Scariest thing you have ever done on a tractor?

rbhuntn

Member
I'll start this one off.

When I was a young teenager dad had an old Ferguson TO series without live PTO. I was hogging our field and got down by the creek and tried to make a sharp right hand turn. The hog was pushing the old tractor causing the front tire to slide on the grass. I pushed in the clutch and stood on the right side brake (that was when I found out the brakes were worse than I thought) tractor kept right on headed for the creek bank with about a 5 foot drop. Finally got it stopped about 2 feet from the drop off into the creek. That one spooked me good as I stated the drop off was about 5 feet into about 8 feet of water.

That was the day dad and I bought an override clutch.
 
I was pushing a slash pile with a D7 High track one time, and backed up a little, and something happened, and it lost forward gears, well, while I was fumbling around trying to get it into forward gear, it was slowing rolling towards a steep hill backwards.

Finally made it there, and over it went, backwards, with me squealing the whole way down! Was probably doing about 15 or 20 mph, doesn't sound fast, but it was STEEP and for me, pretty scary and "out of control!"...

Lesson learned, pay attention to surroundings!
 
That would not have been fun on anything especially a dozier.

I did that once on a 4 wheeler but the hill was really short but got the pucker factor up.
 
i was on my ford 1310 hogging along my driveway along the pond when the hog and tractor just slid sideways and half way into the pond---had to get my dozer to pull it out.
 
A couple of summers ago, I was raking hay down in the bottom with "Mac" one of our 1951 MTs.

"Mac" did not have a seat back.

a186998.jpg" width="650"


Turned to my left to pull the rope to disengage the rake.

Lost my balance and fell off the back or the tractor and hit the ground.

Got caught up in the hay rake and was drug across the ground about 10-15 yards.

A couple of the rake teeth finally broke and was run over by the right tire/wheel of the rake.

Got up off the ground and ran to the tractor that was still moving/raking across the field.

Caught up with the tractor, ran between the left rear wheel, and turned of the ignition switch.

Walked around for a while, picked up my straw hat, and got back on the tractor, and finished raking.

Took "Mac" in to <a href="http://performancetrailer.com/">Performance Trailer</a> in Mt. Pleasant, TX and got a seat back made and installed.

a187000.jpg" width="650"


Had a couple of scratches on my face and a cut on my back.
 
(quoted from post at 14:05:20 03/20/15) A couple of summers ago, I was raking hay down in the bottom with "Mac" one of our 1951 MTs.

"Mac" did not have a seat back.

&lt;img src="http://photos.yesterdaystractors.com/gallery/uptest/a186998.jpg" width="650" /&gt;

Turned to my left to pull the rope to disengage the rake.

Lost my balance and fell off the back or the tractor and hit the ground.

Got caught up in the hay rake and was drug across the ground about 10-15 yards.

A couple of the rake teeth finally broke and was run over by the right tire/wheel of the rake.

Got up off the ground and ran to the tractor that was still moving/raking across the field.

Caught up with the tractor, ran between the left rear wheel, and turned of the ignition switch.

Walked around for a while, picked up my straw hat, and got back on the tractor, and finished raking.

Took "Mac" in to &lt;a href="http://performancetrailer.com/"&gt;Performance Trailer&lt;/a&gt; in Mt. Pleasant, TX and got a seat back made and installed.

&lt;img src="http://photos.yesterdaystractors.com/gallery/uptest/a187000.jpg" width="650" /&gt;

Had a couple of scratches on my face and a cut on my back.

You were being watched over that day. Glad you made it through that one.
 
Hate to say it, but it probably hasn't happened yet...but I hope I am wrong. Past winter I went off the edge of the drive plowing snow and I was teetering on the edge of a 5' ditch trying to decide what to do. Just cut the wheel downhill and drove it over the edge. In spite of the best efforts of the back blade, I stayed upright. That is as bad as it has gotten to date...and I hope forever. Went inside and changed my shorts...finished moving the snow.
 
