The most nervous you have been driving a machine

fixerupper

Well-known Member
DRussel's post with the video of the high clearance tractor brought back memories of the scariest machine I have ever driven.

My neighbor bought an old Hagie high clearance sprayer 50 miles away and he asked me to go along with him to drive it up on the trailer. He has an artificial leg and because of a surgery could not wear the leg so he was not able to climb on the sprayer to drive it up on the trailer himself.

I had never driven a high boy in my life and to top it off I had never driven a machine with a hydrostatic transmission and this machine had a hydrostat. The boom on this sprayer is on the back and of course the tank that hung down between the wheels was empty. Before I climbed up the ladder to get on my neighbor told me this machine could tip up on it's tail end when the tank is empty! Well thanks for telling me this pal!! Those old Hagies had a frame that was built to flex a bit so when it is driven it wiggles and flexes somewhat. Well I climbed up on it and sat down in the seat. The engine is behind the driver so all I could hear was that engine and all the while the only thought going through my mind was I am going to go over backward and die. I grabbed the hydrostat lever but being a rookie I had no feel for it and when the front wheels went up the ramp with the frame twisting and squirming away and I was looking at the sky from what seemed like twenty feet off the ground I was pretty sure I was going to be going back home in a pine box. Oh did I tell you it didn't have brakes? Well I made it up the ramps and onto the trailer OK but I had some unforgettable moments there.

What is your story?
 
Backing Hesston 620 and 600 swathers off a loading dock, down a set of 4x12 planks, setting on stacks of pallets, astraddle of a 48 ft. flat
bed trailer. Also hydro static, and if they start to stall, they will start to buck, also the stick control operates backwards in reverse.
Never sweated so much in my life.!!
 
Ironically just a couple days ago. I was swathing oats 2 miles away and had been watching a severe thunderstorm brewing in the northwest. Just before it started raining I drove back
across field so I could seek protection from rain under the canopy of the tractor that I had pulled the swather to field with. I beat the rain but did not anticipate the lightning
strikes. There I am sitting in an open field on an open tractor with lightning striking within 20 feet of me. That was probably the most scared I've been in a long time.
 
Mine was operated a sidewinder in a
cotton mill. Two arms about 6ft apart
extend to pick up and move warp beams.
Some are a few thousand pounds and the
racks were four stories high with about
a foot of clearance side to side while
putting the beams on the racks. You had
to look through the 1/8 wire mesh on the
top to put it in the rack knowing that
mesh wouldn't even slow it down before
it flattened you if you bumped it wrong.
I was a nervous wreck every time I had
to go back in the hole to get one. Just
in case you needed a reminder to be
careful there was the remnants of a
crushed sidewinder parked on one side.
 
Pulling a 45' paddle elevator down a country road. JD G going flat out at about 13. The elevator was balanced perfectly
on its 2 wheels. we were going down a slight incline and the pin in the clevis came out. The front gently came up about
seat height. There was zero possible speed increase available as the slope was no steep enough to coast faster. the
elevator hung there like a battering ram for 5 seconds (an eternity) then started catching up. I had been running with the
right elevator wheel next to the grass. The crown of the road influenced that wheel to slow a tiny bit. The front of the
elevator gently moved to the right away from my back, and the tire started into the grass. That slowed it more, and it
swung right over the tire and toward the ditch. There was some terrible noise and ripping as the elevator got caught in a
barb wire fence. It took out 5 fence T posts, and ripped wire off of 8 posts up hill from the impact. The fence was being
used to contain 20 heifers, so we were obliged to make haste with repair and triage. Our follow car was used to go get a
chain and fence posts, wire, clips, and a post driver. We pulled and untangled the elevator (which was unscathed) back
into the road and attached it with a bolt/nut!! The next 2 hours were spent making the fence better than it was. The
farmer who's fence it was came home as we finished. and was impressed with our cleaning of the fence row and restringing it
with new posts. When we told him what happened all eh said was was there a lesson here? We said there was. Jim
 
I was around 13 yrs old and therefore new everything and without fear. Township was
cleaning ditches 1 1/2 miles from our farm. Dad told me to take the Farmall M and
the Hotchkiss barge wagon and get a load of dirt, but remember to shift down to low
before going down the hill to the creek. Well, low was low throttle in 5th. I
probably hit the bottom at 30 or better. Loaded wagon was wiping so hard the old M
was sliding sideways from one side to the other. Why it did not upset I do not
know. I don't think I have ever been so scared in my life. Dad died 18 yrs ago and
never new about it.
 
