How does this happen?

[Champy]

The other day my 15 yr old son and I dug up a 12' cedar tree to transplant onto our hedgerow. He drove the tractor; dug up the cedar; then lined up the FEL (while blinded by the tree in the bucket); and carefully loaded it into the back of my pickup truck for the trip into town. No issues....nice job (proud father).

Last night he goes to back my truck out of the garage, and drives straight forward into the house!!!!! Crushed some steel shelves; dented the front bumper; stuff scattered everywhere. OMG!!! He says he missed "R" and went straight to "D" by mistake....Bad job (angry father)

How can he do so well running the JD990 and then do this @$*^% to my truck??? Maybe he was playing with the radio or something. It scared the dookey outta him, so perhaps he'll be more cautious now.

 

[riptides]

More seat time on the tractor than in the car?

-Mike Z.

 

[RonMar]

Gotta love teenagers. Invincibility syndrom? No bad experiences to learn from yet? Just be glad it was only some crushed shelvs and minor damage with no injuries... Maybe he will realize that YES, it can happen to him, and that little missed detail can bite faster than he ever dreamt possible...

 

[MrJimi]

Maybe he thought D meant Demolish
sorry about that

 

[Champy]

Maybe he thought D meant Demolish
sorry about that

LOL....thanks MrJimi.........tonight in order to improve his truck "skills" - and also to show him that I trust him, I am going to ask him to practice backing the truck out. Hopefully no more demolition derby results.

 

[MrJimi]

Make sure he watches the mirrors don't catch side of building or the front bumper if he swings it around
he has a great teacher

 

[Runner]

I always wonder about those kinds of things too...then, I go out and do something stupid myself (like trying to back out of the shop with the garage door only partway up and catching the rops on it).

Then, it all comes back to me.

 

[texasjohn]

Well... now, if you teach him to back into the garage, two useful things will happen...he'll learn how to back into tight spaces using the mirrors, and, when he heads out... it'll only be the garage door that he hits Seems to me that it would be best if we could choose the "learning experiences" that our kids have so we could select those that achieve the objective at minimal cost... sure wish it worked that way!

Glad he and you and rest of the family are Ok... bricks and mortor and shelves can be fixed.

 

[Bird]

When I was his age, I heard that the "R" meant "Race".

 

[peterc38]

LOL....thanks MrJimi.........tonight in order to improve his truck "skills" - and also to show him that I trust him, I am going to ask him to practice backing the truck out. Hopefully no more demolition derby results.

I think what you are doing is cool. He needs to know that you still trust him. It takes patience. If that is the worst thing he ever does, count yourself lucky.

 

[jbrumberg]

Champy:

Having worked with "challenged" adolescents for many years IMHO a 15 year old is not as "hard wired" as a 17/18 year old. All these age groups are highly distractable; 15 y.o.'s more so. The complexity of tractor operation (relative to the truck) helped your son stay focused on the tractor work. Showing your son trust is very important. It sounds like you have a good kid . I can only think back to all my "bone headed manuevers" in the past as well as the present . Jay

 

[em14]

I learned about careful backing at 16yrs old when I back our old International pick-up with a 12' 2x4 stick out of the bed into a business parking space and stuck the 2x4 through the plate glass window! My Dad went into orbit but actually quickly clamed down! I never forgot that experience … I know how you son must feel ...
Leo

 

[Champy]

Today's update:

Last night when I got home from work I told Daniel I wanted him to sweep out the garage. Threw him the keys to the truck and said "back it out Doc". After that he pulled the truck in and parked it. I then asked him to clean out the truck bed....better pull the truck out again. Once again did the job and pulled the truck back in. Gee Doc, don't those windows look dirty? Better back the truck outside so we can clean them properly.......

So after 3-4 times of pulling the truck in/out for each task he was back on good terms with the GMC...and no casualties.

P.S. - I've started calling him 'Doc' around the house to remind him that he needs to pay attention regarding DR on the shift indicator.

 

[greggh]

Well it seems as if you are doing the right thing. Congrats on keeping your cool through this.

