What have you hit with your mower lately?

[RandyT]

You would be surprised what people hit with their normal lawn mowers just mowing their yard.

 

[frogpond]

Oh, I've run over any number of water hoses, and flower beds disguised as weed beds, which makes my wife very unhappy. But when I sideswiped the satellite dish two weeks ago, that was a major transgression. No internet until today, when they finally got a guy out here to readjust it. Side note: Viasat is a bad company: unreliable signal, expensive, requires yelling to get a service visit. If there were any alternative out here we would switch.

 

[Gord Baker]

Most people make the mistake of setting the Bush Hog too low and then backing into things.
Keep it high first pass and move only Forward.
You are more likely to find hidden obstacles with your wheels. We have all been there. Got into a set of Spring Tooth cultivators one time. Much bending of stuff!
Carry stakes and a spray bomb of paint with you. You won't remember the locations.............

 

[friendlywithbears]

Oh, I've run over any number of water hoses, and flower beds disguised as weed beds, which makes my wife very unhappy. But when I sideswiped the satellite dish two weeks ago, that was a major transgression. No internet until today, when they finally got a guy out here to readjust it. Side note: Viasat is a bad company: unreliable signal, expensive, requires yelling to get a service visit. If there were any alternative out here we would switch.

Viasat and Hughesnet can go to hell. Put your name in for Starlink, it's been a life saver out in very rural Olympic Peninsula!

 

[Citydude]

Ran over a 1/2 submerged short block V8 in a field. Who dumps an engine out in the middle of a field?

 

[coast40]

That is unique. I have never seen a "chain mower" before. I'd think it would beat up the grass and weeds rather than cut it. Sometimes that would be OK, sometimes not so good. Still very interesting. Thanks for posting.

Oregon State Highway used to have a chain flail mounted on an arm on a grader for cutting roadsides.

 

[alaarp]

Hit a pile of concrete core samples with my Land Pride mower this week. Size of a one pound coffee can but twice that long. Didn't cause permanent damage but I hit the PTO button at the first sound of impact.
I submit the worst case for this thread happened in an adjoining county about 25 years ago. Farmer welded his combine with his OX/AC welder and forgot a full acetylene tank in the field. He found it the next spring while mowing--they heard the explosion for miles around. He is mowing clouds now.

 

[Henro]

Been more than 30 years and it was with a garden tractor mower.

I mowed over a turtle I did not see...Still remember seeing eggs inside the lower half that remained...still feel bad about it to this day...

Also mowed over a rabbets nest once. Fortunately the little ones were not injured....I left them alone and guess the mom fetched them afterwards...

 

[Jstpssng]

Ran over a 1/2 submerged short block V8 in a field. Who dumps an engine out in the middle of a field?

You'd be surprised where people will dump junk.

 

[Joel/ak]

My wife mows the yard. She doesn't work so it helps me out.

She hasn't hit the house yet....

 

[JethroB]

Yeah, I did that with a push mower when I was about 13. Mowing under boxwood bushes one Saturday morning and poof. Fur blown about 20 ft from mower.

What we call a gopher here is really a gopher tortoise. It’s a shame to hit one now as they are nearly endangered. They dig large deep tunnel homes in our sandy soil and pine stands. Pond turtles and loggerheads make a nice thump and crunchy sound.

Our ‘gophers’ below. Get up to a foot or more shell length:

 

[Jstpssng]

You would be surprised what people hit with their normal lawn mowers just mowing their yard.

When I was a kid I hit a waterline for one of the seasonal greenhouses. My father had just left for lunch and when I called him I thought he'd be mad but he came back down, shut the water off and said "I usually replace one every year, just not this early."
Eventually he got them all buried.

 

[MasseyFerg231]

Have hit small rocks, big rocks, huge rocks, old house ruins, stumps, big logs, old steel bed frames, thick rebar, concrete blocks, random pieces of steel, stoves, fencing net. The list goes on and on beyond what I can remember.

Popped a couple shear pins with some of the hardest hits, but I typically just wear them out with all the beating it takes.

Still rocking the original "blades" that came with the mower and didn't even got bent once.

View attachment 755797

What brand / model mower is that? I would like to order some of those side skids for a box blade project.

 

[ptsg]

What brand / model mower is that? I would like to order some of those side skids for a box blade project.

Portuguese manufacturer. Made by a small machine shop. Not available in the US as far as I know.

 

[MasseyFerg231]

Portuguese manufacturer. Made by a small machine shop. Not available in the US as far as I know.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[alpha&omega]

I just trashed a blade on my 72" zero turn. Clipped some decorative river rocks... twice.
Not that big of a deal, but I'm very particular about keeping my blades neatly sharpened.

I made a similar mistake several years ago. I was mowing my neighbors lawn (a 96 year old WWII widow). Due to the grass being so tall in some areas I made sure to conduct a “walk about” to check over the property. Thankful I did so, because I found a wad of thick fencing, some “T” posts tossed by a tree, a water spigot bent to the ground which looked like someone had driven over it once or twice. However, despite my best efforts, I didn’t realize that at one time she had used fields stones to surround an old overgrown flower bed that no longer was home to any to anything other than grass.
Almost done mowing, I backed right over those rocks. As soon as I felt the tires hop up over them I smashed the PTO button, but even by then it was too late. It wrecked those blades and sheared the main spindle before stopping my zero turn dead in its tracks.
That was not one of my cheaper life lessons…so I feel and can relate to your pain.

 

[alpha&omega]

You would be surprised what people hit with their normal lawn mowers just mowing their yard.

My father-in-law recently ran over the winter portion of his underground dog fence. Since they live on a lake, they have a section that needs to get added in the winter so the dogs don’t chase anyone onto the lake or fall in unexpectedly when the ice is thin.

That excitement took me about two hours and several different tools - a pair of needle nose pliers and two linesman’s, a carpet knife, along with some random flathead screwdrivers and a hook pick. By the time I was done I sure wished that I had brought my lawn mower jack and a floor creeper with me that day.
The extent of his “oops” is unknown considering the fact that he fired it up and went back to mowing even before I made it home to get my grease gun. If you’ve followed along this far and paid attention to that last part you might have picked up on the fact that he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t have any tools, nor a grease gun. Point being, the last time his mower was lubed up was when it went it for service a year or two ago. Seems to still be mowing, so I hope that I got everything out of there. That thin plastic coated wire can melt real quick when it’s getting wound up underneath a mower deck.

 

[alpha&omega]

Viasat and Hughesnet can go to hell. Put your name in for Starlink, it's been a life saver out in very rural Olympic Peninsula!

Dear god! Hughesnet…oh how I do NOT miss those days.

 

[friendlywithbears]

Dear god! Hughesnet…oh how I do NOT miss those days.

I've got a few old dishes lying around I can send your way as memorabilia if you like

 

[alpha&omega]

I've got a few old dishes lying around I can send your way as memorabilia if you like

Ha! Nah I’m good thanks. The two that I saved for target practice are all that I need.