Really hard to say I have ran some many machines and 99% of the time it was jump on and figure out howto start it then how to make it work. Years ago a guy I knew had a drag line and he didn't know how to start it or anything else so he asked me to give it a try. I got it running and was messing with the levers and the boom started to come down so I pulled back on that lever just to have the cable snap and let the boom fall to the ground. Got lucky on that one since he and another guy was 10 feet from where the boom landed.
 
Homemade log loader built on a 5ton 60s chev chassis, sitting up high it always felt like it was going to tip over
 
Having my 72 chevy pickup up on one wheel (right front, confirmed by witness) mid jackknife while dumping my M farmall off trailer into a barrel role down middle of county hwy. Dip in the road, little tongue weight, in curve, recipe for disaster. All is well that ends well, Barney said you've had a bad enough day and let me off. Road got fixed, M is restored, and recently sold 72 at a 16k profit.
 
When I was 12 I took a job at a girls camp down the road, paid $2.50 an hour and it was my first job. Day 1 the head honcho grounds keeper gives me
this huge lawn mowing machine that had 3 big blades in front and you sat on a tractor type seat. It had two arms that came back and you had these
brake lever handles on the end of each arm that you used to turn it.

It was an articulated machine and quite a handful for a 100 pound kid, he fired it up for me and left me to get the mowing job done. I was nervous to
say the least, took off and immediately drove the thing in between a cabin and a large tree. Wedged it right between the two doing some damage to
the cabin, nobody saw and I worked for 10 minutes to pull it outta there.

Proceeded to the soccer field ... Piece of cake, having a blast controlling this thing, mowing straight lines in wide open space. Approaching the soccer
goal trying to get as close as possible to do a good job, about a foot away it sucked in the netting on the goal. That pretty much ended my mowing,
what a mess! Boss came out and was none too happy, for the rest of the summer I was push mower guy from that day forward, I'll never forget that!
 
Combining milo on a side hill with a 10' drop off into a creek at the bottom of the hill.

Ground was frozen when I started in the morning, than thawed enough so the surface was like axle grease. I hit a spot where every time I tried to move the combine it would start to slide sideways down the hill toward the creek. I happened to be by myself, but I had my 856 Farmall with duals at the top of the hill. I finally got that and pulled the combine out of that situation on a dead load.

I went to a different field the rest of the day and went back to that spot the next morning when the ground was frozen again.
 
Not most nervous but never felt comfortable running my rough
terrain forklifts with the booms all the way out and up
especially on rutted ground. Thankfully I never flipped one but
have seen it done.

Vito
 
When I worked for a JD dealer in 1979 we sold a nice used self propelled mower conditioner to one of our very good customers.It was wide,and it had always been moved by removing the head and hauling the parts separately.The customer called,his old machine had quit in the middle of mowing and he needed his new one right now.Our truck was gone,the boss came out of the office with a dealer plate and said to me,you're going for a ride.It was the first time I had ever been on the machine,and I had to run it 24 miles up a busy highway.It was hydrostatic and had a steering wheel.You pushed the whole column/pedestal ahead for forward and pulled it back for reverse.The scarey part was trying to not overcorrect when cars or trucks would pass me,with inches to spare.I still can't remember if it was a New Idea,a New Holland,or a Hesston.We sold all three back then so it could have been any one of them.If you wiggled the steering wheel just a fraction of an inch the wrong way on the pavement the thing would jump up and spin around.On grass it was another story,very smooth and predictable.
 