Backing a vehicle is not my strong suit. If it involves a trailer, I may as well forget it.

 

[AlanB]

Don't you love it

As you already know, Daniel has our utmost respect already, and unfortunately things like this occasionally happen. It is how they handle the results that count, and I am certain he handled it fine by telling you what happened.

I know around our house, I have a hard time communicating the difference between that I am mad at "them" and often I am more scared at what could have happened to "them" by the boneheaded moves they sometimes make.

Really glad nobody was hurt, my buddy Mike was on the side of the road one day having just wrecked his "special edition" Ford Truck. Dang near in tears as his dad drove by on the way to work. Dick stops, looks at his son, says, "they make more of those every day but there is only one you, we can buy another truck" I usually remember those words when I am upset about something getting broken or destroyed.

We need to visit up, or you guys need to visit down sometime.

 

[daTeacha]

When my daughter was a neophyte driver she started the stick shift truck in garage but forgot to put the clutch in. Being as it is left in gear when parked, the trucked lurched forward and moved the wall a bit into the utility room.

Time for a lesson: First thing, she was scared to death of what I would say, so I let silence rule for a few minutes while she sweated. Then I said 'let's fix it', and got a block of wood and sledge hammer. I held the wood and she hit it until the wall was back in place -- it's not a supporting wall, no pipes or stuff in it, easy to do.

Next, I had her remove the bumper from the truck and straighten it out (with direction and assistance from Dad) then paint it and put it back on. She learned some stuff about tools and responsibility for your own actions from it.

That kid is now a suspension engineer for Ford and the mother of my two oldest grandkids, and BTW the person who enabled me to get my tractor at A-plan pricing -- it's legally hers and she comes to visit it often.

 

[turnkey4099]

When I was his age, I heard that the "R" meant "Race".

Kinda dates me. That was an old joke about a kid learning auto trannies when they first became common.

L - Leave
Dr - Drive reasonable
R - race
(along with Park and Neutral)
Seems there was another spot on the quadrant but I don't recall what it was.

Harry K

 

[pitt_md]

The other day my 15 yr old son and I dug up a 12' cedar tree to transplant onto our hedgerow. He drove the tractor; dug up the cedar; then lined up the FEL (while blinded by the tree in the bucket); and carefully loaded it into the back of my pickup truck for the trip into town. No issues....nice job (proud father).

Last night he goes to back my truck out of the garage, and drives straight forward into the house!!!!! Crushed some steel shelves; dented the front bumper; stuff scattered everywhere. OMG!!! He says he missed "R" and went straight to "D" by mistake....Bad job (angry father)

How can he do so well running the JD990 and then do this @$*^% to my truck??? Maybe he was playing with the radio or something. It scared the dookey outta him, so perhaps he'll be more cautious now.

You can at least be happy that he learned a lesson at low speed.
I let my daughter drive my corvette when she was 16-17 with me in the passenger seat. Driving on a 4 lane road she was about to pass the car in front of her and noticed a car coming up on her left at the last minute. She over corrected and we did a nice 360 going about 60 mph.
nothing got damaged but she never wanted to drove the vette again.

 

[Bird]

Kinda dates me. That was an old joke about a kid learning auto trannies when they first became common.

L - Leave
Dr - Drive reasonable
R - race
(along with Park and Neutral)
Seems there was another spot on the quadrant but I don't recall what it was.

Harry K

Harry, when I was a teenager, I think it was:
L = Leap
D = Drag
R = Race

 

[idaguide]

Couple years ago I'm watching my very competent and cautious son (17) moving cars around in the circular drive so that his Grandma can leave. The last car to move was my pickup. He gets in, stops to do something, I can't tell what, looks back through the rear window and starts backing up.

Of course he has forgotten to shut his door. I can see this and watch in horror...it feels like slow motion...as he shears the door almost off on another bumper in two seconds. Folds it right back on the hinges. He stops, looks over, and drops his forehead onto the steering wheel.

Must say I did really well. Just walked outside as he got out of the truck. He was standing there staring, and turned and looked at me.

All I said was, "I love you a lot." God's Grace IS real. Hahahaha.
g