When I was 14 or 15 we had a L case that was on propane. My dad came home from work to fill it up at noon. After he filled it, we had to pull it to start it, since it didn't have a starter. Took off pulling the field cultivator and the thing popped off. It had never happened to me before, and I turned and jumped off the tractor and took off running. Of course with the tractor still going. Luckily my dad was still there and was able to get on it and stop it before it hit a house.
 
When I was 10 years old dad was loading an oliver 88 diesel onto his flatbed truck from a loading dock.He went to do something,i got on the tractor and started messing with the gearshift.It rolled off the side of the truck,landed on it's top on the ground.I was on the seat when it went over,but somehow ended up between the seat and the fender and never got a scratch.
 
I was running a sub-compact tractor loader back hoe down the road and a lady came left of center and hit me head on. I'm still here so someone was watching over me that day.
 
Helping in the construction of a golf course in
New Hampshire, I went up on two wheels with a
Kubota tractor on the top of a green complex, but
didn't go all the way over. sat down for a few
minutes afterwards and shook for a while.

Worse thing that ever happened to me was when I
was 15, went up in a Grumman Yankee two-seater,
and after barely leveling off about 300 feet, a
chunk of the propeller broke off. Down we went,
but we did manage to walk away. The pilot said it
was the closest he ever came to wrecking,
including his time in the Air Corps in WW2 (the big
one).
 
When I floated my olie 88 home , I just rolled it
off the float not thinking are far it will roll with
them 38" wheels --frigin near rolled into the bush
just missing my brother !
 
Picking up big round bales with 4320, with front wrights. Two at a time on the 3-point. Chose the worst place to go up over the terrace. Pucker factor was very real. NEVER WENT UP THERE AGAIN.
 
When I was probably 16, I was backing my Farmall M out of the garage at our lake place to do some yard work.. Nothing out of the ordinary, but being it was a 7 foot door, you had to duck to get out and the steering wheel didn't have much room either. As I was backing out, I didn't have my head low enough and pert-near got it pinned (And popped) between the steering wheel and the upper door frame of the garage. Left quite the scrape on my scalp scraping against the wood. Luckily I was able to jam on the clutch fast enough before my head popped like a grape.

My grandfather was walking behind a mid 20's tractor (not sure of the kind - he was born in 1919, and was only about 5 years old at the time). He was pitching hay into the trailer from the field in Barrett, MN. Well long story short, he tripped and his head was run over by the steel wagon wheel and peeled his scalp back about half way across the side of his head. He was stitched back up at the hospital in Alexandria, and the chair he sat in during the procedure is now in a museum in the Alexandria lakes area (I'm told).
 
all you had to do was slip the pto out of gear. How do you think we got along before over running clutches ect it was something you just knew when operating a tractor and i started at 13yrs with a new M and Allis Chalmers combine we just knew how to operate stuff.
 
A year or two ago - driving a friends farmall M down the road in road gear, full throttle - bouncing along like a jack in the box (I think that seat needs a new shock cylinder)...

Front wheel wobbles like CRAZY - CONSTANTLY have to correct your course (this becomes important shortly).

I forget what I was pulling - a rake or something else that would hurt to be run over with.

I leaned back a bit to see how much traffic had accumulated behind me - and doesn't the steering wheel pop right off the shaft...

Have you ever stood at the edge of a tall building and have somebody do the "SAVED YOUR LIFE" thing when they grab you - to scare the )#(*$ out of you. It was like that.

I came VERY close to going over backwards.

Once I recovered from that initial jolt - I realized that I also had no steering now...

Oncoming traffic -

Last instinct in the world when you just almost flipped over backwards is to press forward with both feet to engage a clutch and or brakes...

ALMOST couldn't do it -

I almost died two different ways from that one stupid failure.

ALL happened in a split second.

I did manage to overcome that shock and pushed both the clutch and brake - and as the tractor slowed I even managed to slide the wheel back on somehow, and turn the tractor out of the oncoming late.

Took a while to forgive my friend though - he knew that nut was loose and never really fixed it properly.
 
