I'm an idiot

DavidInNH · Jul 18, 2002

Re: I\'m an idiot

The dealer left a Toro ZTR at my house for demo. I came home from work, made a couple of laps around the front yard and decided to try my skills by trimming up to a flower bed. There was a slight downhill slope and my reflexes did all the wrong things. I ended up running over the top of a 12" stone wall and taking a chunk out of the granite cap and then cutting a big forsythia bush down. It destroyed both blades and scared the you-what out of me. I HAD to tell the dealer. He was gracious enough to pick it up and leave a different model. I ended up buying the original, but now whenever I go into the dealer, they manage to ask if I've run over any stone walls lately./w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

tdenny · Jul 18, 2002

Re: I\'m an idiot

I chopped off a PVC check point for the septic with my brush hog. At least now it's capped at groud level until the next time I run it over. Had I not let the weeds, grass, etc get so tall I might not have had the problem./w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Taylortractornut · Jul 18, 2002

Re: I\'m an idiot

WHen i was 13 dad told me i was old enought to start to operate construction equipment by myself well one day hed brought home a 580 Case backhoe from work. He had some little something to do and he told me i was gonna start on it. Well he put me to working down a row of old plum trees and at the end was our almost new cable dish that quit working so when i backed out i turned opposite of the sattelite forgetting that i still had the hoe behind me. What was fun was the time trying to straighten it.
Another time was i had welded a new bracket to my trailer when i was 18. I was taking it to a job and when i got the i had my ground clamp and ten feet of ground cable draggin behind me.

Gary_in_Indiana · Jul 18, 2002

Re: I\'m an idiot

Speaking of dragging things, I actually saw a guy pull away from a filling station with the nozzle still in his fill pipe. I was amazed to see the entire pump drag behind him. The good news was there was no ensuing fire.

bgott · Jul 18, 2002

Re: I\'m an idiot

That's why the powers that be require breakaway connectors in the hoses now.

karmakanic · Jul 19, 2002

Re: I\'m an idiot

Ok, so this is not a CUT pic, but it's definitely a "I am an idiot pic"

That's me with the cup of coffee the morning after. My good friend Gary has come over to add moral support.

Even with the weekend rental of a Case 580 TLB to dig her out, still had to chain crossties to the tracks to get free from the mud's grip.

Dave Perry aka karma-kanic

Trev · Jul 19, 2002

Re: I\'m an idiot

That's me with the cup of coffee the morning after. My good friend Gary has come over to add moral support.

I'm surprised you didn't need one of those big Army helicopters to pull you out of that one!! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Hoosier_Daddy · Jul 19, 2002

Re: I\'m an idiot

The stuck dozer brings back a memory.. Back in 69 at the experienced age of 18 I took a short cut to the helo pad in Nam with a dozer. Went too close to the river's edge and down she went. Problem is the river is controlled by the tide in the Delta and as the water came up in the evening it just kept going deeper and deeper. That is where I learned about the suction water and sand can have on something stuck. They got it out with a tank retreiver as the Chief pointed out to me the stenciling on the side of the dozer that said "this equipment cost: $$$$.00." About a month later a new kid did the same thing only it was softer sand this time. That time I was able to act more experienced and say: "you shouldn't have gone that way"......... Tom

Trev · Jul 19, 2002

Re: I\'m an idiot

They got it out with a tank retreiver...

What's a tank retreiver? Is that the big helicopter?

MikePA · Jul 19, 2002

Re: I\'m an idiot

What's a tank retreiver?

Here's a <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.usmctanker.com/lemon/lemon1.htm>link</A> to a tank retriever in action.

Is that the big helicopter? 

I'm not sure I'd want to be in a helicopter, no matter how big it was, as it strained to both lift a tank and break the suction of the surrounding mud. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

The tank retrievers I've heard of are typically like the ones in the aforementioned link. Usually they're used to retrieve damaged tanks from a battlefield, pull them to a safe area where they can be repaired. And, as has been mentioned, pull stuck tanks or bulldozers. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif