Brush hog accident(s)

[troverman]

If this woman was laying parallel to the tires, the high clearance tractor may have passed cleanly over her and the operator wouldn't have known a thing until the mower hit her. I was flail mowing and hit a fawn in this manner, really was terrible. Usually they pop up and take off because the noise and vibration of the tractor and mower at full PTO makes quite a racket. This woman must have been passed out under the influence. Certainly is tragic.

 

[jgmo]

My landpride is equipped with belting guards that a couple are ripping from the bolted attachments. I’m sure chains will stand up better but for now any experience with keeping the belted style from tearing or just replace th torn ones with chains(if they come in replaceable sections) thanks.

My rubber skirts started chunking out and I ignored it for a time until I mowed over a small pile of DG with pebbles in it. After being "shotgunned" to the back of my head and neck, I fabricated bolt on chain guards out of angle iron and 5/16" chain.
Put that welder to work!

 

[Kosmo]

If her sister was so distraught and upset, why in the hell was the woman homeless. How come the sister didn’t give her a place to stay. yeah right, family demands answers, the family was not there for the homeless woman. The family is wanting a paycheck and that’s all.

Come on dude don't be so judgy. You have of the no idea of the circumstances. Homeless people are rarely the responsibility of their family. They more often than not have refused family help due to their mental issues. We have thousands of veterans and other folks from great families on the streets because families have only so much they can do legally to get a homeless person off the street. Please keep an open mind and stop assuming the worst of people.

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

We have thousands of veterans and other folks from great families on the streets because families have only so much they can do legally to get a homeless person off the street.

Too true.

My wife is a retired VA nurse and was constantly asked how the VA could allow so many veterans to be homeless.

Some won't comply with a program's rules, some don't trust authority in any capacity, and some value their freedom above all else. In short, there'll always be some unless you forced them in a facility.

I'm a vet myself and no fan of the VA. I used to tell her if I ever got really sick to bring me to the local VA as it would ensure my quick and timely demise.

 

[scootr]

I had safety chains front and rear. The wear and tear of rocks and logs broke the guard. It came off and went under the brush hog, breaking a blade. I now run without the guard. Makes me a bit nervous, but my seat is well above the ground, and the mower is close to the rear wheels, so the trajectory is unlikely to get as high as the seat (I hope!)

Find the post from a reader whose mower threw a projectile into the front tire which bounced back and hit him in the forehead with enough force to knock him silly!

 

[bunchgrass]

If her sister was so distraught and upset, why in the hell was the woman homeless. How come the sister didn’t give her a place to stay. yeah right, family demands answers, the family was not there for the homeless woman. The family is wanting a paycheck and that’s all.

You have no idea why the person was houseless. Plenty have a difficult time living in a regular home and thus live outside. Don't judge things you have no understanding of.

 

[LD48750]

I can see right now, the ONLY SAFE way to brush hog a field is hire it out while YOU are in the next county.

 

[Jvilljoe]

The first time I mowed with my brush hog pine cones, sticks and occasional rock flew past me on both sides making me very uncomfortable so I knew I had to do something before I got whacked. I built a frame from flatbar and and filled in the open area by welding expanded metal to it. Fabricated some brackets and mounted it to the roll bar behind the operators position. It's come in handy a few times since.

 

[bunchgrass]

If this woman was laying parallel to the tires, the high clearance tractor may have passed cleanly over her and the operator wouldn't have known a thing until the mower hit her. I was flail mowing and hit a fawn in this manner, really was terrible. Usually they pop up and take off because the noise and vibration of the tractor and mower at full PTO makes quite a racket. This woman must have been passed out under the influence. Certainly is tragic.

A deer fawn is significantly smaller than an adult human being. IF the brush was so high as to hide her completely, then it was high enough to leave a clear indication that someone or something had walked to the place where she was laying down, not to mention that the brush would be flattened by her body. If you missed that right in front of you, that's pretty damn negligent. Maybe understandable if he was using an implement mowing off to one side but right behind him? No way someone paying attention would miss that.

 

[charlessenf]

Another thing about this. So person is sleeping in the weeds and brush comes by maybe 2-3 ft away on the pass before it eats you alive! How in the hell do you not wake up, jump up, and get the hell outta there?
This person had to be in an unconscious drunken stupor, in a drug comma, or already dead. INMHO

RIGHT - hence the need for an investigation. Preferably before relatives were allowed to come collect bits of her bones and teeth from the scene. I suspect the picture they had of her was not taken shortly before she died. It is sad how humans can fall from grace so easily in our 'civilized' society. We can get to the moon, create GPS, put a cell phone on your wrist watch, spend decades fighting 'terror' or 'communism' while closing state mental health facilities and incarcerating the patients that have no other place to go. All these fellow Americans strewn along the bottom of our collective pecking order while those with the wherewithal focus on Their Bottom Lines.