I was on a demolition job of an old concrete substation driving a 10 wheel dump truck===on one of the loads all the concrete pieces slip down and jsmbed and put the truck on end and me and the cab way high in the air. Had to climb down the cab and frame and get laborers with crowbars to get the load loose and slide out
 
When I was 17 I had to move an Oliver pull behind combine to an auction about 6 miles away. With the Massey 35 hooked up I has a combination that was about 12 feet wide and 30 feet long. I had to drive right
through downtown Sandy Creek to get to the auction yard, and the bridge on Route 11 was being repaired so it was down to 1 lane. There was an elderly lady with a shopping cart walking the same direction I
was driving as I crossed the bridge, but luckily there was enough room so I could get by. I was nervous the whole way, and I remember what a relief it was when I unhooked the combine and drove the tractor
home by itself. I didn't have a license yet at the time, so my operating experience on main roads was all with a bicycle.
 
Flying as a low time solo student pilot when the weather moved in. I had to stay below the clouds and I was getting dangerously close to minimums. And i was lost. Finally I saw the name of a town, got my bearings and found my
home field I landed safely and paid closer attention to the weather in future flights.
 
Your story reminds me very much of when I worked for a dealer in the seventies, and early eighties. I was chosen to deliver a new NH self propelled mower conditioner. I don't remember why. I had nothing to do with the set up/assembly. A co worker was following along behind. I think he had the header on a truck. We had to go all the way through the city on the new four lane 'arterial' highway. Instead of a good old fashioned open road, they had constructed these exit ramps. They were one lane, lined with curbing. Plenty wide for any highway vehicle, but not necessarily any too wide for a wide track off road machine. I remember being concerned about navigating the exit we needed to take. I apparently bumped a curb with a wheel, and set the thing bouncing around. I don't remember much, except that it apparently looked real bad from behind! My co worker said he thought there was going to be a big pile up! But we made it.
 

I was 17, bought my first motorcycle--a Honda CB360 twin. Only knew the theory of how to ride, never clutched or ridden anything bigger than a mini-bike. Mom took me to pick up the bike, not knowing I needed a special license and I wasn't going to tell her. Rode it on the big highways around Washington DC and Northern Va, finally down the dirt road to my cousins' farm in Virginia. All was well until I turned into the thick pile of blue stone gravel and a cousin was pulling out at precisely the same time. Made it all that way and dumped the bike in the driveway.

Gerrit
 
Maybe not he first, but it left skid marks in my shorts. Was working for a wrecking company that also had a commercial dump. I was
pushing material over the front edge of the dump with an Allis tack loader when the front edge caved in. Fortunatly I was pushing
straight forward so I made it down the thirty sloping feet to solid ground by using the bucket as a brake.
 
Yeah, all those old Hondas were great bikes and the CB360 was a perfect beginner's bike. Thought I had the fastest, most powerful machine on the road!
Gerrit
 
I have 2 Honda CB360T motorcycles right now. One is a 1976 ad the other a 74. The 74 is a parts bike. It would not take much to get he 76 back up and running
 
At the age of 13 I started with a Honda 50 then when I wore it out I went up to a Honda 90. Had the 90 till an idiot made a left turn out in front of me with a 1965 Chevy Bel-air which I total with the 90 and yet I walked away from it. Yes I was legal but only 15 at the time. Broke my right arm. I currently have 6 motorcycles on the place
 
Road gear Farmall M , had a lot of wear on steering bolster , I didnt know it, tricycle went into a death walk. I slowed it down just in time, also lord had
his hand on the situation.
18 miles an hour on an M is very fast . Dont try this at home ,
 
Had a '75 CB360T for a first motorcycle myself, and loved it. However, while I wouldn't say it was the most scared I've ever been on a vehicle, one time in particular on it is pretty high up the list! I took it into a corner a bit hot, put on the rear brake and just kept pushing it until I could feel it pressing on the road with no brakes being applied--it had broken in half and bent down. Exited the road, bounced over a half-buried culvert, went flying down through a bunch of roadside brush, and was able to get it stopped via the front brake and the drag of the brush. Pushed it back on the road, drove VERY slowly home, rounded up another brake pedal and went back to riding it.
 
Worst I can think of is trying to round bale road ditches. That first cut just off the shoulder is such a steep sidehill that most of it I can't even get but I've run the 2090 and baler on such an angle that I was getting pretty nervous. Again I say, that road hay is more trouble than it is worth. Hard on machinery and drivers.
 
Not too nervous on my first solo, but years later had a critical engine failure at 500 feet over the lake.....was able to glide in and land safely. Funny, though, I could hear my former instructor going through the dead stick approach procedure all the way in.

