Weirdest close call with-OUT tragic results

[LHS Inc]

Back in the 70's we tilled a farm about 10 miles away from the home farm. I was discing ground and was making my last trip down the field where at the end of the field was the entrance out onto the road which led to the highway we traveled back home.

I wasn't 50 yards from lifting the disc and heading home and the steering rod just dropped off. Luckily the ground had been plowed and this was the second working of the ground and the tire went sideways and just pushed up dirt.

Five minutes later I would have been on the highway in road gear heading home and I shudder to think what would be left of me had that old 1030 Case rolled or flipped.

 

[brin]

Almost the same thing happened to me several years ago....I was bush hogging a pasture for a friend of mine and had finished and was heading down his dirt road toward the main country road when my left front tire just broke off...I have no Idea what fractured the wheel but it did and the wheel itself just ripped away from the bolts...If it had happened just 3 minutes later I would have been in road gear and it would not have been pretty...

 

[TheWedge]

Fortunately it isn't a story about me, however a couple years back, some new folks moved into the area onto a 20 acre spread. As part of the sale they inherited an old 8N along with various implements including a 9' offset 3pt mower. Well the gentleman involved had no prior experience with tractors and was (and continues to be) resitant to helpful suggestions on how to operate safely (we have steep hills and narrow roads). According to him, the fact he was from Oregon was all the experience neccessary. Well one day when mowing the edge of the road he went to turn around (keep in mind this guy liked to drive fast - in everything) and instead of slowing his speed and trying to make a gradual turn he decided to just use the steering brakes (he had no front weights on the tractor). As you can imagine no control - he was shot over the hill faster than he could think. The only thing that kept the tractor glued to the hillside and rolling 180+ feet was the offset mower - both uphill wheels were off the ground. I was called in to tug it back up to the road with my dozer. In talking to him he was prepared to "jump" for it and was confident he could clear it to safety. He has subsequently been pulled out of "situations" about 8 times now. I fear it is only a matter of time before he is a statistic.

 

[tpulley]

Back when I was invincable... I was sitting atop a super A tractor on the gas tank. My buddy was driving as he was about two years older and it was his dads tractor. On this day (Labor day) we were heading into the tobbaco fields after a 1/2 day off as it was the first day of school. We were riding down the road, 4th gear wide open. Wind in our face, ears flapping in the wind, no wait that was my old dawg and I... Anyway we WERE riding down teh road 4th gear, when unbeknownst to me my buddy decided to make a hard left at full speed. Didn't even drop a single rpm as we jutted hard left. Just at that moment I being caught completely off guard fell head first down toward the rear wheel. My buddy who had pretty good reflexes but not real good common sense, jammed on the right brake hard. I finished falling down barely missing having my head fall in front of the rear wheel. The tractor ran over meon my left foot grating my foot into the pavement and dragging me and my hiney like a cheese grater on the road.

I don't remember much about the chain of events after that. I do remember driving to our local hospital and them saying here are a couple of aspirins you need to go somewhere else. We drove on to the city I stuck my foot over a bucket and commenced to fill it it while holding on to my ankle foot to slow the flow. Doc had to clean all the gravel and other dirt from the two down to the bone holes in my foot. Had a road rash about 6inches in diameter on my left buttock. Didn't hurt nearly as much to clean that one after going through the first one.

Spent a week in the hosiptal. Lying there I could smell the rotting flesh from my foot. Had a funny experience at the morgue too. I was rambling around the hospital on a wheel chair poking around just exploring. I wheeled around and in to a room and immediatly I knew this was not a good place t be at. I had indavertently gone into the morgue. I high wheeled it back to my room after that, for a little while.

Despite what the doc said I am/was able to walk, run and pretty much anything without a limp. The Lord does look out for even us/the ignorant ones.

 

[MHarryE]

Back in the old days self propelled combines used variable speed belt drives instead of hydrostatic - ground speed is critical and shifting gears isn't practical. The problem with the variable speed belts is the belts needed to be tensioned for full power or they slipped, and high tension cuts belt life. Working with a belt company, we developed a torque sensing drive now used on all kinds of stuff like snowmobiles, ATV's etc. Ours torque sensed braking in addition to pulling forward. We thought this might be just the thing for our hillside combines - conventional variable speed belt drives lasted about a day in the hilly wheat fields of the Palouse of the Pacific Northwest. We took our prototype out for testing on a large customer's farm. My boss was driving and I was riding shotgun while our 2 R&D mechanics went to lunch. We came to a slope we later measured at 65% grade. I commented to my boss, "We aren't going to go down that, are we"? Normally you combine along the slope, not up and down, because a hillside combine levels side to side. He said sure, dropped the variable speed to the lowest speed, gear transmission to low, and off we went. The problem w,as that in low variable, the drive belt became vey loose and when it changed from pulling to braking, the pulleys, instead of torque sensing and squeezing the belt, let loose all together and we took off downhill like a bat out of h... That wouldn't have been so bad but 2/3 of the way down the slope the pulleys did their thing and squeezed the belt. It was like slamming on the brakes. The combine pitched on its nose. The header cylinders are sinle acting so there was nothing to keep them from extending to their stops. Much of the grain in the bin went over the top but the weight shift to the bin front pinched the cab main power wire creating a short and a fire. So here we are, sliding down the slope at a very high speed, cab on fire, and knowing for certain that any second the cutter bar is going to stick into the ground and all 20 tons of us are going to flip end over end and we are going to be crushed and cremated. Only thing is the cutterbar doesn't catch, we reach the bottom and slam back on our rear tires, get out our extinguisher and put out the fire. After standing on the ground for a few minutes trying to understand what the heck happened, we got back in the still drivable combine and went back to the road where our mechanics ad returned from lunch. We told them we broke it, you fix it, and we drove to the nearest bar and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to steady our nerves.

