The dumbest thing

[warpaint]

I'm not even gonna get in to my burning brush story!!

Just suffice to say, never, never use gas, woodpile and lighter in the same sentence!!

===============
I did that one. To much gas...not enough used oil mixed in....poured it on a brush pile...and dribbled a starter on the ground out about 200 feet...set it off. When the flame reached the brush pile with fumes in the air.......kaaaabooooomm!

All the neighbors for miles were awakened at 5 am and the sheriff was there in 2 minutes. Won't do that again.

Let's just say I didn't pour out a starter, and was using a bic lighter. Lost a lot of hair that day!!

 

[cmjust0]

This is a great thread for a newbie like me.. Here's what I've learned so far...

1. Double check all truck-to-trailer connections..
2. Avoid getting into a small enclosure with big animals and no escape route..
3. Double check all latches on everything..
4. Assume that whatever's behind the gate you're about to open wants out really bad..
5. Think hard before following a cow into the water..
6. Dress like you'll be out all day, even if the task should only take a few minutes..
7. Chutes/headgates are your friend...
8. Galvanized electrical conduit is a good investment in the barn...
9 Never ask a huge guy to whack a sorry cow across the nose.. (<== that might be my favorite so far.. :lol: )
10. The concept of having cattle under control is a grand illusion. Be vigilant, as they can and will destroy that illusion whenever *they* feel like it..

 

[sidney411]

I had use of a backhoe and dug out a 16 ft deep hole to burn a bunch of fence debris, cut up trees, brush, ect. Well this hole filled up with water about 1/3 of the way so hubby decided to go int he hole and douse it all with a 5 gallon gas can. I was standing on the edge playing with the matches when I accidently struck one and flipped it in the hole, I didn't think it would lite it since there was so much water......WRONG! A huge fireball came out of that hole and gave hubby a flying lesson. Knocked me backwards on the ground. Learned my lesson: diesel only!

 

[cmjust0]

Learned my lesson: diesel only!

Diesel only, sure, but what about "don't play with matches!" :lol:

 

[dcara]

I'm certainly no old timer, but with ya'll relating these experiances I certainly have a better chance of making it to be one. Thanks

I've only been at it about 4 years now and already had my share. I'll skip the no harm done ones. but there are 2 that still put a knot in my stomach when I think about them.

No1: I had put diesel on a very dry brush pile (about 8ft high by 20ft diameter) but forgot the lighter. I spent 10 minutes at the house looking for one before I got back. When I arrived back my 15 year old son was standing there and asked to light it. I let him and just as he did I noticed a gas can just on the other side of the pile. Son wait!! To late. KABOOM!!, he had put gas on the pile while I was in the house since he didn't see me put the diesel on it. I was okay but he spent a few days in the burn center, plus 3 times a week for 6 weeks we had to take him into town for a whirlpool treatment and debur the dead skin.

No2: I bought 4 pair, plus a bull to from a local rancher and we had previously agreed that I could use his 26 ft GN trailer to take them to the vet and then home. They all loaded fine and off I went. 10 miles later, and about 2 mile from the vet someone pulled up next to me honking and pointing at the trailer. Some of the floor boards had come loose and there were a lot of cow legs dragging the ground. We got all of them up and he then followed me at about 2 miles/hr the rest of the way and would honk whenever a leg came through the floor. My que to stop and get em back up. That was an incredably lucky day for me because none of the cows were actually hurt. Only one had a skined ankle and a the hoof ground down a little. I now always check the floor boards thourghly before loading animals.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I'm not even gonna get in to my burning brush story!!

Just suffice to say, never, never use gas, woodpile and lighter in the same sentence!!

===============
I did that one. To much gas...not enough used oil mixed in....poured it on a brush pile...and dribbled a starter on the ground out about 200 feet...set it off. When the flame reached the brush pile with fumes in the air.......kaaaabooooomm!

All the neighbors for miles were awakened at 5 am and the sheriff was there in 2 minutes. Won't do that again.

Got to watch that weed whacker gas it can be dangerous on them big spreads.

http://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic. ... e&start=45

 

[hopalong]

not going to tell ya my age (nonya) lol
growing up on my grandfathers ranch and hanging around some of the hands who also rodeo'd weekends at the great age of 11 or 12 i fancyed my self to be a rodeo clown bull fighter,
well one day every one had gone to town (don't remember why) i stayed home and went out to FIGHT the big bad bulls
well my first mistake was picking on an old cow that had just calved hands and knees tossing dirt over my back i begged that cow to charge big mistake she did !!i barely managed to make it to the feed shed with her on my behind she kept me there until a couple of the hands came back seemed like weeks
and let me out i think they knew what had happened but never told anyone
gave up my idea to be a rodeo clown at that point
that cow would charge me every chance she saw me after that. probabally shouldn't tell ya all this but my little sister could go out and scratch the cows ears!
still love lil sis though and i will deny saying this

 

[Gale Seddon]

but there are 2 that still put a knot in my stomach when I think about them.