Ben
 
Back in 70s, I was 16 and took turns driving my uncles Datsun stick shift from MD to Salt Lake City.
Needless to say first time with a clutch ever. Pulling into traffic scared me to death every time.
 
My old uncle Francis had an M with Farmhand loader and Shwartz wide front. I spent a lot of time pulling Kewaunee tandem disk with it. About 1/2 turn of slack in steering wheel. Uncle Francis was very stern about no road gear! So I only roaded in fourth. His neighbor Bert was kind of an cowboy sort displaced to Northern Kansas. He went with me when we shuttled machinery to next field to disk. I told old Bert about the 4th gear limitation. His much older than me Okie cowboy attitude said ok Ill drive. Ill never forget how old Bert had his hands full driving that worn out M while I was standing on the drawbar watching run us down the road in 5th. Im sure hed never said it but that old boy sure had his hands full. I was probably 13 years old and this was about 1975ish. Quite a memory.
 
Hit a stump in the grass along a long driveway wide open narrow front 800 case caught the rear tire dead on. Don't know how high I bounced
but I was sure I was going over , kept it together though, was probably 14 at the time. I had a Hahn hyboy that would bounce on hills.
Single wheel drive, little Wisconsin sitting on wheel for traction. That was always fun on sidehills when you got empty.
 
The first time I backed a set of draw works up the ramp to set on the rig floor was probably the most nervous I have been. After doing it numerous times I still had that weird feeling when doing it.
 
Driving a forklift unloading 8 foot bundles of 2x4 without a
dock. We put the 4000 lb lift in the car with a 8000 lb lift once
we had the door empty. Then we would take a bundle and
turn crossways in the car which put the bundle outside. The
whole time the box car was rocking. A little unnerving. Later
we did the same thing on a flat bed backed up to a van. The
semitrailer was more steady
 
Mowing in dry weeds, afraid of starting a fire, makes me a little nervous. I carry two fire extinguishers, a rake, and a shovel just incase. Stan
 
Most of mine were operating an 18 ton off road forklift. Once in the middle of a January cold stretch, the left side main upright of the mast snapped with a 9k load 6' in the air - it dropped about 2 feet in less time than i could process the sound. That was a spike in the blood pressure... -15 degrees F does interesting things to steel.

With the same machine I punched through the top of an underground tank with the right front set of duals (about a week after i just installed a full set of 10.00-30s) fortunately was able to set the load down in front of and back up out of the hole.. 10K on the front that time.

The year prior s coworker made a hasty dismount when he found an abandoned septic tank with the rear end (steer axle). The counter weight stopped the machine from going backwards into the hole. I had the privilege of backing it out with the rear hung by a crane, followed by a re-rig on the front end (with me feathering the brakes) as he swung the crane and pulled me back over the hole and onto the hard ground.
 
was pretty fresh to tractor driving and we had an old cockshutt 50 with duals on. The mains were flipped so the fenders were off to provide clearance. Dad had me drive it home from the field and those big wheels were so close it scared the bejeezus out of me, thought I was going a hundred miles an hour. Couple weeks later we took off the duals, put the mains back on the correct side of the tractor and installed the fenders...turns out it was the slowest tractor on the farm.....
 
Working for a Case dealer. Got in a new 4894 4x4 tractor. Boss said go unload it.
It came in on a double drop low-boy. Driver backed it up to the dock. He had come thru an ice storm
so everything was ice covered. I fired it up, put it in the lowest reverse, and started
backing up. The rear end made it up the back trailer drop OK, then the front
wheels started up. About 1/2 way up, the ice took over, and I slid back down on the trailer,
ended up with one front wheel on the ground, rest still on the trailer.
When I got out of the cab, Boss wanted to know if I wanted to go home and change my pants.
I said no, but you might wanna order a new steering wheel, as my finger prints were permanently
imbedded in it.
They called a big wrecker to get it back on the bed, then had wrecker winch it off the trailer.
In hind sight, I should have done one of two things.....should have throwed in forward and
finished driving off the side of the trailer OR waited about 2 hours for all the ice to melt off.
 
