Scariest Tractor Moment

[farmboy12]

What are some of your scariest tractor moments? What crazy things have happened to you during operation of equipment?


This is mine, probably-
-This morning, I was aerating at my school. I was aerating a low part surrounded by hills, on very steep. The one that was steep was the one I had to go up to turn around. I was tired, unaware of what was about to happen. I hit a rut, tipped on to the aerator, bounced, when I came back down I was off-direction, I started going up sideways, nearly tipped but I was able to regain control. I was awake after that!


Kyle

 

[Travelover]

Confession time.

I had just taken delivery of my new B7100 with FEL (1993) and had not purchased any 3 point attachments yet, so it was rear light. My creek has one of those arched Japanese style bridges across it and I decided to move a fairly large rock in the FEL over the bridge. You guessed it, as I crested the top, the tractor did a face plant and was standing on the FEL and front wheels, back end in the air. I quickly shut off the engine and looked to see if any one was watching. I set it down by shutting off the fuel and using the starter motor and hydraulics to ease it back to the ground. What a orientation to my new tractor.

 

[jaybrad]

What are some of your scariest tractor moments? What crazy things have happened to you during operation of equipment?


This is mine, probably-
-This morning, I was aerating at my school. I was aerating a low part surrounded by hills, on very steep. The one that was steep was the one I had to go up to turn around. I was tired, unaware of what was about to happen. I hit a rut, tipped on to the aerator, bounced, when I came back down I was off-direction, I started going up sideways, nearly tipped but I was able to regain control. I was awake after that!


Kyle

So far, my scariest happened many years ago when I got my first tractor (JD 755) and was helping a neighbor move some gravel he had delivered. I was pretty comfortable with the whole forward, scoop; back, dump routine and one one trip to dump a bucket full got to a bit steeper part of the yard. The tractor very slowly went up on two wheels and balanced there to the point where I had to jump off and could push it back onto all four while lowering the bucket.

Suffice it to say I wasn't as casual with the rest of that project, nor have I been on any other project since.

Jay

 

[jake98]

Went for a ride on a frozen lake one time. I remember thinking it was strange how the cracks kept aiming themselves right between my tires. Left, then right, back and forth.
Got lucky.
Jake

 

[L4400]

Confession time for me too.

A couple of months ago, I pushed over a dead locust tree with my L4400. It pushed it down, then the canopy of the tree got caught up in another tree. The tree was at about a 45 degree angle so I backed and went to the side of the tree to give it a push to get the tree untangled from the other tree. As soon as it became untangled, the tree fell over. What had happened, that I couldn't see, the tree had gotten wedged between two teeth on my tooth bar and as soon as the tree went over, with all the leverage of the tree top, it flipped my tractor over on it's side in a hurry. After I shut it off, it took me about 2 hours to get it back up. Adding to all of this, nobody was home, so if it had somehow fell on my leg (had the seat belt on) when it went over, I would have been there for awhile.

 

[Egon]

Turned a corner once with a Farmall H and one rear tire came off the ground!

 

[Sniggle]

Shortly after I got my tractor, I was picking up rocks from a recently cleared area. I had the bucket full of rocks and was approaching the dump point, which was down a slight incline. I approached perpendicular to the decline, turning down the slope and started to lift the bucket. She got very, very light and I slamed the bucket to the ground to save myself. I was not wearing a seatbelt.

I now where my seatbelt all the time, and always go striaght up or down the slope when loaded.

 

[JoelD]

JD 350B dozer. I had the blade off the ground, I was on a slight hill. The motor was off and I was working on some electrical connections in the dash. I was standing on track, the gear shift lever was in my way. I threw her into neutral, and she started to roll. I side stepped on the track, otherwise I would've gotten rolled over.

That was by far the scariest moment I've ever had.

Just remembered another one. I was removing my frame mounted hoe on my old Kubota. I had blocked the how with wood but not the front part of the frame under the front of the tractor.

i reached UNDER the hoe to pop out the last bolt and the hoe fell straight down onto my wrist, if not for the blocking on the back of the hoe I would've severed my hand. Instead the front frame part bounced off of my wrist and the ground, I got away with a swollen wrist, cuts and a wrist brace for a couple of weeks. I was very very lucky to not have had my hand severed. The frame was 1/2 inch thick flat rolled stock. The hoe weighed about 700 lbs.

Bottom line, things happen fast and you can never be too safe.

Joel

 

[farmboy12]

Another confession for me- none of our experienced family wears a seat belt (me, Pop, Grandpop, and Uncle).

 

[Matt_Jr]

I was moving a bunch of fill dirt for a neighbor up here on the mountain over the summer. His back yard had a sink hole from where the builder had buried some tree stumps. That hole was about 10 ft deep, 8-10 ft wide and 20 ft long. He had about 16 trucks dump dirt in it over a span of about 4 years. They had been dumping the dirt in his driveway and he would push it down a steep hill into the hole with the snow plow on his 4 wheeler. It was taking him forever so I offered to help with my BX24. Took me 3 weekends to put the dirt in the hole. Any how after most of the dirt had been moved I was finishing up and ran over a soft spot and the tractor went on 2 wheels. I tried to drop the bucket but it was over the hole and the tractor was quickly about to roll sideways down my neighbors yard. I jumped off and held it up by the ROPS and was about to lose it when my neighbor ran over to help. I could barely reach the stick to dump the load but managed to do it. Ever since then I move muuuuch slooower on hills and check for soft spots and rocks. Almost had to change my pants after that one.

