Stupid Things I Have Done

[oosik]

So - - 2X annually I check the barbed wire perimeter fence around my 80 acres. A couple times I've had to return early. Forgot something or other. Wife asks - done so soon. No - darn can of nails tipped over and need to get more. Seems to satisfy her.

By the time I get everything loaded up on the ATV - look like a traveling circus. Sound like one as I travel around the property.

 

[MoKelly]

To be honest, I didn't know you could do that. I thought there was a reason the piece that slides in the groove on the bar had a hook like feature to it and wouldn't''t allow it to go in backwards. Guess I've been lucky.

Even when you are a little upset and not thinking, you still have a 50/50 chance of getting it correct! Not me that day.

MoKelly

 

[bigtiller]

Even when you are a little upset and not thinking, you still have a 50/50 chance of getting it correct! Not me that day.

MoKelly

You have better luck than me. If I have a 50/50 chance of getting something right, it seams I'll be wrong 70% of the time.

I proved that theory many years ago taking "basic skills tests" in school.

 

[BravoXray]

Was working in the shop fabricating something, don't remember what, and needed the plasma cutter to cut some pieces for the build. Wheeled it out, plugged it in and hooked up the air hose and turned it on.
Pulled the trigger on the torch and it lit up, but would not cut. Checked the settings, took the torch apart but it looked fine, and anything else I could think of. Finally gave up and put it away. As I wheeled it beck to it's place, it dawned on me I hadn't connected the ground cable.

 

[MoKelly]

I did it again.

I mowed with the tractor for about 3 hours. Got done and went to the garage.

Parked and blew off all the grass and dirt. Decided to clean up the tractor so I wiped it down with water and some towels.

Went to pull into the garage. Tractor won’t move - forward or reverse. Looked all around. Looked at the hydro pedal - everything looked Ok. Ensured brake was off. Still won’t move.

About 10 long minutes later it hits me - while wiping down the tractor did I nudge the gear shifter? Sure enough. I was in neutral.

Felt so dumb. Good thing my wife wasn’t watching.

MoKelly

 

[Cat385B]

You have better luck than me. If I have a 50/50 chance of getting something right, it seams I'll be wrong 70% of the time.

I proved that theory many years ago taking "basic skills tests" in school.

The 50/50-90 rule: if a man has a 50/50 chance of being right, he will be wrong 90% of the time if his wife disagrees.

 

[rekees4300]

About 10 long minutes later it hits me - while wiping down the tractor did I nudge the gear shifter? Sure enough. I was in neutral.

MoKelly

Been there, done that. Brain was in neutral.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Been there, done that. Brain was in neutral.

When I was about 10 years old, my Dad had a 1941 Mercury. We lived on a steep hill, and the car was parked near the house, on the hill. Now I thought I knew a lot about cars, and when I saw it was in Reverse, I reasoned that in reverse, it would roll down the hill...so I put it in Neutral.

I was over playing at the neighbors, and I looked over to the house, and the car had its rear end in the ditch and the front wheels off the ground...and the neighbor was there with his tractor. There's more to the story, but I'll end it here.

 

[rekees4300]

Dad used to put tractor in neutral when going downhill with a heavy load behind. In order to avoid losing control by being pushed he would use neutral to simply let gravity take control. Scary but it usually worked.

 

[npalen]

Dad used to put tractor in neutral when going downhill with a heavy load behind. In order to avoid losing control by being pushed he would use neutral to simply let gravity take control. Scary but it usually worked.

Um that sounds "bass ackwards" to me.

 

[orezok]

Years ago before pneumatic nailers were common and everything was done by hammer. I walked onto one of my jobs and a carpenter was nailing siding. He would pull a nail out of his pouch, look at it and then throw about half of them away. I asked him if there was something wrong with the nails and he said “Yeah, the heads are on the wrong end. Those are for the other side of the house”

 

[npalen]

Um that sounds "bass ackwards" to me.

After thinking about it, I realize that it makes a sense to put the tractor in neutral to avoid the tendency to jack knife.
It does remind me of a story heard many years ago about a guy roading a John Deeere D.
Disengaged the clutch to let it free wheel down a long hill. Meanwhile noticed a highway Patrolman approaching so quickly decided to re-engage the clutch and, well, that two cylinder engine was not designed to turn 5000K RPM.

