Nearly killed myself

RSKY · Oct 29, 2013

Was on the CK20HST moving around the edges of a field last week. I had been using the bucket to tear limbs off some trees in a fence row. For some reason I left the bucket up about head high. First mistake!

I mowed up to a rather large tree in the fence row that had a bunch of small limbs hanging down nearly to the ground and slowly moved thru them. The tractor started slowing and moving slightly to the right away from the tree. It kept going forward but was straining and I pushed the pedal harder while turning more to the left and looking at the ground to see what was slowing me down. The tractor jerked more to the right and I saw a large limb slipping past the edge of the bucket. I ducked just as the end of the limb broke off and the four to six inch diameter stub slammed into the roll bar. It hit hard enough to jar the little tractor.

Looked like it was about ten feet long and snapped back between six and eight feet.

Brushed the top of my hat.

Scared the shucks out of me.

Don't know what kind of tree it was but limbs that diameter usually do not bend that far, or if they do they splinter. This one came back like a rubber band. It would have hit me about nose high.

That would have hurt greatly.

Or worse.

Be careful and watch what you are doing. When the machine starts acting strange, stop, reverse, and see what the problem is.

RSKY

LJH · Oct 29, 2013

RSKY said:
Was on the CK20HST moving around the edges of a field last week. I had been using the bucket to tear limbs off some trees in a fence row. For some reason I left the bucket up about head high. First mistake!

I mowed up to a rather large tree in the fence row that had a bunch of small limbs hanging down nearly to the ground and slowly moved thru them. The tractor started slowing and moving slightly to the right away from the tree. It kept going forward but was straining and I pushed the pedal harder while turning more to the left and looking at the ground to see what was slowing me down. The tractor jerked more to the right and I saw a large limb slipping past the edge of the bucket. I ducked just as the end of the limb broke off and the four to six inch diameter stub slammed into the roll bar. It hit hard enough to jar the little tractor.

Looked like it was about ten feet long and snapped back between six and eight feet.

Brushed the top of my hat.

Scared the shucks out of me.

Don't know what kind of tree it was but limbs that diameter usually do not bend that far, or if they do they splinter. This one came back like a rubber band. It would have hit me about nose high.

That would have hurt greatly.

Or worse.

Be careful and watch what you are doing. When the machine starts acting strange, stop, reverse, and see what the problem is.

RSKY

I'm going with the "or worse" scenario. Holy crap, glad you dodged that bullet. It's so easy to screw up on these critters - thanks for another reminder to keep my tractor-newbie head outta my ... well, you know. :thumbsup: Did it mess up your bucket arms at all?

Wagtail · Oct 29, 2013

Thanks for posting. Members 'confessing their tractor sins' are always a timely reminder to us all.

Especialy when it's a "near miss".

rekees4300 · Oct 29, 2013

RSKY said:
I ducked just as the end of the limb broke off and the four to six inch diameter stub slammed into the roll bar. It hit hard enough to jar the little tractor.

Glad you avoided the "Widow Maker".

Congrats on having the good sense to have/use a roll bar.

TnAndy · Oct 29, 2013

Rolled a small tractor once running a bush hog.....and still here to tell about it. Member of a rare club.

Cut a large tree once, as it came down, it slapped the top out of a small tree, and that 30' x 8" section slingshot, at about a 120 degree angle from the main tree falling, right back to my tractor....poked a large hole in the fiberglass hood, bent the steering wheel nearly in half, and broke the signal light off one fender along with damage to the fender. Had anyone been sitting in the seat, they would have been killed or seriously injured. Had intentionally pulled the tractor OUT of the line of fall of the main tree.
Never did find the New Holland emblem that popped out of the steering wheel center !

troutsqueezer · Oct 29, 2013

Even with a four post ROPs the branches sometimes sneak in between the posts and slap the heck outta me.

creekbend · Oct 29, 2013

Thanks to the OP for posting. Posts like this, are a reminder that being alert and safety are of the utmost importance when operating our Tractors.

Coyote machine · Oct 29, 2013

Too often for comfort I have found myself backing up while lifting something like fill or worse yet, rocks in my bucket, only to find it now over my head and dangerously close to dumping the bucket load on the tractor or me!

Then, thankfully I'm able to stop, re-access my situation and get focused on the task at hand instead of trying to do too many things too fast. It takes only a millisecond for things to go wrong- so slow down. Time is all we have anyway, so I try to make best use of it alongside being safe and not always rushed.

MossRoad · Oct 29, 2013

My ROPS is in front of the operator. I get slapped often when brush hogging. Gotta be real careful. Also have to watch branches pushing on the FEL joystick. That'll make you wonder why the loader goes higher while you drive forward. Worst one was a bucket full of springy limbs. I was pushing the bucket of branches through the brush when one of the branches in the loader caught a side tree and started pushing against the joystick, which caused the loader to raise, which caused the branch to push more on the joystick and then it became a self-lifting load at that point. Freaks you out until you realize what is happening.