OOPS or Why you should always look for debris before mowing AKA Lawnmower carnage!

   / OOPS or Why you should always look for debris before mowing AKA Lawnmower carnage! #1  

Scooby074

Super Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2006
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Location
Nova Scotia
Tractor
BX 25, ZD 326
Because if you don't, you'll be guaranteed to find the 1/2" Rebar driveway marker that was thrown on the lawn by the snowplow last winter! Cutting it in half and wrapping it around the mower's spindle.



Which means you will bang up your newly sharpened and balanced mower blades


Resulting in having to remove the deck, resharpen and balance! A real PITA!




Lets see your lawnmower carnage!
 
   / OOPS or Why you should always look for debris before mowing AKA Lawnmower carnage! #2  
For me it was a horseshoe that did in my mower spindle!
 
   / OOPS or Why you should always look for debris before mowing AKA Lawnmower carnage! #3  
That is a pisser.....glad you didn't do more damage to your mower. I once ran over a mole trap I forgot was under the leafs......I wasn't happy! Damage was the same.....blades needed to be sharpened. :eek::eek:
 
   / OOPS or Why you should always look for debris before mowing AKA Lawnmower carnage! #4  
Oh my! :eek: Last time I had carnage was when wifey tried to mow a sidewalk. Broke the shaft and blade actually fell off.
 
   / OOPS or Why you should always look for debris before mowing AKA Lawnmower carnage!
  • Thread Starter
#5  
That is a pisser.....glad you didn't do more damage to your mower. I once ran over a mole trap I forgot was under the leafs......I wasn't happy! Damage was the same.....blades needed to be sharpened. :eek::eek:

I got off easy! Stopped the tractor dead from mowing speed. I figured I had to have destroyed a spindle at least. I didnt mention it above, but I chewed up and dented the spindle dust cover on the centre blade.. I think that was what saved the actual spindle. If the dust cover wasnt there I would have did a number on the aluminum spindle housing for sure. And to think, when I sharpened the blades last week, I was actually considering leaving them off because of rust and grass buildup inside them:eek:

We should look at this thread as a friendly reminder to check before mowing...Judging by the above posts, it looks like a lesson a few of us need to learn;)
 
   / OOPS or Why you should always look for debris before mowing AKA Lawnmower carnage!
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Oh my! :eek: Last time I had carnage was when wifey tried to mow a sidewalk. Broke the shaft and blade actually fell off.

Gotta love her;)

Ex-wife? :p
 
   / OOPS or Why you should always look for debris before mowing AKA Lawnmower carnage! #7  
I didn't hit debris in the yard, but debris that fell off the mower deck. The pin that holds the right front anti-scalp wheel on fell out and I didn't know it. I raised the deck to go across the driveway, and as I came back off, the entire wheel assembly came off and, of course, went under the deck. I didn't see it happen, but heard a loud noise and looked down to find the assembly flying through the air into my shed, putting a hole in the tin. Luckily, it was was right on a stud or I'm sure it would have gone completely through the wall and into the side of my truck.

$35 later for a new assembly and I was back in business. Luckily nobody was around. That's why my children have to stay inside when I cut grass.
 
   / OOPS or Why you should always look for debris before mowing AKA Lawnmower carnage! #8  
I don't have a way of posting picture, but several years ago I ran over some barbed wire. Now, when I mow areas that are high, I send the Grandsons out to find debris. I pay them a quarter for each piece. Two weeks ago when I was going to mow a patch where a friend of mine used his excavator to dig up some stumps, the Grandsons found several beer bottles, a 3 foot section of aluminum wire that the Electric Company had cut off when installing a pole, and half of a mower blade, probably from the County. The County mows the outer limits of the road frontage twice a year. BTW, my Wife always feeds them a meal also. I take them to the local Country Store to spend their money and I always pay for their selections and let them keep the money they earned.
 
   / OOPS or Why you should always look for debris before mowing AKA Lawnmower carnage! #9  
So let me tell you a story of mowers, boats, carnage and unbridled passion. Ok, forget the passion but everything else is true.

For some crazy reason, I bought a vintage boat with an outboard motor. I spent all winter restoring the boat in anticipation of summer. It was a labor of love that devoured weekends and evenings with the worst of it getting the finicky outboard to run.

Finally a glorious spring day came and we loaded up kids and boat. We launched the boat and idled off the trailer like pros. Reversed out into the lake, sun shining and all was right with the world. I went to shift into forward gear but the lever wouldn't move. I fiddled, banged and cursed but it was stuck in reverse. We backed our way silently back to the boat launch. The wife and kids maintained an uneasy silence as I cursed under my breath.

It was a busy day at the boat launch. It was hot and people were impatient. Finally my wife pulled up with the truck and trailer. Now let me tell you, my wife has a commercial driver license and I have seen her drive massive RV's, horse trailers and travel trailer with ease. However, this tiny little single axle trailer confounded her. Multiple attempts to back down the ramp resulted in jackknifing of the trailer. Finally a passerby just lifted up the trailer and set it straight. Hot, furious and short tempered I drug the boat to the trailer and began winching it on. Naturally about midway on the trailer the winch strap snapped. Despite seeing red, I kept my cool and with herculean effort I yanked the boat the rest of the way on the trailer.

My muscles screamed and back moaned as I lept into the truck and pulled out of the launch, trucks lining up waiting to get in the water. A horrible screech sounded.....I had forgot to put the outboard up, grinding the new prop into oblivion! The ride home was tense, to say the least!

When I got home I was determined to salvage the day. I jumped on the tractor to take out my fury on the weeds and briars that had accumulated. I was happily chopping them away when I felt a jolt, heard a clang and felt liquid raining down on me! I lept off the tractor to discover that I had mowed over our well head!

This time I let loose the cannons! A blue stream of epithets covered the countryside as rain fell. Soon the cool water drops were replaced by a harsh stab of pain. Then another and another! That's when I became aware that I had parked on top of a hornets nest!

The moral of this story is boats are nothing but trouble!
 
   / OOPS or Why you should always look for debris before mowing AKA Lawnmower carnage!
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Stihlrunner, its official, you win the "Worse Day Ever" prize for the above post :thumbsup:
 
 
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