One inch from death

[riptides]

I had a tractor flip over. Hit ice, back lifted up going downhill, load of wood in a trailer.

As it was coming up, in that second I thought I could jump clear.

My feet got caught in the peddles.

I was crushed under it. Took a few hours to find me and get me out from under it.

Air flight to trauma center, cracked some ribs, stretched/torn ligaments, facial and back fractures, orbital bone crushed, lost eye.

I lived. Seriously.

Big load, wrong direction, small machine, no safety equipment.

 

[QRTRHRS]

A friend got me into excavating at age 16. I did that off and on until around age 25. I worked with two guys in that time frame that had both lost a leg after rolling a tracked machine. One guy that I worked for had lost his father in law when a rubber tired loader rolled over him while he was securing it to the trailer. About the worst thing that I did was to slide off of a steel ramp while loading a bulldozer. Another contractor that I knew of got burned alive while working on a loader. Him and a helper were removing the fuel tank and contacted the battery. The fuel exploded!

So, I have been lucky to have several mentors that have guided me along for the most part.

There was an article that I read today where a man got killed by a dump truck bed. He had it raised while working on a hydraulic line or something and it went down on him.

 

[bigtiller]

I made a stupid move paddling a canoe in cool 7' deep lake water. I knew what I did wrong and where I was headed and was instantly mad at myself.

Then I hit the water head first. Before my feet hit the lake bottom I had taken an involuntary breath under water somehow. When I resurfaced, my friends and family were laughing at my clownish action. They had no idea I was in trouble.

Luckily I was only 20' away from shore and the wind blew me and the canoe to safety.

I guess cold shock gasp reflex is a thing.

 

[WinterDeere]

I guess cold shock gasp reflex is a thing.

Yes, it is! I do some cold weather saling, mostly racing in very tippy dinghies, and have capsized and even sank one boat in 40F water. One of the biggest risks of capsizing in cold water is your body's inventory reflex to inhale when you hit cold water.

Someday I'll tell you the story of my wife getting caught under a 200 sq.ft. mainsail, which was glued to the surface of the water, on the day we sank that boat in a 40F lake in March. Can you believe, it's the last time she ever went sailboat racing with me?

 

[BnRidge]

There was an article that I read today where a man got killed by a dump truck bed. He had it raised while working on a hydraulic line or something and it went down on him.

We had an older (50s) grain truck that to lift and lower the bed required engaging the hydraulic pto using the clutch, and pulling a cable to operate the hydraulic valve. Wouldn't you know the cable siezed. So rather than fix it, engaging the valve meant crawling under the truck to extend the cylinder and lift the bed, and crawl under again to lower it. Just a matter of time before the operator was squashed between the frame and box - to lower the box the procedure was to crawl under the truck frame not over. 1970s.
With the tractor, getting off means shift to neutral and engage the brake. But one time the brake decided to not be latched securely and sprung lose, on a hill, just a split second "before" I was getting off to chain up a log. Never trust just the brake. Drop the loader, and whatever else, to keep it from rolling.

 

[Jstpssng]

When I was moonlighting at a gas station one of the customers had a ton dump truck with no filler pipe. He would raise the bed so that you could fill it.
I never cared for that arrangement.

 

[WinterDeere]

When I was moonlighting at a gas station one of the customers had a ton dump truck with no filler pipe. He would raise the bed so that you could fill it.
I never cared for that arrangement.

That'd be a self-service only vehicle, if I were working at the gas station.

<-- worked at a gas station in high school

 

[scootr]

That'd be a self-service only vehicle, if I were working at the gas station.

<-- worked at a gas station in high school

Many of us did. I had the night shift and I would work on my car in between pumping gas and washing windshields. Yes, we washed your windshield and checked your oil while we filled you tank for $0.29 a gallon.
One night I was putting a tire on a rim, clipped on the sir supply when a car pulled up ( the old ding ding) so I dashed out to fill it up forgetting about the tire on the machine with the air filling it.
It wasn't long before I heard a big bang followed by breaking glass . The tire had popped off the rim going straight up and smashing the 8ft fluorescent bulbs about 10 ft above it... Oops

 

[ponytug]

Yes, it is! I do some cold weather saling, mostly racing in very tippy dinghies, and have capsized and even sank one boat in 40F water. One of the biggest risks of capsizing in cold water is your body's inventory reflex to inhale when you hit cold water.

Someday I'll tell you the story of my wife getting caught under a 200 sq.ft. mainsail, which was glued to the surface of the water, on the day we sank that boat in a 40F lake in March. Can you believe, it's the last time she ever went sailboat racing with me?

I'm glad your wife is ok.

A skipper that I was racing with did that to me once, pinning me under the boom vang as he lost control of the main sheet and turtling the boat. I had to wait until the mast was underwater to get free, and then get myself out of the mainsail. Fortunately, I was a good swimmer with breath holding abilities...

Funnily enough I don't recall sailing with him ever again, nor ever letting a skipper tell me where to be aboard if I had a different opinion, and you know, I haven't gone over or been dumped since. I definitely turned into a bit of back seat driver-sailor for some skippers. My lack of confidence in the skippers that I was meeting around here is also why I quit sailing when I moved to California. In my opinion, there are a bunch of skippers here that have too little blue water open ocean experience to be qualified to be sailing Californian waters. More money than sense as I see it. Sure, land is close, but the water is cold, fog can set in quickly, the waves erratic and large, and most of the shoreline is a wreck site, not a safe haven. Basically, blue water rules in my book. I have seen too many folks underestimate how fast conditions change here, rather like the Great Lakes, and I've seen the wrecks.

We used to ride horses in the backcountry and for many years we took along a marine EPIRB as it was the only way to get assistance in an emergency. Too much time being in the back of beyond and seeing what can happen I guess.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Rovcketman357]

A friend got me into excavating at age 16. I did that off and on until around age 25. I worked with two guys in that time frame that had both lost a leg after rolling a tracked machine. One guy that I worked for had lost his father in law when a rubber tired loader rolled over him while he was securing it to the trailer. About the worst thing that I did was to slide off of a steel ramp while loading a bulldozer. Another contractor that I knew of got burned alive while working on a loader. Him and a helper were removing the fuel tank and contacted the battery. The fuel exploded!

So, I have been lucky to have several mentors that have guided me along for the most part.

There was an article that I read today where a man got killed by a dump truck bed. He had it raised while working on a hydraulic line or something and it went down on him.

Nothing more dangerous than loading a steel track machine on a trailer. A stepson got killed a year and a half ago loading a paving compactor when it slid off the side. Guy who cut my driveway back in 1974 later was crushed against a tree when the D7 slid off and pinned him- working alone. Trailer has to be perfectly level to load and even then steel on steel is slippery as hell even when it is dry- deadly when wet.