The real hazards of bush hogging blind in hilly country!

[kapper]

Here is a recent video that I made of a VERY near tipping incident I had a few days ago. I have plenty of experience, not rookie error, but this stuff happens real fast
especially when you are bush hogging new ground. Thanks.

 

[Diggin It]

Perhaps it was being distracted by making a veedeeooo that almost caused the problem? Perhaps if people would concentrate on the task at hand?

 

[Industrial Toys]

Don't work in unfamiliar terrain. Do a careful walkabout, looking for hazzards. Maybe some people don't want to get off their tractor. Laziness??

 

[ptsg]

Don't work in unfamiliar terrain. Do a careful walkabout, looking for hazzards. Maybe some people don't want to get off their tractor. Laziness??

Some times it's simply not possible to walk-around on unknown terrain. Yet, the job still need to get done.

In this case in particular, there was a hidden 6 ft diameter well. Fortunately, it was closed with a cement lid and I was aware of its existence, just didn't knew the exact position. It's common to find open wells hidden in the brush.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Or sometimes you don't look for something you don't expect to be there. I crumpled my stairs on a stump that was obscured by weeds. But, that's exactly why you should!

The best thing in some circumstances is to have a spotter walking in front of you.

 

[Atchuuu]

Don't work in unfamiliar terrain. Do a careful walkabout, looking for hazzards. Maybe some people don't want to get off their tractor. Laziness??

So the commercial contractor who is clearing 17 acres of land should walk it all first? In a grid pattern or what? Not practical and not laziness.

I have seen the county tractors run into this very same issue, even without video recording, and wouldn't expect them to walk every street in the county.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Then people can't complain when they run into trouble. Isn't there a saying, that no job has priority over safety. Guess you don't do a job site safety meeting either.

If you have worked ground before, it's obviously not as important. But it is a matter of scope. Loggers that might work in very rugged terrain regularly, and have the equipment to deal with it, is a different case then some guy heading out in his first tractor.

Funny though, having watched thousands of Machinery FAIL videos, how apparent it is what an operator will do with a machine that isn't his and doesn't have to pay for.

 

[MossRoad]

Here is a recent video that I made of a VERY near tipping incident I had a few days ago. I have plenty of experience, not rookie error, but this stuff happens real fast
especially when you are bush hogging new ground. Thanks.

Glad you got out of it. I appreciate the video documentation. It's often not possible to walk every inch of land before cutting it, and often there are hidden hazards that weren't there the last time, like washed out ruts, tree limbs, rocks that have rolled down a hill, highway debris, etc... so low and slow are the words of the day. I go into some weeds that are 14' tall and so thick you can't physically walk through them. My brush cutter is on the FEL arms, so that's a plus in that it will fall into anything before the tractor and I'd have time to stop. We have a creek running through the property, and it's banks change annually. 6' drop. I stay away from that on the parallel, and only approach it on the perpendicular with the brush cutter out front. So when I break through the weeds, the cutter gets there and I can stop the tractor 4' from the bank.

Good luck with your future cutting plans. Be safe.

 

[MossRoad]

Or sometimes you don't look for something you don't expect to be there. I crumpled my stairs on a stump that was obscured by weeds. But, that's exactly why you should!

The best thing in some circumstances is to have a spotter walking in front of you.

No one is allowed within 300' of my machine when the cutter is running and I cut in places humans can't walk.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I was thinking more about rear mounted mowers. True, I would not do it with a front mount. But I would still inspect the site beforehand.

 

[MossRoad]

I was thinking more about rear mounted mowers. True, I would not do it with a front mount. But I would still inspect the site beforehand.

That's what I'm trying to tell you.... there's places in there that you or I can't possibly inspect. And even if we could, we'd miss stuff. For example, I mow next to a highway, a strip about 8' in. No matter how well I inspect it, there's highway debris in there that I've managed to hit: fence posts, truck load bars, dead turkeys, tire pieces, car and truck parts. The worst was a large, ratcheting load binder handle. It blew one rear wheel clear off of my brush cutter. Lucky it didn't take out my front tire on the tractor. Lucky it didn't fly out onto the highway, or across the road and take out a house over there, about 150' away. I'm always mindful of that, and constantly keep an eye out for vehicles on the highway and stop moving the machine when they get within several hundred yards of me. Sometimes it'll take quite a while to mow that 8' wide X 1/4 mile strip due to traffic and waiting for clearings.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I once shot a baseball sized stone 200 feet out of the bottom of a three spindle trail type Liliston Brush Mower. Went through a Dining Room window hitting the ceiling (mark still there) and imbedded glass into an ajacent wood pannelled wall.

I still maintain, you have to try and inspect your working environment. I always drive along the roadway, picking up stones and debris, prior to mowing. IF, for no other reason, who likes to shut down a machine and get off while mowing?