No1: I had put diesel on a very dry brush pile (about 8ft high by 20ft diameter) but forgot the lighter. I spent 10 minutes at the house looking for one before I got back. When I arrived back my 15 year old son was standing there and asked to light it. I let him and just as he did I noticed a gas can just on the other side of the pile. Son wait!! To late. KABOOM!!, he had put gas on the pile while I was in the house since he didn't see me put the diesel on it. I was okay but he spent a few days in the burn center, plus 3 times a week for 6 weeks we had to take him into town for a whirlpool treatment and debur the dead skin.


My God, I understand the knot in the stomach part...oh my, I hope you are both all right....you are brave to have shared this horrible experience.

 

[CattleAnnie]

Oops..sorry..didn't mean to double post.



Take care.

 

[CattleAnnie]

Thanks to all for sharing their 'dumb moments'. I've had more belly laughs reading these posts than I've had for months - and more goosebumps reading about the close calls.

Speaking of 'dumb ideas', this one really cost me.

I let a woman help with branding one year that I thought (not much of a thought apparently) knew cattle, because her hubby is one of the best hands I know around stock (salt of the earth guy - pasture rides for one of the community pastures in the summer months), and they raise a few head on their place every year.

HUGE MISTAKE!

I ended up with three dead calves that day.

Mystified everyone there...I mean, the calves were processed, but within twenty minutes each calf was stretched out, freewheeling on the ground and kicking at their heads. An hour or so later they were dead as a doornail.

We were totally stumped (and I was utterly depressed, as this had been one of the years where we'd fought tooth and nail against scours and pnuemonia - I spent over $3K in drugs that spring alone - and that's not counting what Honey spent - so to end up with three dead calves like that was a real kick in the teeth) so I called the vet.

Didn't take him more than five minutes to figure out what happended.

Selenium injection too close to the jugular vein. He said that if it had been given in the jugular, the calves would have been dead before the needle was clear of the hide.

My mistake was assuming that this person knew how to give a simple dose of selenium, and not keeping a closer eye on what the ground crew was doing.

Lesson learned, but what a price for that one - as that was pre-BSE and a good year for calf prices.



Take care.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Well Texan I have got in situations
with bulls that I have been stomped,gored, and broken leg,
with cows hooked,butted and kicked,
with horses have been bit throwed and kicked,
tried petin wild hogs and have been bitten by dogs,
been in bar room brawls, shot at and cut with a knife.

 

[ollie']

I'm supprised there isn't any pto accidents. I guess they didn't live to tell about it.

 

[Roadapple]

Cripes, and I've been coming on here for advice? After reading these stories, no more.

 

[msscamp]

I'm supprised there isn't any pto accidents. I guess they didn't live to tell about it.

Lost a long-haired dog to a pto many years ago - I truly did not know anything could get wrapped that tightly around a 1" square piece of metal. :shock: We've also had the sides torn out of coveralls once or twice by gears on an old bearcat grinder, and I learned not to wear loose shirts around pto's. Fortunately, it didn't get caught enough to get sucked in.

 

[CattleAnnie]

Not pto shaft, but if PTO powered and tired combined make for acts of idiocy...then guilty as charged.

Was mowing hay with the haybine. Using a wore out old haybine that kept jamming the rollers seemed every time I got into heavy alsike or alfalfa stands...and there was quite a lot of heavy stands that year.

Anyway, another long day on tractor in heat during day number gadzillion of haying season, was getting tired, I guess. Darn haybine jammed up again, and ancient JD tractor (been around since Christ was a cowboy) didn't have the PTO control lever labelled for engage or disengage...paint probably wore off twenty years ago.

So tired dumb me, looks behind at jammed haybine, sighs, and yards on the PTO lever...and then I guess I must have had another darn brainfart, because I was trying to remember which way was engage or disengage on it - couldn't tell by looking at PTO shaft, because when the haybine jammed, the PTO shaft wouldn't spin.

Couldn't turn this tractor off unless it was parked facing down a good hill or there was a tractor to pull start it, as Honey hates mechanicking so much that he didn't ever bother to fix the starter (and I'm all thumbs and no clues with fixing mechanical objects).

Well, dumbie puts tractor in park after she figures PTO must be disengaged, cranks the tension pressure off the rollers, crawls for the umpteenth time under the haybine and starts yarding clumps of alfalfa out from the rollers.

Yep. God sent another angel to look after dumbasses, because all of a sudden that haybine started to jump and rattle as the rollers whirled into action, just as my hand was clearing them.

I nearly died of fright, but it sure woke me up for the next consecutive 48 hours. I don't think I stopped shaking for week.


Take care.