 

[rScotty]

What is the strangest, oddest, weirdest close call you have had on your tractor without any tragic results?

Some 30 years ago I bought my first compact 4x4 diesel loader tractor. It was - and still is - one tough & durable little machine on it's oversized turf tires. It's perfect for chores, but oddly light in weight compared with the tractors I was used to using.

One day I needed to cross a stream on our property. It's a wide stream but only about a foot or two deep and naturally I drove right in....and about halfway across the tractor just picked up and floated off downstream.
With my weight up high it was a little unstable but not too bad. We had gone maybe 25 yards in slow motion and just as I was about to try some experiments with the bucket we fetched up sideways against a submerged rock. At that point the current plus the instability began to add up and we started to tilt towards what looked like a turnover. As the tractor leaned over, I instinctively reached out an arm and pushed on the rock which spun us away into shallow water.....and we simply drove on across the creek. Don't think I ever even got my feet wet......but my pants were another story.
rScotty

 

[boggen]

went to pull a couple old posts from a deck that was torn out. figured i would just back up the allis chalmers CA tractor. wrap a chain around post. and to one of the arms on rear end. and lift the posts out. i started in low idle, and nothing was happening. i tried more gas, and barely moved. so figure maybe i will put tractor in forward and reverse, to wiggle the post some to see if it would lift out easier. so put it in first gear, let the clutch out (still high gas) and went to use my right hand to slow down the gas lever, before i knew it, i was perfectly straight up into the air. another 1/2" and tractor would of rolled right on over on the rear wheels on top of me. thankingly i got to the clutch in time. the allis chalmers CA tractor is 1954 / 55 machine. and 3pt hitches were not standardized yet. and the lift arms for the CA are high up on the tractor. result was, i hooked up way to high on rear end of tractor for dragging / pulling.

 

[dex3361]

When I was seventeen and living with a new to me foster family, I was helping them with the harvest. Farming wasn't new to me, but their operation was.

They had an old MF sitting stationary using the PTO to operate the grain elevator, i positioned the grain truck and raised the grain bed a few feet. Hopped onto the MF and started it up, engaged the PTO which started the elevator.

Back then, there wasn't any shaft covers - so I was particularly aware of that rotating shaft. I was working my way into position so I could open the grain door of the truck bed - staying way clear of that shaft - and tripped on something and fell onto the running conveyor.

I had on a pair of work coveralls - and somehow a patch of cloth near my shoulder blade caught up in the conveyor chain. Up I go, pinned on my back by my full body coveralls.

Now this grain bin was a good sized one / but was empty as this was the first load. I pictured myself going up the conveyor then getting dumped head first into an empty bin and crashing head first onto the concrete bin floor. Not a pleasant thought.

So I did the only I could do, I rolled left out of the conveyor hoping to free myself. Good plan, but the coveralls are still caught Now I am still going up, but hanging off the side of the conveyor - feet dangling, my face scraping along the old rusted metal. I am really panicking. Not only am I trapped, but now also choking because my zipper was cutting off my air. So I kicked, twisted and contorted enough to finally cause my coveralls to rip enough to release me. Whew I thought! Until I realized in that nano second that what goes up must come down.

Now I don't know for sure how high I was, but I felt that I must have fallen 15' to the ground. Fortunately, I didn't break anything in the fall, and aside from some road rash on my face, a nasty pinch mark on my back and a ripped pair of coveralls, I was fine.

And to think this all started because I WAS trying to be safe

I bet this was one of those slow motion moments. I bet you were about to strip a gear going up the conveyor. Glad it turned out OK. Top ten for sure.

 

[Depmandog]

I bet this was one of those slow motion moments. I bet you were about to strip a gear going up the conveyor. Glad it turned out OK. Top ten for sure.

You have that right!! Some 34 years later and I can recall every detail!! It's amazing how time slows to a crawl in those situations!

The very next week the newspaper did an article on the family (and myself). I had my picture taken unloading grain into that very elevator - wearing those "patched up" coveralls. I never mentioned my little adventure to anyone, but the day the photographer was there - I sure was nervous I would do something klutzy and it would end up in the paper!!

Thank goodness they didn't hear of the time a few weeks later when I left the key on in the combine. The electric fuel pump dumped about 50 gallons of diesel in the shed. Oops! That was a mess.

 

[woodlandfarms]

You guys need to watch this on how time slows down in crisis.

Can time slow down? - Snotr

Part of a larger, very interesting bbc docu.