Just About Went Through The Windshield....

[Utopia Texas]

I guess the title of this thread should be "Don't work when you are tired and not paying attention". This last 10 days I have been tearing down a 5,000 foot wood and sheet metal barn and moving pecan harvesting equipment to a new barn some 500 feet away from the old location. I've been using my Boomer 3050 with front bucket and pallet fork grapple to move huge bundles of sawed up wood to a burn pile and 5 foot stacks of sheet tin to a trailer for removal. Yesterday the concrete slab was bare except for a lot of small brush and debris from the take down and I decided to use the bucket to "sweep" the slab clean so that small brush and trees could be removed from the back perimeter. All went well until I made my last pass at the slab on one edge. I was only traveling about 5 mph when I hit a upright at the corner of the slab that was about 8 inches tall and covered with debris....and set in concrete. The tractor went from 5 mph to a dead stop instantly. My stomach went into the steering wheel as I lurched forward and my forehead smashed into the front windshield. I lost consciousness for just a few seconds and had to be taken to the ER for a Cat Scan of my head and neck. This morning I have bruises on my stomach, a huge lump on my forehead and my neck is really sore. Luckily the scan came out negative for blood inside the skull or permanent damage to my neck.
This is pretty embarrassing for me. I've been driving tractors for over 50 years and usually wear the seat belt. For me the take away is to stop working when I am tired and pay more attention. Anything can happen at any time....and in a instant.

 

[Thomas]

Ouch..glad your okay and nothing broken.
Those last couple passes seems to get lot of folks either stuck or worse.

 

[V1Rotate]

Glad you were not hurt any worse.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I had a similar experience while bush hogging with my Yanmar 4220 about 4 years ago. I was hogging in some tall weeds and had the tractor in 3rd gear (out of 4) and high range so I was clipping along at about 7 mph. I had the FEL bucket low to the ground to knock over the weeds a bit so the chaff didn't stop up the radiator so much. Suddenly I ran into a pot hole about 12 feet in diameter and about 3 feet deep and when the front wheels ran off in it the FEL dug into the ground. Just about thru me over the steering wheel (no cab) and likely would have if the operation platform had been designed for Americans rather than Japanese. Bruised my thighs pretty well but I was able to shift to neutral with the powershift lever as the rear wheels were still spinning wildly. This was the first time cutting that pasture after buying the place so I didn't know about the hole and with all the grass and weeds grown up the land looked level. I kept that FEL up a bit higher from then on and a bit slower travel speed when in unknown territory.

 

[troutsqueezer]

I've been making pads on my hilly property ever since I bought my tractor three years ago. I've got a lot of rocks here and I'm always amazed how jolting it is when I hit a rock that is immovable even though the tractor is in low gear and just barely moving.

 

[MoKelly]

Yikes, glad you are all good. Great advice ... but, unfortunately, difficult to follow.

MoKelly

 

[kevin37b]

Just like plowing snow in these parking lots with the architectural curbs sticking out for no reason . 5 mph hurts , I can only guess what 60 x 2 would be .That is why I hate going anywhere these days .

 

[Renze]

Did the tractor need medical attention too ?

 

[Utopia Texas]

No, Not even a tiny scratch on the tractor! Below are before and after pictures of my 12 day project. The original barn before take down and the bare slab as of yesterday. Next week the concrete goes.....