Dumbest Thing you have done with your tractor

[The Haymaker]

Pink slipped my T2220 against a '68 Mustang GT at the local strip.

 

[dex3361]

I felt honored to be watched over on my way back to the house after a day of tractor adventures back on the hill in the woods. I had made a trail almost all of the way around my property and was working on a stretch that was about 60 years ago a ridge top pasture.

There is a lt of wild cherry trees and a whole bunch of trash trees that have grown up to about 30-40 feet tall and have died. After a while they can be pushed over or they fall in wind storms. Well I am pushing over a bunch of these 8"-12" dead but still standing trees and it is working well. That should have been my first clue to slow down and be careful . I went to pushover a really tall tree and when I eased into it the tree snapped about 15 feet up and it all went slow motion(When it goes into slow motion mode why cant we just step out of the way?). The tree starts straight down and guess where I am, thats correct right under it. For some reason it turned 45 degrees and hit my loader arm and the ROPs and when it broke a piece hit me on the head. I saw stars for a few seconds and assessed the damage to me first and the the Tractor. I had a couple of small dents on the hood and a Knot on my head. I said a prayer of thanks before I went back to work pushing over trees (hey I had the accident out of the way, I was good for the day).

 

[Ken45101]

Well I am pushing over a bunch of these 8"-12" dead but still standing trees and it is working well. That should have been my first clue to slow down and be careful . I went to pushover a really tall tree and when I eased into it the tree snapped about 15 feet up and it all went slow motion(When it goes into slow motion mode why cant we just step out of the way?). The tree starts straight down and guess where I am, thats correct right under it.

Ouch! Thanks for the "heads up", I was just pushing over some trees yesterday for a new trail and I had not thought of that possibility Fortunately, I was using the skid steer which has ROPS/FOPS (Falling object protection system) but I'm sure I could still get hurt.

Trying to turn a skid-steer around on a trailer before unloading, it got away and nose dived into the dirt. Was hung up on the trailer by the tires on the rear and by the bucket in front.

Always best to idle down and move VERY slowly in confined areas Unfortunately, in your situation, skid steers are designed to skid OTOH, I've seen some youtube videos where they actually load/unload skid steers off of flatbed trucks that way. I'll stick (very carefully) to ramps, thank you!


Ken

 

[JimR]

I felt honored to be watched over on my way back to the house after a day of tractor adventures back on the hill in the woods. I had made a trail almost all of the way around my property and was working on a stretch that was about 60 years ago a ridge top pasture.

There is a lt of wild cherry trees and a whole bunch of trash trees that have grown up to about 30-40 feet tall and have died. After a while they can be pushed over or they fall in wind storms. Well I am pushing over a bunch of these 8"-12" dead but still standing trees and it is working well. That should have been my first clue to slow down and be careful . I went to pushover a really tall tree and when I eased into it the tree snapped about 15 feet up and it all went slow motion(When it goes into slow motion mode why cant we just step out of the way?). The tree starts straight down and guess where I am, thats correct right under it. For some reason it turned 45 degrees and hit my loader arm and the ROPs and when it broke a piece hit me on the head. I saw stars for a few seconds and assessed the damage to me first and the the Tractor. I had a couple of small dents on the hood and a Knot on my head. I said a prayer of thanks before I went back to work pushing over trees (hey I had the accident out of the way, I was good for the day).

That is what I call widowmaker trees. You really need to be careful about doing that kind of work

 

[Aqualize]

I've been fortunate, not done anything really dumb.

Got stuck with the tractor (Volvo T230, an old 2wd without differential locking) a few times when I was really young and had to go and ask the neighbor for help. I felt embarrassed and he couldn't resist to gloat.

Sometimes destroyed the lawn that has grown around the barn, so it is not really in the garden but looks nice until it's wet and I try to reverse over the plow furrow from the adjacent field. The tractor has a FEL with a bucket on so the back is quite light and when the front wheels are in the furrow I got stuck. Mind it has R1 agricultural tires so it dag in really good in the lawn.

Another time was while a was helping a farmer with hay harvesting. I was using this tractor, File:Valtra N92 tractor with Valtra 45 front end loader.JPG - Wikimedia Commons
to load hay round bales. The tractor has 14.9R24 R1 type front tires. I was unloading bales with the FEL but had to turn around a lot on a road (that the road owner association had asphalted some time before that) and it was a very hot summer day. I'm not used to driving tractors with power steering and didn't think about what effect it would make to road if one while standing still turned the wheel around a lot...
Luckily the road didn't get to much damage before I noticed the wounds made to it.

 

[radioman]

Interesting thread. Don't pull away from the dock w/out setting the brake. Believe it or not, only thing damaged was a $20 bracket.

WOW ! talk about luck!

 

[tillboy2001]

Dumbest thing? Probably this. I got too close to the pond. We had a big drought and the pond was receding and dried up along the edges. It was hard as a rock in places that used to be wet. The thing is, it went from solid/dry to wet/goo within 2 inches so once my front tire slipped over the edge, I was done. I tried working myself out with the loader and I almost made it...but once the back wheel slipped over it was even worse. Had to call a tow truck to pull it out. Came out really easy and a quick rinse with the hose and it was all better. Sucked though

 

[Soundguy]

reminds me of an old dry lake bed I crossed one time with my NH 1920.. there was a layer of hard crust on top a few inches thick.. you could walk on it and it felt normal.. but once the tractor broke thru.. there was about 2-3' of 'muck' under there... had to get a long tow strap and a truck to yank me out of that one.. and I had 4wd and diffy lock. Ironically.. the only time I've ever been stuck enough to need a pull was in that 4wd tractor.. thus.. I got rid of it... have yet to be stuck in my old 2wd jobs!

soundguy

 

[BigE_]

Dumbest thing? Probably this. I got too close to the pond.

Just did something similar with my 4x4 truck a few weeks ago. Amazing how fast you lose traction.

Not to be a safety police or anything, but I get the willies seeing that tractor at that angle with the ROPS folded down. Yeah, you're still quite a few degrees from going over, but with the right tires sinking lower....

 

[tillboy2001]

Not to be a safety police or anything, but I get the willies seeing that tractor at that angle with the ROPS folded down. Yeah, you're still quite a few degrees from going over, but with the right tires sinking lower....

I know what you mean. It took a few minutes for it to sink over into that position. I don't get crazy or take goofy chances with the ROPS down.