(quoted from post at 16:26:29 07/14/21) Flying as a low time solo student pilot when the weather moved in. I had to stay below the clouds and I was getting dangerously close to minimums. And i was lost. Finally I saw the name of a town, got my bearings and found my
home field I landed safely and paid closer attention to the weather in future flights.


Tony, it sounds like you made good use of your IFR, (I follow roads) rating.
 
(quoted from post at 18:10:13 07/14/21) I have 2 Honda CB360T motorcycles right now. One is a 1976 ad the other a 74. The 74 is a parts bike. It would not take much to get he 76 back up and running


Old, I will look forward to hearing about you taking it for a ride!
 
My brother and I worked at a JD dealership for about 6 months. His F-I-L was the shop foreman and he told me to unload a 4440 from a low boy trailer. I asked how? He said drive it off the side. It was slow and easy.
 
Not being able to combine up a steep slope (it would spin-out and start hopping), I was running up the headland and cutting back across the crest of the slope. About the 6th time I got cab side down hill to much, looked over the feeder house to see daylight under the right tire, was about half way out the window when it hit and I was thrown against the door hard but luckily my azz and back took the hit.
 
I don't know. I wasn't too fond of the situation when I had to drive a Massey Ferguson rough terrain forklift up on to my trailer.

I drove a New Idea Uni mule home one time with nothing on it. The cab and engine are on the left side. The first right turn I took,
the right drive tire came right off the ground. I took it way slower when I turned, the rest of the way home.

When I loaded that Gleaner K2 combine a year ago, I wasn't really afraid of running it off, but Troy was waving pretty frantic that
I needed to turn the wheels the other way. I shoved the clutch pedal down and it took off rolling backwards. One of the jack stands
on the corn head caught in a ramp and tore a piece of angle iron out of it. That was exciting for a few seconds.
 


My most serious was probably when I did a combination barrel roll and 1/2 forward summersault in my new '06 F-350 when I went off I-93. I was more scared though back in '72 when I was on my Honda 350 CL trying to keep up with my buddy on his 750 Norton Commando as we were accelerating out of town around a fairly sharp curve to the right. I was probably at around 60 and drifting into the other lane. I was trying to turn sharper but not letting off, when the poor Honda went into a bad case of front end high speed wobbles. There was a cab-over IH coming the other way. All I could see was that huge grill. I don't know how I cleared him.
 
(quoted from post at 09:12:58 07/15/21)

My most serious was probably when I did a combination barrel roll and 1/2 forward summersault in my new '06 F-350 when I went off I-93. I was more scared though back in '72 when I was on my Honda 350 CL trying to keep up with my buddy on his 750 Norton Commando as we were accelerating out of town around a fairly sharp curve to the right. I was probably at around 60 and drifting into the other lane. I was trying to turn sharper but not letting off, when the poor Honda went into a bad case of front end high speed wobbles. There was a cab-over IH coming the other way. All I could see was that huge grill. I don't know how I cleared him.

Your trip was not very fun. Maybe I will say some out-of-date things, but I see no reason to risk my life for the sake of some kind of race. I'm not Schumacher.
 
Was using our '47 JD B to brush hog around a creek on a lace we used to live. Dad was guiding me where he wanted me to go to avoid big rocks or trees that were too big. At one point, he had me cross the creek (dry at the time, flat limestone bed with no loose gravel). What I didn't know was that he was guiding me toward a drop off of about 18" Just as the front wheels dropped, a tree branch hit me in the face. I think the impressions my fingers left in the wheel rim are still there.
 
When I was 15 I had Honda 90 dream that I totaled a 1965 Chevy Bel-air with Guy made a left turn in front of me and I had no choice but to hit him
 
been in skidloaders since early teens,anyway in 2017 was doing a house lift, (my own) hauling dirt concrete all morning like usual. in
afternoon went and finished loading scrap steel on trailer when next thing i knew was load bang (instinct closed my eyes pulled levers
back)and pressure on hand. when opened my eyes had just realized the loader bucket had came off and came thru door into cab endwise. that was
the pressure on my hand. cab glass was all over me,helper heard it came running said do not touch your face you are cover in glass. the
bucket had ripped the door frame clear off the machine and it originally had come clear into the control levers it was just instinct the i
pulled the unit to go backwards otherwise i think it would been into my chest. i was really lucky. the unit i was using that day was week
old new holland 228 unit.
 