Way back when I was 12 or 13 I think I was plowing with an old AC WD and 3 bottom mounted plow. I always plowed in 2 gear about 1/2 throttle and just eased along like dad told me to. Well after 10 acres I got bored and thought lets try 3 gear! At the end of the field I shifted into 3 dropped the plows and opened it up, Man it was moving good! All was good till I got to the end of the field raised the plows and taped the right brake to turn it. That was about the time I figured out that I had gone to far towards the fence and when I taped the brake it spun me just enough to catch the back bottom in the fence and brought the tractor up on the right rear wheel! I threw the hand clutch and down it came on all 4 again! I backed up jump off shaking like a leave in the wind and got the fence wire off the plow. I stood there for 15 to 20 mins just shaking, I finally took a drink of water off the tractor and figured I better get moving before dad comes looking for me. I never tried 3 gear again, 2 gear 1/2 throttle just like dad told me! Bandit
 
I was picking corn about 15 years old with a 3010
and 237 mounted picker. A Russian thistle got lodged
in the snapping rollers on the left side. So I
stopped the tractor left the PTO on reached over the
side to grab the thistle while standing on the
platform grabbed the thistle,about the time the
snapping rollers pulled it through. Luckily the side
screen on the picker stopped me from going in before
I let go,I learned my lesson that day.I always shut
equipment down..I'm 57 now but remember that like it
was yesterday
 
It wasn't that scary at the time. I was maybe 10 and driving a
farmall cub across the road to do some cultivating. I stopped
and looked both ways, let a car pass and pulled out. Right in
front of another car. I never thought there could be 2 cars at
once on that quiet road. It got stopped before it hit me, but
was inches away.
Josh
 
When I was teenager a man hired me to run his
tractor and bushhog his fields. Gas for the
tractor, an IH, was in a 55-gal. steel drum with
a windlass-style pump. To re-fuel, you had to
basically straddle the barrel.

I slightly overran the fuel, and when I re-
started the tractor something arced and set the
gas/straw/chaff afire under the hood of the
tractor, and I had no way to put it out. For
whatever reason, I thought it important to move
the barrel away from the tractor, so I rolled it
away on its rim, fearing that any second it would
catch fire. The fire burned itself out on the
tractor with no major damage--just new wiring
needed.

There were other moments on my own tractor and cutter, such as the chunk of wood that knocked the top out of my straw hat. The most damaging thing that ever happened was a tree limb springing back and whipping into my eye.
 
In the 50's, Grandpa was mowing some native pasture with sickle mower on MD. Hit a nest of bees and they proceeded to swarm around him. He lost his balance and fell off by the right rear tire, mower went over him with pitman arm leaving a series of bruises from one end to the other. The MD went off the field and into a small ravine, mower belt went to squealing and tires spinning. Grandpa crawled over and managed to shut it down, it never stalled. Grandpa was out of action for a weak or two. Dad noticed the MD was hard to steer and found the entire bolster was bent.
 
Was plowing snow with my JD 60 (rear blade) on my narrow mountain driveway (11' narrowest), when I hit a 'nubbin' of rock' (which I knew was there, but..). Now this is a 3 wheeled tractor, and I ended up with the front and right side off the road. STEEP downhill (45D +). Climbed the adjacent slope to the house/shop, packed a 50T chain block and multiple chains and cables to the site (2 hours). Then hooked chain to nearest tree(uphill) and chain block to the front, got on the thing , started and drove forward about 2 '. Repeat 4 or 5 times (relocating front to back with chain block)and finished the plowing after dark. This was an amazing feat (pat on back). Nearest neighbor 4 miles, no phone (or electricity) and only helper was the Blue Healer. When is the awards ceremony ? Also no cell phones. Wheee. Ya did what needed to be did.
 
Skim of snow on the ground, and I'm pushing brush downhill onto a fire! Pushed a tad too far, and couldn't back up. Now, this is with an 8N &amp; loader with single acting cylinders &amp; trip bucket/brush forks. Bright idea, just push on through and out the other side! Uh-oh! that didn't work! Now, 8N is in middle of fire! Bailed off and ran for the farm, expecting to hear the gas tank blow! Fortunately, when I shut the tractor off, the fire died down, as the radiator fan was no longer creating a draft. We got back with another tractor and drug the 8N out of the ashes to find the extent of the damage was 1 front tire and the bottom radiator hose! That was around 60 years ago!
 
