Egon
Epic Contributor
You have the machine. No refund no return!
Scary Experience Last Night! long post
- Thread starter JCS_in_KY
- Start date
- Views: 8023
Last night I got a call from the manager of the rental company. I'd left a message for them on voice mail earlier in the day. He had a terrible attitude about the situation and he had no concern for me, just that their backhoe was ok. He wanted to get into an argument about the seat belt because he said that it's not important to have on the tractor. He also told me the seat was in good condition last week when he saw it and if there was a problem I must have damaged it.
This morning they sent their mechanic down to pick it up, he just left. I showed him what the seat does and he said "yes this one is tricky to use". He then went onto explain that because the seat mechanism is broken on it you have to lift the seat up and use a hammer to knock part of the mechanism into place so the seat locks down! He sees no problem with this and I called the manager back and he doesn't see a problem with it either. The mechanic told me how lucky I was to not be hurt and that I shouldn't have jumped off because the "roll cage" would protect me. I told him that's true it would have and I'd have never dreamed of jumping off IF the backhoe had a seat that work correctly and the factory installed seat belt to hold me in place.
The company I rented from is Green River Rentals. They have a location in Bowling Green Kentucky and one in Glasgow. If any of you are in this area and needing to rent equipment it's a good place to stay away from!
My back is worse today so I've going to the doctor this afternoon to get it checked out just to be safe.
John
This morning they sent their mechanic down to pick it up, he just left. I showed him what the seat does and he said "yes this one is tricky to use". He then went onto explain that because the seat mechanism is broken on it you have to lift the seat up and use a hammer to knock part of the mechanism into place so the seat locks down! He sees no problem with this and I called the manager back and he doesn't see a problem with it either. The mechanic told me how lucky I was to not be hurt and that I shouldn't have jumped off because the "roll cage" would protect me. I told him that's true it would have and I'd have never dreamed of jumping off IF the backhoe had a seat that work correctly and the factory installed seat belt to hold me in place.
The company I rented from is Green River Rentals. They have a location in Bowling Green Kentucky and one in Glasgow. If any of you are in this area and needing to rent equipment it's a good place to stay away from!
My back is worse today so I've going to the doctor this afternoon to get it checked out just to be safe.
John
johnnylight
Gold Member
Call a Lawyer today!!
document everything --can you get pictures of the seat?
document everything --can you get pictures of the seat?
dfkrug
Super Member
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2004
- Messages
- 7,612
- Location
- Santa Cruz Mtns, CA
- Tractor
- 05 Kioti CK30HST w/ Prairie Dog backhoe, XN08 mini-X
JCS:
Glad you are OK. I am sure you learned some things from this experience.
No one on TBN needs to beat you up about it.
We had a rental company around here with very poorly-maintained equipment.
I am as guilty as the next guy for renting some things from them cuz they
were the cheapest. They are now out of business. Good.
I have rented a lot of equipment over the years, from trailers and compactors,
to excavators. I have bought and rebuilt numerous rental tractors.
The biggest point I want to make here is I HAVE rented equipment in the past
that I thought was marginal, from a safety standpoint. Trailers in my case.
Each time, I felt that I did not have other better choices. I did not have
problems, but I vowed not to do it again. Now I don't rent any trailers....I
bought my own. No more non-op brakes or bald tires.
Glad you are OK. I am sure you learned some things from this experience.
No one on TBN needs to beat you up about it.
We had a rental company around here with very poorly-maintained equipment.
I am as guilty as the next guy for renting some things from them cuz they
were the cheapest. They are now out of business. Good.
I have rented a lot of equipment over the years, from trailers and compactors,
to excavators. I have bought and rebuilt numerous rental tractors.
The biggest point I want to make here is I HAVE rented equipment in the past
that I thought was marginal, from a safety standpoint. Trailers in my case.
Each time, I felt that I did not have other better choices. I did not have
problems, but I vowed not to do it again. Now I don't rent any trailers....I
bought my own. No more non-op brakes or bald tires.
dfkurg, What you say is true. Sometimes the real companies have you over a barrel. You know renting the poorly maintained equipment isn't the right thing to do but you end up doing it because you don't have any other options. I used to rent trailers occasionally and had the same problems you did. That's the main reason I ended up purchasing a couple of trailers. It's nice to have one that you know the history of and you know it's taken care of because you are the one that does that work on it and the one that uses it. I used to rent compactors and things of that nature and also ended up purchasing my own. The only piece of equipment I don't have that I do need to use a few times a year at least is a backhoe and I've wanted to purchase one but haven't yet because of the cost. After this experience if I had the money to do it now I'd go out and order one today.
While I was typing this I heard back from the rental place again after they "checked the rental in". They told me as far as they are concerned there's nothing wrong with the backhoe. They acknowledged that the seat probably doesn't work right but they said no one else has a problem with it so there's no need to fix anything. He also let me know that as far as they are concerned my problem is taken care of because they will not be renting to me again. Not that I'd even consider renting from them again anyway. I'll do my best to get the word out to others about the quality of their equipment. I just hope that no one else gets hurt using it because next time it might be more serious or even result in a death and I'd sure hate to see that happen.
