The real hazards of bush hogging blind in hilly country!

[kapper]

Here is a recent video that I made of a VERY near tipping incident I had a few days ago. I have plenty of experience, not rookie error, but this stuff happens real fast
especially when you are bush hogging new ground. Thanks.

 

[Diggin It]

Perhaps it was being distracted by making a veedeeooo that almost caused the problem? Perhaps if people would concentrate on the task at hand?

 

[Industrial Toys]

Don't work in unfamiliar terrain. Do a careful walkabout, looking for hazzards. Maybe some people don't want to get off their tractor. Laziness??

 

[ptsg]

Don't work in unfamiliar terrain. Do a careful walkabout, looking for hazzards. Maybe some people don't want to get off their tractor. Laziness??

Some times it's simply not possible to walk-around on unknown terrain. Yet, the job still need to get done.

In this case in particular, there was a hidden 6 ft diameter well. Fortunately, it was closed with a cement lid and I was aware of its existence, just didn't knew the exact position. It's common to find open wells hidden in the brush.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Or sometimes you don't look for something you don't expect to be there. I crumpled my stairs on a stump that was obscured by weeds. But, that's exactly why you should!

The best thing in some circumstances is to have a spotter walking in front of you.

 

[Atchuuu]

Don't work in unfamiliar terrain. Do a careful walkabout, looking for hazzards. Maybe some people don't want to get off their tractor. Laziness??

So the commercial contractor who is clearing 17 acres of land should walk it all first? In a grid pattern or what? Not practical and not laziness.

I have seen the county tractors run into this very same issue, even without video recording, and wouldn't expect them to walk every street in the county.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Then people can't complain when they run into trouble. Isn't there a saying, that no job has priority over safety. Guess you don't do a job site safety meeting either.

If you have worked ground before, it's obviously not as important. But it is a matter of scope. Loggers that might work in very rugged terrain regularly, and have the equipment to deal with it, is a different case then some guy heading out in his first tractor.

Funny though, having watched thousands of Machinery FAIL videos, how apparent it is what an operator will do with a machine that isn't his and doesn't have to pay for.

 

[MossRoad]

Here is a recent video that I made of a VERY near tipping incident I had a few days ago. I have plenty of experience, not rookie error, but this stuff happens real fast
especially when you are bush hogging new ground. Thanks.

Glad you got out of it. I appreciate the video documentation. It's often not possible to walk every inch of land before cutting it, and often there are hidden hazards that weren't there the last time, like washed out ruts, tree limbs, rocks that have rolled down a hill, highway debris, etc... so low and slow are the words of the day. I go into some weeds that are 14' tall and so thick you can't physically walk through them. My brush cutter is on the FEL arms, so that's a plus in that it will fall into anything before the tractor and I'd have time to stop. We have a creek running through the property, and it's banks change annually. 6' drop. I stay away from that on the parallel, and only approach it on the perpendicular with the brush cutter out front. So when I break through the weeds, the cutter gets there and I can stop the tractor 4' from the bank.

Good luck with your future cutting plans. Be safe.

 

[MossRoad]

Or sometimes you don't look for something you don't expect to be there. I crumpled my stairs on a stump that was obscured by weeds. But, that's exactly why you should!

The best thing in some circumstances is to have a spotter walking in front of you.

No one is allowed within 300' of my machine when the cutter is running and I cut in places humans can't walk.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I was thinking more about rear mounted mowers. True, I would not do it with a front mount. But I would still inspect the site beforehand.