Almost got killed today

[Laneman]

I was mowing some tall ragweed along a fence line, approaching a large dead hackberry tree. When I got near the tree the tractor suddenly veered right into the tree. The right front tire had hit a fallen branch in the weeds and followed the branch right into the trunk. When the loader bucket hit the trunk the impact knocked a 200 lb branch from above and it crashed down onto the tractor, narrowly missing my head. The branch hit the vertical muffler and crushed it some, plus bent the steering wheel and rear fender. I thought about all the different kinds of injuries I could have had, from smashed arm bones to broken neck, then thanked God for sparing me. Then I hefted the branch off of Old Blue, straightened the bent steering wheel, and kept on mowing.

 

[Will Gumbert]

Thank God you're OK (too bad about the tractor). I never liked mowing with a loader out front, cuts down on your visibility and seems awkward, too easy to bang into things. With all the rain this year, the weeds and brush are thick and high and I have to be especially careful about unexpected dips or holes when mowing on side slopes.
Anyway, glad to hear you didn't get hurt. -Will

 

[fromill]

It happens in a hurry. I was mowing about a month ago and ran up on a stump covered in weeds. Before I knew it the rear tire was 2 feet up in the air. I hit the clutch and brakes and it stopped and rolled back off it. It would of been bad to have came down on that stump with the mower.

 

[old]

That reminds me of something I did years ago. I and a friend where hauling gravel on my driveway and he was out dumping a load. There was this dead tree along to driveway so I figured I would just go and push it over while I waited for him to get back. Well I started to push it over when all ta once the tree broke just above the bucket and the top came falling down right on me and the tractor. Had a limb about 6 inches in diameter fall on either side of me pinning me to the tractor seat. Had to sit there and wait for him to come back ti help me move it off my lap. When he got there all he could do for a few minutes was laugh

 

[elkcagg]

Instead of continuing on mowing after that mishap, I think I would of changed my shorts. Wow...yes...thank God you are ok. He certainly spared your life. This brought back memories of a close call I had in the woods years ago.

 

[cbrown9064]

Wow!!! Thank God you are OK. It is amazing how quick things happen. Chalk that one up to clean living, eh?

 

[Billy NY]

Thats an awful experience, I've had mine in the woods a lot, as it was a field years back, so to at least keep the perimeter clear, every scenario you can think of, sticks poking in, front wheel or one side of the tractor riding up a limb, like a rail car, its best to avoid all these places and conditions. Trees are incredible, I was testing a fallen cherry, not huge, but I'd move it a little, but it was spring loaded, it would push tractor backwards, had I been a fool and laid right into it, almost certain decapitation or getting launched like a catapult, you get a feel for this stuff, but it is downright nasty, I try and stay clear of it, just those years I did all that clearing really had to watch out and go slow.