Wierd things that have happened

[compact]

A thread for who’ da thunkit mishaps. My contribution for today: driving on lawn, suddenly a maple branch comes wheeling around my right foot and pins my foot down hard (!) against the go pedal, just as I am negotating a slow turn around the mini-ex. I could NOT lift my toe! Ended up pulling my foot in a sort of panicky way which stopped the tractor. Untangled the branch (which I had not even noticed) and went on. Later I tried to re-enact using the evil branch and the picture is something close, though The branch had been broken during removal. I am still not exactly sure how it managed to do what it did.

 

[oosik]

About ten years ago - had a smaller tractor then - Ford 1710. Out and about on the property - pulling a three pronged scarifier - creating a trail. Heard a mighty crash behind me - about twenty feet behind me and right across my "ripped trail" - - a 105 foot tall Ponderosa pine decided it was time to fall. The butt cut on the beast was 37 inches in diameter. I would have looked like a piss ant under asphalt roller had conditions been just slightly different.

There was no doubt - I knew the tree was dead but had no idea the root system was, obviously, completely rotted out.

 

[Xfaxman]

Last summer I was mowing some brush and willow trees up to 1 inch diameter. Finished the area and drove ti the barn. Went to close the door and saw drops of oil behind it. Walked around to the right side, saw a stick jammed up against the side of the engine and no dipstick!

Drove the UTV back to where I mowed, but never found the dipstick.

A Picture from eBay shows the dipstick:

And this is my machine:

 

[Creamer]

Last fall I was cutting down a 20' tall ash stump that was about 30" diameter. I finished cutting it and had backed up away from it to let it fall. When it hit it landed on some branches that had been lying there and the leveraged another branch which came right up between my legs and tapped me you know where. Not enough to hurt but another inch of leverage would have been very painful.

 

[k0ua]

A thread for who da thunkit mishaps. My contribution for today: driving on lawn, suddenly a maple branch comes wheeling around my right foot and pins my foot down hard (!) against the go pedal, just as I am negotating a slow turn around the mini-ex. I could NOT lift my toe! Ended up pulling my foot in a sort of panicky way which stopped the tractor. Untangled the branch (which I had not even noticed) and went on. Later I tried to re-enact using the evil branch and the picture is something close, though The branch had been broken during removal. I am still not exactly sure how it managed to do what it did.

Tree branches are hateful. I have had them operate my old Kubota's FEL joystick when I didn't want it operated. On an L3400 it kinda stick up there in the air where branches can grab it, and they love to.

 

[tree farmer]

It seems like the first pass of the year around my place with the brush hog, a tree limb will reach out and throw my hat under the mower. No need to stop and try to retrieve it at that point....Dan.

 

[4570Man]

Safety tip I learned from a buddy. Never work in the brush with a track hoe over the back side of the tracks. If a stick comes in the cab and hits the levers it’s going to drive you into the tree. If it’s working off the “right” end it’s going to back away from the stick hitting the levers.

 

[oosik]

Xfaxman - I know you have done something about your lost dipstick already. I have a similar problem - loosing parts, nuts, bolts, washers, etc, etc in the grass when performing maintenance. It got to be a REAL PITA for me. A lot of the lost stuff was "special stuff" and required a trip to the Kubota dealer - 60 miles, round trip.

About fifteen years ago - I'd HAD IT. I bought a cheap White metal detector and now the lost stuff can be easily found.

Laugh, laugh - since this was originally a homestead - - I also find enough big 'ol nails to sink the Queen Mary. I don't think the old homesteader ever had a problem that a handful of big nails couldn't fix.

 

[CobyRupert]

Yep, driving over sticks is like a lot of things (example: running a chain saw or a wood splitter, or throwing firewood into the back of your pickup): If you're really careful and do it correctly, you can be safe and without incident 99.999% of the time! :cool2: That's a really great number! ....unless you're doing it a million times, and then ......

 

[Ford850]

A few years ago I found a bolt in the center of my concrete driveway. It was unusual looking, fine thread and markings on the head that seemed familiar but not common. Nice and shiny, obviously a quality product, I set it aside for a few days looking at it occasionally. It finally dawned on me, the head markings were similar to some I'd seen on my Grasshopper diesel mower. That mower was approximately 8 years old, and mowed roughly 4 - 6 acres weekly, but I rarely crossed the concrete drive. It took quite a bit of research to find the actual bolt dimensions and then trace it using parts lists to the possible locations on the mower. Turns out it was the most concealed engine mount bolt from the Kubota engine, not visible and only detectable by feel. No doubt it was not torqued properly due to it's location. I did check the rest of the bolts after that too. But what are the odds of it falling out on the concrete driveway in clear view after hundreds of hours of mowing lawn?