Too many to list so I'll list eh one that happened just a few days ago. I was helping a friend move his Swinger 200 which is a small articulating loader with hydro type drive. Chain on the front of the machine was hung up under the bucket area when we got it where he wanted it. So I had to start it up and move it forward a bit. Well this machine had been sitting out in the weather for along time so the forward/reverse pedals tended to stick. So it jumped forward when I tried to loosen the slack in the chain then to try to stop then I hit the other pedal and it jumped back. Did that 2 or 3 times before I got full control of it. Came close to falling off the trailer which would not have been fun
 
At the neighbors using their TD9 without a dozer to level the silage pile, just by see-sawing the tracks around. When the pile got fairly high, I went up the hill forward. Suddenly realized that the front of the crawler was starting to bob up and down like to was getting ready to tip over backward. Hit the clutch just in time and let it roll down the slope. After that, I always backed a crawler up a steep incline.
 
Used to be a nasty old summer kitchen with a shop on one end when we bought this place, about a 14 x 30 foot building. I took all the siding off, knocked every other stud out of it, wrapped a log chain around 2 or 3 more studs, added some more chain to get farther away and hooked it to my little Farmall Super C. When it started moving the roof racked and dropped the chimney on my left rear tire. When the mortar dust cleared and my chest quit pounding the tractor and me came out unscathed.
 
James, I was just thinking about the time you turned too short with the Brillion behind the MT! Another couple of feet would not have been good!
I often think, what would happen if a wagon came loose from the tractor, while going down hill, and climbed the rear tractor tires? Prolly a good reason for a ROPS!
Dave
 
I was working for a feedlot and was building and packing the silage on a 200 x 100 ' concrete slab with 10' tall sides with a White 4-150 with a 14' blade.
The pit was nearly full as i had build the silage up as high as 25' above ground level and 15 feet higher that the walls.
When i had pushed the last blade full of silage high up to the far edge of the pile i stepped on the clutch to shift in reverse only to find the clutch did not respond and i kept going,.it was impossible to pull the shifter into neutral cause of the load on the gears and before i had the presence of mind to turn the ignition off the tractor went over the edge and down the steep side, lucky for me the blade caught on the concrete wall otherwise i would've gone head over teakettle 25' to the ground.
I sure had my guardian angel riding with me that day.

I finished packing that pit without a clutch
 
I was plowing snow a couple weeks ago with my Ford 641. I had the box blade on for weight. It started steaming, low on antifreeze, so I backed it into the barn. There was so much steam I couldn"t see so the blade hit the tire on my MH Pony. Didn"t see this til I got off so I put it in gear with the switch OFF and used the jumpstart that I had to use anyway to bump it ahead a few inches. It was so hot that with the switch OFF it started as a diesel. Luckily I was back enough so I didn"t get run over. It ran about 10 feet into the yard before It stalled. Yeah, I know I need to spring for a new battery.
 
As a kid, I flipped a Farmall H trying to put a log
on flat bed. Good thing the back wheel landed on
top of another large log and prevented tractor from
landing on me. It happened so fast, not enough time
to pucker up. Did need a change of underware.
 
Pulling 31 adults on a nite hay ride
with a 1950 John Deere B. The 1st large hill
I came to I just throttled the tractor back.
I should have been in 5th or 4th. In The end
everyone lived, the driver was shaking.
Had no paint left on 2 cherry red brake drums.
The smoke from them was unreal, & I think it's
the 1st John Deere B that ever turned over 5000
rmp & didn't blow up.
 
was back in about '78, dad and i had just went and got a 2 row cultivator put on a '49 jd A at a place down the road from the farm where some stuff (including the mounted cultivator) was stored, we were within sight of the house when a jeep grand cherokee went to pass us, he was too close and his front bumper caught the tire, the cultivator dug into the road and kept the tractor from flipping...just this last summer we were dropping a standing dead elm tree, was using the 1020 with the bucket raised and up against the trunk to push it over as it was being cut, well something went wrong and it ended up coming down right beside the tractor...think i'll pull trees over from now on instead of pushing them with the bucket....there was also a ealier incident in about '72/'73 with a ford 4000, a cracked manifold and a leaking gas cap...i barely remember it, and it was probly alot more frightning for dad (and mom) than it was me....this tractor had just went for fuel, was returning and as dad throttled down it backfires...as gas spills over the side of the tank from the gas fill...it burned the short rubber section of the fuel line and then the fire was fed with 15 gallons of gas...i dont remember the fire trucks, i do remember being carried to the house...and i remember when the parts came in, i kept running off with them, mainly the steering wheel! i would have been 2 or 3 at the time....
 