We have a democratic republic with antiquated campaign finance regulations so our politicians find most persuading those who represent the larger(est) campaign donations while the donors know just how to distribute the funding so as to keep their boys in power.

No one sleeps in a closed, overgrown park that has their own housing. However, the cheapest housing available in most cities of any size likely costs a thousand a year in property tax (MIN) - before the water is turned on or the sewer bill is paid. Last place we sold charged $40/month for a readiness for water (they had a line in front of your property) whether you used water or not!

Oh, well

 

[charlessenf]

, that's pretty damn negligent. No way someone paying attention would miss that.

Funny, we are in a thread about what we've run over with our trailing mowers and brush hogs and everyone seems to have a story about what they've hit, or thrown, etc.

So, it seems more common than not. The rabbits story is most interesting as they (well, the ones in our neck o the wood) seem so alert and quick that I would have thought they'd have been long gone before (even a quiet) tractor was upon them.

As to the operator's "negligence," I would consider that he was hired to clear the brush that had accumulated after teh city/county closed the park and while it was up for sale. Likely hired as cheaply as possible by the purchaser. Probably for a fixed price (rather than an hourly rate) with the work to be done in the California sunshine.
I suspect that, despite the experience one imagines the local PD have with the homeless, no one bothered to tell the operator that this park was frequented by the homeless who might have left belongings (tents, utensils, shopping carts) strewn about the place.

Maybe such was not the case in this particular park.

So, its a hot day. Does he have an enclosed conditioned cab? I didn't see his equipment, did anyone?

He runs East, turns and runs West, chops up Christine and continues to the East end, turns West and, comes upon pieces of Christine among the freshly mowed weeds and scattered left, right and center.

Now, my low field has a heyday come Spring rains and the plants have grown to heights of four and five feet by June and six by July. I defy anyone sitting on my B7800 to see much of what they're about to cut before they cut a swath through it.

 

[JLinOK]

This was years ago in Clinton, Oklahoma. A fairly recent city hire was running a brush hog and encountered a problem, I believe the news story said he thought his blades were not spinning. He disengaged the PTO and raised the brush hog. He could not determine what the problem was and asked another employee to engage the PTO while he watched. It resulted in decapitation. This has been a while but this particular unit may have used chains for cutting?

Also, there was a fellow who was standing over a PTO while it was running. It caught in his jeans and resulted in significant plastic surgery. I think of that every time I am tempted to remove that annoying plastic cover over the u-joints on my PTO.

Also, for me recently, I almost engaged the PTO before lifting my JD MX-7. I caught myself and raised it first, just in case. A family of skunks came out blinking in the bright sun and scurried off. I do not regret failing to grind them up a few feet away from me.

This stuff can be dangerous.

 

[bunchgrass]

Also --- "chops up Christine" without even knowing it? I guarantee that made some sort of noise/draw down on the pto speed. Does no one look back behind them when they hit something? I'm sticking with negligent unaware operator.

 

[tacticalturnip]

A deer fawn is significantly smaller than an adult human being. IF the brush was so high as to hide her completely, then it was high enough to leave a clear indication that someone or something had walked to the place where she was laying down, not to mention that the brush would be flattened by her body. If you missed that right in front of you, that's pretty damn negligent. Maybe understandable if he was using an implement mowing off to one side but right behind him? No way someone paying attention would miss that.

I can't help but feeling you're needing to go against the general consensus here because you don't appreciate the comments and views directed towards the deceased and her family. It's way too damn easy to kill or maim someone with equipment like a tractor and mower. Add in differing conditions, conditions we don't know, and as you might say- maybe we don't judge a situation we don't have knowledge of?

I mean, I know it was said earlier, but look through this thread- it's absolutely full of mishaps and close calls. **** happens; unfortunately in this case **** was the brutal and horrific death of a woman well before her time. We all **** up, let's be thankful we're only killing animals, small appliances, and rocks.

This dude is going to live with this on his conscious for the rest of his life, I hope it doesn't kill him. This woman should still be alive, but she also should not have been sleeping in overgrown grass- no one should be. The failures of society hold far more responsibility than the operator of that tractor, but what are you going to do, scold a politician?

