rich_ncal
Gold Member
Thanksgiving was a working day trimming the trees around at Grandma's house. Her adult family and a few friends helping, with some of us taking turns dragging the limbs from the trees to a back pasture using a four-finger grapple hook and yard tractor. On each trip after securing the hook into a pile of limbs, a loop in the rope was slipped over a tow ball on the back of the yard tractor. Then the piles of limbs were dragged away.
On one trip after pulling a pile of limbs, I left the grapple hook below my leg on the floorboard of the tractor with the rope still around the tow ball on the back on the tractor. The rope was strung from the tow ball to the floorboard near the tractor seat on the right rear fender.
On the way back with the tractor running at speed, the rope slipped into the back tire and the grapple hook went off the side of the tractor toward the wheel. I stopped quickly. Looking around after stopping I noticed the backside of my pants by my right calf had been ripped apart by hook. Luckily I didn't grapple my leg.
I told many of the others there that day about this and showed them my ripped pants. Later in the day, I saw Grandma riding the tractor with the rope and grapple hook in the same position that nearly hooked me. I pointed this out to someone who quickly ran out and stopped Grandma.
We did a great deal of work at Grandma's house, eight large trees were trimmed. A few of us have a few cuts and bruises. There was minor damage to one of the sheds near one of the trees. But noone was injured.
Be careful with ropes tied to a tractor, they can catch in the tires or other moving equipment attached to the tractor.
On one trip after pulling a pile of limbs, I left the grapple hook below my leg on the floorboard of the tractor with the rope still around the tow ball on the back on the tractor. The rope was strung from the tow ball to the floorboard near the tractor seat on the right rear fender.
On the way back with the tractor running at speed, the rope slipped into the back tire and the grapple hook went off the side of the tractor toward the wheel. I stopped quickly. Looking around after stopping I noticed the backside of my pants by my right calf had been ripped apart by hook. Luckily I didn't grapple my leg.
I told many of the others there that day about this and showed them my ripped pants. Later in the day, I saw Grandma riding the tractor with the rope and grapple hook in the same position that nearly hooked me. I pointed this out to someone who quickly ran out and stopped Grandma.
We did a great deal of work at Grandma's house, eight large trees were trimmed. A few of us have a few cuts and bruises. There was minor damage to one of the sheds near one of the trees. But noone was injured.
Be careful with ropes tied to a tractor, they can catch in the tires or other moving equipment attached to the tractor.
