Dumb as a stump

willfick · Mar 7, 2006

Dumber, maybe.
Since Tuesday two weeks ago, when this happened, I've been trying to figure out how to explain it in a way that would be helpful to others and shows that I accept that it was entirely my fault and entirely avoidable, and yet doesn't make me appear to be a total donkey head. I'll have to settle for three out of four.
I was using my Ford 3500d TLB far down in the swamp, pushing the tree line back from the edge of a road, making more room for the sawtooth oaks the huntclub planted some years back. There was a good size hackberry tree, maybe eighteen inches at the base, that needed to go. It split into two trunks about three feet from the ground.
The ground was soft from recent rain and when I put the hoe in next to the stump and gave it a tug the whole tree moved a little, let me know this would be an easy one. A little more digging got the main root loose on the left side, the left trunk started to tear away and roll my way. (This is where I screwed up. Should have stopped and pulled the hoe out, moved it to my side of the tree, and pushed.) No problem, I do trees this way all the time. The hoe is off center to my right and tree is on the right of that so as it pulls up the hoe, the mast and the roots on the far side of the stump turn it away from the tractor. It'll land lying right alongside.
This time, though, there were no roots on the other side; it popped loose from the other trunk which then rolled it back my way.
The main trunk landed between the steering wheel and the exhaust; the loader arms held it up off the tractor. A three inch limb, which would have been six or eight feet high, landed across my lap.
Most of the weight was probably on the loader, but it felt like it was all on my right leg. It was heavy enough that it split the half inch plywood under the seat cushion. Trapped. My foot was slightly back on the platform and the only way to straighten my leg was to lift it slightly.
After a minute or two of panicked thrashing and trying to lift the branch(I couldn't even wiggle it) I managed to move the control levers enough to raise the hoe and swing the back corner of the bucket under the trunk and press it against the standing trunk of the tree. There was no more than two inches of cylinder left to lift, but that was enough to get the weight off my thigh and let me pull my leg out and dismount, on the hop.
By the time help arrived (The hunt club guys said "Ol'Edward went from zero to hero.")I had removed the seat and muffler. After Edward climbed up and cut off the limb that had had me and was now tangled in the levers I was able to start the tractor up and back it out.
Bad as I hurt I took time to finish off the hackberry.
Lotsa lessons. Including, remember the camera. In fact, if I had one of those fancy new camera phones I coulda had some good flat leg shots. And that the phone wasn't much use in my coat pocket, hanging twenty yards away.
Wm

escavader · Mar 7, 2006

WM,
Glad you got out,good job using your head.IT is alot easier to pull stumps ,with trees attached,but it aint always safe.I hate even cutting a dbl tree in the woods,even though they might be one at the base,there is always that seam,that will get you every time.DUMB? No way,just an accident,and learning experiance,more like SMART...GOT OUT OF A BAD SITUATION, where a dumby would have sat there and waited for rescue.Bet your bruised!!!
ALAN

wushaw · Mar 7, 2006

At least it wasn't something like a thorned honey locus in your lap /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Glad you wern't hurt and a cool head prevails.

Taylortractornut · Mar 17, 2006

Wm Ive got an old 3550 Ford hoe I ve had since I was 17. Ive done alot of work with it and had a close call like yours but the original owner sprung for a rops/fops. I had a mimosa branch fall without worning as I drove past. One thing that could have happend was the branches land on the crowd control and make it swing into the machine. M y oleder brother had this happen on a clearing job several years ago. His boss had them out way too late and he had picked up an oak tree that he had downed. he went to put it in the pil and it rolled one turn and a long limb came in the cab and hung his crowd arm control and caused it to croud into the machine he bailed and got to sit back and watch the machine eat itself. 3500 dollars later his boss decided that all the machines needed extra lighting if they were to work past dark. By the way what part of SC are you from I was hatched out in Bamburg 26 years ago

willfick · Mar 20, 2006

I was born and raised in Walterboro, which by modern standards is not far at all from Bamburg. When I was a kid it could as well have been Iowa. Now I live in Lower Richland County, near where Leesburg would be if Fort Jackson hadn't eaten it.
I've been looking much harder at how to provide some over head protection on the old open station without filling myself with overconfidence. 'Til then I've told the hunt club guys that anything bigger than a baseball bat they've got to fell it first.
Wm

SCDolphin · Apr 22, 2006

Send a private message to Turkeyman. He is from Columbia. Last week he let me play around on his 4720. It was armored like a tank. He has really neat skid plates made to protect the bottom and a Frame around the operators station to protect from falling limbs, trees etc. I think someone in Newberry built some of the stuff.

Hope this will help

Taylortractornut · Apr 30, 2006

Try a few tractor salvage yards for tractors, Rops and fops are easy to get there in good shape. If mine hadnt had a factory one on it I was gonna make one from a copy. Theres a machine shop about an hour from here that makes certified factory all metal replacement rops and fops If youd like there number I can look it up. They made one for our 4000 Ford at work. Looks slick, they also make them for the IMT tractors that com over here. I think they have all the prints from most manufacturers to go by.
I havent been back to SC since I was about 2 or 3. I may plan a trip out there this summer.

willfick · Apr 30, 2006

Y'all know, I just thought I was dim. It's worse than that.
After this adventure I had the idea that I needed to be more careful. It didn't occur to me until y'all pointed it out that I could actually do something to make the old beast safer.
Thanks, Wm