were two cobs jamming the husking bed, which is an
open metal chute with spinning steel rollers and pronged wheels.
Wearing gloves, Oberaigner reached in to clear the obstruction.
Using his left hand, he successfully knocked out the cobs, but when
he used his right hand to sweep out the remaining pieces of corn,
the machinery caught the tip of his glove and pulled in his hand.
Initially, only Oberaigner’s little finger was seized and crushed, but
he could not pull it free from the rollers, which were still spinning.
“I remembered reading a story about John Thompson, in North
Dakota,” Oberaigner said, describing how Thompson lost both arms
in an auger accident, but survived. “That’s what I was thinking of, and
I thought, ‘No way. This picker isn’t going to win.’”
Maintaining his wits, Oberaigner tried to think of ways to get free.
From his position, standing on the picker, he could barely see High-
way 12 above the corn rows. The highway is located near his field, so
he tried flagging down passing cars, but was not successful. Ten min-
utes passed as he struggled to free himself. Climbing higher onto the
picker, Oberaigner repositioned himself for better leverage, but as he
did, his other fingers were pulled in between the rollers and crushed,
too. Determined to escape, he gave “four big pulls” and was finally
able to get loose.
After accidentally getting his fi ngers caught in the corn picker’s husking bed machin-
ery, Oberaigner lost a signifi cant portion of his right hand. Following surgery and a
skin graft, he received this prosthetic hand from Arm Dynamics in Maple Grove, and
more than a year later, continues to farm.
As soon as he was free, Oberaigner shut off the tractor, and headed
for the highway. At that very moment, a firetruck from the Rockford
Fire Department happened to be driving by, and spotted Oberaigner
waving for assistance. They bandaged his hand, and an ambulance
was called to transport him to North Memorial Medical Center for
surgery.
“It’s only fingers,” Oberaigner said, with an optimistic smile. “You
have to keep going, and keep plugging away.”
Four days later, he was back at work. But without the use of his
right hand, Oberaigner faced a new set of challenges.
“I look at it as my own fault,” Oberaigner reflected. “You should al-
ways shut the tractor off.” “It’s the little things,” Oberaigner said. “I couldn’t get my pants on. I
couldn’t tie my shoes.”
Oberaigner’s hand was seriously injured. All four fingers were miss-
ing, his thumb was damaged, and the top of his hand was burnt.
Because he saw only a small amount of blood during his ordeal,
Oberaigner said he believed the searing heat of the metal machinery
may have staunched the blood flow, possibly saving his life. While he waited to see if insurance would cover a prosthetic hand,
Oberaigner decided to create his own prosthetic, fashioned from
a baseball mitt, to allow him to grip objects. Next, he designed a
metal tool to help with buttoning his pants. Naturally right handed,
Oberaigner also had to learn how to write with his left.
On April 4, 2019, Oberaigner received a phone call from Arm Dy-
namics, located in Maple Grove. His insurance company had ap-
proved his application for a prosthetic, and he was asked to come in
for a fitting. He received a prosthetic hand with four mechanical fin-
gers, that can be manually ratcheted into different configurations.
Oberaigner has been farming since 1987, and he has spent most
of that time in Delano. He crops corn, soybeans, oats and alfalfa on
140 acres, and raises beef cows. He has four grown daughters, and
said he is very thankful for all the support his family and friends pro-
vided.
Scott Oberaigner, who owns a farm near Delano, injured his right hand in an acci-
dent while operating this corn picker on Oct 14, 2018. While clearing out a jam in
the equipment, his hand was pulled into the machinery.
Page 4
A year after the accident, Obergainer continued to use the corn
picker at harvest time, and plans on using it again in the future.
“You want to be back to your ‘norm,’” he explained.
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