Owning a small tractor is a blessing.

[bsekf]

One moment of stupidity can cause a lifetime of pain or cost a life. Everybody needs at least 2 tractors, so you have one to pull the broken one home.

 

[jacric2005]

May I suggest using jack stands or hydraulic cylinder blocks when working under mower, tractor hydraulics are nor fail safe and have been know to release dropping load.....

Totally agree. Two professionsal people who have worked on my compact tractor, (including the John Deere dealership) have mentioned catastrophic hydraulic failures are real. I even don't walk under the front loader when it is raised.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Dogs are man’s best friend but a tractor is right up there.

Speaking of safety a family friend who was beloved by all changed oil using only a jack-all.

It slipped and he was crushed and died slowly trying to communicate to his wife how to operate the jack-all.

She will never be the same after this horrendous experience. He is missed by his children and grandchildren.

That's a unique and horrific form of terrible; that family, may they find peace.

 

[nctox]

Personally I'd at least put some kind of "cribbing" in place to save you if something fails. Some scrap 6x6s or something to at least keep the full weight off of you should something go wrong.

Like putting the flat tire under the car after you take it off to put on the spare. Just in case...

I have that same mower lift and decided after assembling it that those locking pins just weren't enought to make me feel comfortable working underneath it. I threw together a support to put in place when the lift was up at it's highest, the only position I would normally work under it, and now I believe it will support the advertised weight, even if the pins fail.
Pics to follow.

 

[PhilP]

I di

Just having a tractor around is an absolute blessing for me; it's not a need, it's something I'm able to afford that makes life so much easier.

A few days ago I managed to obliterate a mowing blade in a way that was new for me, directing it straight into the ground. This made moving the lawnmower difficult.

I just brought the Kioti over to the Cub Cadet and lifted the mower in the air. I've never had an easier time removing the blades. I did the same a few days later when I put the new blades on. With the new blades on, forgetting about the previous days rain, I immediately sank the Cub in mud.

A small tractor suited this recue effort far more than the F350 would have; a small tractor is a blessing.

I mowed the upper area and then put my toys away, I'll try again this weekend.

 

[PhilP]

Just having a tractor around is an absolute blessing for me; it's not a need, it's something I'm able to afford that makes life so much easier.

A few days ago I managed to obliterate a mowing blade in a way that was new for me, directing it straight into the ground. This made moving the lawnmower difficult.

I just brought the Kioti over to the Cub Cadet and lifted the mower in the air. I've never had an easier time removing the blades. I did the same a few days later when I put the new blades on. With the new blades on, forgetting about the previous days rain, I immediately sank the Cub in mud.

A small tractor suited this recue effort far more than the F350 would have; a small tractor is a blessing.

I mowed the upper area and then put my toys away, I'll try again this weekend.

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I did the same thing to my Cub Cadet about a week ago. I hit a piece of cut-off wood about 4 inches in diameter while mowing taller grass. The blade bent right down just like your blade. Unfortunately, the new OEM blades I ordered had the incorrect hole style for the spindles on my mower housing. Now I have to go through the fun part of doing an exchange. My grass will be really tall by the time I get the replacement blades.

 

[tacticalturnip]

I did the same thing to my Cub Cadet about a week ago. I hit a piece of cut-off wood about 4 inches in diameter while mowing taller grass. The blade bent right down just like your blade. Unfortunately, the new OEM blades I ordered had the incorrect hole style for the spindles on my mower housing. Now I have to go through the fun part of doing an exchange. My grass will be really tall by the time I get the replacement blades.

My wife picked up a set of blades for me, it was the star pattern, this deck takes the S pattern- we returned them to Home Depot and swapped them out.

They're real cheap for something so expensive.

 

[PhilP]

May I suggest using jack stands or hydraulic cylinder blocks when working under mower, tractor hydraulics are nor fail safe and have been know to release dropping load.....

That's a good idea. I'm planning to build a real platform that's set on posts, about 5-feet high; with blocking all around the edge of the platform to keep the mower from rolling off, and a hole in the center of the platform that exposes everything between the tires. We don't have a garage or barn, so I'm tired of crawling in the gravel. I tried sharpening my mower blades using an angle grinder. I lifted the front of my mower with my tractor. I was using the grinder holding it with one hand, which is not a bright idea. The mower blade was blocked in place, but the blocking slipped. The grinding blade skipped off the mower blade and nicked my index finger. A comedy of errors and bad decisions. It was only a nick about a 1/4-inch wide by an 1/8-inch deep by 1-inch long. Pain is a great educator.

 

[Ridersupfarm]

Just having a tractor around is an absolute blessing for me; it's not a need, it's something I'm able to afford that makes life so much easier.

A few days ago I managed to obliterate a mowing blade in a way that was new for me, directing it straight into the ground. This made moving the lawnmower difficult.

I just brought the Kioti over to the Cub Cadet and lifted the mower in the air. I've never had an easier time removing the blades. I did the same a few days later when I put the new blades on. With the new blades on, forgetting about the previous days rain, I immediately sank the Cub in mud.

A small tractor suited this recue effort far more than the F350 would have; a small tractor is a blessing.

I mowed the upper area and then put my toys away, I'll try again this weekend.

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I agree! I wasn't feeling right last week so I Googled my symptoms. Google told me I need another tractor so now I have 3, a sub, a compact and a full sized and each one gets a workout on our farm

 

[sunandsand]

Jackstands . . . I think I was about 18 at the time (there were still dinosaurs around) and a friend of mine was installing a Hurst shifter into his 1956 Ford.

Had the rear wheels off, no idea why, car was jacked up with one lonely bumper jack on asphalt pavement, on a hot summer day.

I'm sitting to one side, watching, and I noticed the car starting to move.

"Mike! Get out! It's moving!"

He didn't stop to ask questions, he shoved himself out from under in about a second. One second later, the car crashed all the way to the ground, frame right on the ground (remember, no rear wheels).

Definitely a change-your-underwear moment, and to this day, I am reluctant to crawl under things even with jackstands, and with the tires and rims under the frame, and on a concrete floor.

I figure my life is worth more than the $10 I can save by changing the oil on my beater Honda myself instead of taking it to the local quick-change joint.

Always remember, Darwin is out there, and he is watching.

Best Regards,
Mike/Florida