 

[CobyRupert]

Couldn’t he just steer over a foot to the left and be straddling drop off like he says he’s going to do on next pass?
If you’re really worried about tipping over, lower the heavy grapple as low as possible and tractor won’t tip over as easy.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Why have small tractors become so narrow? You used to buy a Massey 135 and it was low and wide. Not even a roll bar to have any weight up high, nor usually a loader, and your feet straddled the tranny housing, making the whole thing low. These cabbed, FEL equipped tractors are just an accident waiting to happen in uneven terrain.

A friend said he once mowed on Ontario Highways, and those low tractors with wide wheels spaced far out would slide, before upsetting on a steep grade.

 

[MossRoad]

I once shot a baseball sized stone 200 feet out of the bottom of a three spindle trail type Liliston Brush Mower. Went through a Dining Room window hitting the ceiling (mark still there) and imbedded glass into an ajacent wood pannelled wall.

I still maintain, you have to try and inspect your working environment. I always drive along the roadway, picking up stones and debris, prior to mowing. IF, for no other reason, who likes to shut down a machine and get off while mowing?

I hit a crooked tree root about 2.5' long. As it flew out from under the cutter, it spun wildly away from me. I thought to myself, "That looks just like a boomerang." It then turned around in mid air and came right back at me!

Missed me, but YIKES!

I've told this story on here a couple times over the years. I was brush cutting a friend's vacant lot for him in prep for a new house build. It's one acre. I told him to stay away from me, but he's one of those guys that can't stand still and can't stand to see someone else working and him doing nothing. He kept going out and picking up sticks and stuff while I was cutting. As I came around for another pass, I was pretty far away from him and hit a baseball size rock. It flew right at him. He ran behind my Suburban and i swear that rock was chasing him. It shot right under the truck and right past his feet, and across the road. His eyes got pretty wide and he understood from that point on. I also hit a bunch of real baseballs and golfballs on his lot. Apparently someone was using it as a practice field.

 

[chas0218]

Why have small tractors become so narrow? You used to buy a Massey 135 and it was low and wide. Not even a roll bar to have any weight up high, nor usually a loader, and your feet straddled the tranny housing, making the whole thing low. These cabbed, FEL equipped tractors are just an accident waiting to happen in uneven terrain.

A friend said he once mowed on Ontario Highways, and those low tractors with wide wheels spaced far out would slide, before upsetting on a steep grade.

How about those old ford 8n and 9n, I don't think you could get one of those things to tip if you tried. I think the need for ground clearance on smaller tractors lead to taller top heavy tractors. I learned a long time ago if you feel like you're going to tip steer downhill and slam the breaks once she straightens out. Never attempt to back up or steer uphill. The torque from the front tires will have you over in a heartbeat. I don't care how far down the embankment the tractor went there is a way to get it out but flipping a tractor upright up hill is near impossible.

 

[Chaos USMC]

Thanks to the OP for sharing as it generates good discussion.

A couple of years ago my neighbor was bush hogging some "normal" fence line on their property and picked up some old barbwire in the blades. Terrible thing happened. It slung the wire out and around and it came forward and hit her across the face! As you might imagine it did a number. As most of us here are rural, she had to make her way to the closet neighbors house to seek help and attention, which was a good 1/4 mile walk out of the field. She is doing well now but still bears the scares and face numbness. Point here is, that particular fence line had been cut on numerous occasions but they never saw that old wire until...

Bottom line, she has lived on that property nearly all her life, has bush hogged hundreds of acres during that time, and even if you been on that field before, your never going to know what the next mow might bring.

Having said that, If I am cutting unfamiliar ground, me personally, I like to grab the 4 wheeler or the mule and take a quick ride. Still had surprises though, so...

Be safe and be well.

 

[Tennsawdust]

Here is a recent video that I made of a VERY near tipping incident I had a few days ago. I have plenty of experience, not rookie error, but this stuff happens real fast
especially when you are bush hogging new ground. Thanks.

Walking it isn't always possible. I was mowing some blackberry briars and scrub recently that was taller than the tractor. It wasn't possible to even walk through it. The only way to approach it was to take it in small bites, go slow and be ready to stop if you feel it going an odd direction. The biggest pucker event I had wasn't from a hole, but from running up onto what turned out to be a large stump I couldn't tell was there.

 

[Industrial Toys]

People that leave wire abandoned should somehow be punished! Nothing like some idiot stringing barb wire for his immediate requirements and then walking away. Too many only think of themelves.

 

[Chaos USMC]

Industrial, well said. My bride and I have been removing old farm wire for years now. She had a terrible incident. Proceeding at a crawl (thank goodness) on a 4 wheeler through our woods, she unknowingly came upon a piece she never saw. It got under the throttle cable before she knew what was going on and it crimped it and as a result, high sided the motor. The 4 wheeler just took off and in the immediate confusion she avoided what was possible but ran out of room and hit a tree. The impact threw her, and ripped the left front tire and hardware off the machine. Thank god she was not seriously injured but, very shook up. It happened so quick, she didn't even have a chance to hit the kill switch.

Guess that's why we continue to remove the old wire....

Apologize to the OP, a little off topic...