Near-rollover Cuttin Hay

[walker450]

My neighbor was cutting hay at night, on his first round he came up to the fence line and didn't see it until he was in it and started turning and slid into the ditch, was lucky it slid to the bottom and didn't rollover. The Johnson grass was so tall it was higher than the fence. If he would have done this during the day he could have seen other reference points, such as the ROAD on the other side of the ditch, but at night couldn't see far. We've had highs up around 100 so he was trying to stay cool hence the late night....

He is fine no injury. Tractor wouldn't start at that angle. I dug out underneath one side and filled the steep drop-off up with dirt to make a ramp up and out of the ditch, my neighbor pulled it out with his 4020.

Also, I've always been told to open up a field with the cutter sticking out into the field, then turn around and drive where you cut and get next to fences etc, which makes sense to me. He was going around the opposite way of what I was taught.

 

[bmaverick]

Sweet deal using the SCUT Kubota to get in the tight places.

Nice he had ROPS on the machine too. Glad nobody was injured except a little pride.

Once it was out, did the Massey fire back up? It badly needs a new seat too.

 

[cqaigy2]

Wow, all i could think of was "ride em cowboy!" Bet that was a "fun" trip. Glad everyone was alright.

 

[ljjhouser]

Lucky guy. I can't imagine what he though - AT NIGHT - when he hit that ditch. Big ditch and everything is covered very well by tall grass. Can't see much even during the day. Good pictures. Glad things came out well. How was the mower?

 

[walker450]

I failed to mention the state of the mower.... it broke a weld that had been repaired many years ago, the frame has two main rails but now one is cracked and another piece of the frame is twisted pretty bad, I'm not sure if it's salvageable or not, either way it will be labor intensive to repair.

Once it was on level ground we drained the water front the separators and used a little ether and she fired up.

He said it didn't go all the way to the bottom of the ditch at once, he stopped it first, but though he could get out so he went a little further and then it slid all the way down, which is even scarier to me at night because he didn't know how big of a drop off it was!

The little 8" backhoe bucket really shined at this job

 

[Hay Dude]

First mistake he made was “cutting hay at night”. Although its a common practice to cut hay at night, it shouldn’t be done in unfamiliar or treacherous areas at night. That guy is lucky.

Nice recovery job! You’re a good neighbor.
I’ve been stuck one time where I couldn’t get out. Property owner has a JD310 backhoe and it pulled me out in 3 minutes with the dipper stick and a chain.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Oh wow, he's fortunate to not take any damage himself; I understand avoiding the heat, but ouch.

 

[Tinhack]

I've had to pull my Ford out of some wet swales a couple of times out in the back corner. I don't mow back there very much so the weeds get pretty high. I used my little JD 420C to pull it out. I don't go out in that area after dark. There're things out there that will eat you!

 

[tacticalturnip]

There're things out there that will eat you!

Yes, always.

 

[Tinhack]

Yes, always.

I've found cougar tracts within 100yds of the house in that direction. We always have deer and other wildlife around. I suppose that's why. I won't even go out of the house at night without a sidearm.

I even had a few of the neighbor's cattle show up at the bird feeders and corn.

 

[tacticalturnip]

I've found cougar tracts within 100yds of the house in that direction. We always have deer and other wildlife around. I suppose that's why. I won't even go out of the house at night without a sidearm.

I even had a few of the neighbor's cattle show up at the bird feeders and corn.

Hell, I go out armed because rabies exists.

 

[seagravedriver]

I've found cougar tracts within 100yds of the house in that direction. We always have deer and other wildlife around. I suppose that's why. I won't even go out of the house at night without a sidearm.

I even had a few of the neighbor's cattle show up at the bird feeders and corn.

I deal with Coyotes and methheads. If it aint locked, it's stolen.

 

[nyone]

He said it didn't go all the way to the bottom of the ditch at once, he stopped it first, but though he could get out so he went a little further and then it slid all the way down

He was close to tipping it but not that close. The weight of the mower off to that side helped tip I that way but once it hits the ground you would loose alot of momentum in the tip.

 

[repete]

First mistake he made was “cutting hay at night”. Although its a common practice to cut hay at night, it shouldn’t be done in unfamiliar or treacherous areas at night. That guy is lucky.

Nice recovery job! You’re a good neighbor.
I’ve been stuck one time where I couldn’t get out. Property owner has a JD310 backhoe and it pulled me out in 3 minutes with the dipper stick and a chain.

This reminds me of one of the basic rules in wildland firefighting. NEVER fight a fire in territory you have not seen in the daylight.

 

[tradosaurus]

My neighbor was cutting hay at night, on his first round he came up to the fence line and didn't see it until he was in it and started turning and slid into the ditch, was lucky it slid to the bottom and didn't rollover. The Johnson grass was so tall it was higher than the fence. If he would have done this during the day he could have seen other reference points, such as the ROAD on the other side of the ditch, but at night couldn't see far. We've had highs up around 100 so he was trying to stay cool hence the late night....

He is fine no injury. Tractor wouldn't start at that angle. I dug out underneath one side and filled the steep drop-off up with dirt to make a ramp up and out of the ditch, my neighbor pulled it out with his 4020.

Also, I've always been told to open up a field with the cutter sticking out into the field, then turn around and drive where you cut and get next to fences etc, which makes sense to me. He was going around the opposite way of what I was taught.

Soon as I read "cutting hay at night" I thought "oh boy".

 

[Evan1054]

Except for very high end newer equipment (e.g. combines, road graders, etc), the factory lighting on most tractors is nowhere near adequate to safely work at night. It's better not to work at night, but if I absolutely had to work at night with that tractor I would install forward- side- and rear-facing work lights in addition to the OEM lights. A machine used at night should be completely surrounded by a pool of light. Glad nobody got hurt!

 

[Torvy]

Except for very high end newer equipment (e.g. combines, road graders, etc), the factory lighting on most tractors is nowhere near adequate to safely work at night. It's better not to work at night, but if I absolutely had to work at night with that tractor I would install forward- side- and rear-facing work lights in addition to the OEM lights. A machine used at night should be completely surrounded by a pool of light. Glad nobody got hurt!

I suppose with the advent of so much solar, some farmers could put in some stadium lights on their fields and power them with the sun. Probably can even tie it in to Alexa...'Alexa, turn on the back forty'. Maybe just a solar LED on each fence post.

All kidding aside, there are times when weather and life conspire to push real farmers into making poor choices. These situations require extra care and the assistance of others. I've seen more than one farm using a truck to help light a field as they attempt to get harvest in. Fortune may favor the bold, but survival favors the wise.