Brush hog incident.

hosejockey2002 · Apr 8, 2004

DKinWA,

I bought my brush hog for my business too, and I've learned to not mow anything that can't be walked through. I tear out blackberries with my FEL. I really don't like brushhogging much anyway, it seems like my customers tell me, "oh, no, there are no rocks in MY field", and it turns out to be more like a rock quarry than a field. I did install a chain guard and so far nothing has flown very far from the mower.

Tom_W · Apr 19, 2004

I have to relate a story. We had a mobark 1200 tub grinder grinding up a big pile of brush. We heard a big bang and saw something fly out and out of site. A few seconds later we saw something land a good ways away. We shut down and went to see what it was. 1/2" steel plate 18" square! It flew 85 yards from the tub grinder! Can you imagine being on the recieving end of that? One of the 3/4"x8" bolts that hold the hammers in went in the other direction, over a 60' high building and landed in a parking lot. It was so hot it was blue. Couldn't touch it till we soaked it with water.

NIXON · Apr 19, 2004

DK .
While my tale isn't a scarey as yours or the others , I got a valuable lesson Sunday . I was hogging my property next to a road . I'd walked it for trash . Anyway while I was mowing a piece of rock flew forward hit a tree and the rebounded into my forhead ! Thankfully it was at low velocity when it hit !!!
I have chains on my BH that I thought would stop flying objects . Apparently they just slow them down ! From now on it's safety glasses at a minimum ,and great care to make sure there's no traffic on the road . John

KiotiJohn · Apr 20, 2004

( DK .
While my tale isn't a scarey as yours or the others , I got a valuable lesson Sunday . I was hogging my property next to a road . I'd walked it for trash . Anyway while I was mowing a piece of rock flew forward hit a tree and the rebounded into my forhead ! Thankfully it was at low velocity when it hit !!!
I have chains on my BH that I thought would stop flying objects . Apparently they just slow them down ! From now on it's safety glasses at a minimum ,and great care to make sure there's no traffic on the road . John )
Hey John, that's exactly why I wear a bump cap and safety glasses when I'm hogging or when I'm doing work in the woods. I had been bashed in the head by tree limbs I don't know how many times before I got wise to use the bump cap. My brother was making fun of me using all the safety equipment, but at least I'm still around so that he can! thanks for the comments. John

Slamfire · Apr 20, 2004

The dozer man who cleared my lot, had a mentally challenged helper. I wondered about the expense, thinking maybe this was a family member.
No, this fellow's father had the same thing happen to him while operating the dozer, a stick puncturing his body. He died out there in the woods all alone.
The son has somebody he can trust to call for help, who wouldn't otherwise be employable in many jobs, and is more'n happy to have any kind of work.

NIXON · Apr 21, 2004

Hey John, that's exactly why I wear a bump cap and safety glasses when I'm hogging or when I'm doing work in the woods. I had been bashed in the head by tree limbs I don't know how many times before I got wise to use the bump cap.

Kioti John . Good advice ! I'm going to get a helmet . Another thing I've learned is to wear a fairly heavy long sleeved shirt and light gloves . We have Multi Flora Rose up this way (Jaggers Bushes ) . It seems as if they come alive when you get near them . While they aren't lethal , they can be sort of painful . John

KiotiJohn · Apr 22, 2004

( We have Multi Flora Rose up this way (Jaggers Bushes ) . It seems as if they come alive when you get near them . While they aren't lethal , they can be sort of painful ) I keep hearing about those on here (TBN), but not sure of what they look like. We have blackberries, sometimes with thorns 1/4 to 1/2" long and they, too, seem to come alive when you get near them. When I recently went to my Mom's raw property up in Georgia, the place had been overrun with them. Even with leather inserted gloves, I came home with about 10 thorns in my hands. The bump cap looks like a hard hat, but is not as sturdy. I bought it at a discount salvage house for about $3. One of the best investments I've EVER made. Got to buy some more protective eyewear though as I dropped them the other day and the back tire hit them before I could stop. Slightly crushed, shall we say? John

Gatorboy · Apr 22, 2004

( I keep hearing about those (multiflora rose) on here (TBN), but not sure of what they look like. )

I don't have any closeup shots of it, but here is a shot of some before I cut it down with my mower. This stuff grows fast, and grabs onto any other bush, tree and grows up into it. I do not have much luck with Roundup on them -- it seems that each vine has it's own root center, so you have to really spray the heck out of it all over the bush, not just parts of it like most things you try and kill. Mowing them down has been my best defense.

Afterwards, you can still see another bush just past the posts that are still standing on the right.

Maybe I'll take a closeup shot this weekend, or someone else can post a better photo for ya.

Currmudgeon · Apr 22, 2004

All this is making me kinda happy I haven't got a rotary cutter. My property is too rough for one, anyway, it had some tractor flipping holes and mounds that had to be leveled with the bucket before could even get through with the machine. Then there's the junk. I found two 15 foot steel ladders, a hunk of 8-inch Schedule 120 pipe (looks like a cannon barrel) Railroad rail, wads of bob-wahr. Rusted electric motors. Mower eating metal.

It wouldn't be so bad if the previous owner had put the stuff all in one place, but he scattered it and even buried some.

I've got a junk farm, and had a bumper crop last year.