I'm ranting at this point, but how can I not? This is one terrible story, no matter the angle you look at it.

 

[sjmedin]

It's California anything can happen, free spirit, free drugs and a lot of homeless people. High crime rate
my guess was she was already dead, or deaf. Who would not hear all the noise of a tractor with a cutter
behind it. Another case for a greedy Attorney and taxpayer money to pay him. A metal pole is easy to miss
but if someone is laying in the grass covered with grass, this is what can happen. Prayers for this
person and her family, just a tragic ACCIDENT.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

A deer fawn is significantly smaller than an adult human being. IF the brush was so high as to hide her completely, then it was high enough to leave a clear indication that someone or something had walked to the place where she was laying down, not to mention that the brush would be flattened by her body. If you missed that right in front of you, that's pretty damn negligent. Maybe understandable if he was using an implement mowing off to one side but right behind him? No way someone paying attention would miss that.

Do you do much mowing for hire? I'm betting you don't. To use your own words, "Don't judge things you have no understanding of".

The article just states "tall weeds and grass". The park had been closed for some time before it was sold, so what constitutes "tall"?

Do you know?

I doubt it.

Could you see a person laying unresponsive here:

What about here:

Or here:

This was a job I mowed last year, that was right next to a small town park. No way you would be able to see a body laying motionless in that junk. Let alone a "path" through it were someone walked. Give me a break. Or, I should say, give that operator a break.

Sad tragedy for sure, but that operator doesn't need you piling on about "negligence" and what-not things you clearly have no concept of. Glad you won't be on his jury.

 

[OrangeRidge]

Those mowing the highway shoulders worry the crap out of me, seeing all the different kinds of junk thrown up on the road in areas they have already cut. If I can I will go out of my way to avoid mowing zones for that reason.

Homeowners, my problem with them is 90% of them have the discharge chute pointed toward the road. When I mow I ALWAYS point it toward the ditch so that odd rock or whatever that was not there last week does not have a chance of hitting anything.

And drivers don't like all the cut rubbish thrown on to the road surface either . Many domestic operators couldn't care less though .

 

[Mcdust]

If her sister was so distraught and upset, why in the hell was the woman homeless. How come the sister didn’t give her a place to stay. yeah right, family demands answers, the family was not there for the homeless woman. The family is wanting a paycheck and that’s all.

BRAVO, well said. mcdust

 

[milkman636]

Predictable results of the redneck variation of the old "rock, paper, scissors" game...

Hmmm….I’m familiar with the classic bush hog, chainsaw, tree. I’ve never played bush hog, chainsaw fire before…..

 

[bunchgrass]

Do you do much mowing for hire? I'm betting you don't. To use your own words, "Don't judge things you have no understanding of".

The article just states "tall weeds and grass". The park had been closed for some time before it was sold, so what constitutes "tall"?

Do you know?

I doubt it.

Could you see a person laying unresponsive here:

View attachment 812715

What about here:

View attachment 812717

Or here:

View attachment 812718

This was a job I mowed last year, that was right next to a small town park. No way you would be able to see a body laying motionless in that junk. Let alone a "path" through it were someone walked. Give me a break. Or, I should say, give that operator a break.

Sad tragedy for sure, but that operator doesn't need you piling on about "negligence" and what-not things you clearly have no concept of. Glad you won't be on his jury.

There was a pic .... and it's CALIFORNIA in the summer. Nothing even close to that. And you would be able to see a path through that stuff you took pics of. People can't brush bust and not leave some sort of indication they've been through there. Even deer leave trails.

I can't help but feeling you're needing to go against the general consensus here because you don't appreciate the comments and views directed towards the deceased and her family. It's way too damn easy to kill or maim someone with equipment like a tractor and mower. Add in differing conditions, conditions we don't know, and as you might say- maybe we don't judge a situation we don't have knowledge of?

I mean, I know it was said earlier, but look through this thread- it's absolutely full of mishaps and close calls. **** happens; unfortunately in this case **** was the brutal and horrific death of a woman well before her time. We all **** up, let's be thankful we're only killing animals, small appliances, and rocks.

This dude is going to live with this on his conscious for the rest of his life, I hope it doesn't kill him. This woman should still be alive, but she also should not have been sleeping in overgrown grass- no one should be. The failures of society hold far more responsibility than the operator of that tractor, but what are you going to do, scold a politician?

I'm ranting at this point, but how can I not? This is one terrible story, no matter the angle you look at it.

"but she also should not have been sleeping in overgrown grass- no one should be." WHAT? I thought we were all about freedom.