Re: Tree safety incident - a long story barely mad

Posted by retired farmer on February 27, 2006 at 20:23:14 from (207.200.116.14):

In Reply to: Tree safety incident - a long story barely made sh posted by williamf on February 26, 2006 at 08:10:14:

Reminds me of an incident I had one time with my 560 Farmall, F11 front end loader and a cottonwood about 20 some inches in diameter and around 70 feet tall. I cut the proper v notches in the bottom about two feet above ground and got out of the way. Wouldn't you know it, the tree was perfectly balanced and would not fall down. I sawed some more until I had about an inch of cut left which I figured I better leave for safety. Still wouldn't fall. Well, brilliant idea, I had my tractor sitting closeby, so I figured if I raised the bucket up to about twelve feet and drove into it real slow, I could push it over. I pulled up to it and tilted the bucket about halfway, getting ready to jump off the tractor in case it started to fall. I didn't have the clutch and the throttle quite cordinated like I knew I should have when the edge of the bucket hit it the first time, ( I had welded two, three eights chain hooks on top of the bucket at the edges for lifting things), the tractor rolled back about four inches and I engaged the clutch again and hit it. I saw it start to move and thought it was going over forward. I glanced to my right and saw my wife standing about fourty feet from the rear wheel and kind of towards the front of the tractor. About that time the tree reversed directions and started coming back. Somehow I got the gearshift in neutral about the time the bark got caught on the right bucket chain hook and started taking the loader to the right. There was about two feet of clearance between the loader cylinder and the left side of the hood at the front and it took all that out and then started tipping the tractor over on the right side. I looked again and hollered at the wife to get out of the way. I was going to stay on the tractor as long as I could before jumping. The tractor got to a fourty five degree angle and was just on the verge of going on over, when the bark broke off and released its hold on the bucket. At that time I was standing on the seat with my left foot and my right foot was on top of the right rear wheel with my left hand on top of the steering wheel. The left edge of the seat and the rear wheel were were perfectly level. I could hear metal popping. Looked to see where wife was and she was still standing there, the top branches of the tree missed her by about a foot. The tractor stayed on its side for what seemed like eternity when finally the front of the loader decided to resume its original position in front of the tractor. It went like a slingshot. I decided to ride it out. We came back down on the left wheel with a big thud and the loader made a few more gyrations before it stopped. I thought, boy I killed my old tractor for sure. The whole incident took less than twenty seconds. I got back down on the seat and it was still running and the loader didn't seem any the worse off. I put it in gear and backed up, made sure the tree was firmly on the ground, and shut the tractor off. Checked to make sure the wife was alright and looked at the machinery. Didn't see any thing wrong so I chained the tree to the tractor and drug it to the dump. Drove the tractor to the house and shut it off. It was then that I noticed that the left loader bracket where it attaches to the rear axle was broken. Nothing serious, I would weld it back together in the morning. Got up the next morning and went out to work on it and the left rear tire was flat. A sharp piece of metal I had welded on the hydralic control valve mounting plate had come down and cut the inside sidewall of the tire clear thru to the tube. Had to buy a used tire to replace it and fixed the bracket. Could have been much worse, could have killed me and the wife and tipped the tractor over. Last time I did something like that.

Replies:

• Re: Tree safety incident - a long story barely mad Dan Hill 05:42:45 03/05/06 (0)

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