Dumbest Thing you have done with your tractor

[vulcancowboy]

Right way... "I need a little weight on the front end here, but you'll have to do."

Now that right there is smooth!

 

[WillysWoodPile]

--)> I tried to cross a drainage ditch one time when I was a teen in our Ford 7700. It looked easy enough and as I eased it into the ditch I realized that there was more than two feet of muck under what looked like an easily crossable ditch. I walked back to the farm and got my uncle and we brought the 4320 down: And when he saw the angle that the tractor was on [almost straight down] he chewed me out but good....said I could have been killed. That was one situation that I actually learned a couple of lessons on [and remembered them]; 1. That tractors are not invincible. 2. Realizing that death could have happened really "awakens" one to actually learning how to safely use farm equipment.

 

[Toddao]

Was wondering why the front wheels were. Off the ground when I was driving into the garage . Forgot to lower the ROPS house still standing but the trim over the garage door needs repair

 

[KRBrouwer]

Last week I was taking the loader off my B7800. I got flustered (the boss was talking to me) and managed to drop the crossbar of the loader across the hood of the tractor making a big crease in the hood. It was one of the dumbest things I have ever done.

What dumb things have you done with / to your tractor?

When I got my new flail mower (offset about 1 foot to the right), I removed the trim from the door on my metal barn. The door was plenty wide (12 foot), but I drove it in like I normally did to fill up the tank. Was stopped very suddenly when it went through the trim and contacted the main beam. I left the trim up as a reminder.

Ken

 

[dnels0n]

My dumb ain't to dumb, but hey, I am a rookie, so its early yet.
I wanted to remove a dogwood, so I cut it off about 5 feet up, cut a few roots out a ways then started pushing with the loader blade. When it started to give I pushed more and road the front of tractor up a bit as it went on over. When I let the tractor back down one of the roots I had cut speared up through the front grill from the bottom. I held my breath waiting for a rush of hot steamy fluid, but it was only the grill that was damaged.:confused2:

Don.

 

[JDgreen227]

I used to work around heavy trucks and forklifts etc for a living so learned to be really careful of large moving objects starting at the age of 20. Dumbest thing I ever did with my tractor was remove the loader one time on soft, uneven ground, when I tried to reinstall it I got in a hurry and managed to drive too far ahead, the mounting masts for the loader ended up on the rubber covered footrests behind the loader mount brackets on the tractor. I ended up jacking the loader up on both sides so I could slowly reverse the tractor and back away from the loader. I had it screwed up so bad I couldn't even use the lift arms to raise the loader because the front mount was in a location it couldn't develop enough lifting force.

Last time I will EVER demount a loader on soft ground or hurry with reinstalling it.

 

[jenrow33]

The first week I had my first tractor living at my first home for less than 1 month I was plowing snow with the QA snow plow outfitted onto the loader and got a bit too close to the house when backing up and turning. Took off some siding and damaged the exterior wall of the corner of my house! Luckily it was on the corner and only the exterior, and was repaired rather easily. That was one of those moments when you learn something you already knew all over again and never make that mistake more than once!

 

[Runner]

Just did it. Tried to re-attach my loader but forgot to remove my front quick hitch. Bent the parking stand (JD 2520/200CX). $225.

 

[BethesdaEC]

Just did it. Tried to re-attach my loader but forgot to remove my front quick hitch. Bent the parking stand (JD 2520/200CX). $225.

I did that too. I used a car jack to bend it back. Here is my solution to the problem. I painted the quick hitch John Deere Yellow so it's visible, that black hitch just blends right in.

 

[Runner]

"I did that too. I used a car jack to bend it back. Here is my solution to the problem. I painted the quick hitch John Deere Yellow so it's visible, that black hitch just blends right in."

I probably need to go with dayglow orange on mine, and maybe some flashing lights. Sometimes I wonder about myself.....

How hard was it to replace? Looks like you just pull the two lower pins and squeeze it together a little to get the rear mounts out of the towers. Or, do you have to take the towers completely off?

 

[GGB]

I didn't do this, but have heard of this sort of event several times over the years. Let me apologize in advance if the following has already been submitted.

Seems that more than one fella has forgotten he had an offset small square baler behind the tractor when going across bridges. Apparently the bridges always win! Ouch!!! Maybe that's one reason the new large round/square balers are so popular.

Don't want to be reminded of my own "learning" experiences....some still hurt just thinking about them!

GGB

 

[reichebrown]

I have two...
1- Was helping my fatherinlaw try to cut a trail down a bank. In stead of using the backhoe i was trying to do it with the FEL. The ground was soft and greasy and I just about lost in done the bank. I couldnt pull it out with the backhoe. We tried to pull it out with a comealong and anded up having the cable come off the hook. Then we attached the come along to the middle of the tractor and attached it to a tree and drove pivoting around the tree.

2 - I was doing some pond repair and needed some clay. I picked up a scoop of clay with the FEL and went to lift it. The bucket never left the ground... the front axle just went down into the mud. It took some fancy FEL/Backhoe work to get it out...

 

[BethesdaEC]

"How hard was it to replace? Looks like you just pull the two lower pins and squeeze it together a little to get the rear mounts out of the towers. Or, do you have to take the towers completely off?

When you leave the quick hitch on it bends the kick stand on the loader so that it hangs down to low and rubs the tires when turning. I just put the jack under the kick stand while it was on the tractor and jacked away.

 

[Andy in Gap]

I almost put weed killer in my diesel can the other day. Had just filled the can and brought it home. Went to get my white bottle of Power Service out of the cabinet and started to pour. In my haste, I had grabbed a white bottle of generic glyphosate herbicide. Not sure what it may have done to my engine, filters, etc. Glad I read the bottle before any actual mixing was done.

 

[firefighter jim]

I finally was able to get out last night & clear out our driveway. I built on the windiest place on the planet and deal with some nasty drifts. I was using my rear mount blower last night. The wind was still up, I lost my bearings and backed the blower into one of the beautiful Cleveland Select Pear trees I planted. Split the poor thing in half. It broke my heart. As luck would have it the wind and snow stopped so it's very obvious what I did. Forgot to mention it happened directly in front of the front door

Those Cleveland Pears are beautiful trees................bummer........

 

[tulenutn2o]

Letting my son operate it. Now I rarely get to drive/use it unless he's in school!:laughing:

 

[jimmer2880]

My dumb ain't to dumb, but hey, I am a rookie, so its early yet.
I wanted to remove a dogwood, so I cut it off about 5 feet up, cut a few roots out a ways then started pushing with the loader blade. When it started to give I pushed more and road the front of tractor up a bit as it went on over. When I let the tractor back down one of the roots I had cut speared up through the front grill from the bottom. I held my breath waiting for a rush of hot steamy fluid, but it was only the grill that was damaged.:confused2:

Don.

I did that once. Only, the roots caught and snapped the tie-rod. No big deal - I just took it off, grinded it down real good and welded it back together. Looked like that particular mishap never happened. I was expecting the weld to not hold up very long, but it's held up for another 15 years, so I guess it's going to be ok.