John
While I was typing this I heard back from the rental place again after they "checked the rental in". They told me as far as they are concerned there's nothing wrong with the backhoe. They acknowledged that the seat probably doesn't work right but they said no one else has a problem with it so there's no need to fix anything. He also let me know that as far as they are concerned my problem is taken care of because they will not be renting to me again. Not that I'd even consider renting from them again anyway. I'll do my best to get the word out to others about the quality of their equipment. I just hope that no one else gets hurt using it because next time it might be more serious or even result in a death and I'd sure hate to see that happen.
John
Last edited:
dfkrug
Super Member
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2004
- Messages
- 7,612
- Location
- Santa Cruz Mtns, CA
- Tractor
- 05 Kioti CK30HST w/ Prairie Dog backhoe, XN08 mini-X
JCS:
One more thing about that L35.... That is a gear (GST) tractor and you said
the parking brake was non-op. That is a huge safety problem, one they
have decided not to fix.
One more thing about that L35.... That is a gear (GST) tractor and you said
the parking brake was non-op. That is a huge safety problem, one they
have decided not to fix.
patrick_g
Elite Member
John, We all take chances, we may just have a different threshold where we draw the line.
I'm sure you wouldn't play Russian Roulette with a 6 shooter. How about a 100 shooter? No? How about a 1000 shooter? How about a million shooter. At some point, especially if there is a perception of some sort of gain or benefit (reward), we will deem the risk acceptable, considering the reward, or we will deem it insignificant and ignore it. We all have our own criteria, sometimes adjusted by our emotional state.
Of course if you knew you were definitely going to blow your brains out you wouldn't play Russian roulette at all even with a zillion shooter, just like if you knew the seat would fall off the rental equipment and you'd risk serious injury or worse, you'd probably not do it.
The trick is to recognize situations that are just not good enough and not renegotiate your limits based on emotional state, convenience, and such. If it isn't safe and provident when you are not in a hurry it still isn't safe or provident just because you are.
There is a deadly disease among pilots. It is called get-home-itis. I just have to get home because it would be inconvenient to not make it, someone would think I am a wimp, or I will have to pay for another days airplane rental or ... These people often die and take someone with them. JFK junior knowingly pressed on into conditions for which he was not qualified, probably for one or more of the above stated excuses and all souls on board were lost.
There is a saying among pilots:
There are old pilots and there are bold pilots BUT...
There are few old bold pilots. This is applicable to tractoring and other activities.
The good news is you probably didn't suffer permanent injury (we can only hope) and you live to play again and probably be a more careful citizen for having had that experience.
I hope you are OK and didn't over stress anything too far. I can almost feel the pain of your sore muscles and joints. There are several versions of Excedrin. One of them, Bone and Body, contains no caffeine so you can take it to relieve the pain and not interfere with sleep.
Hope you are up and running again real soon.
Oh, and if the rental outfit doesn't eat the rental charge, I would probably not drop it and go on. They need a wakeup call.
Pat
I'm sure you wouldn't play Russian Roulette with a 6 shooter. How about a 100 shooter? No? How about a 1000 shooter? How about a million shooter. At some point, especially if there is a perception of some sort of gain or benefit (reward), we will deem the risk acceptable, considering the reward, or we will deem it insignificant and ignore it. We all have our own criteria, sometimes adjusted by our emotional state.
Of course if you knew you were definitely going to blow your brains out you wouldn't play Russian roulette at all even with a zillion shooter, just like if you knew the seat would fall off the rental equipment and you'd risk serious injury or worse, you'd probably not do it.
The trick is to recognize situations that are just not good enough and not renegotiate your limits based on emotional state, convenience, and such. If it isn't safe and provident when you are not in a hurry it still isn't safe or provident just because you are.
There is a deadly disease among pilots. It is called get-home-itis. I just have to get home because it would be inconvenient to not make it, someone would think I am a wimp, or I will have to pay for another days airplane rental or ... These people often die and take someone with them. JFK junior knowingly pressed on into conditions for which he was not qualified, probably for one or more of the above stated excuses and all souls on board were lost.
There is a saying among pilots:
There are old pilots and there are bold pilots BUT...
There are few old bold pilots. This is applicable to tractoring and other activities.
The good news is you probably didn't suffer permanent injury (we can only hope) and you live to play again and probably be a more careful citizen for having had that experience.
I hope you are OK and didn't over stress anything too far. I can almost feel the pain of your sore muscles and joints. There are several versions of Excedrin. One of them, Bone and Body, contains no caffeine so you can take it to relieve the pain and not interfere with sleep.
Hope you are up and running again real soon.
Oh, and if the rental outfit doesn't eat the rental charge, I would probably not drop it and go on. They need a wakeup call.
Pat
3RRL
Super Member
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2005
- Messages
- 6,931
- Tractor
- 55HP 4WD KAMA 554 and 4 x 4 Jinma 284
Terrible experience and I feel your pain John.
Have you contacted the BBB in your area. How about any State agencies that deal with safe rental equipment. If they don't refund your rental fees, I'd tell them there place will be crawling with inspectors in a few minutes. For them to get an attitude like that is unacceptable.
Have you contacted the BBB in your area. How about any State agencies that deal with safe rental equipment. If they don't refund your rental fees, I'd tell them there place will be crawling with inspectors in a few minutes. For them to get an attitude like that is unacceptable.
workinallthetime
Veteran Member
reason number 62 to not wear a seat belt, lol j/k
glad your ok, i had a little bx23 that had a large pucker factor a few times on a hill with that dang put it in N to start feature.
glad your ok, i had a little bx23 that had a large pucker factor a few times on a hill with that dang put it in N to start feature.
