Gravel bullets

[rd_macgregor]

I learned a $400 lesson last night.
After finishing up mowing some weeds in a pasture, I didn't disingage the mower as I left the pasture and drove past the house. The mower shot a piece of gravel from the driveway through the only picture window in the house.
Well, I guess that's a better lesson than having had somebody standing in the yard to catch that gravel.
I can see why some of these mowers have chain or rubber skirts.
BOB

 

[J_J]

Sorry about your window. Even with guards it will do that. I did something similar to a sliding glass door. I heard it hit, and about 20 seconds later, I watched the spider web effect go through the glass. and all the glass fell out. Never did know what the object was.

 

[beenthere]

It is a good lesson to never have anyone around with the mower or rotary cutter running.

I shudder to think of the times I've observed children (adults too but they should have more sense) playing in a yard while Dad is mowing with the rotary mower.

I had to stop and go back to chew on a guy who had a toddler in a childs' wagon tied on behind his rider mower, and actually mowing his grass. Just was too much to not tell him he was nuts. And he told me to mind my own business (thankfully without punching me in the nose). I just hope he gave some thought to what he was doing after I left, for the childs' eyes at least.

 

[smstonypoint]

The older I get, I seem to remember things that didn't occur and forget things that did.

That being said, I seem to recall reading a story about a driver in SC who was struck and killed by the debris from a rotary mower being used to cut the grass along a road right-of-way. Maybe that's why I cringe every time I pass one.

Steve

 

[k0ua]

That being said, I seem to recall reading a story about a driver in SC who was struck and killed by the debris from a rotary mower being used to cut the grass along a road right-of-way. Maybe that's why I cringe every time I pass one.

Your are not the only one, especially when they are coming up out of the ditch and the bottom of the deck is visible just as you drive by
I have put my hand up to shield my face several times. I have seen to much auto glass broken by mowers.
James K0UA

 

[CompactTractorFan]

That being said, I seem to recall reading a story about a driver in SC who was struck and killed by the debris from a rotary mower being used to cut the grass along a road right-of-way. Maybe that's why I cringe every time I pass one.

Your are not the only one, especially when they are coming up out of the ditch and the bottom of the deck is visible just as you drive by
I have put my hand up to shield my face several times. I have seen to much auto glass broken by mowers.
James K0UA

Flail mower anyone???

 

[amazincaucasian]

A good friend of mine was hauling pigs in an aluminum stock trailer. When he got home, he noticed an oval shaped hole in the nose of the trailer. So he peeked in and found a bush hog blade. He remembered passing mowing crews on the highway but never heard anything hit his rig. I duck when I pass highway department mowers.

 

[AMR]

The contractor was clearing and grubbing for a building project I was overseeing on a college campus. Late in the day I received a call from a concerned professor that a stick was protruding through the window of his office. The chipper that the contractor was using, massive trailer mounted monster, propelled this stick for several hundred feet with enough force to penetrate a double glazed piece of curtain wall. Thankfully all was well with simply a new piece of glazing but I learned a valuable lesson that day concerning thrown objects from equipment. Scary to think about the distance they can travel and the force with which they can impact something.

This makes me think also that I used to snow blow my gravel driveway at my first house. I was shocked to find some pretty good sized stones in my gutters. It took me a few minutes to put 2 and 2 together but I learned then also to "watch my chute".

 

[jinman]

I've had to replace the 15-pane window on a door in my house. It's actually two panes (outer and inner) with a 15-pane grate between to make it look like individual panes. I shattered the outside window with a piece of pea gravel thrown by a string trimmer. I also have replaced the rear side window on my extended cab pickup due to throwing the same stones with a string trimmer. I have a pane of glass broken on another window that I've not replaced due to its being out of sight and it's dual pane glass. I got that one with my mower chute before I learned to always point it away from the house. I'd say my vehicles and house are "terrorized" everytime I start cutting my lawn.

 

[czechsonofagun]

My friends husband hit a pile of gravel while cutting grass. Rocks flying from the mower broke all three side windows on his Isuzu Trooper and he panicked, started to back up and shot the other side through the car:thumbsup:

The insurance agent said he never seen anything like it in his 20+ years of experience. Takes a talent, all six windows in few seconds

On my MMM I use the deflector, always down only when really necessary I pull it up.