I've had more than my share and many similar to the rest of you guys. Worst I can think of right now was putting an old Honda 3 wheeler off the side of a road where it sloped heavily downward and was tree filled. Probably going close to 30 mph at the time, couldn't make the curve. I came out with only scratches, 3 wheeler not so well. Looking at the spot afterwards it was unbelievable any one could have survived that. Couple inches one way or the other and no good. I clearly remember a feeling of peace coming over me and my body going limp just before impact , kinda like resigning to my fate. I am Christian and firmly believe the Lords hand was involved that day, and my other brushes with death too.
 
Loading a heavy SP swather onto the trailer. Anyone who has driven a hydrostat swather will understand. They turn the opposite
going in reverse and the control lever can be very sensitive. And, when going up the ramps it takes a lot of power so when you
reach the end of the ramps it can just take off very fast. Several times when loading before I got proficient at it, I jumped the
rear tires out of the track. Just as tricky unloading as the rear tires ride in a trough and if not careful they can try to turn
around and if they do they will sure leave the trough. Glad I'm not doing that anymore.
 

Working on a sod farm, I was ploughing next to a river bank with a Ford 8600 when I felt the right rear wheel start to drop.

Yanked the 3 point lever up and flattened the foot throttle simultaneously and it leveled out slightly before about 10 or 12 feet of bank fell into the river.

I kept a wider gap between the river and myself after that episode.

The company didn't like not getting the full width of the fields ploughed but they got over it, kinda, sorta.
 
Probably first time running the Deuce and
half fuel truck through an unground sand
mine with rocks falling from the ceiling,
not much protection with a canvas top! Seen
lots of ceiling collapses and smashed
equipment!
 
When I was fourteen I had a old B JD. I had a friend that lived a couple miles away over for a visit and we decided to drive him
home on the B It was the edge of dark and the B had lights all around but 6 volt. We were both on the seat and an oncoming car was
in the middle of the road. The driver had dropped his cigarette. My friend yelled in my ear, HE'S GOING TO HIT US! Took the
wrecker three trips to haul the B home. Still have the scar were the clutch handle hit my shin. But since I was trying to get the
hubs loose so that I could adjust the rear wheels I had the clamps loose. That big ole Chevy got one of them loose.
 
(quoted from post at 06:16:27 07/15/21)
(quoted from post at 09:12:58 07/15/21)

My most serious was probably when I did a combination barrel roll and 1/2 forward summersault in my new '06 F-350 when I went off I-93. I was more scared though back in '72 when I was on my Honda 350 CL trying to keep up with my buddy on his 750 Norton Commando as we were accelerating out of town around a fairly sharp curve to the right. I was probably at around 60 and drifting into the other lane. I was trying to turn sharper but not letting off, when the poor Honda went into a bad case of front end high speed wobbles. There was a cab-over IH coming the other way. All I could see was that huge grill. I don't know how I cleared him.

Your trip was not very fun. Maybe I will say some out-of-date things, but I see no reason to risk my life for the sake of some kind of race. I'm not Schumacher.


Kaybur, I didn't notice a race.
 
Not sure which would be the scariest from the onlookers view. I guess as long as it was not sliding I didn't worry to much. Loaded a dozer and just as it is about to break over to the trailer deck from the ramps it decides to squirm some. Steel on steel does not bode well. had an excavator my brother was working on the drive box leaks in the roller frame with his buddy and owner. You guessed it they got the lines on backwards for one side. So you had to push one and pull one at the same time to go forward or backward. Between thwe time I loaded it and got it to where I was going to unload it. I forgot which way the levers needed to go. Well with no dock you just drive to the end of the trailer set the bucket out in front of you on the ground and retract it as you continue to drive it off the trailer some then let the front end down to the ground and spin around and lift the back up off the deck with the bucket and drive it the rest of the way off and let it down to the ground. That is all well and fine till it spins on the trailer deck to sideways. Now the guys wife and kids watching go inside and don't want to watch. I just turned it with the bucket down on the low side and with it straightened up drove it off on the dirt bank there. There have been others like that. You do what you have to to load out in the middle of nowhere.
 

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