Why we wish we all could afford cab tractors

[Kyle_in_Tex]

CowboyDoc sparked my memory about two seperate incidents that happened a few years back.
My buddy and I were at his family's business outside of Victoria Texas and a fellow was doing some brush hogging next door. Next thing you know the fellow came running up yelling BEEEEES, We ran inside and slammed the door to a swarm of killer bees. We swatted about 20 off this guy as we watched thousands of them trying to get at us behind the glass door. Called his wife and sent him to the hospital for a benedryl shot. They kept him overnight for observation.
Which leads me to the other incident, very similar, only the guy had no place to hide so he got on the road in top gear. Said the bees chased him for miles at about 20-22 MPH
He used his hat to try and keep them at bay whilst trying to stay on the road. Down here in the south, those killer bees can be downright pesky. I've always figured to make a "beeline" for our pond if I come across them.

My other buddy has his "shredding" tractor(he has 4) Ford 2000 set up with the governor rigged so he can do 30 MPH just in case...hahaha

Maybe someday I can get a cab tractor, until then, I may have to go jump in a lake....Kyle

 

[Soundguy]

I guess if I ever get stuck in that situation.. and can't outrun something.. I might as well see if my fire extinguisher does any good.. guess it couldn't hurt? I guess if the bees got me anyway and the tractor crashed.. they would find my 'unburned corpes' /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif.. would make it a tad easier to identify i guess.....

Soundguy

 

[Slamfire]

Well I mowed into a patch of yellow jackets once, I guess the only thing that saved me was there wasn't nigh as many of them pesky little critters. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[EddieWalker]

I keep getting attacked by red leg wasps. Just got hit in the side of my face the other day. I keep a can of Bengal Wasp spray to fight them off. I don't know if it will work on a beed hive though.

 

[cowboydoc]

We had a friend that was digging a waterline in Idaho. He was in a cab backhoe. All of a sudden he had what he thought were little worms crawling all over his hoe. Then he heard a thud down by his left window and a rattler had just struck at his window. He had dug into a big old den or rattlers!!! Without that cab he would have been dead. He said there were so many snakes he couldn't count them. He got out of there and they came back and killed as many as they could get with the guns and then threw a bunch of gas down in the den and burned them all.

 

[CountryBoy]

A neighbor boy was raking hay and found a swarm of bees and jumped from the tractor,the tractor was still running and his dad ran and got on the tractor and he was the one who got stung. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif I guess his lucky that is all that happened.

 

[Pks]

I wonder if a fire extinguisher could be filled with malithyon? Or maybe just a CO2 extinguisher would be enough to buy a person some time.

 

[slowrev]

CO2 extinguisher will help to keep them at bay. Not sure if it will kill them or not though. Cools the little buggers down and they can't fly too well. Also I think they may see in the infrared spectrum some and the cool CO2 confuses them. Starting fluid works well but you might go up in flames /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Dry chemical... well not sure if it will work or not but if I were getting swarmed and it was all I had I would try it /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[dancce]

My question is---are you sure you can maintain the presence of mind (keep your cool), if you are being attacked and stung by a multitude of these little pests?
I thought I could. Having cut raked and baled hay and hit ground dwelling bumble-bees nests, while operating on an open tractor, I always maintained my composure and held completely still while getting the hell out of their area, without getting stung---MUCH.
However, about three years ago, I was picking up round bales with the rear spear on an open tractor. One bale had been evidently been dumped on top of a very large bumble-bee nest, and when I picked it up they came out and immediately attacked me--as in [censored] stinging type attack. I instinctively did the wrong thing in trying to excape the attack--Jumped off the tractor and started running.(I did try to kill the tractor before exiting--pulled the diesel kill switch completely out of the tractor dash--which resulted in not shutting the tractor off at all.)
To make an already long story short---my wife--an RN -- counted 34 stings on me--gave me some Benadryl pills which worked.
I discovered that I had a high tolerance for bee stings--(not allergic to them).
The bruise I had on my thigh from hitting the tractor steering wheel during my hasty exit hurt worse than the bee stings.

Moral of story---don't be so sure you can keep your cool and do the correct thing when you are in the process of being stung repeatedly by a swarm of angry bees.

dancce

PS: Yes a cab tractor is really nice--I now use one exclusively!

 

[Soundguy]

While cutitng down trees for a road job, we knocked down a tree with a behive the size of a watermellon.. it exploded and bees and us went everywhere. I was one of the guys with the chainsaw.. I did have the presence of mind to turn the saw off and set it down..albiet fast though, and then run like the wind.

I got hit 5 times... was lucky i figure. But each situation is different. who knows...

Soundguy