 

[EastTexFrank]

About 10 or 12 years ago I was mowing at the farm with the MF 275 and a heavy duty, 7' pull mower. The Massey had a cab but no A/C (not working) or seat belt. I had finished mowing except for a strip on a steep terrace. It looked really bad being the only uncut piece on the property so I decided to make one run across it. I was about half way along it when the mower started to slide down the slope. It broke the brackets that held the PTO shaft aligned with the tongue and started to drag the rear end of the tractor downhill with it. I got the tractor stopped but the Massey went up on two wheels and seemed to hang there for ages while it decided if it was going to go over or not. Eventually it crashed back down on all four wheels. It was kinda strange and scary just sitting there, almost as a spectator, waiting for it all to play out. As the back end was now at 45 degrees to the slope, I backed on down and went to the house. Man, I tore up some stuff that day and what made it worse, my wife was looking out the kitchen window and saw and heard the whole thing. I never felt comfortable on that tractor/mower combination ever again. I was so glad when we finally got rid of it.

 

[LBrown59]

Another confession for me- none of our experienced family wears a seat belt (me, Pop, Grandpop, and Uncle).

Great chance of increasing the likely hood of a victim here.

 

[farmboy12]

Thanks, LB!

 

[Renze]

I never felt comfortable on that tractor/mower combination ever again. I was so glad when we finally got rid of it.

When a similar thing happened to me, i was not only glad that things went not that bad after all, but also that i knew exactly what the limitations of my equipment are.... It makes you feel safer in a lot of other situations, when you know when things get risky...

 

[reddog176]

Another confession for me- none of our experienced family wears a seat belt (me, Pop, Grandpop, and Uncle).

Amateur. Only one out of our 6 tractors even HAS a seatbelt, or seat switch, or really any other modern safety feature. They run on common sense. Been fine for 40+ years, 15 or so of which i've operated them.

 

[jake98]

Way to Jinx yourself Reddog. I remember right before my 20th hs reunion I was thinking about how I was just as smart as my doctor lawyer friends, thought about it about 45 seconds before the tree I was cutting took the edge shingles off my shop.

Jake

 

[farmboy12]

Only 3 of our 11 have seatbelts. We ain't too far behind you. 4 of our's are 1967 and before. Only 2 are post-1999. But, like most all TBN members, we are experts and know the limits. We do encourage others to wear seatbelts though.



Kyle

 

[EddieWalker]

A few scary moments.

I hit an underground bee hive while clearing some land with the dozer. I got lucky and they focused on the front blade. I stoped the dozer where it was and ran away.

I was pushing over a dead pine tree and it snapped off about half way up. It came down like a bullet and landed to my right, then fell over away from me. That was too close, too fast!!!!

I was bushhogging one of my trails and moving along at a pretty good pace since it's pretty smooth. I saw a low bush off to the side that I decided to take out on a spur of the moment thought. My front tire hit something and I was way up on an angle. It was almost instant, and it took everything that I had to hold onto the wheel and stop it at the same time. I had hit a stump that I didn't know about. It was over a foot tall and totally hidden in that small bush.

One of my worse was digging out some mud with the backhoe and sliding into the hole. Luckily the hoe stick was down and I was able to support the rear tire with it. Otherwise, it would have been a quick drop and there's no telling what would have happened if it tipped over into the mud with me in the ROPS.

Eddie

 

[EastTexFrank]

I hit an underground bee hive while clearing some land with the dozer. I got lucky and they focused on the front blade. I stoped the dozer where it was and ran away.

Eddie

I've done that too, Eddie and I KNEW they were there. I could see them hanging around above the grass and I left a little square where they were alone. When I had finished mowing, that little square in the middle of the cut pasture looked so stupid that I couldn't leave well enough alone. I got the tractor and mower lined up and took off in high ... run right over the top of the nest and kept on going. It's just as well because they came boiling out of the ground. It was like something out of a Wily Coyote cartoon. They formed a huge ball about 3' off the ground, looked around and took off after the tractor. By that time I was in high/high and rattling and bouncing all over that pasture on the way back to the house. Those little boogers must have chased me for well over 50 yards but I never got stung once. It was definitely more luck than good judgment.

 

[reddog176]

A few scary moments.

I hit an underground bee hive while clearing some land with the dozer. I got lucky and they focused on the front blade. I stoped the dozer where it was and ran away.

Eddie

Just this year we got our first tractor with cab... You don't realize how helpful a cab is in that situation, until you hit a nest and watch the bees repeatedly ram into the windows.

I've been stung by quite a few hornets when brush hogging through their nests.