Former boss one time needed help removing the cab from a 1130 MF. Had it lifted and hanging from the rafters, ready to back straight out. Now picture 12 x 12 overhead door that is at street level, but the tractor is on a higher level than the street about 4 feet and the ramp is inside the closed door. 1100 series MFs had an unloader valve that is pulled up for easier starting on the floor in front of the seat, no brakes or steering with the valve up. He backed up straight, hit the brakes as the tractor started down the ramp, none there as he forgot to push the valve back down. Door was closed, he crashed right through the wooden overhead door. And that's how we suddenly got a bunch of used door panels laying around...
 
I think you could have pulled the lever and disengaged the bush hog while this was going on. I used to shift out of gear etc. without using the clutch.
 
Just bought our first house, needed to grade the driveway to
make access more comfortable. Borrowed a friend's deck-over
gooseneck to haul the old JD 1010 with box blade to the site
after work. Got the job done about10 pm in the dark, went to
reload the tractor on the gooseneck. The dew had settled
pretty heavy, and when I crested the ramps to the deck, the
front end came up fast, right rear spun, and I turned hard to
the right with both front wheels up- the blade caught on
something in back, stopping me right there, front wheels over
the side, one wheel on the deck, one between the ramps, in
the dark on the road in the middle of nearly nowhere, no
phone, no lights, no motor cars...After a few careful seconds
with the clutch in and brakes on, I jockeyed the blade down
to lower the fronts a little, stood on the left and drove back
onto the ramp with the right, dropping the left front on the
deck with the right front off- then backed it kinda
diagonally down the ramps. Backed onto that trailer
evermore, found a new friend in ballast.
 
Not a tractor, but an International tractor reversed into a forklift that I had rented.

Being a reversed tractor, it would travel faster going backwards than forwards because the tractor's gearing was kept.

When I went to return it to where I'd rented it, I took off down the road from my house going backward for the forklift, but forward for the tractor, but sitting backward 'cause it was configured for a forklift. About the time I hit full throttle in top gear, the unit began to drift toward the road ditch. In one horrible moment, I realized I didn't know which way to turn the steering wheel, since the tractor was reversed.

I throttled down and tentatively tried the steering wheel. Thankfully, my first try was correct. I didn't even want to think about hitting a deep road ditch at 15 mph on a forklift.
 
Ive had a few heart thumpers happen to me for sure but the worst was when I was 16 and had to help pull a mortally injured man out from under an overturned Farmall M and help carry the stretcher up the road ditch to the ambulance. I had to sit down for awhile afterwards. I was still shaking when I went to bed that night.
 
I don't know that it counts as scary, but it makes the stupidest
category.

We had an evergreen hedge that lined one side of the drive
and kept visitors from seeing where the ensilage pit was and
all the machinery was parked. It was probably 12 foot tall. For
whatever reason we decided it needed trimming. We backed
the rear engine rider into the bucket of the tractor - just the
back wheels - and put blocks behind them so it couldn't roll
back. Then we ran chains from the front to the top of the
bucket. We fired up the mower and lifted her up to the top of
the hedge and drove the tractor back and forth. It worked well
but it's a little daunting seeing that whirling blade above you
and having evergreen bits go singing past your head at a rapid
pace.

Not smart.

