Fear of flying

[Indydirtfarmer]

If you've spent much time bush hogging, at some point you'll run over something that you "just didn't see". High weeds that haven't been mowed for years give up some mighty big suprises! What's the worst thing you've ever hit? Did it go sailing? Or did it stay under the mower?

I do commercial bush hogging on a full-time basis. With 2 tractors logging around 1100 hours each every summer, my employee and I have hit a few things of note.

The worst SOUNDING was a space-saver spare tire and rim last summer. I would have never expected something like that almost a mile from the nearest road.

A sawed off telephone pole, left 6" out of the ground made for some excitement!

The worst over-all experience was running over one end of about 1000 feet of cable TV wire left laying in the weeds. I spent the better part of a day with wire cutters in hand on that one.

My employee hit a car batterey last summer. More noise than damage.

OK....What's YOUR story? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Varmintmist]

50 feet of high tensile fence.

A blanket. Half rotten and nasty.

A fawn. Some came out, some didnt.

 

[AndyClyde]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="blue"> The worst over-all experience was running over one end of about 1000 feet of cable TV wire left laying in the weeds. I spent the better part of a day with wire cutters in hand on that one. </font> )</font>

The orbiting grinder is nice for situations like this(providing you have access to electric).

 

[RobS]

Rocks, rocks and more rocks. I get a new crop of field stones every year. Most in the 4-8 inch range. They launch, make a huge racket and scare the bejeezus out of me. Worst one sent a piece directly under the tractor, straight in front of me. I could watch it come to a stop 50 or so feet ahead.

No damage to anything other than my cutter so far. I don't do this kind of mowing near the house /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[PineRidge]

Actually one day while brush hogging a field I came upon a downed tree. I raised the deck and slid a trailer ball into the receiver on the back of the tractor so that I had a place to attach a chain to drag the tree out of my way. Once the tree was pulled off to the side I put the chain away, jumped back on the tractor, fired up the brush hog and set it down on the trailer ball still in place on the back of the tractor.

You know those spinning blades completely destroyed that solid 2" ball. GO FIGURE

Scared the bajeebies out of me too. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

TC-40D SS web pictures click here

 

[rdbrumfield]

Yes, tires are some of the worst, but at least they don't do much damage. I so some right of way mowing from time to time and it seems that folks like to dump on it as they can't use it for anything else. I have hit engine blocks, small cars, a skunk, miles of fence wire, and propane bottles. You never know what will brighten you day when mowing. And as to the folks that say, Aw thar ain't nothin in there but weeds, try a telephone pedestal with about a thousand wires in it.

 

[rdbrumfield]

One more thing related to safety. I was mowing and my crew was at least 200ft behind me and my crew leader was helping one of the crew with a chainsaw. He bent over to kneel down and his hat fell off just as a chunk about 2in thick and 6in long hit him square on the temple. Luckily it didn't hit on end but on the round side of the limb. Dropped him like a sack of rocks. We took him in later as he was having balance problems, but was ok. It took a few days before he was back up to par. It must have shook up his inner ear somewhat.

 

[Cliff_Johns]

You know, I've always been a bit worried about driving by when they are out bush hoging the median strips and the shoulders on the highways. You guys are making me feel so much better. Thanks.

Cliff

 

[Varmintmist]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( And as to the folks that say, Aw thar ain't nothin in there but weeds, try a telephone pedestal with about a thousand wires in it. )</font>

Try fixing a ped that got hogged. Not to bad if you just took the top 4 in off, but if you got it at the bottom................. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[ScottAR]

Bumble bee nest, old log chain, old fence posts, barb wire, a concrete block, couple stumps, ..... I guess that's about it.

 

[tillerkiller]

This email that I got one time may be of some interest:

The telephone people send crews to other states in times of crisis to help
restore services, just like the Power Company does.
A lineman from Michigan was working here in Alabama, when he was sent to
repair a pedestal which had been destroyed by a 'Bush Hog'.
Upon getting to the site, he called in to the office on the radio and said
he could probably get the wires put back together, and get a new pedestal
installed, but that he was not getting out of the truck until they got some other backup to the scene. "I don't know what a bush hog is,
and I don't see one around anywhere, but after seeing what it did to that
pedestal, I ain't getting out of the truck till you get someone here to
watch my back!"

 

[MMM]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Did it go sailing?
Or did it stay under the mower? )</font>

I've got an old 4 blade pull shredder that I pull with my SuperC. I had it set high clipping some stumpy reclaimed land and the whole carrier fell out. The upper blade carrier tore off one of the wheel spindles of the cutter and the lower cartwheeled about 50' circle and came to rest right in front of tractor. It took hours to find the springs for the undermount clutches, a day to put it all back togehter, and a week to regain the courage to use it again.

 

[PineRidge]

Tillerkiller that one is priceless. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[getut]

I hit the blade portion for a 4 foot push blade off of an old lawn tractor. Thats what it looked like anyway. I guess the previous owner of my land may have been trying to build a home made one.

VERY luckily it was laying push side down so the rotary cutter blades kind of skimmed over the surface of the thing rather than hitting edge to edge. I still just about jumped off the tractor and ran when I heard it though.

 

[Bully]

I was mowing down in a gully at the in-laws place, when I hit the belly pan of an old 60s VW bug. Spun that 3/8 sheer pin right now.