 

[jjeff]

Once forgot to lock quick attach levers. Yet I remembered to hook up the hydraulic lines for my grapple. Two new hydro lines and a few 4 letter words later i had to laugh .

 

[deserteagle71]

think “now what”! Go get the saw and see I put the chain on backwards!!!! No way to hide that mistake!



MoKelly

I still own a Homelite top-handle chainsaw that I bought at a farm auction. It went really cheap because the auctioneer crew said there was something wrong with it - it just wouldn't cut. I'd already checked it out and saw that the chain was backwards on the bar so I bought it. Works great!

 

[deserteagle71]

My worst "blond moment" was many years ago. I was living in a tiny camp trailer in a little mining town. Trying to save money - be frugal - I rode my Honda SL350 everywhere. One day a young couple moved in next door - and she was a fox, an absolute beauty. One morning I went outside to jump on my Honda to ride to work - and there she was, a few feet away, sitting on her steps having a cup of coffee. I smiled, said Good Morning, fired up my Honda and rode off. About 4 feet later I hit the ground. I had forgotten to unlock the forks of the bike - in that model bike the fork lock and ignition were separate. Don't get very far on a motorcycle when the forks are locked against the left stop!

Just goes to show how a pretty face can paralyze a young man's brain.

 

[Hay Dude]

My worst "blond moment" was many years ago. I was living in a tiny camp trailer in a little mining town. Trying to save money - be frugal - I rode my Honda SL350 everywhere. One day a young couple moved in next door - and she was a fox, an absolute beauty. One morning I went outside to jump on my Honda to ride to work - and there she was, a few feet away, sitting on her steps having a cup of coffee. I smiled, said Good Morning, fired up my Honda and rode off. About 4 feet later I hit the ground. I had forgotten to unlock the forks of the bike - in that model bike the fork lock and ignition were separate. Don't get very far on a motorcycle when the forks are locked against the left stop!

Just goes to show how a pretty face can paralyze a young man's brain.

Oh man that’s funny!
I did something similar. I was walking down a sidewalk along the street when I was in my 20’s trying to look like a handsome linebacker. On the opposite side of the street walking towards me was a really overbuilt long blonde haired stunner.

I walked straight into a parking meter.

The power beautiful women have over men IS truly is amazing. My wife still knocks me out.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Years ago before pneumatic nailers were common and everything was done by hammer. I walked onto one of my jobs and a carpenter was nailing siding. He would pull a nail out of his pouch, look at it and then throw about half of them away. I asked him if there was something wrong with the nails and he said “Yeah, the heads are on the wrong end. Those are for the other side of the house”

i saw that in a 3 stooges episode. i used to love watching the boys do any kind of construction work

 

[rekees4300]

After thinking about it, I realize that it makes a sense to put the tractor in neutral to avoid the tendency to jack knife.

Exactly...

 

[Creamer]

Dad used to put tractor in neutral when going downhill with a heavy load behind. In order to avoid losing control by being pushed he would use neutral to simply let gravity take control. Scary but it usually worked.

We used a Super MTA to pull dry chopped hay wagons and we had one short hill that was pretty steep. With the twp wagons holding more than 4-5 tons each there was no way that tractor was going to hold them back and since it was a short hill it didn't get going too fast so we pulled the TA back and allowed it to freewheel down to keep the wagons from making a big mess. For corn silage we only pulled one wagon at a time but still pulled the TA because now it was about 7 tons on the wagon.

 

[rekees4300]

We used a Super MTA to pull dry chopped hay wagons and we had one short hill that was pretty steep. With the twp wagons holding more than 4-5 tons each there was no way that tractor was going to hold them back and since it was a short hill it didn't get going too fast so we pulled the TA back and allowed it to freewheel down to keep the wagons from making a big mess. For corn silage we only pulled one wagon at a time but still pulled the TA because now it was about 7 tons on the wagon.

Dad had a John Deere B that probably weighted less than a ton? He would use the gravity technique hauling wagons of firewood. Obviously it was 2WD and had narrow rear tires so it often started sliding downhill.