What is the dumbest thing you have done with your equipment ?

[Big Blue Florida]

Considered lending our LS to a good bud of mine. Thought better of it soon after & did the task myself for him.

I look at it as saving a friendship & my tractor.

 

[Bentrim]

1 About 55 years ago my grandfather and mother were picking bales off the ground and loading them on the wagon. Tractor 48 8N Ford, Wagon made from an old truck frame probably about 16-18 feet long, Field sloping where turning, Driver me abt 12 years old. Issues slope, one good brake on tractor. Me "i'm OK I know which brake works" As I turned the tractor down hill the load on the wagon became too much for the tractor, I stood on the brake--one wheel sliding -- tractor going faster -- turn steering wheel --tractor turns -- wagon pushes tractor sideways -- wagon bed knocks valves stem off tube -- now calcium spraying out of tube. Dad came an then I was done but they loaded the rest with a JD A.
2 Tearing down an old tabacco shed down with a 580 Case hoe. Had a cab with the back window open. As I was attempting to knock down one beam it caused another to fall toward the cab. Well it stopped just before it hit my chest! Wiggled out of the seat and moved the beam out of the cab.
3. Loading a burned combine to take back to the dealer for repair. A farmer with a JD 60 was to pull it on the trailer. Every thing was ready, gave the farmer the OK, He spits, pushes the throttle front, then the clutch, and takes off likes he is plowing, doesn't turn around until the tractor started to spin, which was after the combine went up the ramps, over the trailer wheels, dropped down into the pockets and started to move the truck. To clarify this was a special built trailer to haul combines. It was expandable for width, The back bed was low then you went over the wheels and the bed again dropped in front of the wheels. Not the same but similar https://www.auctiontime.com/listings/trailers/auction-results/210714123/1982-donahue-combine

 

[bearthebruce]

As I wrote in this thread: 4 wheel drive all the time? or just when needed

Just plain dumb!

 

[TT398]

Moving telephone poles. Loaded the pole across the bucket of my Kubota B3200. Already moved two poles and did the dumb thing on the 3rd. The surrounding: There is a trail that goes between my horse arena and a 4' fence. The arena is made of oil pipes and the fence is welded wire tied to T-post. At the beginning of the trail, the corner post of the fence was a 6-foot tall 4-in steel post. I had to raise the bucket to clear that post.
Two mistakes: I DID NOT strap the pole down and worked a bit faster than I should after 2 successful moves.
On the third move I jerked the bucket lever and the log fell/rolled down the loader arm toward me. I could have died from cracked rib cage cracked and internal injuries. What saved me was the railing of the arena and the steering wheel. The pole rest on the railing and held back by the steering column. No injury but had to replace the instrument panel and housing for about $1K. The steering column is bent but usable but the housing does not quite fit. Very luck!!
I moved the remaining 17 poles strapped down on both sides of the bucket and raised the bucket very slowly.
2nd dumb thing - Forgot to pull down the left locking level on my quick attached after hitching my brush hog. Went well until I had to make a turn. The mow unhitched on the left side and PTO shaft slipped out from the sleeve. No damage to anything. Just lot of muscle to pry the mower in roder to disengage from the right side 3-pt hook of the quick attached. After that, move the tractor away, and cleaned, lubed, and ressemble the PTO shaft. Hook them up and on my way.

 

[beowulf]

I have posted this before on some other thread, but it is dumb enough to post again.

So, if you ever have a need to bend a post hole auger, I'm your guy. Or if you want to DIY, here is how:

Dig a deep hole with your post hole digger - so that the auger is at least halfway in.

Then, drive away without extracting the auger. You will know very quickly that this was a mistake. You can then extract the auger which now is nicely bent.

Bonus advice: It works much better if this is done in the summer when the ground is really hard - that way you can get a really nice bend in the auger on the very first attempt. And, voila, you have a story and a conversation piece laying by the barn.

 

[greenerdreams]

recently was doing work for my sons friends family on some acreage. told them to not try to cut down trees themselves but i taught them to use a small chainsaw that they bought. I cut a ton of trees for them and even cut rounds so they could split the wood. Next time i came back saw a medium sized fir was gone but somethings were messed up. they decided to cut it themselves and had placed their small fel against the trunk. tree was leaning yet they tried to shove opposite way. the tree argued with that decision and came down over the tractor and took off some of the roof and siding of a nearby garage. worst thing was it somehow caught hard enough on the bucket to turn both lift cylinders into horseshoes. I asked the son what happened and he kept saying "i don't remember". Glad nobody died.

 

[broadsword6]

Seeing the "2 men and a truck"ads,Jeb and Hoot decided they could do that. First job was disposing of old toilets,pipe busted tile and other debris from a second story remodel. After a couple trips down stairs with armloads of trash Jeb came up with the idea to lower stuff in a barrel using a rope and pulley system. They sat the filled barrel at edge of balcony,rigged the rope and pulley on a 4x4 extending out passed balcony. Jeb ran down,tied loose end of rope off to a tree then rushed back upstairs where Hoot would stand on 4x4 while Joe slide barrel over the edge. Great,Hoot's 300+ weight held 4x4 in place while Jeb returned to ground level,untied rope from tree in preparation for lowering barrel to the ground. The barrel being much heavier than Jeb hoisted him up as the barrel fell toward ground. As Jeb and barrel collided as they met,Jeb suffered a mangled ear but Jeb hung on to that rope. At the same moment Jeb reached the 4x4 and sprung his wrist, the bottom fell out of barrel and dumped contents on impact with ground then being lighter than Jeb headed back up as Jeb plunged back down. Jeb only suffered scratches as he collided with barrel this time. When Jeb hit the ground he let go of rope sending barrel on it's way down again. What was left of barrel didn't injure Jeb but when Hoot stepped off 4x4 to look over edge to see what was going on,the 4x4 put a knot on Jeb's head. After studying the situation Hoot suggested Jeb pull the truck beneath balcony and let him toss the remainder down into the bed.

Brilliant adaptation of the Gerrard Hoffnung story about the two brickies. Never gets old. I think there are still some recordings of him telling it in about 1960.

 

[Rob REECE]

When answering the question please do not include an accident that caused a fatality. Please do not insult another poster.

I will go first: My father and I overloaded a small utility trailer with logs that extended out of the trailer. We were hauling significantly more weight than we should have and the center of gravity was between the trailer tires and the end of the trailer.

We did not go far before we lost control of the truck and ended up laying on its side in a ditch. Luckily we were not injured (just our pride) and the truck only dented a door and bent a wheel.

This is something my neighbor did but I thought is was worthy to post it. His son bought a brand new Branson an loaned it to him which was a huge mistake, he lives by a creek and has some land across the creek so he decided he would try and drive the brand new Branson across the creek. Well he didn’t get far and he totally submerged it. They had to hire a tow truck to get it out the motor had to be completely rebuilt.

 

[Martin Roper]

When answering the question please do not include an accident that caused a fatality. Please do not insult another poster.

I will go first: My father and I overloaded a small utility trailer with logs that extended out of the trailer. We were hauling significantly more weight than we should have and the center of gravity was between the trailer tires and the end of the trailer.

We did not go far before we lost control of the truck and ended up laying on its side in a ditch. Luckily we were not injured (just our pride) and the truck only dented a door and bent a wheel.

Where the dickens does one start?

 

[STAYSAFE]

Brand new TC-30 with FEL. While experimenting/practicing with FEL I lifted a bucket load of snow and ice and promptly dumped the load on the sparkling hood, denting it a little.