 

[cmjust0]

If we're going to get into equipment/implement 'tricks,' lemme throw this one out there.. I was bushhogging next to a fairly steep creekbank one day, and couldn't really see the edge for the vegetation.. I decided it would be safer to back the hog partially over the edge of the bank and drop it, versus riding parallel with the creek.. Sounds like a good decision, right??

I pulled forward crossways to the drop off, raised the hog, disengaged the PTO to kill the blades (since they were raised so high -- safety first! :roll: ), put it in reverse, and began backing toward the drop off.. When I got close to where I wanted to be, I put in the clutch, hit the brakes, and stopped.. Then, I engaged the (not live) PTO, ran the tractor up to 3/4 throttle, dropped the hog down on top of the weeds, and let off the clutch to get the blades going..

Anybody see the step I skipped there?? Read it again if you didn't.. Call me an idiot if you did.. :lol:







That's right... I left the tractor in reverse. Reverse on my tractor is geared similar to the 3rd of four forward gears, BTW. WAAAY too fast.. Over the 10+/- foot drop I went in the blink of an eye -- like, whiplash fast.. The only thing that kept the tractor from flipping over backward was the fact that I had a lift-type hog attached -and- was using an actual toplink instead of a chain, like some folks do.. If I'd used a chain or had a pull-type mower, the tractor would have simply folded over the mower deck, crushing me in between.. And, no, I don't have ROPS..

I did almost SMP though.. The P is for pants.. I trust yall can figure the rest. :lol:

The only damage, believe it or not, was a stabilizer bar that now has a nice S shape to it..

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Okay, since equipment dumbness seems to be included, here's the first 2 genius moments I can think of.

#1- Had the forks attatched, and was in the process of going to unload a pallet-load of bags of lime and misc. items from a delivery truck. Did I pay attention to the ground where I had the guy park the delivery truck? No. Did I pay attention to the ground where I positioned myself and the tractor for unloading? No. I got that load half way out of the truck, and noticed that my surroundings appeared to be tilting....oh CRAP, I'm the one tilting, not the earth! How I managed to drop that load, cut off the tractor and jump off as as fast I did I will never know. Boy what a mess when that pallet hit the ground. But I figured better a mess from the pallet, than me and the tractor tipped over.

#2- Had been out raking the hay in one of the fields, stopped to take a quick shade and re-load the iced-tea break. (no canaopy on the old Ford) then got back on to resume. I raked and raked for about 2 hours noticing that the old tractor just didn't seem to be going quite like it should. Seemed to be kind of "dragging". Noticed a strange smell from time to time, then it dawned on me, I never released the brake! Husband wasn't too happy with that maneuver. Yep, another brilliant moment in my life.

Katherine

 

[cmjust0]

the tractor tipped over.

Jeez.. :shock: Glad you made it off on time!!

I almost bailed once, when I lost traction to the right rear mowing straight up a steep slope.. The loose wheel got to bouncing so bad that I couldn't get the clutch in, and the front end was starting to rare up on me.. I did manage to throttle it down somehow, which let the front end lay back down.. When the tire took a good bite and the machine begain moving forward again, I found myself standing up sideways to the tractor with my right hand on the steering wheel, my left hand on the fender, and my right foot against the top of the transmission, knee bent, ready to jump as far as I could.. I was a split second from doing it, too... I think if I hadn't been braced to jump, I probably would have rolled backward into the mower when it started forward again..

I mow downhill now..

After it was all over, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what I would have done if the tractor had started moving again without me on it.. :lol:

 

[dun]

Every year there are a couple of folks reported killed in this area while brush-hogging. After playing tag with a crazy cow or a mad bull it must be the most dangerous activity we all do.

dun

 

[mitchwi]

Equipment Problems - I have too many but here are some that stand out (as @$$ chewings)

Bale spear through the side of Pick-up box.

I was riding on the rake (to hold it down), while my son was driving the tractor, we got done on the steepest part on one side hill and as we were going to the other side of the hill, my son said it was ok for me to get off as the gear-box would hold the rake down. After I jumped off and climbed the hill, I turned around just in time to see the rake go over. Normal conditions the gear-box would of held it down, too much hay this cutting.

Got stuck with the JD 4010, in the woods on a hill at about 4am with a gravity box full of corn (2nd to last one). I will leave out the intelligent conversation that was had between husband and wife at 4am in the morning, after working on picking corn for the previous 36 hours non-stop. ;-)

Ok, forgot the latest one... Drawbar had been moved in for the rear 3-point bale fork. I unhooked that and hooked up to a rake, 3rd crop last year. I was having a great day raking and was towards the middle of the field when you get to turning sharper and using the brakes. Pretty soon I hear a ppsssst, pppssstttt...I keep raking again I hear ppssstt, ppssst, ppsssstt, and then I notice some droplets on the fender... I hang my head over the side and I see the fluid coming out of the valve stem......... UGH!! :shock: I throw it into road gear and head for the shed.... yep, caught the rake on the valve stem and watched the fluid pool in the driveway.