I was always to one to top out the trees, too. I was the only
boy that wasn't scared of heights. Dad would put the extension
ladder in the bucket of the tractor. In reality it was a tall, flimsy
piece of a red ladder that I am sure came free from an old fire
truck or some other cheapskate avenue. I would then be in
charge of getting in the bucket and holding the ladder vertical
while he lifted the loader as high as it would go (through the
tree limbs in the wind). Then I had to get the chain saw started
and climb to the top. I hated that. I think that started when I
was about 10. Ironically, I never remember mom being home
when I had to top trees.
 
happened on a 9N. Backing up with a brushhog alongside a small creek bank. The creek then curved in behind the tractor & I needed to stop to change direction. Stomped the clutch but it didn't stop; just kept on backing up til I went over the creek bank! Luckily the bank was only 1 ft. high & I kept backing up the creek til I shut the switch off. The 9N has a rod going back to the clutch & the Cotter key fell out of the yoke at the front end of the clutch rod, letting the pin fall out of the yoke, thus disconnecting the clutch pedal from the clutch & leaving me stuck in gear. Had it happened along a steep creek bank I'd not be telling this story.
 
I guess the scariest thing was watching my JD and flail mower take off down a hill without me. It got stuck in a ditch, keeping it from going down to the bottom. I posted this last year last year also. What I learned from this is, when starting your tractor be in the seat, not standing beside it. Stan
a187052.jpg
 
years ago was home for aweekend when they were fall plowing was running a 4430 with 5/16s finish afield and as the others move to the next I plowed the headlands throwng the dirt back away from the fence on one end dredge ditch on the other. At one point along the ditch another intersected unbeknownst to me it was under cut and on the last pass, tractor-plow and me suddenly dropped about 10-12 ft into the bottom of the ditch,dualled up left wheel only thing that kept us from rolling
 
My dad used crawlers for logging and we grew up in
the woods, as some of you know when you go over a
down tree with a crawler you go up, try to balance a
little and go down as gently as possible. When I was
10 or 11 was going over an old tree trunk in the
ferns and didn't realize there was ditch beside that
trunk and dozer came down HARD, I was ejected and
sailed over the dozer luckily just hit my shinbone
somewhere along the way and just got a bruise.
 
I've got an old "Continental" bush hog that has a very heavy flywheel built into one cross section of the blades. If you get in a tight situation, no amount of clutch and brakes will stop it from bumping you forward. I quit using it.
 
Rolling one down a 20 ft bank and coming to flat on my back with my legs underneath the disk harrow. Wiggled out and walked away but it ruined my day.
 
When I was reversing a 230 timberjack up a steep
hill for a hitch , I accidently kicked it into
neutral and down the hill I went smashing into a big
spruce . Brand new they don't have good brakes , so
all I did was hang on and go for the ride . After
the drama was OVER , JUST BACKED UP AND GOT MY HITCH
! --if you fall off the horse get right back on it.

Larry --ont
 
When I was about 13 years old dad was driving the neighbors SC Case and Case baler. I had his 8N Ford with two hay wagons behind heading to the hay field. There was this steep hill with a narrow bridge at the bottom. The SC and baler just fit through the bridge with inches to spare. Dad was on the bridge and there I come standing on the brakes of that 8N doing about 25 mph, engine just a roaring. Hit the twine box on the baler with that little red hitch on the front of that 8N.
 
Met my wife while I was sitting on a '57 Ferguson F40. Didn't seem quite so scary at the time. Had I known what was about to go down, I might have been diving for cover.
 
By the way, my neighbor made me do it,
Do what? Now was that haul the hay, tip the M, take the pic
post the pic...may get us in some trouble,
The operator wasn't too happy


OOPS!
This is not the best way to move a bale of hay.
Pucker factor very, Very, VERY High. (So I was told.)
mvphoto17715.jpg
[/quote]
 

Was doing some mowing for the inlaws and had to take the riding mower across a narrow bridge and up an incline. I got across the bridge OK but the mower was slipping on the wet tracks that were always used. So my bright idea was to back up and take a different track up the little hill. I backed up, down across the bridge and the left rear wheel went off the bridge taking me down with the mower. Luckily the mower didn't land on top of me and the bridge was over a ditch only about 4 ft. deep. No injuries to me except bruises and dirt, mower had no damage since it fell into the soft mud. Had to get the neighbor and his Ferguson TO20 to pull the mower out. Needless to say I was done mowing for the day.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top